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Archive for July 17th, 2014
Canadian politicians on attack after scientists call for more research into fracking
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Peter O'Neil and Rob Shaw on July 17th, 2014
Vancouver Sun: Deputy premier Rich Coleman challenged Thursday the conclusions of a scientific panel into the environmental effect of shale gas development using fracking.
The group of Canadian and U.S. scientists, appointed in 2011 by former federal environment minister Peter Kent to examine the sector's potential and risks across Canada, urge a cautionary, go-slow approach until more research is done on a relatively new sector.
Coleman, responsible for an industry that Victoria considers an economic linchpin...
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Tthreat of wildfires is already above normal in Western states
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2014
Washington Post: A years-long drought and a warmer-than-average winter have Western states worried that they face extraordinary challenges in what by many estimates will be a record fire season.
The National Interagency Fire Center says the threat of wildfires is already above normal in much of Oregon and California, and the high desert in Washington, Idaho and Nevada. Parts of Arizona remain under heightened threat, too.
The drought that has parched Western states over the last three years has led to dangerous...
Scientists Confirm Burning Fossil Fuels Worsens Australian Drought
Posted by Climate News Network: None Given on July 17th, 2014
Climate News Network: American scientists have just confirmed that parts of Australia are being slowly parched because of greenhouse gas emissions, which means that the long-term decline in rainfall over south and south-west Australia is a consequence of fossil fuel burning and depletion of the ozone layer by human activity. Such a finding is significant for two reasons. One remains contentious: it is one thing to make generalized predictions about the consequences overall of greenhouse gas levels, but it is quite another...
How Hotter Summers Are Putting Swimmers at Risk
Posted by ABC: Katie Moisse on July 17th, 2014
ABC: As families flock to pools and lakes to cool off, experts are warning about a risky consequence of climate change: waterborne disease.
Just last week, a 9-year-old girl from Johnson County, Kansas, died from primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, an extremely rare but almost invariably fatal brain infection caused by the freshwater amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
“It’s a heat-loving amoeba,” said Michael Beach, associated director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s healthy swimming...
Four things should know about Detroit’s water crisis
Posted by Grist: Heather Smith on July 17th, 2014
Grist: This May, the Detroit Water and Sewerage District (DWSD) sent out 46,000 shutoff notices to customers who were behind in their water bills. It was the latest calamity to befall a city that had seen its water rates rise 119 percent in the last decade.
As a city that has lost nearly two-thirds of its population in the last 60 years, Detroit has a lot of water infrastructure to maintain, and not much money to maintain it.
Since the shutoffs began (about 17,000 households and small businesses have...
Australia: Australia repeals maligned 2-year-old carbon tax
Posted by Associated Press: Kristen Gelineau on July 17th, 2014
Associated Press: Australia's government repealed a much-maligned carbon tax on the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters on Thursday, ending years of contention over a measure that became political poison for the lawmakers who imposed it.
The Senate voted 39 to 32 to axe the 24.15 Australian dollar ($22.60) tax per metric ton of carbon dioxide that was introduced by the center-left Labor government in July 2012. Conservative lawmakers burst into applause as the final tally was announced.
Prime Minister Tony...
Months After Washington Landslide, Hopeful Steps Forward
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2014
New York Times: The Miller family’s bluegrass band, Blueberry Hill, has deep roots in this little mountain town on the edge of the Oso landslide, which killed more than 40 people in late March in a few shattering seconds of geological upheaval. Aida Miller, 19, who sings and plays the mandolin, and her brother, Forrest, 17, a banjo player, were both born here.
So the Millers came back after the disaster, and they were playing a free concert for exhausted emergency responders at the downtown command center a few...