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Archive for September 8th, 2013
With Climate Change, Brazil Faces Drop in Crops
Posted by Climate News Network: Jan Rocha on September 8th, 2013
Climate News Network: São Paulo − Higher temperatures, drastic changes in rainfall, lower productivity, more blight and disease − these are just some of the expected consequences of climate change in Brazil if the projections of 345 scientists who make up the Brazilian Panel on Climate Change (PBMC) prove true.
They predict that if present trends in greenhouse gas emissions continue, average temperatures in Brazil will be 3º-6ºC higher by 2100 than they were at the end of the 20
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ALERT! Natural-Born Killer: Stop Scott Walkers Open-Pit Mining Assault upon Wisconsins Water
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on September 8th, 2013
TAKE ACTION!
Governor Scott Walker is waging ecocide upon Wisconsins environment to further his political ambitions, continuing his lifelong political opportunism at the expense of others. Walker signed a bill earlier this year gutting the states mining regulations, designed to clear the way for Gogebic Taconite to dig a massive open-pit iron mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior. By strong-arming the Gogebic mine through Wisconsins most important forest wilderness sacred to native peoples and their water and wild rice, while threatening to foul Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes Walker clearly demonstrates the contempt he holds for nature, truth, justice, and all that stands between him and power. Such callous treatment of the environment will lead to a brief boom for some, followed by a permanent bust of denuded lands and toxic waters, killing wildlife, plants, and future human generations. Please let the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource know the world expects a full environmental impact statement be carried out with the utmost scientific integrity, or for their resignation.
Discuss Alert: http://forests.org/shared/alerts/sendsm.aspx?id=walker_water#discuss
United Kingdom: £2.5m Teesside flood defences ‘overwhelmed’ during downpours
Posted by Guardian: Shiv Malik on September 8th, 2013
Guardian: Multimillion-pound flood protection schemes on Teesside were "overwhelmed" during torrential downpours on Friday evening, leaving 60 homes inundated.
Cleveland fire brigade received nearly 240 calls for help during the flooding, which washed away two cars. Their drivers escaped.
Cathy Kelly, owner of the Spa hotel in Saltburn, said she had never known weather like it. "A couple of cars look like they have come off the road and were completely covered by the water," she said. "There were lots...
Drones Find New Purpose Studying Arctic Ice Melt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2013
Guardian: The logical next step for exploring some of the world's most inhospitable terrain is being taken. Researchers are using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) -- drones -- to explore the last great repositories of ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska.
Researchers are using unmanned aerial vehicles -- drones -- to explore the last great repositories of ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska.
About two dozen universities and research organizations, including NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
Billionaire investor backs anti-Keystone XL TV ad campaign
Posted by Bloomberg: Mark Drajem on September 8th, 2013
Bloomberg: Billionaire U.S. investor Tom Steyer said he is backing a four-part, $1 million advertising campaign aimed at convincing viewers the Keystone XL pipeline will hurt the economy and communities and should be blocked.
The first commercial, airing today during the political talk shows, features Steyer in Port Arthur, Texas, saying much of the oil to be shipped from Alberta to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast would end up being exported.
“Foreign countries will get more access to more oil to...
How Could A Drought Spark A Civil War?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2013
National Public Radio: The background of the Syrian conflict can seem obscure to outsiders, but the spark that started it all is often traced back to the city of Dara'a, in February of 2011.
A group of young people writing Arab Spring protest slogans on a wall are arrested and beaten.
"When that news broke there was a massive demonstration on the street, and that was the first spark one can call of the Syrian uprising," Nayan Chanda tells NPR's Jacki Lyden.
But long before a single shot was fired in Syria, there...
United Kingdom: Cuadrilla’s Balcombe drilling may have broken noise rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2013
Telegraph: A noise monitoring report commissioned by Cuadrilla showed that sound levels during drilling peaked 20pc higher than allowed.
But the report said other "local activity' was probably to blame - as spikes were also seen when it was not drilling - and suggested that protesters and police may also have led to increased noise.
Planners at West Sussex County Council said it was not clear "whether there has been a breach of condition' and that they had pressed Cuadrilla to quieten their operations...
Obama’s Keystone XL Trade-Off: Executive Order Expediting Everything Else
Posted by Huffington Post: Steve Horn on September 8th, 2013
Huffington Post: Large segments of the environmental movement declared a win on Jan. 18, 2012, the dawn of an election year in which partisan fervor reigned supreme.
On that day President Barack Obama kicked the can down the road for permitting TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline's northern half until after the then-forthcoming November 2012 presidential election.
"Northern half" is the key caveat: just two months later, on March 22, 2013 -- even deeper into the weeds of an election year -- President Obama issued...
Climate change will turn Greenland green
Posted by Salon: Rachel Nuwer on September 8th, 2013
Salon: History teachers often point out the humor in Greenland’s name. That northerly land, after all, is anything but green. According to the Icelandic Sagas, Eric the Red–exiled from Iceland for the crime of murder–stumbled upon Greenland’s glacial shores in the late 10th century. Though “Coldland” or “Snowyland” would have been more apt, he dubbed the place “Grnland” in the hopes of luring settlers to the remote outpost with the promise of bountiful forests and fields.
Eric the Red’s false advertising,...
NASA scientists link climate change with increase in wildfires
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on September 8th, 2013
Al Jazeera: The devastating wildfire in Southern California that destroyed 26 homes and threatened hundreds of others in the San Jacinto Mountains before it was mostly contained on Sunday has prompted some scientists to examine whether climate change has impacted on the onset and severity of wildfire season.
The so-called Silver Fire is expected to be fully contained by Monday, according to California officials. But on Friday, as the fire moved toward Palm Springs and threatened some 500 homes, NASA hosted...