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Archive for January, 2014
Australia: Great Barrier Reef will be smothered with silt, because coal
Posted by Grist: John Upton on January 31st, 2014
Grist: Australia`s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park - a supposedly protected natural area containing thousands of reefs, which together are visible from space and attract nearly $6 billion a year in tourism - is a pretty terrible place to dump loads of silt. But it`s happening: The federal agency that governs the reef approved plans to dump up to 3 million cubic meters of silt that will be dredged from the marine park to help carve a superhighway for tankers ferrying coal to Asia.
It`s the final piece...
Posted in 
Report May Ease Way to Approval of Keystone Pipeline
Posted by New York Times: Coral Davenport on January 31st, 2014
New York Times: In his second term, Mr. Obama has sought to make his fight against climate change a cornerstone of his legacy. In a major speech on the environment last summer, Mr. Obama said that he would approve the pipeline only if it would not "significantly exacerbate" the problem of carbon pollution. He said the pipeline's net effects on the climate would be "absolutely critical" to his decision.
The conclusions of the report appear to indicate that the project has passed Mr. Obama's climate criteria,...
United Kingdom: High tides and strong winds prompt flood warning for 1,000 miles of coast
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris on January 31st, 2014
Guardian: Residents along more than 1,000 miles of the British coastline were warned to expect serious flooding this weekend as high tides coincided with 60mph winds and a heavy Atlantic swell to create a possible storm surge.
The Environment Agency issued nine severe flood warnings – meaning danger to life – for the whole of the Cornish coast, parts of Devon and villages on the River Severn in Gloucestershire.
Natural Resources Wales said the whole of the Welsh coastline could be hit by storms as bad...
Keystone report raises pressure on Obama to approve pipeline
Posted by Reuters: Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason on January 31st, 2014
Reuters: Pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline increased on Friday after a State Department report played down the impact it would have on climate change, irking environmentalists and delighting the project's proponents.
The agency made no recommendation on whether Obama should grant or deny an application by TransCanada Corp to build the $5.4 billion line, which would transport crude from Alberta's oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
But the State Department...
TransCanada lauds U.S. review of Keystone XL project
Posted by Reuters: Scott Haggett and Julie Gordon on January 31st, 2014
Reuters: TransCanada Corp's chief executive welcomed a favorable U.S. environmental review of the company's Keystone XL project on Friday, calling the report an important milestone for the final approval of the controversial pipeline.
The U.S. State Department issued its long-awaited Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the $5.3 billion pipeline project on Friday. It concluded that allowing the line to proceed would not raise the pace of development in Canada's oil sands, a key argument...
Keystone report raises pressure Obama approve pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2014
Reuters: Pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline increased on Friday after a State Department report played down the impact it would have on climate change, irking environmentalists and delighting proponents of the project. The agency made no recommendation in its report on whether Obama should grant or deny an application by TransCanada Corp to build the $5.4 billion line, which would transport crude from Alberta's oil sands to U.S. refineries. But the State Department said...
Is Fracking About to Arrive on Your Doorstep?
Posted by Tom Dispatch: Ellen Cantarow on January 31st, 2014
Tom Dispatch: What kind of world is this? In China, an almost 1,350 square mile freshwater lake -- that’s more than four times the size of New York City -- recently dried up due to an ongoing drought. In the high Sierra of America’s West, bears have forgone hibernating as a result of (what were once, at least) unseasonably warm conditions. Across the continent in Maine, increasing ocean acidity is thought to be behind the spread of coastal “dead mud” which may have “disastrous implications for clammers, lobstermen,...
California drought linked global warming
Posted by Summit Voice: Bob Berwyn on January 31st, 2014
Summit Voice: While drought conditions have eased across parts of the U.S. in recent months, conditions have worsened in the far West, and particularly in California, where water shortages will have consequences spreading far beyond the state`s borders. And the western drought has global warming fingerprints all over, according to four researchers who discussed the links between climate change and drought at a teleconference organized by Climate Nexus, a communications group focused on highlighting the wide-ranging...
Rising carbon dioxide affecting health fish living on Great Barrier Reef
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2014
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: MARK COLVIN: Queensland researchers say rising carbon dioxide levels are causing worsening health effects for fish living on the Great Barrier Reef. A James Cook University study has found the changed water quality is affecting the eyesight of some reef fish.
A conservation group says the findings are a further reminder of the extraordinary pressure being placed on the reef.
Caitlyn Gribbin has more.
CAITLYN GRIBBIN: The Great Barrier Reef is a case study for climate change and its impact....
Global warming: Northern Ireland’s call to action revealed
Posted by Belfast Telegraph: Linda Stewart on January 31st, 2014
Belfast Telegraph: Northern Ireland could face a stark future of floods, water shortages and power cuts as climate change tightens its grip.
The warning comes in a new blueprint for how the province must adapt to meet the impact of climate change – the region's first Climate Change Adaptation Programme.
More than 60,000 properties across Northern Ireland already lie within areas at risk of flooding, meaning one in 18 properties is at risk if an extreme event does occur.
By the 2050s mean winter and summer...