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Archive for August 26th, 2013
South Africa Shale Pits Shell Against Sheep Farmers
Posted by Bloomberg: Paul Burkhardt on August 26th, 2013
Bloomberg: Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s shale gas drilling plans for South Africa’s Karoo semi-desert are pitting the government and its energy goals against farmers and conservationists like billionaire Johann Rupert who say the land will be spoiled.
The government estimates enough gas can be discovered to generate 1 trillion rand ($100 billion) of sales within three decades and help bring a country that imports 70 percent of its crude oil needs closer to supplying its own energy demand. Landowners are...
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Silicon Valley water district moves to join global warming divestment movement
Posted by San Jose Mercury News: Paul Rogers on August 26th, 2013
San Jose Mercury News: In the 1980s, hundreds of American cities, states and universities sold their investments in South African companies as part of a protest against that country's former apartheid government.
Now, environmental groups are trying to duplicate that effort, but with global warming polluters in the role of villain. And, just as with South African divestment a generation ago, the Bay Area is at the head of the parade again, prompting cheers from environmentalists and jeers from skeptics who say the whole...
How Sequoias Survive Wildfires
Posted by National Geographic: Brian Clark Howard on August 26th, 2013
National Geographic: As the Rim Fire rages in and around Yosemite National Park, biologists have taken steps to protect two groves of giant sequoia trees. One tree expert suspects, however, that the measures have more to do with public relations than with sound forest policy.
The Rim Fire has burned for nine days, razing 134,000 acres, which makes it one of the biggest blazes in California's history. The flames have largely been confined to Yosemite's remote northwestern section, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from...
Britain’s Furor Over Fracking
Posted by New York Times: Roger Cohen on August 26th, 2013
New York Times: The lovely green hills of the High Weald are Tory country, a corner of West Sussex full of affluent residents who commute to London and like their golf and ambles and thatched cottages. So it is a surprise, in this conservative heartland, to stumble on an encampment of hundreds of activists, foraging in the hedgerows for edible greens, sawing wood for fires, playing flutes and generally enacting a kind of mini-Woodstock. But peace and love are not the story. This is the heavily policed front line...
Yosemite Fire an Example of How Droughts Amplify Wildfires
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on August 26th, 2013
Climate Central: The massive Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park in California is an example of how drought can amplify wildfires in a warming, drying West.
The fire, which now ranks as the 14th-largest wildfire in state history, has been racing through parched stands of oak and pine trees, and threatening some of the region's iconic giant sequoia trees. The vegetation in the area, and indeed across much of central and southern California, is extremely dry, as the state has experienced its driest year-to-date....
250 Groups Call on EPA to Ban Endocrine-Disrupting Atrazine
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on August 26th, 2013
EcoWatch: A diverse coalition of more than 250 conservation, public-health and sustainable farming groups sent a letter today asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban atrazine, a toxic pesticide that threatens wildlife and people across the country.
The Center for Biological Diversity also submitted comments today from more than 38,000 people asking the EPA to immediately stop use of this endocrine-disrupting poison in the U.S.
“We need to get this dangerous pesticide out of our water...
Is the NSA surveillance program really about spying on environmentalists?
Posted by Grist: None Given on August 26th, 2013
Grist: At the Guardian, Nafeez Ahmed, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development, has an idea about what might be driving the massive expansion of the NSA’s domestic surveillance program that we’ve learned so much about lately. It’s not concerns about religious fundamentalists who hate America. Instead, he suggests, the government is worried about environmental activism: But why have Western security agencies developed such an unprecedented capacity to spy on their own domestic...
Climate Change Warning: 20 Cities With The Most To Lose From Rising Seas
Posted by Weather Channel: Terrell Johnson on August 26th, 2013
Weather Channel: Coastal cities around the world face a two-pronged problem: On one hand, there's a march of migration toward the coasts as people increasingly leave rural areas and move into urban areas, in search of better jobs and education.
On the other, global sea levels are steadily rising, even as the construction of big buildings and the extraction of groundwater puts pressure on the land, a phenomenon called subsidence that's being viewed with increasing alarm in places from Louisiana to Indonesia.
And...
Explained in 90 Seconds: How Climate Change Fuels Wildfires
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2013
Atlantic: From the Rim fire currently engulfing California to the Black Forest fire that burned more than 500 homes in Colorado, wildfires are becoming more destructive. In this video, Matthew Hurteau—assistant professor of forest resources at Penn State University—explains how warming temperatures, prolonged drought, and a century's worth of fire suppression policy are "priming the system to make it more flammable." After you watch the video, be sure to check out Climate Desk's detailed explainer on the...
Massive Rim Fire Continues to Reshape Lives and Topography
Posted by LA Times: Diana Marcum and Samantha Schaefer on August 26th, 2013
LA Times: On Day 9, the sweeping Rim fire reshaped lives and topography from pristine wilderness areas to a famed national park to mountain communities that could be in the direct line of fire, depending at any moment on which way the wind blew. In Groveland, Abby Esteres nervously puffed on a cigarette Sunday morning after her first night back in her Pine Lake Mountain home. "I haven't been able to eat not knowing if our house burned down or not," said the 27-year-old housekeeper, who went through a week...