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Archive for December 7th, 2013
United Kingdom: The destruction of our forests
Posted by Telegraph: Andrew Gilligan on December 7th, 2013
Telegraph: The woods at South Cubbington, near Leamington Spa, have a wild pear tree, the largest in England, which was young during the French Revolution, and middle-aged before Leamington Spa even existed. After 250 years, it is about to be chopped down to save 23 minutes on the journey to Birmingham.
Walk five yards into Mantles Wood, near Great Missenden, and you are transported in time. The noise and sight of the world fades out and you are among woodland that has been in this place since the year 1600...
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Half-million homes at risk are not covered by flood scheme
Posted by Guardian: Mark Townsend on December 7th, 2013
Guardian: Almost half the homes deemed at serious risk from flooding will not be covered under the government's new flood insurance scheme because officials have decided to omit the future impact of climate change.
As the cleanup continues on coastlines inundated by the worst tidal surge for 60 years, it has emerged that the government's flood insurance deal, Flood Re, is likely to cover just 500,000 homes.
Yet the government's owncomprehensive Climate Change Impact Assessment reveals that, when factoring...
Storm victims urged avoid contact with floodwaters as they return home
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 7th, 2013
Guardian: Communities affected by the most devastating tidal surge in 60 years along the coast of Britain have been warned to avoid direct contact with floodwater and beware of rats moving into homes.
Thousands of people who were evacuated from their homes will be assessing the damage after being allowed to return to their properties yesterday.
A major clean-up operation is under way after the Environment Agency said 1,400 homes were flooded, including 300 in Boston, Lincolnshire, alone.
In Suffolk,...
Biodiversity Quality, Not Quantity, Is Key To Preserving Salt Marsh Ecosystems
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 7th, 2013
RedOrbit: Scientists have believed for years that preserving more species, no matter which ones, was a key component to enhancing how well an ecosystem performs. A research team from Duke University and the University of Massachusetts at Boston investigating biodiversity loss in a salt marsh says that this isn`t quite right.
Their findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that it`s not just the total number of species preserved that matters, it`s the number of key species....
Canada: Cracking the carbon conundrum
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 7th, 2013
Edmonton Journal: It’s Alberta’s biggest environmental battle -- to reduce the rising greenhouse gases in the oilsands -- and former oil executive Eric Newell is running a global search for some silver bullets.
Newell also knows it’s a race against time.
At this critical juncture, while the U.S. and all other industrialized countries are reducing carbon emissions to combat global warming, Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions just keep rising.
Those emissions are a major reason Canada won’t meet its international...
Messed up migrations
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 7th, 2013
Living on Earth: From the wildebeest to the monarch butterfly, this year many of the world's great animal migrations are out of whack. Migration expert and Princeton Ecology professor David Wilcove joins host Steve Curwood to discuss what's going on. Transcript CURWOOD: Some of the most awe-inspiring spectacles of the natural world are the migrations of creatures great and small - from turtles and terns, to butterflies and beasts. But this year some of the world's most famous migrations seem to be out of sorts....
Global warming vs. wildlife in Pennsylvania
Posted by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: None Given on December 7th, 2013
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Who doesn’t remember going on their first deer hunt or seeing their first moose? Hunting and observing wildlife has long been an important part of our country’s rich natural heritage. The success we’ve had in restoring big-game populations has been largely due to the millions of dollars generated from the sale of sporting licenses as well as a self-imposed excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition. Our state fish and wildlife agencies have wisely used this vital source of conservation funding to...
UK weather: Thousands unable to return home after houses ruined by floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 7th, 2013
Telegraph: Thousands of people will be forced to spend another night away from their homes this evening after the worst tidal surge for more than 60 years caused heavy flooding and travel chaos throughout the country.
Families across the East Coast are sheltering in evacuation centres, while shopkeepers were assessing stock damage and counting the cost of the dramatic coastal floods.
Although floodwaters are said to be receding, the Government warned the danger was not over and there would be "exceptionally...
Drought conditions return to Australia’s eastern states
Posted by Conversation: None Given on December 7th, 2013
Conversation: While much of Australia has received average to above average rainfall over recent months, parts of Australia such as western Queensland are in the middle of a drought.
Drought has been a feature of the Australian climate throughout its recorded history. But compared with other parts of the world, Australia is not as dry as you might think. None of the drier parts of Australia average less than 100 millimetres of rain a year, while parts of the Sahara and South America’s Atacama desert receive...
Federal Flood Maps Left New York Unprepared For Sandy — And FEMA Knew It
Posted by Huffington Post: Al Shaw, Theodoric Meyer and Christie Thompson on December 7th, 2013
Huffington Post: When Patrice and Philip Morgan bought a house near the ocean in Brooklyn, they were not particularly worried about the threat of flooding.
Federal maps showed their home was outside the area at a high risk of flood damage. For that reason, the government did not require them to buy flood insurance, a cost imposed on neighbors on more vulnerable blocks.
Even so, the couple decided to raise their house four feet to protect their basement from the effects of heavy rain storms.
“We thought we...