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Archive for July, 2015
Dwindling water supplies push Alberta developers toward sustainability
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 31st, 2015
Globe and Mail: "Water is not necessarily a renewable resource any more," Ms. Oxtoby said.
The City of Calgary has a population of 1.2 million people, with water rights for nearly three times that amount. However, Ms. Oxtoby's developments are just south of Calgary's border, in the Municipal District of Foothills - a distinction that could prove to be very expensive for her next project.
In 2006, the province put a moratorium on the South Saskatchewan River Basin; water extraction is no longer allowed from...
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Halfway to Hell: Global Temperatures Hit Critical Point, Warn Scientists
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 31st, 2015
EcoWatch: As 2015 shapes up to be the hottest year on record, scientists warn the world could be halfway towards surpassing countries’ self-set red line of 2C temperature rise.
New research commissioned by the New Scientist shows that four out of the five major surface temperature records are set to pass the 1C point this year, measured from the 1850-1899 average.
At 1C climate change is already affecting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations as warming brings escalating sea level rise...
Severe Droughts Affect Forests And CO2 Storage for Years, Study Shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 31st, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Severe drought can affect a forest's growth for up to four years, a period during which it is less effective at removing carbon from the atmosphere, a new study reports in the journal Science. Standard climate models have assumed that forests and other vegetation bounce back quickly from extreme drought, but that assumption is far off the mark, the researchers say. Looking at data from more than 1,300 forest sites dating back to 1948, they found that living trees took an average of two to four years...
This Map Shows What San Francisco Look Like After Sea Levels Rise
Posted by Mother Jones: Luke Whelan on July 31st, 2015
Mother Jones: Developers in the booming San Francisco Bay Area are busy planning everything from much-needed new housing to sports stadiums and gleaming tech campuses. But according to a new report just published by the San Francisco Public Press, many of these construction projects sit on land susceptible to rising waters due to climate change. And regulators and local governments are not doing much to prepare. The Public Press found 27 major commercial and residential developments that will be vulnerable...
Poll: Californians are more worried about climate change because drought
Posted by Grist: None Given on July 30th, 2015
Grist: A new poll shows Californians are increasingly freaked out about climate change. The poll also shows that Californians think the state`s historic drought is related to climate change. Pollsters didn`t ask specifically if the drought is spurring climate change concerns, but the implication seems obvious.
As a Californian I can say the drought at least makes me feel, on a gut level, that something big is shifting. When I am not darting from shadow to shrinking shadow, or squeezing a few drops of...
Defense Department to Congress: Global warming is a ‘present security threat’
Posted by Mashable: Andrew Freedman on July 30th, 2015
Mashable: For the first time, the U.S. Department of Defense has detailed what it views as its greatest challenges related to climate change.
In a report to Congress, the Defense Department said that global warming poses a "present security threat, not strictly a long-term risk."
See also: Global warming helped trigger Syria's civil war
The report, delivered to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday and publicly released Wednesday, further stated the Defense Department is "already observing...
Earth now halfway to UN global warming limit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
New Scientist: IT`S the outcome the world wants to avoid, but we are already halfway there. All but one of the main trackers of global surface temperature are now passing more than 1 °C of warming relative to the second half of the 19th century, according to an exclusive analysis done for New Scientist.
We could also be seeing the end of the much-discussed slowdown in surface warming since 1998, meaning this is just the start of a period of rapid warming. "There`s a good chance the hiatus is over," says Kevin...
‘Bombshell’ New Report on Sea Level Rise
Posted by Sputnik: Brad Friedman on July 30th, 2015
Sputnik: Today, for a change, we're happy to offer you a (virtually) Trump-free BradCast! You're welcome! First, a quick update on a conversation we had last week with FBI Special Agent turned 9/11 whistleblower turned TIME Magazine's 2002 "Person of the Year", Coleen Rowley. We had her on to speak about the difference between terrorism and hate crimes, as defined by the federal government, and as randomly applied after the (apparently non-terroristic) race-based hate crime shootings in Charleston, SC versus...
El Niño Could Mean Extreme Weather, Fewer Anchovies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
National Geographic: It looks like we're in for a strong, lengthy El Niño this year.
Warmer-than-usual water in parts of the Pacific Ocean indicates that a developing El Niño is intensifying and might become one of the strongest on record. And National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists think the weather phenomenon probably will continue through the winter of 2015-16, and into the spring of 2016.
El Niños have been occurring at least since the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. But scientists...
California wildfire forces evacuation of 500 people
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: A rapidly spreading brushfire burning in parched timberland north of San Francisco has forced the evacuation of 500 people and destroyed several buildings less than 12 hours after it broke out, fire officials said on Thursday.
The blaze, named the "Rocky Fire", is one of a string of wildfires threatening homes and scorching parched wilderness in the U.S. West, where several regions have endured sustained drought.
The Rocky Fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in Lake County, 110 miles (180 km)...