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Archive for September 16th, 2014
Mark Ruffalo calls on Obama to ban fracking ahead of UN climate summit
Posted by Guardian: Amanda Holpuch on September 16th, 2014
Guardian: Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo called on US president Barack Obama to ban fracking and make the US the renewable energy capital of the world on Tuesday.
Ruffalo made the plea in a press call hosted by Food & Water Watch, which released a report on Tuesday tying the controversial practice of fracking to climate change. The report comes days ahead of next week’s UN climate summit in New York.
“By stopping this fracking, it doesn’t mean that we have to go backwards – we don’t have to take an...
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Climate Change Forces Tropical Lizards Swiftly Adapt
Posted by Nature World: None Given on September 16th, 2014
Nature World: Climate change is affecting all sorts of animals, from sharks to polar bears to birds, but new research has focused on tropical lizards, which have learned to swiftly adapt in order to survive.
Previous research has found that tropical species, because they're already tolerating extreme heat, are most vulnerable to changing ecosystems as a result of climate change. But scientists from Dartmouth University in New Hampshire and the University of Virginia believe some reptiles might be able to evolve...
New York state denied federal funds for flagship bridge project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: The U.S. federal government has rejected most of a $511 million loan request for the renewal of New York state's Tappan Zee Bridge, dealing a blow to one of governor Andrew Cuomo's most prominent infrastructure projects just weeks ahead of state elections. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that the $3.9 billion project was ineligible for funds from a federal clean water fund because "construction activities arising from transportation projects do not advance water quality." The authority...
Wildfire rips through 150 homes in Northern California
Posted by Reuters: Alex Dobuzinskis on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: Fire crews in California battled on Tuesday to halt the advance of a day-old wildfire that has already destroyed about 150 homes, lapped at rural schools and caused power outages that left an evacuation shelter without electricity, authorities said. The blaze, one of about a dozen major fires raging across the drought-parched state, prompted authorities to order the evacuation of about 1,000 households in and around the Northern California town of Weed, which has a population of about 3,000. "Weed...
California governor OKs bills to regulate groundwater amid drought
Posted by Reuters: Aaron Mendelson on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: California Governor Jerry Brown signed a package of bills on Tuesday to regulate California's stressed groundwater supplies amid a drought that is expected to cost the state $2.2 billion in lost crops, jobs and other damages, with no end in sight. The bills will allow the state to take over management of underground aquifers and water accessed via wells, and aim to tighten oversight of water at a time when groundwater levels are shrinking in the third year of a catastrophic drought. "We have to...
The $90 Trillion Climate-Stabilizing Cookbook
Posted by Climate Central: John Upton on September 16th, 2014
Climate Central: We're baking the world; on track to raise global temperatures by more than 7°F by burning fuels, raising livestock, bulldozing forests, and allowing cities to sprawl as they grow. Pulling the planet out of the costly slow-cooker of old-fashioned traditions in time to avoid the worst of global warming might not be easy. But doing so would make the world a richer place.
That was the message in The New Climate Economy Report, a 72-page paper produced by an international panel of leading economists,...
Extreme Weather Ravages the West Coast
Posted by EcoWatch: Anastasia Pantsios on September 16th, 2014
EcoWatch: Climate deniers are gloating that the California wildfire season isn`t as bad as seasons past or as predicted in the spring, although that`s probably small comfort to the families being evacuated from homes in Orange County near the Cleveland National Forest this weekend. And the fire season isn`t over, and neither is the hot, dry weather with temperatures in the triple digits.
The drought continues its negative impacts on California communities and agriculture. An NBC news report last week said...
Indonesian lawmakers approve Southeast Asia smog-fighting pact
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: Indonesian lawmakers have approved a pact for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to tackle smog pollution, becoming the grouping's final member to sign up to the regional co-operation effort.
Indonesia has failed in previous attempts to stop the smog that results from annual slash-and-burn forest clearances which cause heavy smoke and pollution levels to rise across the region.
"We hope Indonesia will be able to control its natural resources to prevent haze pollution," Indonesian...
Climate change report: prevent damage by overhauling global economy
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on September 16th, 2014
Guardian: The world can still act in time to stave off the worst effects of climate change, and enjoy the fruits of continued economic growth as long as the global economy can be transformed within the next 15 years, a group of the world's leading economists and political leaders will argue on Tuesday.
Tackling climate change can be a boon to prosperity, rather than a brake, according to the study involving a roll-call of the globe's biggest institutions, including the UN, the OECD group of rich countries,...