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Archive for February 14th, 2014
Climate Trends Tell Different Story for Great Lakes’ Ice
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on February 14th, 2014
Climate Central: This winter has offered a rare treat for visitors to Lake Superior's Apostle Islands: a stroll across the frozen waters to ice caves straight out of a scene in the movie "Frozen.' Thanks to enduring and massive blasts of frigid air, extensive lake ice has made the caves, normally only accessible to summer visitors traveling by boat, reachable by foot for the first time since 2009.
The bitter weather also has the Great Lakes on the brink of setting a record for the widest ice cover recorded. As...
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New York, California move to ban beauty products containing microbeads
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 14th, 2014
Grist: Scrubbing dead skin cells off your face and tartar off your teeth trashes the environment if it`s not done right. The right way to do it is with facial scrubs, shampoo, and toothpaste that do not contain microbeads. The microscopic balls of hard plastic flow down drains and pass through wastewater treatment plants, ending up in rivers, lakes, and oceans, where they enter the food chain.
Finding microbead-free products isn`t easy right now - you have to read ingredient lists and steer clear of...
Just natural gas well exploding into flames — nothing to see here!
Posted by Grist: Eve Andrews on February 14th, 2014
Grist: Early on Tuesday morning, a Chevron-owned natural gas well in Greene County, Pa., burst into flames – and more than 72 hours later, it’s still burning. One contractor for Chevron is missing and presumed dead, and another was injured in the explosion.
Chevron has flown in experts from Houston’s Wild Well Control to put out the fire, and crews spent yesterday removing overheated pieces of metal that kept reigniting. Today, they await heavy-duty water tanks to extinguish the blaze, which could be...
If there is global warming this is what it could look like in Britain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2014
Telegraph: It is an all too familiar sight these days as Father Thames reclaims his ancient sovereignty over his flood plain. A street, in Oxford, has become a river, banked by sodden suburban homes. Its inhabitants have taken to canoes instead of cars. But this time there is something else: people are holding a banner: "Can we talk about climate change now?'
Well, I guess they can. At first, the possibility that global warming might have something to do with the extraordinary weather -- which has dumped...
United Kingdom: These floods are washing away the founding logic of David Cameron’s government
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Freedland on February 14th, 2014
Guardian: Men in wellies, talk of "grip", Cobra in near-permanent session: the politics of natural disaster has its own vocabulary, both visual and verbal. Repeated regularly is a set of maxims now seared into the soul of every Westminster special adviser: that a party leader cannot go abroad when the country is under water; that Bush's Katrina debacle showed what a delayed or tin-eared response to tragedy can do to a political reputation; that the prime task of all governments is to keep citizens safe, from...
President Obama Pledges $2 Billion+ for Drought-Stricken California and U.S. Climate Resilience Fund
Posted by EcoWatch: Brett Walton on February 14th, 2014
EcoWatch: Acting on climate change and the growing toll it’s taking on U.S. agriculture, President Obama today will announce a $1.2 billion aid package for farmers, ranchers and communities in California and several more agricultural states pummeled by a series of devastating droughts and snowstorms in the past year.
The President also will make public a climate-related item in his 2015 budget weeks before its March due date, a proposal to spend $1 billion more for a climate resilience fund. The money will...
United Kingdom: Sack all Cabinet climate change sceptics, say the Greens in ‘quasi-fascist’ policy
Posted by Express: Owen Bennett on February 14th, 2014
Express: CLIMATE change sceptics in the Cabinet should be sacked to show the Government is serious about tackling extreme weather events such as the recent flooding, the Greens said today.
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett singled out Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, Chancellor George Osborne and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles as prime contenders for David Cameron's axe.
Her comments, which have been branded "quasi-fascist" by opponents, came as the Party announced a 10-point plan to improve...
America’s natural gas system is leaking methane & in need of a fix
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2014
ScienceDaily: The first thorough comparison of evidence for natural gas system leaks confirms that organizations including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have underestimated U.S. methane emissions generally, as well as those from the natural gas industry specifically.
Natural gas consists predominantly of methane. Even small leaks from the natural gas system are important because methane is a potent greenhouse gas -- about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. A study, "Methane Leakage from...
Expect no let-up in severe weather, UK forecasters warn
Posted by Guardian: A Gurkha Regiment Helps Place Sandbags Outside Homes Along The River Thames In S on February 14th, 2014
Guardian: Violent storms will batter cliffs and promenades along the south coast this weekend, with tidal surges and gale-force winds set to cause more flooding for days to come.
Forecasters warned there would be no let-up in the severe weather as defence chiefs committed 5,000 military personnel to the flood relief mission.
More than 16,000 homes were left without power in north Wales as a result of the high winds, which uprooted trees and wreaked havoc on electricity networks.
"The debris that flew...
Obama to ask Congress for $1-billion climate change fund
Posted by LA Times: Kathleen Hennessey on February 14th, 2014
LA Times: President Obama will ask Congress for $1 billion to create a "climate resilience fund" to pay for research, preparation and infrastructure aimed at dealing with the extreme weather and new conditions associated with shifts in the weather.
Obama will include the fund in his 2015 budget proposal, due out next month, and plans to discuss the idea during a visit to drought-stricken California on Friday, the White House said. Like much of his budget plan, though, the president's request is likely to...