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Archive for January, 2014
West Virginia water declared safe but smell – and fear – lingers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2014
Associated Press: The smell lingers -- the slightly sweet, slightly bitter odour of a chemical that contaminated the water supply of West Virginia's capital more than a week ago. It creeps out of faucets and shower heads. It wafts from the Elk River, the site of the spill. Sometimes it hangs in the cold night-time air.
For several days, a majority of Charleston-area residents have been told their water is safe to drink, that the concentration of a chemical used to wash coal is so low that it will not be harmful....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on West Virginia water declared safe but smell – and fear – lingersChemical Spill Muddies Picture in State Wary of Regulations
Posted by New York Times: Trip Gabriel, Michael Wines and Coral Davenport on January 18th, 2014
New York Times: Here in West Virginia, residents were still reeling from the chemical spill that left more than 300,000 people without usable water for days, many of them still frightened and unsure whether official assurances that they could once again drink tap water or bathe their children were true. But in Washington on Wednesday, among friends at an event sponsored by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, West Virginia’s junior senator and former governor, Joe Manchin III, was preaching a familiar...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chemical Spill Muddies Picture in State Wary of RegulationsDrowned by EU millions: Thought ‘extreme weather’ was to blame for the floods?
Posted by Daily Mail: George Monbiot on January 18th, 2014
Daily Mail: We all know what's gone wrong, or we think we do: not enough spending on flood defences. It's true that government cuts have exposed thousands of homes to greater risk, but too little public spending is a small part of the problem.
It is dwarfed by another factor, overlooked in public discussion: too much public spending.
Vast amounts, running into billions, are spent every year on policies that make devastating floods inevitable. This is the story that has not been told, a story of destructive...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drowned by EU millions: Thought ‘extreme weather’ was to blame for the floods?Hydropower struggle: Dams threaten Europe last wild rivers
Posted by Spiegel: Philip Bethge on January 18th, 2014
Spiegel: Europe's last remaining wild rivers flow through the Balkans, providing stunning scenery and habitat to myriad plants and animals. But hundreds of dam projects threaten to do irreparable harm to the region's unique biospheres -- to provide much needed electricity to the people who live there. How did Europe's rivers look before they were tamed -- back when they were allowed to flow freely through the beds they spent centuries carving out? Most of the Continent's waterways, like the Elbe, the Rhine...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hydropower struggle: Dams threaten Europe last wild riversGovernor declares drought emergency in California
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on January 18th, 2014
Al Jazeera: It’s official: California is in a drought emergency.
Gov. Jerry Brown made the long-awaited emergency declaration Friday morning in San Francisco, a day after legislators and hundreds of farmers from parched districts in Northern California and the Central Valley rallied on the steps of the Capitol in Sacramento.
"We are in an unprecedented, very serious situation," Brown said.
The governor asked Californians to reduce their water consumption by 20 percent.
"We're heading for a train...
Great Lakes mayors join forces to adapt to climate change
Posted by CTV: None Given on January 18th, 2014
CTV: The provincial government is supporting a new program launched by members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in an effort to adapt their municipalities to climate change.
The one time, $145,000 grant will help develop the Municipal Adaptation and Resilience Service or MARS program.
The goal of MARS is to give member municipalities a portal where they can share information to help them adapt and prepare for major environmental events such as storms and flooding.
Recent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Great Lakes mayors join forces to adapt to climate changeStudy sheds light on effects of clouds on warming
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on January 18th, 2014
Climate News Network: Australian and French scientists believe they have cracked one of the great puzzles of climate change and arrived at a more accurate prediction of future temperatures.
One of the great unknowns of climate science is what effect clouds have in accelerating or slowing warming. A new study sheds light on their possible impact.
The news is not good, according to Steven Sherwood of Australia's Centre for Excellence for Climate System Science at the University of New South Wales. If carbon emissions...
Becker, White House staff meet on pressing climate change challenges
Posted by Deseret News: Amy Joi O'Donoghue on January 18th, 2014
Deseret News: The White House came to town on Friday to hear what climate change challenges are uniquely problematic for Salt Lake City: air pollution, wildland fires, and protecting the watershed.
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker hosted White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley during a discussion on choices leaders can make to craft more climate-resistant communities, and where and how the federal government should...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Becker, White House staff meet on pressing climate change challengesAustralia: Bees not coping with extreme weather
Posted by Examiner: Jayne Richardson on January 18th, 2014
Examiner: EXTREME weather conditions this year have wreaked havoc on the honey industry nationwide.
Honey Tasmania manager Tristan Campbell says the honey season is shorter in Tasmania and apiarists across the state are averaging about 30 per cent of their annual yield.
EXTREME weather conditions this year have wreaked havoc on the honey industry nationwide.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council said this year's wet spring and hot summer would deliver the lowest national honey yields for 10 years...
Australia fire chief says ‘worst behind us’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2014
Agence France-Presse: The worst of the bushfires in Australia's state of Victoria appeared to be over Saturday, officials said, as firefighters battling the blazes welcomed cooler conditions after days of extreme heat.
Four homes were lost in a fire in the Grampians region, in western Victoria, where a massive 52,000-hectare blaze had threatened townships and prompted the evacuation of holiday spots.
Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the fires across the state, most of which were sparked by lightning,...