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Archive for April, 2013
Redford argues Keystone XL controversy obscuring truth about Alberta’s environmental record
Posted by Calgary Herald: Darcy Henton on April 10th, 2013
Calgary Herald: The polarized debate over the Keystone XL pipeline and global warming overlooks the fact that you can build the pipeline and still reduce greenhouse gas emissions and be good stewards of the land, air and water, Premier Alison Redford told a Washington think tank Tuesday.
Redford told the Brookings Institution that the dialogue over approval of the 1,800-kilometre pipeline between Alberta and the U.S. gulf coast "suffers from some glaring deficiencies, which cause essential truths to be overlooked."...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Redford argues Keystone XL controversy obscuring truth about Alberta’s environmental recordStudy: Southern California slammed by weather disasters
Posted by KCET: Chris Clarke on April 10th, 2013
KCET: Twenty California counties have endured weather-related disasters since January 2007 that were damaging enough to merit 41 Federal disaster area declarations, and two-thirds of Californians live on counties struck by those disasters. That's according to a report released today by Environment California.
The report, entitled "In the Path of the Storm," crunches numbers acquired from FEMA disaster declarations to assess the frequency of extreme weather events and related disasters across the country....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: Southern California slammed by weather disastersWild weather can send greenhouse gases spiralling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 10th, 2013
Nature: Climate change has a disconcerting tendency to amplify itself through feedback effects. Melting sea ice exposes dark water, allowing the ocean to soak up more heat. Arctic warming speeds the release of carbon dioxide from permafrost. And, as researchers discussed at a meeting last week in Seefeld, Austria, climate extremes -- heatwaves, droughts and storms -- can hamper plant growth, weakening a major buffer against the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere.
“Heatwaves and droughts will very likely become...
Andes’ tropical glaciers ‘going fast’
Posted by Daily Climate: Paul Brown on April 10th, 2013
Daily Climate: The glaciers of the tropical Andes have shrunk by between 30 and 50 percent in 30 years and many will soon disappear altogether, cutting off the summer water supply for millions of people, according to scientists studying the region's climate.
Their findings are particularly significant because glaciers in the tropics – 99 percent of which are in the Andes – are regarded as among the most sensitive indicators of climate change on the planet, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
Malawi: Want a Real Expert on Climate Change? Ask Those Worst-Hit
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on April 10th, 2013
AlertNet: Back in 2010, farmers in northern Malawi were advised to stop growing local maize varieties and switch to faster-maturing hybrids, to protect them from a shortening rainy season. Now, less than three years later, the government is urging them to start planting indigenous varieties again, alongside the newer ones, because researchers have found the local maize more resilient to weather extremes. Such stories hint at the difficulty of adapting to changing conditions that can be very hard to predict....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Malawi: Want a Real Expert on Climate Change? Ask Those Worst-HitArctic vegetation spread could boost climate change
Posted by PhysOrg: Bill Steele on April 10th, 2013
PhysOrg: Changes in Arctic vegetation due to climate change have probably been underestimated, according to a new computer analysis which shows that tree and shrub cover in the region will increase more than previously expected, accelerating climate change and possible adverse effects on wildlife.
"Such widespread redistribution of Arctic vegetation would have impacts that reverberate through the global ecosystem," said Richard Pearson, a research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History's Center...
Cove Where Exxon Oil Has Been Found Is Part of Lake Conway
Posted by InsideClimate: Maria Gallucci on April 10th, 2013
InsideClimate: When ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline ruptured on March 29, the company announced that no oil had leaked into Lake Conway, a major recreational reservoir just nine-tenths of a mile from the spill site in central Arkansas. Some oil had spilled into a "cove adjacent to" the lake, the company said, but "Lake Conway remains oil free," according to news releases Exxon issued as recently as April 5 [3]. That position has sparked a debate over where Lake Conway—one of Arkansas' premier fishing spots—begins...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cove Where Exxon Oil Has Been Found Is Part of Lake ConwayAlarm over vanishing frogs in the Caribbean
Posted by Huffington Post: Ben Fox and Ezequiel Abiu Lopez on April 10th, 2013
Huffington Post: A curtain of sound envelops the two researchers as they make their way along the side of a mountain in darkness, occasionally hacking their way with a machete to reach the mouth of a small cave.
Peeps, tweets and staccato whistles fill the air, a pulsing undercurrent in the tropical night. To the untrained ear, it's just a mishmash of noise. To experts tracking a decline in amphibians with growing alarm, it's like a symphony in which some of the players haven't been showing up.
In parts of...
Obama Budget Reduces Spending for Environmental Protection Agency
Posted by Dow Jones: None Given on April 10th, 2013
Dow Jones: The Obama administration's 2014 budget proposal for the Environmental Protection Agency totals $8.2 billion, or about 3.5% below the 2012 enacted level and almost 5% less than provided for under the 2013 continuing resolution. Most programs receive roughly similar funding levels as the last two years. The administration proposes cutting funds for grants to state-level environmental programs by about $465 million, or about 13%, compared with 2012 levels. The administration often proposes cuts in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama Budget Reduces Spending for Environmental Protection AgencyReport: 243 million Americans affected by weather disasters since 2007
Posted by Washington Post: Justin Grieser on April 10th, 2013
Washington Post: Drought, record heat and Hurricane Sandy were among the major weather-related disasters that affected the United States in 2012. But just how many Americans felt the impact of these events? A newly released report from the Environment America Research and Policy Center says 243 million people – nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population – live in counties that experienced at least one weather-related disaster since 2007.
The report, titled “In the Path of the Storm,” is based on six years of county-level...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report: 243 million Americans affected by weather disasters since 2007