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Archive for November 17th, 2013
Large tornado touches down near Peoria, Illinois
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2013
Reuters: A large tornado touched down outside Peoria, Illinois, on Sunday as an expansive storm threatened parts of the Midwest, U.S. meteorologists said.
"A confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado" was spotted near Washington, Illinois, located about 145 miles southwest of Chicago, the National Weather Service said, noting that the twister was moving northeast at about 55 miles per hour.
The weather service advised that it would affect mainly rural areas, with mobile homes likely to be destroyed...
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Canada: Protestors alarmed by Line 9, climate change
Posted by Waterloo Record: Greg Mercer on November 17th, 2013
Waterloo Record: Armed with placards, homemade banners and other protest signs, demonstrators descended on MP Peter Braid's office Saturday to draw attention to climate change, the oil sands and the contentious Line 9 pipeline project.
The group, which numbered about 50, solicited the occasional honk from passersby as they huddled on the sidewalk in Uptown Waterloo. The gathering was one of about 125 similar protests across the country organized on the weekend by Lead Now.
They're worried about environmental...
EPA weighs environmental consequences of ethanol with proposed cuts
Posted by PBS: None Given on November 17th, 2013
PBS: SUMMARY The EPA announced that better fuel efficiency has led to proposed cuts in the amount of ethanol required to be blended into gasoline next year. These changes come amid revelations over the environmental impact of increased U.S. corn production. Hari Sreenivasan examines the story with Dina Cappiello of the Associated Press.
Transcript
JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: the changing requirements for ethanol in gasoline and bigger questions over its wider use in recent years.
Today, the Obama administration...
$900m risk in Caribbean from rising sea levels
Posted by Tribune: None Given on November 17th, 2013
Tribune: RISING sea levels could cause the tourism industry to lose almost $900 million a year by 2050, says a research group.
Sea rise, surge or erosion could cause as much as 1,200 square miles of Caribbean coastal land to be lost along with damage or destruction of half of the major tourist resorts.
A report by the Inter-American Development Bank titled “Climate Change’s Impact on the Caribbean’s Ability to Sustain Tourism, Natural Assets, and Livelihoods” forecasts the destruction unless Caribbean...
Does climate change mean less ice on Lake Superior?
Posted by WDIO: None Given on November 17th, 2013
WDIO: Representative Rick Nolan and nearly 100 residents filled a UMD lecture hall for a climate change forum on Saturday.
Lake Superior hasn't seen significant ice yet this year, and local scientists said it will see less ice in the future.
"We have our cold winters. We have our warm winters, but progressively, steadily we're going to see more of the warm and less of the cold. We're going to see overall a decrease in the ice cover on Lake Superior,' Professor Tom Johnson said.
Johnson is a regent...
Who will become the world’s first climate change refugee?
Posted by Globe and Mail: Robert McLeman on November 17th, 2013
Globe and Mail: Ioane Teitiota was not seeking fame when he moved to New Zealand, but he is now getting it. He is the first person, so far as is known, to request asylum in a common-law country on the basis of being a climate change refugee.
A native of Kiribati - a small island state in the South Pacific - Mr. Teitiota went to New Zealand several years ago as a legal guest worker, but he stayed on and his visa expired. He has now asked the New Zealand government to refrain from sending him and his family back...
Climate rallies held across Australia
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on November 17th, 2013
Guardian: An estimated 60,000 people have attended rallies across Australia in one of the largest ever displays of support for action on climate change.
Labor and Greens politicians, alongside volunteer firefighters and environmental activists, took turns at the Climate Action Day to lambast the Coalition government, which will table bills in parliament on Monday to dismantle carbon pricing.
Around 25,000 people gathered on Sunday in the Melbourne sunshine, with Labor's environment spokesman, Mark Butler,...
Villagers mob U.S. aid choppers as Philippine relief effort spreads
Posted by Reuters: Aubrey Belford on November 17th, 2013
Reuters: Mobbed by hungry villagers, U.S. military helicopters dropped desperately needed aid into remote areas of the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines, as survivors of the disaster flocked to ruined churches on Sunday to pray for their uncertain future.
The Philippines is facing up to an enormous rebuilding task from Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 3,974 people and left 1,186 missing, with many isolated communities yet to receive significant aid despite a massive international relief effort....
Australia: Protesters brave rain for climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2013
AAP: The federal government was "sacrificing the planet for politics" by not taking stronger action to combat climate change, a rally in Sydney has been told.
Outlaw bikie shot in parents' driveway 36 minutes ago Shot Vic bikie has Hells Angels links 38 minutes ago Passenger jet crashes in Russia, kills 50 One hour ago Dinosaurs brought to life by parents Victoria's Secret angels take flight Victim writes hilarious apology letter to burglars
Thousands of protesters, many in plastic ponchos or huddling...
Water is too precious a resource to be squandered
Posted by Guardian: Richard Benyon on November 17th, 2013
Guardian: As environment minister in the spring of 2012, I was warned that the chance of avoiding a massive drought was about 3%. The two preceding winters were so dry that levels in reservoirs and the aquifers were dangerously low. Anything approaching normal summer rainfall that year meant a huge economic, social and environmental nightmare. We had been planning for the impact of the drought for 18 months before this conversation but as the summer drew near I started to wonder how we were going to keep the...