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Archive for June 26th, 2015
Fossil fuel divestment alone will not halt climate change: Gates
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Fossil fuel divestment would be ineffective on its own as a means of halting global warming, software billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates said Friday. Pulling money out of carbon-heavy industry must be coupled with large spending on alternative technologies to make any difference, said the Microsoft mogul who is under fire for his charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's reported $1.4-billion (1.3-billion-euro) investment in carbon-spewing companies like BP. The Financial Times reported...
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Fuels from Canadian Oil Sands Have Larger Carbon Footprint, Analysis Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Gasoline and diesel refined from Canadian oil sands have a significantly larger carbon footprint and climate impact than fuels from conventional crude sources, according to an analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. Oil sands-derived fuels will release on average 20 percent more carbon into the atmosphere over their lifetime — and possibly up to 24 percent more — depending on how they are extracted and refined, the study says. Methane emissions from tailing ponds...
Arrested protesters return Hawaii Mountain obstruct construction of TMT
Posted by Perf Science: None Given on June 26th, 2015
Perf Science: On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters who are against the construction of a giant telescope on Mauna Kea prevented workers from reaching the site. The planned $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TNT) was under fire by many native Hawaiians. The protesters marched to turn over the project as they consider the mountain sacred. In April, the construction halted for about two months after 31 protesters were arrested. A dozen of protestors arrested Wednesday for obstructing were released after posting...
Jon Stewart Slams GOP for Criticizing the Pope’s ‘Call for Environmental Consciousness’
Posted by EcoWatch: Cole Mellino on June 26th, 2015
EcoWatch: Pope Francis released his encyclical last week, urging swift action on climate change ahead of the Paris climate talks in December. And before the ink had even dried, many conservative American politicians were criticizing the Pope for speaking out about environmental issues. The Pope “ought to stay with his job and let us stay with ours” said Sen. James Inhofe at the Heartland Institute’s 10th International Conference on Climate Change. Jeb Bush also thought the Pope needed to butt out, saying...
Pope Francis Slams GMOs and Pesticides for Destroying the Earth’s ‘Complex Web of Ecosystems’
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 26th, 2015
EcoWatch: Pope Francis’s encyclical didn’t just cover climate change, he also denounced pesticides and genetically engineered (GE) crops, declaring “the spread of these crops destroys the complex web of ecosystems, decreases diversity in production and affects the present and the future of regional economies.”
Biotech companies claim their products are key to solving hunger, but the Pope knows this isn’t true. No commercial GE crops are engineered for increased yield. Five of every six acres of GE crops...
Who’s to blame for Pakistan heat wave?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
Wall Street Journal: The Pakistani Taliban joined the chorus of criticism over response to the devastating heat wave that has left more than 1,000 people dead in the country’s southern Sindh province. But instead of blaming the government – their usual target – the militant group blamed the power company in Karachi, the country’s largest city, for the heat-related deaths. The group, formally known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, said on Friday that it holds K-Electric responsible for the “human tragedy.” Most of...
First big heat wave of the summer to grip Spain, France and UK
Posted by Mashable: None Given on June 26th, 2015
Mashable: A heat wave is forecast to envelop much of continental Europe and the UK during the end of June into the first week of July, potentially setting records from Spain to England. Competitors in the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament, for example, may have trouble dealing with temperatures that may reach the low-to-mid 30s Celsius (up to the mid-90s Fahrenheit) in the London area by next week. The heat will first build across Iberia over the weekend, before spreading its tentacles into the UK for...
House GOP pushes bill on California drought
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on June 26th, 2015
Hill: California’s entire Republican House delegation is getting behind a bill to increase the amount of water available to Californians during the state's worst drought in centuries.
The bill, introduced by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) on Thursday, would change how the federal government releases water through the massive Central Valley Project, while making other changes aimed at the drought in other western states.
Its supporters include House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), a vocal...
Scientists try to understand heatwave
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
BBC: Scientists in India and Pakistan say higher temperatures were just one factor behind the recent heatwaves and other causes have yet to be established.
They say low air pressure, high humidity and an unusually absent wind played key roles in making the heat unbearable but they do not know why such conditions prevailed at this time of the year.
The temperature forecast for the heatwave peak in Karachi last week was 43C, according to meteorologists in Pakistan.
The prediction was accurate but...
Illegal forest clearing spotted in Aceh’s biggest peat swamp
Posted by Mongabay: Philip Jacobson on June 26th, 2015
Mongabay: Encroachers have been clearing forest at three locations in Aceh's biggest peat swamp since February, analysis of Landsat satellite imagery by environmental group Greenomics-Indonesia shows.
The Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, on the western coast of Indonesia's Aceh province and the island of Sumatra, is home to the densest population of critically endangered Sumatran orangutans in the Leuser Ecosystem.
It is not yet clear who is responsible for the deforestation, but encroachment for oil palm...