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Archive for December 6th, 2014
Canada: Victory Yukon Wilderness Is “Game-Changer”
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2014
National Geographic: Environmentalists and indigenous people across northern Canada are celebrating a historic legal victory that protects one of the world's last major pristine river systems. In a December 2 ruling, Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale ruled that the Canadian territory's government did not have the authority to override a land-use plan to preserve the bulk of the 26,000-square-mile (67,000-square-kilometer) Peel Watershed region.
A wildlife habitat of global importance, the northern Yukon wilderness...
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Climatologist: Climate change drastically affect Neb. ag
Posted by Kearney Hub: Lori Potter on December 6th, 2014
Kearney Hub: The heart of America was colored in dark shades of red reflecting extreme to exceptional drought on the Sept. 11, 2012, National Drought Monitor map Don Wilhite showed on a screen Friday morning at the Nebraska Farmers Union’s 101st-annual convention in Kearney. The summer of 2012, McCook had 37 days with high temperatures of more than 100 degrees, compared with a long-term average of around 11 days. Groundwater levels in some areas of Nebraska dropped 5 to 12 feet. “What the models say is by the...
Typhoon tears down homes disaster-weary Philippines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2014
Agence France-Presse: Typhoon Hagupit tore apart homes and sent waves crashing through coastal communities across the eastern Philippines on Sunday, creating more misery for millions following a barrage of deadly disasters.
The typhoon roared in from the Pacific Ocean and crashed into remote fishing communities of Samar island on Saturday night with wind gusts of 210 kilometres (130 miles) an hour, local weather agency Pagasa said.
The wind strength made Hagupit the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this...
Peru glaciers ‘melting at alarming rate’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2014
BBC: Experts have warned that Peru's glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, threatening the survival of an estimated 30 million people. The water from the glaciers is used to generate hydro power and for irrigation. Scientists say the glaciers have lost more than one-fifth of their mass in just three decades due to global warming. Anbarasan Ethirajan reports.
Christie’s ode to Keystone may have just helped greens
Posted by Hill: Laura Barron-Lopez on December 6th, 2014
Hill: In a not-so-subtle visit to Canada, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) pushed for construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, but he might have lent a helping hand to environmentalists who oppose the project in the process.
Christie, who is considered a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, slammed President Obama for dithering on the long-delayed oil sands project, saying “that’s no way to treat a friend.”
While urging for construction of the project, however,...
Rising seas make living with global warming a UN priority
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on December 6th, 2014
Bloomberg: From the rising seas in the Seychelles to the melting glaciers of Switzerland and Peru, governments are learning to cope with damaging changes to the climate that threaten food and water supplies, and even the very survival of the most low-lying nations.
Having failed to prevent global warming from taking hold after two decades of discussions, more countries are focusing on how to live with its effects. The idea is rising to the top of the agenda at two weeks of United Nations climate talks that...
Indonesia’s new president promises to put peat before palm oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2014
Inter Press Service: Last week, Indonesia`s new president, Joko Widodo, ordered the country's Ministry of Environment and Forestry to review the licenses of all companies that have converted peatlands to oil palm plantations.
If the ministry follows through, this will be one of the most important actions the Indonesian government can take to begin truly reining in the destruction reaped by the palm oil industry there - and to address the severe climate impacts of peatland destruction."The best thing to do is to give...
Canada sticks to line on oil sands at UN climate summit
Posted by Globe and Mail: Shawn Mccarthy on December 6th, 2014
Globe and Mail: Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq heads to the United Nations climate summit this weekend with no new targets and no commitment to action on Canada's fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in the oil sands, but with a pledge to crack down on a little-known chemical that represents a tiny portion of this country's emissions.
Ms. Aglukkaq will join global environment ministers in Lima next week as negotiators attempt to reach a draft agreement that would commit countries to aggressive action...
Climate adaptation costs soaring, funding to fall short – UN
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2014
Reuters: The cost of adapting to climate change in developing nations is likely to be two to three times higher than previous estimates, even if planet-warming emissions are cut enough to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, a U.N. report said on Friday.
The study said there was a chance that adaptation costs could climb as high as $150 billion a year by 2025 to 2030, and $250-500 billion per year by 2050, compared with earlier estimates of $70-100 billion yearly by 2050.
"As world leaders...