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Archive for June 23rd, 2015
TMT construction set to resume as protestors gather at Mauna Kea summit
Posted by Hawaii News: Mileka Lincoln on June 23rd, 2015
Hawaii News: An ‘ahu or alter has gone up on the summit of Mauna Kea as protesters who say they're standing in protection of Native Hawaiian sacred space prepare for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope to resume Wednesday morning. It's unclear what time construction will begin Wednesday, but according to a statement released by the TMT International Observatory Board on Saturday crews will be returning the the site. A large crowd of peaceful protesters following a "kapu aloha", which dictates that treat...
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Climate Change: Ice-Age Canada, Why It Melted
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on June 23rd, 2015
Nature World News: We are zooming in close to the last ice age, looking at the massive Laurentide ice sheet that covered Canada then, with new research from Oregon State University. What happened may provide ideas as to how Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets may respond to a changing climate, scientists say.
Here's what happened first: the Laurentide ice sheet began calving icebergs, then abruptly shifted to a focus on melting on the continent, say Oregon State researchers, who were funded by the National Science...
Study Suggests Key Role for Warming in Extreme Weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
Climate Central: When massive storms inundate coastlines or a veritable snowpocalypse keeps a city buried for days, the first question on many minds is: Was climate change to blame?
It may play more of a role than previous studies have suggested, according to scientists who advocate a different approach to searching for the fingerprints of warming in extreme weather.
In a new study detailed in the journal Nature Climate Change, these scientists suggest that if investigations focus on the well-known and robust...
6 Devastating Heat Waves Hitting Planet
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 23rd, 2015
EcoWatch: Need proof that we`re having the hottest year on record? Scorching heat is searing parts of the world, sparking wildfires and claiming lives due to heat stroke and dehydration.
1. India. The relentless heat since mid-April has claimed about 2,330 lives, overwhelming hospitals and devastating the country. As we previously reported, officials have blamed the heat on global warming.
“It’s not just another unusually hot summer--it is climate change," said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, India’s Minister of...
Cocktail of common chemicals triggers cancer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
ScienceDaily: A global taskforce of 174 scientists from leading research centres across 28 countries studied the link between mixtures of commonly encountered chemicals and the development of cancer. The study selected 85 chemicals not considered carcinogenic to humans and found 50 supported key cancer-related mechanisms at exposures found in the environment today. Longstanding concerns about the combined and additive effects of everyday chemicals prompted the organisation Getting To Know Cancer led by Lowe Leroy...
United Kingdom: Hundreds protest against proposed fracking site in Lancashire
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
Guardian: Hundreds of people protested against a proposed fracking site in Lancashire on Tuesday, as the county council considered whether to approve the project.
Over 450 people massed outside the county hall in Preston while Lancashire County Council listened to representations for and against Cuadrilla’s bid to frack at Preston New Road in Little Plumpton, between Preston and Blackpool.
Last week the council’s planning officers advised members to approve Cuadrilla’s bid to start fracking at the site,...
Canada’s tar sands aren’t just oil fields. They’re sacred lands for my people
Posted by Guardian: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger on June 23rd, 2015
Guardian: For years, concerned members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) in Canada, like myself, have voiced concerns about the impacts caused by oil sand exploitation. The vast majority of our community resides downstream from large scale oil sands surface mining and has seen first hand the complex impacts this industry has.
Now, over 100 renowned scientists and academics have echoed our concerns about oil sands in a call for a moratorium on expansion, which is being taken seriously by the...
Rolling Stone: ‘What’s Killing the Babies of Vernal, Utah?’
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 23rd, 2015
EcoWatch: In January, the Los Angeles Times ran a story on the fracking boomtown of Vernal, Utah. It described how a midwife named Donna Young was attacked and demonized for drawing attention to an increase in stillbirths in the town and its resistance to the idea that the industry that provides half its annual budget could be responsible. Now Rolling Stone Magazine has done a deeper dive into Vernal’s story, as well as the political story behind its story, exploring how formerly rural areas came to be fracking...
Climate change health risk is a medical emergency, experts warn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
Reuters: The threat to human health from climate change is so great that it could undermine the last 50 years of gains in development and global health, experts warned on Tuesday. Extreme weather events such as floods and heat waves bring rising risks of infectious diseases, poor nutrition and stress, the specialists said, while polluted cities where people work long hours and have no time or space to walk, cycle or relax are bad for the heart as well as respiratory and mental health. Almost 200 countries...
Major insurer explores risks using insurance to reduce climate shocks global food supplies
Posted by ClimateWire: Evan Lehmann on June 23rd, 2015
ClimateWire: A stress test prepared by Lloyd's of London concluded that a chain reaction of floods, drought and related diseases could cripple the world's food supply, leading to a crisis that could spark further unrest, including the possibility of rioting in major cities, a terrorist attack in the United States and even a Russian invasion. Lloyd's, a major global insurer, outlined the scenario in a report last week. It is seen as an unlikely but possible scenario that could cut across the insurance industry's...