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Archive for January 7th, 2015
Rice may become first crop in cap-and-trade program
Posted by Appeal Democrat: Andrew Creasey on January 7th, 2015
Appeal Democrat: Rice could soon become the first crop in California's cap-and-trade program, but it is unclear if the program provides enough incentives to motivate farmers to change their growing practices.
In a December meeting, the California Air Resources Board directed staff to begin the process for including rice in the cap-and-trade program, which is part of a statewide program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The idea is to provide economic incentives for major investment in...
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Australia records third-warmest year in 2014
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 7th, 2015
BBC: Australia has recorded its third-warmest calendar year since national records began in 1910, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says.
Frequent heatwaves and a marked reduction in cold weather characterised 2014, the Bureau said.
Mean temperatures were 0.91C above the long-term average in 2014, the BOM said.
The news comes as South Australia is facing some of the worst bushfires in the region in decades.
Firefighters are battling to contain a major blaze in the hills behind the city of Adelaide...
California Gov. Brown proposes ambitious new climate policy goals
Posted by Bloomberg: Carolyn Whetzel on January 7th, 2015
Bloomberg: California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) Jan. 5 proposed increasing the state's current 33 percent renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent over the next 15 years and, over the same period, cutting petroleum use in cars and trucks in half, making heating fuels cleaner and doubling the efficiency of existing buildings.
Brown announced the ambitious climate policy goals in the inaugural address/state of the state message he delivered after being sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term.
In the 30-minute...
Obama’s Keystone veto threat proof that climate activism works
Posted by Guardian: Bill McKibben on January 7th, 2015
Guardian: When the news arrived from the White House on Tuesday that Barack Obama would veto the GOP’s Keystone pipeline bill – or at least “that the president would not sign this bill” as is – I thought back to a poll that the National Journal conducted of its “energy insiders” in the fall of 2011, just when then issue was heating up. Nearly 92% of them thought Obama’s administration would approve the pipeline, and almost 71% said it would happen by the end of that year.
Keystone’s not dead yet – feckless...
Australia: Firefighting hardly changed century. But bushfires certainly have
Posted by Guardian: Jim Casey on January 7th, 2015
Guardian: Innovation in firefighting methods only go so far. To keep up with climate change and more extreme fires, we need a larger, more professional fire service – and a change of attitude
Right now it’s the Adelaide Hills. In 2013 it was the Blue Mountains, in NSW. In 2009 it was the terrible Black Saturday fires in Victoria. While bushfires have always been a part of Australia, the behaviour of fires is changing on the back of increasing extreme weather incidents.
For our continent, extreme weather...
2014 was the hottest year on record, Japanese scientists say
Posted by Vox: None Given on January 7th, 2015
Vox: 2014 was Earth's hottest year since records began in 1891, according to new data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA):
The global average temperature in 2014 was about 0.63°C (or 1.1°F) hotter than the average during the twentieth century, JMA found. Its data is based on both satellite and ground readings.
The second hottest year in JMA's records was 1998 -- a big El Niño year -- followed by 2013, 2010, and 2005. All ten hottest years have come since 1998.
Climate scientists expect...