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Archive for February, 2014
Frack-happy Colorado clamps down on methane pollution
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 25th, 2014
Grist: Frackers and other companies that handle natural gas will have to start being at least a little bit neighborly in Colorado, where new rules will force them to clamp down on methane leaks from wells, tanks, and pipelines.
When methane (natural gas is pretty much just methane) escapes during drilling and transportation, it fuels ozone pollution and global warming. Methane concentrations in the atmosphere are rising, and methane leaks are a major problem in the U.S. By one recent estimate, the U.S....
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Is Brazil’s epic drought a taste of the future?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 25th, 2014
Mongabay: With more than 140 cities implementing water rationing, analysts warning of collapsing soy and coffee exports, and reservoirs and rivers running precipitously low, talk about the World Cup in some parts of Brazil has been sidelined by concerns about an epic drought affecting the country's agricultural heartland. With its rise as an agricultural superpower over the past 20 years, Brazil is today the world's largest exporter of coffee, sugar, oranges, soy, and cattle. That means the drought will take...
UK floods: Raise roads and redesign houses, engineers say
Posted by Guardian: Jessica Aldred on February 25th, 2014
Guardian: Houses should be redesigned, roads raised and tidal lagoons built that generate energy to reduce the impact of flooding in the UK, according to a panel of senior engineers and academics.
Recent flooding has affected large parts of southern England in the UK's wettest winter on record - particularly the Somerset Levels and Thames valley, resulting in more than 5,000 homes and businesses being flooded, major road and rail networks disrupted, and a political row over who is to blame.
"In some...
Tom Steyer On Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2014
National Public Radio: David Greene talks to billionaire financier and liberal activist Tom Steyer about his position on the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
United Kingdom: Ed Miliband: Climate change a ‘national security issue’
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 24th, 2014
Blue and Green: Labour leader Ed Miliband has said that the flooding crisis should be seen as a wakeup call for Britain to act on climate change, while criticising prime minister David Cameron for creating a “false economy” over the government’s flood aid measures.
The leader of the opposition hit out at the prime minister, who recently said that money would be “no object” in helping those affected by the recent storms, bad weather and flooding. Miliband said that Cameron wasn’t going far enough to help future...
Costs of natural disasters in China surge to $69 billion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2014
Reuters: Natural disasters including droughts, floods and earthquakes cost China 421 billion yuan ($69 bln) in 2013, official data showed on Monday, nearly double the total in the previous year.
China has always been prone to natural disasters but a changing climate is causing more extreme weather, which hits food production, threatens scarce water resources and damages energy security, according to the government.
Data released by the National Statistics Bureau showed flooding and mudslides cost China...
Global Warming and Potential Water Contamination Resulting from Fracking for Hydrocarbons: A Relationship?
Posted by EP Online: None Given on February 24th, 2014
EP Online: Contaminated water, presumed to be from drilling into and fracturing (fracking) hydrocarbon-bearing rock strata, has been in the news for some time now. And so have global warming and air pollution issues associated with transporting and burning fossil fuels. Are these headliners connected? Of course.
Before I delve into the issues, be it known that we all use fossil fuels. I don't know of any exception. Here's the basic scenario: find the fossil fuel sources, recover them, and then process, distribute,...
Can California Avoid a ‘Shock to Trance’ Approach to Water Policy?
Posted by New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin on February 23rd, 2014
New York Times: Forecasters predict heavy rains will sweep in from the Pacific Ocean over much of California late next week. The state’s extreme drought will be far from over, but the shift from parched days to downpours illustrates on a short time scale one factor explaining why it’s hard to change deeply ingrained and wasteful approaches to water policy. The West is a region where droughts come and go, but development pressure is a constant. Years ago, President Obama spoke of the nation’s “shock to trance” approach...
United Kingdom: HS2 may increase risk homes being flooded, senior Conservatives fear
Posted by Guardian: Rowena Mason on February 23rd, 2014
Guardian: Senior Conservatives have raised concerns that HS2 will increase the risk of homes being flooded, as the high-speed train line passes through areas affected by the recent extreme weather, runs over miles of high-risk floodplains and will require the diversion of seven rivers.
The Liberal Democrat flooding minister, Dan Rogerson, has admitted the scale of the flood risk associated with HS2 has not been fully assessed for the first phase of the route from London to Birmingham.
The HS2 route crosses...
Study suggests clearcutting and ‘snow farming’ as global warming mitigation
Posted by Summit County: Bob Berwyn on February 23rd, 2014
Summit County: Snow farming is nothing new for ski area operators, who have long been cultivating the white stuff to help keep their slopes covered. Now, a recent study by researchers at Darthmouth College suggests that snow farming could also make sense on a larger scale, in the context of climate-change mitigation.
In a novel look at forests and snow, their report says that replacing forests with snow-covered meadows may provide greater climatic and economic benefits than if slow-growing trees are left standing...