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Archive for May 28th, 2015
What Australia Can Teach the World about Surviving Drought
Posted by ClimateWire: Brittany Patterson on May 28th, 2015
ClimateWire: From 1997 to 2009, Australia faced the worst drought in the country's recorded history. In Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million people located in southeastern Australia, water levels dropped to an all-time low capacity of 25.6 percent before the drought eased.
Despite the dire situation, the city reduced water demand per capita by almost 50 percent by implementing a slew of policies and programs.
The actions taken in Melbourne can be used as a road map for water-stressed places around the world,...
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India: More heatwaves in offing due to global temperature rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2015
Times of India: The intense heat wave sweeping across India could be another manifestation of an extreme weather event, a green body on Thursday said, warning that more heat waves were in the offing due to rise in global temperatures.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) also noted that about 2,000 people have been killed in India by this weather condition with the worst-affected states being Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where maximum temperatures have hovered around a searing 45 degrees Celsius.
It said...
Across U.S., heaviest downpours on the rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2015
Climate Central: Record-breaking rain across Texas and Oklahoma this week caused widespread flooding, the likes of which the region has rarely, if ever, seen. For seven locations there, May 2015 has seen the most rain of any month ever recorded, with five days to go and the rain still coming. While rainfall in the region is consistent with the emerging El Niño, the unprecedented amounts suggest a possible climate change signal, where a warming atmosphere becomes more saturated with water vapor and capable of previously...
Texas, Oklahoma Floodwaters Contain Sewage, Other Pollutants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2015
National Geographic: Rains that have flooded portions of the middle part of the United States have damaged buildings, swept away cars and houses, and killed at least 18 people in Texas and Oklahoma. And with a chance of more rain forecast this week, these hard-hit areas aren't out of the woods yet.
In Texas, the enormous amount of stormwater has overwhelmed some treatment facilities, washing chemicals and toxic substances into the mix, including raw sewage, crude oil, and pesticides.
"Anything you would find on...
Storms ease in Texas, but runoff could mean more flooding
Posted by Associated Press: Juan A. Lozano and Seth Robbin on May 28th, 2015
Associated Press: This week's record rainfall in Texas eased the state's drought and swelled rivers and lakes to the point that they may not return to normal levels until July, scientists said Thursday.
Just weeks ago, much of the state was parched with varying levels of drought. But the same drenching rainfall that paralyzed parts of Houston and swept away a vacation home with eight people inside also offered relief from a long dry spell.
Many cities were still in danger of flooding as heavy rain from earlier...
Norway oil fund to slash coal investments
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2015
Associated Press: Norway's parliamentary parties have agreed that the country's $900 billion sovereign wealth fund should stop investing in coal companies because of their impact on climate change.
Under new rules to be presented by Parliament's finance committee on Thursday, the fund - also known as the oil fund - would exclude companies that get at least 30 percent of their revenue from mining coal or burning it.
The move is expected to be formally approved by the full Parliament on June 5 because both government...
Hawaii controversial Thirty Meter Telescope cleared proceed
Posted by Vox: Joseph Stromberg on May 28th, 2015
Vox: On Tuesday, Hawaii Governor David Ige announced that construction could proceed on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), a controversial telescope planned for Mauna Kea.
In exchange for the approval, Ige said, at least one-quarter of the existing 13 telescopes on Mauna Kea must be decommissioned.
Construction of the telescope has been halted since April due to protests by Native Hawaiians, who object to its placement on a sacred site.
If completed, the TMT would be the world's second-largest...
‘No wilder place on Earth’ explorers tackle full Okavango Delta
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2015
Guardian: Recently, wildlife news from Africa has been almost universally bleak and frustrating to the point of despair: rhinos with their faces cut off, elephants slaughtered en masse via helicopter, and chimps and gorillas gunned down or snared for bushmeat. A massive onslaught of people, poaching and habitat destruction has led to declines in everything from lions to giraffes and hippos to okapi. But this picture of blood, carcasses and seemingly relentless loss isn’t the only reality on a continent three...
This inflammatory email has split astronomy community in two
Posted by Business Insider: Kelly Dickerson on May 28th, 2015
Business Insider: A remote piece of land 14,000 feet above sea level, Mauna Kea, is one of native Hawaiians' most sacred sites. It also happens to be one of the best places in the world to build a telescope capable of spotting parts of the universe no one has seen before.
And that's exactly what the plan is: build a $1.4 billion telescope, called the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), on the sacred summit. Native protesters threw a wrench into that plan however, and brought the construction of the telescope to a grinding...
Leave cancelled for India’s doctors as heat wave kills 1,300
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2015
Reuters: A heat wave in India has killed at least 1,371 people this week as temperatures soar above 47 Celsius (116.6 Fahrenheit), and doctors' leave has been cancelled to help cope with the sick.
May and June are India's hottest months, with temperatures regularly pushing above 40 Celsius. But meteorologists say the number of days when temperatures approach 45 Celsius has increased in the past 15 years.
The death toll in the worst affected states of Andhra Pradesh in the southeast and nearby Telangana...