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Archive for January, 2014
After typhoon, Philippines faces one of most profound resettlement crises in decades
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Washington Post: The typhoon that recently barreled through the Philippines has left in its wake one of the most profound resettlement crises in decades, with the number of newly homeless far exceeding the capacity of aid groups and the government to respond.
Two months after one of the strongest typhoons on record, recovery in the central Philippines has been marked by a desperate scramble for shelter, as people return to the same areas that were ravaged and construct weaker, leakier and sometimes rotting versions...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on After typhoon, Philippines faces one of most profound resettlement crises in decades4 states confirm water pollution from fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Associated Press: In at least four states that have nurtured the nation's energy boom, hundreds of complaints have been made about well-water contamination from oil or gas drilling, and pollution was confirmed in a number of them, according to a review that casts doubt on industry suggestions that such problems rarely happen.
The Associated Press requested data on drilling-related complaints in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Texas and found major differences in how the states report such problems. Texas...
Britain faces another barrage of rain as coast counts the cost of ‘worst storms in 20 years’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Independent: Areas of southern England and Wales already devastated by floods will be battered by another barrage of rain over the next 24 hours, the Met Office has warned.
After a series of winter storms described by experts as the worst to hit Britain in more than 20 years, between 10mm and 15mm of rain, and up to 30mm on higher ground, is expected in southern England before moving north-eastwards. Heavy rain is also expected in parts of Northern Island and Scotland.
The Environment Agency has issued...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Britain faces another barrage of rain as coast counts the cost of ‘worst storms in 20 years’Owen Paterson alarms campaigners with plan to build on ancient woods
Posted by Telegraph: Tim Ross on January 5th, 2014
Telegraph: Developers will be given "carte blanche' to concrete over swathes of irreplaceable ancient woodland under proposals to ease planning restrictions on building in the countryside, campaigners have warned.
Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, is facing a backlash after suggesting that developers should be allowed to bulldoze historic woods to make way for new homes if they promise to plant trees elsewhere.
MPs and countryside campaigners have reacted furiously to the plans, which they say...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Owen Paterson alarms campaigners with plan to build on ancient woodsBracing for Carp in Great Lakes, but Debating Their Presence
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
New York Times: After decades of increasingly dire warnings, countless studies and countermeasures, scientists are beginning to mull over hints of something that few of them wish to contemplate: The despised Asian carp may have finally arrived in the Great Lakes. “May have” are the operative words. The latest hint consists of a single water sample, one of scores taken last May from Lake Michigan, that tested positive for remnants of DNA from one particularly destructive species, silver carp. Experts debate the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bracing for Carp in Great Lakes, but Debating Their PresenceUK storms ‘worst in 20 years’ & more on the way
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Guardian: The UK is enduring the worst series of winter storms in more than 20 years, weather experts have said, as the country prepares for even more flooding.
The Environment Agency has issued 96 flood warnings throughout England and Wales urging people to take immediate action, while a further 244 areas are on flood alert.
Coastal areas -- particularly in southern England -- are most at risk as they cope with a combination of unusually high tides and another Atlantic storm on Sunday.
Forecaster...
United Kingdom: Relief as flood defences hold, but the storms aren’t over yet
Posted by Guardian: Tracy McVeigh on January 5th, 2014
Guardian: As the rain eased over the Dorset coast yesterday, and the last police officers with their loudhailers left the Portland peninsula, the landlady of the Little Ship was happy to have a dry pub to open up.
"The police came last night and said there was going to be a 10ft swell and we should move upstairs as soon as we heard the sirens," said Linda Davis, who runs the pub in the village of Chiswell, where there had been plans to evacuate residents last night ahead of an expected tidal surge.
"They...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Relief as flood defences hold, but the storms aren’t over yetAs Britain counts cost of extreme weather, the forecast is there’s more to come
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Independent: Areas of southern England and Wales already devastated by floods will be battered by another barrage of rain over the next 24 hours, the Met Office has warned.
After two weeks of gales and mass flooding over the Christmas and New Year period, between 10mm and 15mm of rain, and up to 30mm on higher ground, is expected to hit southern England before moving north-eastwards. Heavy rain is also expected in parts of Northern Island and Scotland.
Heavy rain yesterday afternoon and into the early evening...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As Britain counts cost of extreme weather, the forecast is there’s more to comeExtensive salvage logging proposed for Rim fire area
Posted by LA Times: Bettina Boxall on January 4th, 2014
LA Times: The U.S. Forest Service is proposing an extensive salvage operation to log dead trees on about 46 square miles of timberland charred in last year's massive Rim fire in the Sierra Nevada.
The project would be one of the largest federal salvage efforts in California in years. If approved, it could yield more lumber than the combined annual output of all the national forests in the state.
But it is already triggering a fight by some environmentalists who argue that the post-fire logging would...
Central Valley sinks parched farms wring water from aquifers
Posted by Greenwire: Debra Kahn on January 4th, 2014
Greenwire: A large swath of Central Valley is sinking as farms pump groundwater in the face of searing drought, sparking a scramble for solutions as forecasts show no end to dry conditions. So says the U.S. Geological Survey, whose research shows land near the San Joaquin River sank by nearly a foot per year from 2008 to 2010, one of the most dramatic rates ever measured in the San Joaquin Valley. Using satellite imagery, scientists identified a sinking bowl that sprawls more than 1,200 square miles and includes...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Central Valley sinks parched farms wring water from aquifers