RSS Feed
Archive for July 24th, 2013
Marsh: Infrastructure investors overlooking climate threats
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on July 24th, 2013
BusinessGreen: Infrastructure investors are still failing to adequately consider the impact of climate change when making long term investments, leaving energy, transport, and communications developments exposed to mounting physical risks, insurance broking giant Marsh has warned. A new report by the risk management specialist says the climate resilience of infrastructure assets such as new power stations, railways, or broadband networks, should be more widely considered at the project's inception, as well as...
Posted in 
How the White House watered down rules on coal-plant water pollution
Posted by Grist: David Roberts on July 24th, 2013
Grist: Coal power plants are the biggest source of toxic water pollution in the U.S., mainly via coal combustion waste, which is the ash and sludge left over after burning the coal and filtering the exhaust (to keep the pollutants out of the air). Combustion waste contains heavy metals like lead and mercury that never degrade - they just "bioaccumulate" up the food chain until they reach us, doing untold damage along the way.
This week, a coalition of green groups released a report [PDF] about water...
Louisiana agency sues big oil firms for hurting wetlands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 24th, 2013
Reuters: A Louisiana agency sued 97 oil companies - including BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc - in state court on Wednesday for allegedly damaging hundreds of miles of sensitive wetlands by cutting through them with pipelines and transportation canals.
The suit demands the oil industry pay for or remediate environmental damages stemming from decades of work that allegedly caused erosion and hurt coastal wetlands - which experts say serve as critical buffers during floods...
Indonesia’s Palm Oil Industry Rife With Human-Rights Abuses
Posted by Bloomberg: E. Benjamin Skinner on July 24th, 2013
Bloomberg: “What kind of oil should we buy?” Luo Xiaohua shouts to her cousin from the cooking oil aisle in Yonghui Supermarket in the heart of Chongqing, a rising Chinese megacity. Luo, 50, is the quintessential Chinese shopper. She earns $3,250 a year and has an elementary education. She’s fiercely opinionated about her purchases.
Luo stands before amber-hued bottles loaded with a commodity that fuels China’s and India’s growing consumer classes. “From what I understand, all of these brands contain palm...
State senator slams California for lack of oil drilling oversight
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 24th, 2013
Reuters: California oil and gas regulators have failed to monitor practices used to access shale oil, including the injection of dangerous chemicals underground, a state senator said Thursday, urging passage of her proposed oversight legislation.
Fran Pavley, chair of the Senate committee on Natural Resources and Water, said she was discouraged by the responses she received from the state's oil and gas well regulator to her inquiry about the use of corrosive acid to dissolve rock and unlock oil in California's...
Canada: Climate change caused Calgary, Ontario flooding: Poll
Posted by Toronto Star: None Given on July 24th, 2013
Toronto Star: Climate change caused by human activities was behind the flooding in Calgary and the recent storms in central Ontario. That’s the belief of 53 per cent of Canadians polled July 23 by Forum Research.
It’s also a belief more common among women (59 per cent) than men.
In addition, eight in 10 of those polled believe the Earth’s climate overall is changing.
Forum Research polled 1,782 Canadians who were 18 or over.
The political backgrounds of those polled were also registered. Apparently,...
China’s coal-fired economy dying of thirst as mines lack water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 24th, 2013
Bloomberg: At first glance, Daliuta in northern China appears to have a river running through it. A closer look reveals the stretch of water in the center is a pond, dammed at both ends. Beyond the barriers, the Wulanmulun’s bed is dry.
Daliuta in Shaanxi province sits on top of the world’s biggest underground coal mine, which requires millions of liters of water a day for extracting, washing and processing the fuel. The town is the epicenter of a looming collision between China’s increasingly scarce supplies...
Study says UK to see more flooding
Posted by Summit Voice: Bob Berwyn on July 24th, 2013
Summit Voice: Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are likely to drive more frequent and intense flooding in the UK, as global warming increases the threat of atmospheric rivers in mid-latitudes.
In their study, researchers, from the University of Reading and University of Iowa found that the number of atmospheric river events will probably double by late this century, compared to the number of events between 1980 ad 2005.
The study was published July 24 in IOP Publishing`s Environmental Research...
“Stable” Antarctic Permafrost Melting Faster than Expected, Researchers Say
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on July 24th, 2013
Nature World News: The stable ice on Antarctic- the coastal permafrost- is melting faster than expected, a new study reported. Researchers said that the melting rate of the coastal Antarctic permafrost is now similar to the melt rate of permafrost at Arctic.
The permafrost in Antarctic was considered to be in equilibrium, meaning that it did melt and refreeze, but its mass remained the same. The regions experienced a cooling trend in the past decade and now have stable temperatures.
However, researchers have...
Worse floods ahead for UK as climate warms, say scientists
Posted by Guardian: Paul Brown on July 24th, 2013
Guardian: Heavy and prolonged rainfall will cause both more frequent and more severe flooding across the UK and the rest of north-west Europe as the atmosphere continues to warm, say British and American scientists
The study of these "atmospheric rivers", published in Environmental Research Letters, pins the blame for the increasing flood risk firmly on man-made climate change and says the same problem will afflict other parts of the planet.
The researchers describe how atmospheric rivers carry vast...