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Archive for February 18th, 2014
British sinkhole spike prompts warning
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2014
BBC: Britain is likely to face the strange and disturbing threat of more sinkholes opening up in the weeks and months ahead.
The warning comes from the British Geological Survey (BGS), which has been studying a recent spate of collapses across the country.
In a typical year, geologists would expect to see one or two sinkholes appearing, but this month's tally has reached six so far.
Dr Tony Cooper of the British Geological Survey told me that some areas of the country are more susceptible than...
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Fracking boom spews toxic air emissions on Texas residents
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song, Jim Morris and David Hasemyer on February 18th, 2014
InsideClimate: When Lynn Buehring leaves her doctor's office in San Antonio she makes sure her inhaler is on the seat beside her, then steers her red GMC pickup truck southeast on U.S. 181, toward her home on the South Texas prairie. About 40 miles down the road, between Poth and Falls City, drilling rigs, crude oil storage tanks and flares trailing black smoke appear amid the mesquite, live oak and pecan trees. Depending on the speed and direction of the wind, a yellow-brown haze might stretch across the horizon,...
United Kingdom: Flooding: wet ground in worst-hit areas making burials impossible
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2014
Guardian: The flood crisis is causing further anguish for bereaved families as wet ground is making burials impossible in the worst-hit areas.
Authorities say there is little they can do about weather-related funeral delays that have been described as "absolutely abnormal".
While families face the possibility of extra distress, the floods have created dangerous conditions for gravediggers.
Crematoriums have not been immune from the issue either, with one having to close for about two months due to...
Obama announces plan for $1bn climate resilience fund
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on February 18th, 2014
BusinessGreen: As David Cameron faces mounting calls for an increase in the UK government's funding for climate resilience efforts, US President Barack Obama is moving forward with plans to dramatically increase spending to tackle droughts and floods on the other side of the Atlantic.
Obama used a trip to drought-hit California late last week, where over 91 per cent of the state was classified as experiencing severe or exceptional drought, to announce that he will include a new $1bn "climate resilience fund"...
United Kingdom: Barrage over climate change link to floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2014
BBC: As the barrage of bad weather eases, another kind of turbulence is brewing over one of the potential causes.
Listen to some environmental campaigners and you might think that there is total certainty that global warming led to the recent rain; listen to some climate sceptics and there is absolutely no connection at all.
Viewers have berated me either for failing to explicitly blame climate change in my reporting of the floods - or for suggesting that the rain may conceivably have been made...
PM set to meet insurance industry over UK floods
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 18th, 2014
Blue and Green: David Cameron has planned to meet insurers to discuss measures to help those affected by the flooding, as wealthier households face a £1,000 increase in their annual insurance premium.
Insurance bosses reported they have paid £14 million to flood victims since the emergency began in December. The government will meet representatives from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) on Tuesday.
However, it was suggested that wealthier householders on council band H might face premium increases...
China announces $330bn water clean-up effort in latest environmental crackdown
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on February 18th, 2014
BusinessGreen: The Chinese government has opened a new front in its increasingly wide-ranging efforts to tackle the country's worsening levels of environmental pollution, revealing plans to invest up to ¥2tr ($330bn) in projects designed to tackle water pollution.
The China State Securities Journal reported this week that the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is still working on the finer details of the strategy, but the ¥2tr budget has been set.
The budget exceeds the ¥1.7tr that was recently announced...
UK floods: in defence of the Environment Agency
Posted by Guardian: Leslie Manasseh on February 18th, 2014
Guardian: The flooding crisis has shone a spotlight on much that the government would prefer to remain hidden – not least the coalition's quiet slashing of the Environment Agency budget.
Despite advice in the wake of the 2007 floods to increase expenditure on flood defences, the government relied on its traditional mistrust of the public sector and the experts within it, and used the blunt instrument of cash limits.
Prime minister David Cameron said money would be "no object" to dealing with the immediate...
Fracking Eagle Ford Shale: Big Oil & Bad Air on Texas Prairie
Posted by InsideClimate: None Given on February 18th, 2014
InsideClimate: Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale: Big Oil and Bad Air on the Texas Prairie is an eight-month investigation by InsideClimate News, the Center for Public Integrity and The Weather Channel.
Award-winning reporters reveal the dangers of releasing a toxic soup of chemicals into the air from oil and gas drilling and expose how little the Texas government knows about such pollution in its own state. They also show that the Texas legislature is intent on keeping it that way.
The project blends traditional...
China spend $330 billion to fight water pollution -paper
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2014
Reuters: China plans to spend 2 trillion yuan, or $330 billion, on an action plan to tackle pollution of its scarce water resources, state media said on Tuesday.
China has a fifth of the world's population but just 7 percent of its water resources, and the situation is especially precarious in its parched north, where some regions have less water per capita than the Middle East.
The plan is still being finalized but the budget has been set, exceeding the 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) China plans...