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Archive for February 13th, 2014
Thames breaks records for water flow
Posted by BBC: Matt McGrath on February 13th, 2014
BBC: The amount of water flowing through the Thames this January was the highest recorded for that month since records began in 1883.
New data from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) shows that the rate of water flow has now exceeded 275 metres per second for more than 50 days.
his is nearly twice the record duration for sustained high flow.
The CEH says that Southern Britain is likely to have the wettest winter ever recorded
Scientists from the Centre measure water flow on all the...
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Flood simple: the UK flooding crisis explained
Posted by Guardian: Damian Carrington and Steven Morris on February 13th, 2014
Guardian: The only way now into the heart of the village of Moorland on the Somerset Levels, the epicentre of the unprecedented battering Britain is taking from the elements, is in an amphibious vehicle or on a tractor trailer. Mark and Kate Kirby were using the tractor trailer method to take another look at their four-bedroomed semi, which had never flooded in its 150-year history, but is now waist-deep in water.
“It’s got worse,” said Mr Kirby, a wholesale fruit and veg supplier after his latest trip...
Australian Bushfire Has Grown to Size of Melbourne, NASA Image Shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2014
Yale Environment 360: A fire rivaling the size of the city of Melbourne is raging in southeastern Australia, as a NASA satellite image taken at night earlier this week shows. The Snowy River Complex Fire, which is burning mountain forests near a remote national park, is one of three bushfires that flared up last weekend. Fueled by strong winds combined with a heat wave and prolonged dry conditions, the three fires have consumed more than 180,000 hectares (695 square miles), about 100,000 (390 square miles) of which burned...
It hasn’t rained this much in England in 248 years
Posted by Grist: Sarah Laskow on February 13th, 2014
Grist: England is known as a rainy place. But the incredible spate of storms and flooding that have knocked out parts of the rail system, turn the lights off, washed away part of the coast, and depressed the hell out of penguins are not normal. According to ClimateWire, the Met office, which covers U.K. climate and weather, reported this week that it hasn’t been this rainy since the 1700s:
"For England and Wales this was one of, if not the most, exceptional periods of winter rainfall in at least 248...
Another day, another big coal-industry spill ruins a river
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 13th, 2014
Grist: The coal power industry has dumped a lot of toxic crap into yet another river. This latest incident is not to be confused with the spill of toxic coal-cleaning chemicals that poisoned a West Virginia river last month and left 300,000 people without drinking water. Nor is it to be confused with a huge coal-ash spill from a retired power plant in North Carolina earlier this month.
No, this is a whole new spill.
Patriot Coal accidentally let more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry loose from...
Communities Demand Environmental Review of Plans to Increase Transport of Tar Sands Oil by Rail and Barge
Posted by EcoWatch: Riverkeeper on February 13th, 2014
EcoWatch: Citizens, local community leaders and environmental groups, representing thousands of area residents, mobilized to call on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to immediately order a full public safety and environmental review of the proposed expansion of an oil terminal in the Port of Albany today at the agency’s first information forum to allow the public to ask questions and express concerns about the plan.
A DOT-111 car, which is currently the type of train car...
Large Washington state coal terminal set for environmental review
Posted by OPB: Cassandra Profita on February 13th, 2014
OPB: The coal export terminal proposed for the Columbia River town of Longview, Wash. is moving to the next phase in the environmental review process.
The Washington Department of Ecology announced Wednesday what environmental impacts it will consider in its review of the Millennium Bulk Terminal, which will move more than 40 million tons of coal from trains onto ships. At maximum capacity, 16 trains will service the terminal every day, traveling to and from the coal mines of the Powder River Basin...
Tanzania turns on spending tap ease water shortages
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2014
Reuters: When Lucas Mahiga still fished a decade ago, there was more water in the Kilombero Valley's Mkele River and catches were good. But now water levels have dropped, making it impossible to earn a living as a fisherman.
"I have stopped fishing, and I'm now engaged in fruit and vegetable farming,' Mahiga said.
The 52-year-old, who lives in Chisano village in Tanzania's eastern Morogoro region, recalls better times when the river was home to different fish species, most of which have now died off...
Brazil’s coffee belt grapples with rare threat: Dry heat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2014
Reuters: In Brazil's coffee belt, frost has long been the biggest risk for farmers and commodities traders alike. But after years of migrating to warmer regions, farmers here now find themselves scrambling to overcome an unusual phenomenon: blistering heat.
January was the hottest and driest month on record in much of southeastern Brazil, punishing crops in the country's agricultural heartland and sending commodities prices sharply higher in global markets. As signs emerged that the world's largest coffee...
United Kingdom: David Cameron holds crisis cabinet meeting as floods continue
Posted by Guardian: Patrick Wintour and Rowena Mason on February 13th, 2014
Guardian: David Cameron convened a special cabinet committee on flooding for the first time on Thursday, when ministers were given an update on the extent of power and transport disruption caused by overnight storms.
The meeting had originally been called to discuss a longer-term government response to the floods crisis, but is also having to look at wider infrastructure disruption.
The meeting came as the shadow environment secretary, Maria Eagle, said spending on climate change adaptation and mitigation...