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Archive for May 20th, 2014
The Climate Context for ‘Unprecedented’ Balkans Flooding
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on May 20th, 2014
Climate Central: The torrential rains and catastrophic floods that raged through parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia were unprecedented in the historical record of the region, going back 120 years. But extreme weather events like this one are something communities may have to contend with more and more as the planet warms, experts say.
The flooding event began on May 13 when an area of low pressure developed as warm, moist air from over the Mediterranean Sea clashed with colder air from the north....
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U.N. warns of South Sudan famine as donors pledge more aid
Posted by Reuters: Gwladys Fouche on May 20th, 2014
Reuters: More than a third of South Sudan's population, or 4 million people, will be on the brink of starvation by the end of 2014 as fighting rages in the world's newest country, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.
"We are losing time. Farmers should be planting their crops right now," United Nations' aid chief Valerie Amos told a donors' conference in Oslo. "If they don't, and if livestock herders are not able to migrate to grazing areas, people will run out of food."
Clashes between rebels and government...
Santa Cruz becomes first California county to ban fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2014
Reuters: Santa Cruz on Tuesday became the first California county to ban fracking, the latest in a string of moves by local governments in the state to take a stand against the controversial oil and gas producing method.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, relies on injecting water, sand and some chemicals deep beneath the earth’s surface to break up rock and free up oil and gas trapped below.
Environmentalists say the chemicals used in the process can pollute underground water supplies and cause other...
Floods affect over 1 million in Balkans, destruction ‘terrifying.’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2014
Reuters: Bosnia said on Monday that more than a quarter of its 4 million people had been affected by the worst floods to hit the Balkans in living memory, comparing the "terrifying" destruction to that of the country's 1992-95 war.
The extent of the devastation became apparent in Serbia too, as waters receded in some of the worst-hit areas to reveal homes toppled or submerged in mud, trees felled and villages strewn with the rotting corpses of livestock.
The regional death toll reached more than 40,...
The Big Melt accelerates
Posted by New York Times: Kenneth Chang on May 20th, 2014
New York Times: Centuries from now, a large swath of the West Antarctic ice sheet is likely to be gone, its hundreds of trillions of tons of ice melted, causing a four-foot rise in already swollen seas. Scientists reported last week that the scenario may be inevitable, with new research concluding that some giant glaciers had passed the point of no return, possibly setting off a chain reaction that could doom the rest of the ice sheet. For many, the research signaled that changes in the earth’s climate have already...
The Coming El Niño Could Lead To Warmest Year On Record
Posted by SFist: None Given on May 20th, 2014
SFist: Climate scientists are all pretty well on board with the prediction that this coming winter is going to be a severe El Niño season. And for those who did not live in Northern California during the winter of '97/'98, that means we're in for some serious, non-stop rain, and a period of dreariness that will be the opposite of this shiny, sunny summer we just had. But now at least one scientist is linking El Niño to spikes in overall average temperatures around the globe, and suggesting that 2015 is...
US crude oil production soars, but what does it mean for Americans?
Posted by BizPac: Richard Berkow on May 20th, 2014
BizPac: Data just released by the Energy Information Agency reveals that U.S. crude oil production peaked to 8.248 million barrels per day last week, a 28-year high, thanks to the success of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking in North Dakota and Texas. Yet prices at the pump remain stubbornly high. What gives?
A number of factors come into play, including persistent high demand, limited refining capacity, geopolitical instability, and speculation on the international market, according to Bloomberg...
Balkan floods threaten power plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2014
Bloomberg: ens of thousands of people were mobilised and equipped with sandbags and barricades to defend Belgrade and a power station in a nearby satellite town, Serbia’s largest, against the rising waters of the Sava river, which have killed 47 people so far. Tens of thousands more were evacuated to emergency shelters. Authorities believe the worst could be yet to come when on Wednesday morning the flood crest of the Sava joins the Danube. Following estimates that a quarter of the population of Bosnia and...
Climate Change Impacts in United States: Summary of the New National Climate Assessment
Posted by Peter Gleick: None Given on May 20th, 2014
Peter Gleick: I previously posted a summary of the water-related conclusions from the new National Climate Assessment, recently released after three years of writing, review, and analysis. The following “findings” are a broader summary of the results from the newly released National Climate Assessment (NCA). They are by no means a full summary: far more detail can be found in the chapters and the regional syntheses, but these are noteworthy conclusions. (Note, thanks to Tim Smith – Sustainable Water Resources...
How can we adjust to the increasing risk of wildfires?
Posted by KPCC: None Given on May 20th, 2014
KPCC: A firefighter hoses flames at the Cocos fire on May 15, 2014 in San Marcos, California. Fire agencies throughout the state are scrambling to prepare for what is expected to be a dangerous year of wildfires in this third year of extreme drought in California.
While the fires that broke out last week San Diego County are now almost fully contained, California is bracing for what could be the worst fire season ever.
This week, Governor Jerry Brown drew a direct link between climate change, the...