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Archive for March 5th, 2014
Louisiana’s coastline is disappearing too quickly for mappers to keep up
Posted by Grist: Stephanie Garlock on March 5th, 2014
Grist: Twenty-five years ago, miles of marshy land and grasses separated the small fishing outpost of Buras, La., from the Gulf of Mexico. But years of erosion - along with the one-two punch of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - have washed away much of that barrier. Today, the islands, inlets, and bays that once defined the coastline of Plaquemines Parish have begun to melt together.
Like all coasts, the land around the Mississippi River is constantly evolving. In past centuries, that process was slowed...
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Documents Show Australia Ignored Expert Advice Against Dredge and Dump in Great Barrier Reef
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 5th, 2014
EcoWatch: Last December the Australian Federal government gave the go-ahead to dredge and dump in the Great Barrier Reef. It did so despite strong, expert advice from the independent authority charged with protecting the reef that it was dangerous to the reef’s health.
Newly released internal documents clearly show that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority repeatedly advised the Environment Department to reject the controversial dredging and dumping proposal--which would allow the expansion of the...
Scientists Need Your Help to Discern Global Warming’s Role in UK Floods
Posted by Mashable: None Given on March 5th, 2014
Mashable: A team of climate scientists in the UK has launched an ambitious citizen science effort to quickly assess the role that manmade global warming may have played in that region's extraordinarily wet winter.
The program, known as the Weather@Home 2014 project, is part of a longer term and international push to develop scientific techniques to gain insight into the relationship between global warming and extreme weather events, from heavy precipitation events to heat waves.
The winter of 2013-14...
The price of gold: winners and losers in Latin America’s mining industry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 5th, 2014
Mongabay: On a Friday afternoon in June, the Plaza de Armas in Cajamarca is pulsing with life. It's winter here, and although thick white clouds hover low in the distance, the sun in this northern Peruvian city is warm. Couples sit on benches facing one another. Kids run in the grass between flowerbeds. Men in suits stride along the perimeter. It's an idyllic day. But signs of something more ominous are not far from sight. On the mountainside overlooking the town the words Nova Conga have been carved into...
Australia forecasts hotter climate, longer bushfire season
Posted by International Business Times: Jenille Cristy Maido on March 5th, 2014
International Business Times: Climate change has been blamed to play a crucial role in the summer's heat wave. The Australian report released on March 4 suggested the country will experience a longer bushfire season caused by the continual rising of greenhouse gases. This means a hotter weather with increased risks of extreme fire in bushlands.
Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) released a study supporting the impact of climate change recently affecting...
Global warming: Study shows Arctic sea ice melt season lengthening five days per decade
Posted by Summit Voice: Bob Berwyn on March 5th, 2014
Summit Voice: Averaged across the Arctic, the melt season is lengthening by five days each decade, with much of the change coming in the fall, when a warmer ocean simply takes longer to freeze than in the past.
“The extent of sea ice in the Arctic has been declining for the last four decades,” said University College London researcher Julienne Stroeve, part of a research team that studied satellite data to track sea ice trends in the age of global warming.
The data confirm that the Arctic Ocean absorbing...
Pentagon warns of climate change ‘threat multipliers
Posted by Examiner: Zack Colman on March 5th, 2014
Examiner: The effects of climate change are "threat multipliers" that will force the Pentagon to rethink how it engages in training, missions and humanitarian aid around the world, the Defense Department said Tuesday in its Quadrennial Defense Review.
The review, released every four years, steps up calls made to address climate change in the last version. It noted climate change would "aggravate stressors" such as "poverty, environmental degradation, political instability and social tensions -- conditions...
Tidal flooding Marshall Islands causes widespread damage
Posted by Australia News: None Given on March 5th, 2014
Australia News: A state of emergency has been declared in Marshall Islands due to king tides which have inundated communities living on low-lying attols.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, regional office for the Pacific says waves washed over shorelines, sending water, rubbish and debris across roads and properties.
There are no reports of fatalities or serious injuries, however a state of emergency has been declared.
Preliminary assessments in the capital Majuro show...
Great Lakes Rebound
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 5th, 2014
New York Times: The Army Corps of Engineers says Great Lakes water levels rebounded sharply last year after a prolonged low period dating from the late 1990s. A report issued Tuesday said Lake Superior rose nearly two feet, almost twice as much as its usual gain during its seasonal rise. Lakes Michigan and Huron rose 20 inches, which also was nearly double their average seasonal rise. It was a strong comeback from January 2013, when those lakes hit their lowest recorded level. Scientists say heavy evaporation caused...
China premier says to ‘declare war’ on pollution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 5th, 2014
Reuters: China will "declare war" on pollution, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday at the start of the annual meeting of parliament, with the government unveiling detailed measures to tackle what has become a hot-button social issue.
It is not uncommon for air pollution in parts of China to breach levels considered by some experts to be hazardous. That has drawn much public ire and is a worry for China's government, which fears any discontent that might compromise stability.
"We will resolutely declare...