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Archive for November, 2014
Report: Global warming could undercut efforts eradicate poverty
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on November 24th, 2014
Al Jazeera: Climate change could undermine efforts to defeat extreme poverty around the globe, the World Bank warned Sunday.
In a new report on the impact of global warming, the bank said sharp temperature rises would cut deeply into crop yields and water supplies in many areas and possibly set back efforts to bring populations out of poverty.
"Climate change poses a substantial and escalating risk to development progress that could undermine global efforts to eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared...
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Ethanol use in Michigan cuts greenhouse gas, study finds
Posted by Great Lakes Echo: Ian K. Kullgren on November 24th, 2014
Great Lakes Echo: New research suggests increased ethanol fuel use could be dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Michigan.
A study by scientists at Michigan State University shows ethanol use in the state is reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 1.4 million metric tons each year, the equivalent of emissions from 294,000 cars.
Ethanol fuel production, meanwhile, has nearly doubled in the past seven years, from 276 million gallons in 2007 to 452 million in 2012.
The findings suggest ethanol...
‘Some climate change impacts unavoidable’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 24th, 2014
Reuters: Some future impacts of climate change, such as more extremes of heat and sea level rise, are unavoidable even if governments act fast to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the World Bank said on Sunday.
Past and predicted emissions from power plants, factories and cars have locked the globe on a path towards an average temperature rise of almost 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times by 2050, it said.
"This means that climate change impacts such as extreme heat events may...
Flooding could follow heavy snow western New York
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 24th, 2014
Reuters: Emergency workers filled thousands of sandbags on Sunday as the area around Buffalo, New York braced for potential flooding as warming temperatures began to melt up to seven feet (2 meters) of snow.
Creeks appeared to be flowing smoothly and no flooding had been reported as the sun began to go down, county officials said.
More than 775 members of the New York National Guard were in Erie County and Buffalo to help with flood prevention after days of work to clear roads and dig homes and cars...
Canada: RCMP Arrest Protesters at Kinder Morgan Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 23rd, 2014
Environment News Service: An 11-year-old girl was among those arrested Sunday as a crowd protested survey work by the Texas-based Kinder Morgan company for a tar sands pipeline expansion through the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby.
In late October, Canada`s National Energy Board granted Kinder Morgan access to begin work on their TransMountain tar sands pipeline expansion project in a designated conservation area on Burnaby Mountain.
In response, community members have established a camp and prevented Kinder Morgan from...
Small quake shakes Dallas area, stirring fracking critics
Posted by Reuters: Jim Forsyth on November 23rd, 2014
Reuters: A light earthquake shook the Dallas-Ft. Worth area of North Texas on Saturday night, leaving no known damage or casualties but stirring concern about the potential of the area's oil and gas fracking industry to generate seismic activity.
The magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck about 9:15 p.m. Central time on Saturday, said Dale Grant, an geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
The epicenter was near the border of the cities of Dallas and Irving, near the site of the former Texas Stadium,...
Impact of climate agreement questionable
Posted by Asbury Park Press: Robert Samuelson on November 23rd, 2014
Asbury Park Press: The United States-China agreement on climate change is a huge political triumph, possibly "historic," as its supporters say. Whether it much alters the world's climate is a more open question.
Recall the agreement's outlines. By 2030, China pledges to reach peak emissions of global greenhouse gases and also to increase its reliance on non-fossil fuels to 20 percent of its total energy. For its part, the United States committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by 26 percent to 28...
Western New York braces for flooding as heavy snow melts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 23rd, 2014
Reuters: Emergency workers filled thousands of sandbags on Sunday as the area around Buffalo, New York braced for potential flooding as warming temperatures began to melt up to seven feet (2 meters) of snow.
Hundreds of members of the New York National Guard were in Erie County and Buffalo to help with flood prevention after days of work to clear roads and dig homes and cars out of the record snow from a storm that killed 13 people.
The National Weather Service said roads could flood quickly from snow...
Winter weather weirdness may be just beginning
Posted by Buffalo News: Jerry Zremski on November 23rd, 2014
Buffalo News: Brace yourself. November’s white nightmare could become a recurring bad dream of varying intensity.
While last week’s winter blast appears to be the freak offspring of a typhoon-blasted jet stream and a warm Lake Erie, it’s also part of a long-term pattern that shows no sign of changing.
Meteorologists and geographers say that lake-effect snows have increased as temperatures have warmed in recent decades. That means more bizarre early-season storms, though not necessarily as bad as last week’s,...
New York braces for flooding as warming trend follows epic snowstorm
Posted by LA Times: Javier Panzar, James Queally on November 23rd, 2014
LA Times: Even though her street was buried under 3 feet of snow, Jean Ulrich considered herself lucky so far. The octogenarian and lifelong resident of Bowmansville, just outside Buffalo, has seen lots of snow before — but never, she said, like last week.
Epic lake-effect snowfall pummeled the Buffalo region, dumping about 80 inches of snow, causing at least 13 deaths and virtually shutting down highways for days with thousands of stranded cars.
This weekend the snow stopped, but more weather turmoil...