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Archive for July 3rd, 2013
United Kingdom: Showers make up 25% of water use, says biggest ever study of households
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 3rd, 2013
Guardian: It has become part of our daily routine, although few of us are likely aware of the full financial or environmental costs. Yet showering accounts for the biggest single use of water in the home – one quarter of the massive nine billion litres of water used by UK households every day – with much of our money spiralling down the plughole.
Britons are also unnecessarily inflating their energy bills by overfilling kettles and hand-washing crockery rather than using more energy-efficient dishwashers....
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United Kingdom: Five ways to save money on your water usage
Posted by Telegraph: Jessica Winch on July 3rd, 2013
Telegraph: The Energy Saving Trust found that UK households use nine billion litres of water every day, with showers using a quarter of the total.
A study of 86,000 homes found that the average shower lasts seven and a half minutes. Cutting a minute off that time would save households £215m on energy bills each year.
More than nine in ten people boil a kettle every day and 40pc boil water five times a day or more.
However, three quarters of households boil more water than they need, costing households...
Climate change could be leading to more El Ninos
Posted by Grist: John Upton on July 3rd, 2013
Grist: El Niño is one of Earth`s most influential climatic phenomena. Its occasional arrival, heralded by warming in parts of the eastern Pacific Ocean, can be a harbinger of floods in Peru, droughts in Australia, harsh winters in Europe, and hurricanes in the Caribbean. Yet we know precious little about it.
But this week, two separate scientific studies chipped away at the mystery.
One study reveals that the El Niño phenomenon has been occurring more frequently as the globe has warmed. The other...
Bay Area Battles Chevron’s Dangerous Tar Sands Refinery
Posted by EcoWatch: Juan Lopez on July 3rd, 2013
EcoWatch: 350BayArea.org, joined by local groups and unions, last week announced plans for a massive protest Aug. 3 at California`s Chevron Richmond oil refinery.
Smoke from the Chevron refinery explosion spreads across the bay. Photo by Drew Dellinger, a bay area resident.
The largest greenhouse gas polluter in the state, Chevron, along with the other four Bay Area refineries, is already refining tar sands oil from Canada, brought into the area by rail.
Chevron is among industry giants pressing for...
EPA Approves Use of Invasive Species for Biofuel
Posted by EcoWatch: Aviva Glaser on July 3rd, 2013
EcoWatch: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a final rule which would allow for biofuels made from two well known invasive species to qualify for credits under the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard. The rule, which was finalized late Friday afternoon, allows two invasive grasses, Arundo donax (also known as giant reed)--assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as being a high-risk species--and Pennisetum purpureum (commonly called napier grass), to qualify as cellulosic biofuel...
Burning Question: How Will Climate Change Impact Western Wildfires?
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on July 3rd, 2013
LiveScience: Climate change will dramatically alter wildfire patterns in the western United States before the century ends, studies show.
Experts are reluctant to paint a broad picture of future fire risk because fires vary so drastically among regions -- a forest fire in high-elevation Colorado, for example, is vastly different than coastal, chaparral-fed flames in California. But many fire scientists agree the doomsday scenario of massive fires that wreak death and destruction can be quashed through smarter...
Expect an ‘Angry Summer’ of More Wildfires, Drought and Extreme Heat
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 3rd, 2013
EcoWatch: The recent rash of deadly wildfires and record breaking high temperatures across the western U.S. indicates the country may be in the grips of an "angry summer" made worse by climate change.
July 2013 began with much of the western portion of the U.S. experiencing one of the most extreme heat waves on record in the region. During the days between June 24 and 29, there were 46 monthly high-temperature records set or tied in the U.S., along with 21 records for the highest overnight minimum temperature....
The Best Tool to Combat Climate Change Is Nature
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 3rd, 2013
EcoWatch: News of the devastating floods in Alberta hit Canadians hard. We’ve all been moved by extraordinary stories of first responders and neighbors stepping in to help and give selflessly at a time of great need. As people begin to pick up their lives, and talk turns to what Calgary and other communities can do to rebuild, safeguarding our irreplaceable, most precious flood-protection assets should be given top priority.
The severe floods in Alberta used to be referred to as “once in a generation” or...
Reporters Aren’t Drawing The Connection Between Climate Change And Wildfires
Posted by Popular Science: Colin Lecher on July 3rd, 2013
Popular Science: Climate change is a major contributing factor to wildfires, like the blaze in Arizona that killed 19 firefighters this week. But is that connection being made in news reports?
A new Media Matters report examined how frequently recent print and TV reports from major outlets--CNN, NBC, The New York Times, Washington Post, and others--mentioned climate change when they reported on wildfires. The answer: not very frequently. Between April and July, just 4 percent of TV reports and 9 percent of print...
Storm forecasts cloud progress against deadly Arizona wildfire
Posted by Reuters: Tim Gaynor on July 3rd, 2013
Reuters: Firefighters labored on Wednesday to extend their grip on a smoldering but still potentially lethal blaze in Arizona that killed 19 members of an elite "hotshots" crew in the deadliest U.S. wildfire tragedy in eight decades.
Strong, erratic winds that earlier had whipped the lightning-sparked fire into a deadly frenzy abated for a second day, helping fire crews make headway in subduing the flames, officials for the firefighting command team told Reuters.
By sundown on Tuesday, a force of some...