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Archive for June 22nd, 2013
Which South Africa province uses most energy?
Posted by Cape Times: Melanie Gosling on June 22nd, 2013
Cape Times: Each person in the Western Cape generates more greenhouse gas than the average South African -- and more than individuals in Brazil, India and China. The province generates 8.4 tons of greenhouse gas a person -- on a par with developed European nations. It also means we use more energy than the rest of the country to produce the same contribution to GDP. This was one of the findings given in the State of Environment Report released by the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development...
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Old King Coal: the end is nigh
Posted by Cental Western Daily: Nick King on June 22nd, 2013
Cental Western Daily: THINGS are happening that will see the end of Old King Coal. He is a luxury we can no longer afford. A recent report titled The Critical Decade 2013-Climate Change Science, Risks and Responses states that Australia’s fossil fuel industries, including of course coal, should be phased out because of their contribution to climate change. The report recommends that if Australia is to pull its weight in combating climate change, most of its coal reserves will have to be left in the ground. Australia...
Lessons in coastal restoration from Vietnam
Posted by Nola: R. King Milling on June 22nd, 2013
Nola: World Delta Dialogues II recently concluded in Saigon - now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The first World Delta Dialogues was held in New Orleans two and a half years ago. Both were organized by the America's WETLAND Foundation. What began as a call for networking among the planet's mega-deltas in 2010 has led us in 2013 to the first "Communiqué of Cooperation" for sustaining the world's most productive ecosystems. This gathering in Ho Chi Minh City met a half a world and a dozen time zones away....
Iowa’s floods: A window into climate change
Posted by press-citizen: Connie Mutel on June 22nd, 2013
press-citizen: When my sons were young, a wise friend advised me to live in the day but always simultaneously consider my children’s distant future. I took that maxim to heart. Whenever I read to the boys, taught them or disciplined them, I tried to consider where my actions might lead and what my boys might be like in 10, 20, or 30 years. On June 6, Johnson County governmental and university officials presented a flood forum at the Iowa City Public Library, where they described how they had responded to the 2008...
As Calgary floods, scientists warn of rising risks
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on June 22nd, 2013
Climate Central: The normally tame Bow and Elbow Rivers that course their way through downtown Calgary, Alberta, have taken over the city, transforming Canada's fourth-largest city into North America's Venice. A slow-moving storm system, coming on top of an unusually wet spring, has produced massive flooding across southern Alberta, prompting tens of thousands to hastily evacuate sections of Calgary, and producing surreal images of the city's landmarks, such as the Calgary Stampede grounds, under several feet of...
Global warming may increase daily variability of India’s monsoon rainfall: study
Posted by International Business Times: None Given on June 22nd, 2013
International Business Times: The findings have been revealed at a time when floods have killed more than 550 people and destroyed unaccounted properties in North India.
Scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany used a comprehensive set of 20 state-of-the-art climate models to predict the extent of weather changes in the wake of global warming.
The models consistently show that future global warming might increase the daily variability of Indian monsoon rainfall. According to Anders...
Iowa: Recent flood and drought signal what’s to come, scientists and officials say
Posted by Press-Citizen: Josh O’Leary on June 22nd, 2013
Press-Citizen: Given the choice between a drought or flooding, Johnson County farmer Russ Meade would take his chances with swampy fields any year.
“Psychologically, a drought affects you a lot worse because you’re seeing things slowly die,” said Meade, who helps run his family’s 720-acre corn, soybean and cattle farm near Tiffin.
The past two growing seasons, though, Meade has faced both extremes. Last summer, his crops wilted during the fifth-driest summer on record in Iowa. That was followed by the wettest...
Canada: Severe flooding a sign of future weather woes, UW researcher says
Posted by Record: None Given on June 22nd, 2013
Record: Extreme rainfall and flooding in Alberta could result in one of the most costly natural disasters in Canadian history -- and it may not be an isolated event.
Flooding in southern Alberta that occurred in 2005 was then considered a one-in-100-years disaster, yet the heavy rains this week that have led to flooding in Banff, Canmore, Calgary and south toward Lethbridge have caused more widespread damage than the previous event.
According to Jason Thistlethwaite, director of the Climate Change...
India’s ‘climate refugees’ flee monsoon flooding
Posted by Le Monde: None Given on June 22nd, 2013
Le Monde: In 2012, out of the millions of people displaced by natural disasters around the world, over a quarter were from northeast India. Almost nine million inhabitants were forced to flee the region's devastating monsoon.
These forced displacements are a common occurrence. Floods have become so routine in Assam, a state located at the foothills of the Himalayas, irrigated by one of the world's mightiest river -- the Brahmaputra -- that a special administrative post was created to deal with natural disasters....
Study: Eight out of 10 Pinoys affected by climate change
Posted by GMA News: Rouchelle R. Dinglasan on June 22nd, 2013
GMA News: A World Bank-commissioned study revealed that eight out of 10 Filipinos "personally experienced' the impacts of climate change in the last three years. The study conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) disclosed that 85 percent of respondents claimed to have suffered from climate change. Of this figure, more than half or 54 percent described their experience as "severe' to "moderate.' "The percentage of those who personally experienced climate change impacts are highest in urban areas (90...