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Archive for March 18th, 2015
How dry California? So dry taps might actually stop delivering
Posted by Grist: John Light on March 18th, 2015
Grist: Could California really run dry? "It often seems impossible to imagine, but tap water shortages are a distinct possibility if mitigation efforts aren`t embraced and droughts become more frequent and intense in the coming years," meteorologist Steve Bowen of reinsurance firm Aon Benfield told USA Today.
California’s rainy season is drawing to a close -- without the rain its residents had been waiting for. Though some climatologists hoped this year’s El Niño system would make a difference, the state...
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Overpumping groundwater contributes to rising sea levels
Posted by Grist: None Given on March 18th, 2015
Grist: Pump too much groundwater and wells go dry — that’s obvious.
But there is another consequence that gets little attention as a hotter, drier planet turns increasingly to groundwater for life support: So much water is being pumped out of the ground worldwide that it is contributing to global sea-level rise, a phenomenon tied largely to warming temperatures and climate change.
It happens when water is hoisted out of the earth to irrigate crops and supply towns and cities, then finds its way via...
New global disaster plan sets targets to curb risk, losses
Posted by Reuters: Megan Rowling on March 18th, 2015
Reuters: Governments set targets to substantially reduce deaths and economic losses from disasters at a U.N. conference in Japan on Wednesday, but critics were disappointed by the lack of a firm goal to ramp up financial support for poor countries.
The non-binding agreement adopted after a marathon negotiating session, includes seven targets to measure progress on protecting people and assets that experts described as a leap forward.
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year plan,...
Mountaintop Removal: It’s Time Bring This American Tragedy to an End
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 18th, 2015
EcoWatch: An escalating series of lawsuits, government rulings, banking decisions and breakthrough health studies has brought the fate of devastating mountaintop removal mining in central Appalachia to the doorstep of state and federal decision-makers this week. Mountaintop removal is not just on the ropes—it’s down for the count—and several fronts carry the same knockout message: Given the urgent health crisis from the reckless mining operation, the federal government and the states can no longer wait to...
How farmer-led radio propagates best practice
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on March 18th, 2015
SciDevNet: Getting farmers and farm science on air in Sub-Saharan Africa can vastly improve how agricultural knowledge is shared and taken up, says Kevin Perkins, executive director of Canadian charity Farm Radio International, in this audio interview. In Ethiopia, for example, 80 per cent of those who listened to a show on the benefits of planting the grain tef in rows started using this technique. Farm Radio International supports radio stations and farming communities in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa...
Coal Boomtowns Fade as China Declares War on Pollution
Posted by ClimateWire: Coco Liu on March 18th, 2015
ClimateWire: The streets of this northwestern Chinese city were once packed with Ferraris, BMWs and other luxury cars. Now, they are all gone.
Average housing prices here have dropped by a quarter in two years. Driving across the city's downtown, you see vacant buildings and empty restaurants.
"The business of coal companies here turned south since late 2012," Yang Cheng, a local driver, explained while passing by a closed hotel.
"Yulin is a coal boomtown," Yang went on. "Once coal businesses are not...
Epic Drought Drives California Businesses to ‘Connect the Drops’
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 18th, 2015
EcoWatch: California’s record-breaking drought is heading into its fourth year, making headlines about water shortages, drying rivers and reservoirs, threatened fisheries, shrinking mountain snow cover, and battles between cities, consumers, agricultural interests and businesses for essential water resources. The effect of the drought has been felt across the country since the state’s agricultural output is the largest of any state, and last year California farmers had to leave half a million acres unplanted...
Climate Change Must Factor Into Decisions To Drill On Public Lands
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on March 18th, 2015
ThinkProgress: Secretary Sally Jewell yesterday called for reform to the way that the Department of the Interior manages America’s energy resources in order to address the causes of climate change.
In a bold speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Secretary Jewell outlined the Department of the Interior’s energy priorities and laid out three goals of “safe and responsible energy development, good government, and encouraging innovation” in the final two years of the Obama Administration....
Study raises concerns over big, rapidly thinning Antarctic glacier
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2015
CNN: Scientists have raised concerns about a large, rapidly thinning glacier in Antarctica, warning it could contribute significantly to rising sea levels.
They say they've discovered two openings that could channel warm seawater to the base of the huge Totten Glacier and bring the threat of potentially disastrous melting.
The glacier is bigger and thinning faster than all the others in East Antarctica.
It contains enough ice to raise the global sea level by at least 11 feet (3.4 meters), according...
Gov. Brown Declares Drought Emergency in Two Oregon Counties
Posted by Statesman Journal: Tracy Loew on March 18th, 2015
Statesman Journal: Gov. Kate Brown today declared a drought emergency in Lake and Malheur counties.
Dry conditions, low snowpack and a lack of rain are posing problems for the entire southeast corner of the state.
Harney, Klamath and Crook counties also are considering drought declarations, said Racquel Rancier, spokeswoman for the Oregon Water Resources Department.
The governor's drought declaration will allow increased flexibility in how water is managed and positions farmers and ranchers in those counties...