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Archive for September 20th, 2014
Britain must be ready ‘worst droughts modern times’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 20th, 2014
Independent: The UK must prepare for “the worst droughts in modern times” experts will warn this week at a major international conference to discuss the growing global water crisis.
As the population continues to grow and water is increasingly scarce, suppliers across Britain simply “cannot afford to fail”, according to Trevor Bishop, the Environment Agency’s deputy director. “We need to have more resilience, we need to be able to deal with tougher situations, and we cannot afford to fail. The consequences...
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As World’s Population Booms, Will Resources Be Enough?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 20th, 2014
National Geographic: There are more than 7 billion people on Earth now, and roughly one in eight of us doesn't have enough to eat. The question of how many people the Earth can support is a long-standing one that becomes more intense as the world's population-and our use of natural resources-keeps booming.
This week, two conflicting projections of the world's future population were released. As National Geographic's Rob Kunzig writes here, a new United Nations and University of Washington study in the journal Science...
Denying Climate Change ‘Will Cost Us Billions Of Dollars”
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on September 20th, 2014
ThinkProgress: The new U.S. director of the Office of Management and Budget used his first speech to talk about the dangers not acting on climate change poses to the federal budget.
Shaun Donovan, head of the OMB, said in a speech at the Center for American Progress Friday that acting on climate change is "tremendously important" to him and that it`s "critical to our ability to operate and fund the government in a responsible manner."
"From where I sit, climate action is a must do; climate inaction is a can’t...
Report: Climate change threatens dozens Missouri birds
Posted by St. Louis Public Radio: None Given on September 20th, 2014
St. Louis Public Radio: A recent report finds climate change is threatening dozens of birds that call Missouri home.
The National Audubon Society says more than half of the 588 North American bird species studied over the course of seven years are at risk. About 50 species common to Missouri are identified in the report as being threatened.
"Climate change is here and we’re seeing an impact on our natural areas and our natural species, in particular birds. We’re seeing them respond directly to the effects of a warming...
Obama urged to plug methane leaks to meet climate goal
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Snyder on September 20th, 2014
Bloomberg: Environmental groups are asking the Obama administration to beef up its climate plan by targeting methane leaks in the web of valves, pipes and pumps drillers use to produce and deliver natural gas. While companies have a vested interest in keeping methane bottled up on its way to customers, some gas inevitably seeps out. That’s worrisome because methane -- the primary component of gas -- is 25 times more potent than carbon at trapping heat. The administration has embraced gas as a cleaner alternative...
On Path Past 9 Billion, Little Crosstalk U.N. Sessions Population & Global Warming
Posted by New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin on September 20th, 2014
New York Times: The United Nations and the streets of Manhattan are going into global warming saturation mode, from Sunday’s People’s Climate March through the Tuesday climate change summit convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and on through an annual green-energy event called Climate Week. Largely missed in much of this, as always seems the case with climate change discussions, is the role of population growth in contributing both to rising emissions of greenhouse gases and rising vulnerability to climate...
Weather helps crews make gains against California wildfire
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 20th, 2014
Reuters: Fire crews in California's rugged Sierra Nevada seized on a break in the weather on Friday to slowly gain ground against a blaze threatening to destroy 12,000 homes as it roared for a seventh day through dry timber and brush west of Lake Tahoe.
More than 3,000 residents of those dwellings remained displaced, Larry Pendarvis, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said.
CalFire also reported the first property losses claimed by the so-called King Fire, an unspecified...
Toxic algae warning expanded for Oregon’s Willamette River
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 20th, 2014
Reuters: Tests have confirmed that a green film shimmering on the surface of the Willamette River as it flows through Oregon's largest city is caused by toxic algae that can be dangerous to people and animals, public health officials said on Friday.
Authorities also expanded the "warning zone" issued on Wednesday when the algae was first observed, declaring water recreation unsafe for the hundreds of boaters and swimmers who normally use the river daily at this time of year.
Tests completed on Friday...