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Archive for May, 2013
Canada: No shortage of green solutions for a better kind of oilsands
Posted by Edmonton Journal: Jennifer Grant on May 2nd, 2013
Edmonton Journal: While last week was the one-year anniversary of the Redford government, it was also an anniversary of sorts for the Pembina Institute.
Two years ago, we released a road map toward responsible oilsands development that identified 19 key areas where environmental rules and management practices need to be strengthened. Many of the recommendations in the report, Solving the Puzzle, mirror existing government commitments to improve on oilsands management.
Early in her mandate, Alison Redford committed...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Canada: No shortage of green solutions for a better kind of oilsandsIndian city tries to thwart silent killer as summer temperatures soar
Posted by ClimateWire: Nayantara Narayanan on May 2nd, 2013
ClimateWire: A new kind of billboard is going up in the Indian city Ahmedabad these days. Amid the larger-than-life pictures of politicians, film stars and consumer goods are signs that proclaim "Heat Alert," instruct you to "Drink More Water" and counsel you to "Save Yourself From Heat," both in English and the local language, Gujarati.
The billboards are part of a heat action plan that was launched earlier this month, the first plan of its kind in a South Asian city. Ahmedabad, with its 7.2 million residents,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Indian city tries to thwart silent killer as summer temperatures soarAirborne laboratory used to measure California’s snowpack
Posted by LA Times: Bettina Boxall on May 2nd, 2013
LA Times: Teams will fan out across the Sierra Nevada on Thursday to perform their final snow survey of the season, a closely watched rite of spring that helps determine how much water will flow to farms and cities in coming months.
But 18,000 feet above the Sierra slopes, an airborne experiment is underway that could revolutionize that ritual.
Starting in early April, researchers have made weekly flights over the upper Tuolumne River basin, taking sophisticated instrument readings of the snow depth...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Airborne laboratory used to measure California’s snowpackEarth’s greenhouse gas levels approach 400 ppm milestone
Posted by LA Times: Geoffrey Mohan on May 2nd, 2013
LA Times: The ratio of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere is flirting with 400 parts per million, a level last seen about 2.5 million to 5 million years ago, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
The Institution this week launched a daily Keeling curve update, showing the saw-toothed upward diagonal of rising carbon dioxide levels since the late 1950s.
Isolated measurements have peaked at above 400 parts per million in the Arctic, but scientists are more alarmed at steady...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Earth’s greenhouse gas levels approach 400 ppm milestoneUS crop insurance shields farmers from drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 2nd, 2013
Bloomberg: When dry weather destroyed Leonard McKissick's soybeans last year, US government-backed insurance paid him $US40,000, the bulk of his loss.
Across the Arkansas Delta this spring, farmers such as McKissick are sowing fields that suffered the worst drought in more than half a century. Even though crops may fail again, landowners are shielded by taxpayers from the full burden of their bad bets.
Drought helped drive the cost of crop insurance to a record $US17.2 billion, the US Department of Agriculture...
White House warned on imminent Arctic ice death spiral
Posted by Guardian: Nafeez Ahmed on May 2nd, 2013
Guardian: Senior US government officials are to be briefed at the White House this week on the danger of an ice-free Arctic in the summer within two years.
The meeting is bringing together Nasa's acting chief scientist, Gale Allen, the director of the US National Science Foundation, Cora Marett, as well as representatives from the US Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon.
This is the latest indication that US officials are increasingly concerned about the international and domestic security...
Impact of deforestation on wildlife in the greater Mekong
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 2nd, 2013
Guardian: Five Asian countries have lost nearly one-third of their forests in the last 35 years, a new report from WWF shows. Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam could be left with little more than 10-20% of their original cover by 2030, with devastating effects on wildlife and humans
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Impact of deforestation on wildlife in the greater MekongArkansas Oil Spill Shatters American Dream of Families Still Displaced From New Homes
Posted by InsideClimate: None Given on May 2nd, 2013
InsideClimate: It has been more than a month now, and Amber Bartlett has had enough of hotels and apartments and trailer homes. Of crowded rooms whose thin walls amplify the bickering of her four children. Of piles of toys and clothes overflowing from drawers and suitcases. Of not knowing, day to day, where her life is headed. She wants to be back in her five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at16 Starlite Road North in Mayflower, Ark. Ryan Senia, the Bartletts' next-door neighbor, is plenty ready to go home, too....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Arkansas Oil Spill Shatters American Dream of Families Still Displaced From New HomesHydraulic Fracturing Faces Growing Competition for Water Supplies in Water-Stressed Regions
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 2nd, 2013
EcoWatch: A new Ceres research paper on water use in hydraulic fracturing operations shows that a significant portion of this activity is happening in water stressed regions of the U.S., most prominently Texas and Colorado, which are both in the midst of prolonged drought conditions. It concludes that industry efforts underway, such as expanded use of recycled water and non-freshwater resources, need to be scaled up along with better water management planning if shale energy production is to grow as projected....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hydraulic Fracturing Faces Growing Competition for Water Supplies in Water-Stressed RegionsGreater Mekong countries ‘lost one-third of forest cover in 40 years’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 2nd, 2013
Guardian: Five Asian countries have lost nearly one-third of their forests in the last 35 years and could be left with little more than 10-20% of their original cover by 2030 – with devastating effects on wildlife and humans, a new report suggests.
Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam have lost nearly 40m hectares (ha) of forest cover since 1980 but have retained about 98m ha of natural forest, just over half of the region's land area.
Using satellite data, the WWF researchers calculated that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greater Mekong countries ‘lost one-third of forest cover in 40 years’