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Archive for August 27th, 2015
Why Climate Change Could Make Hurricane Impact Worse
Posted by Times: None Given on August 27th, 2015
Times: Hurricane Katrina surprised disaster preparedness authorities when it made landfall 10 years ago, leveling entire communities and killing more than 1,800 people. The storm caused more than $100 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. But for all the damage the storm caused in New Orleans, Katrina was a relatively weak hurricane when it hit the city.
In the academic community, the unexpected disaster prompted climate scientists to consider the link between climate...
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Californians cut water without state imposing fines
Posted by Associated Press: Scott Smith on August 27th, 2015
Associated Press: For the second straight month, Californians exceeded hefty water conservation mandates during the relentless drought without the state imposing fines, officials said Thursday. Cities cut water use by a combined 31 percent in July, exceeding the governor's statewide conservation mandate of 25 percent, the State Water Resources Control Board reported. The figure surpassed the June figure of 27 percent savings despite hot summer temperatures. The strong figures show California residents are beginning...
No One Is Ready for Next Katrina
Posted by Climate Desk: None Given on August 27th, 2015
Climate Desk: After the storm, after the flooding, after the investigations, the US came to realize that what happened to New Orleans on August 29, 2005 was not a natural disaster. The levee system built by the US Army Corps of Engineers had structural flaws, and those flaws were awaiting the right circumstances. In that way, what happened was all but inevitable.
And just as the storm is not to blame, New Orleans is not unique in its vulnerability. The city endured a lot of tsk-tsking in the aftermath of Katrina,...
Raging Future American Wildfires
Posted by CityLab: John Metcalfe on August 27th, 2015
CityLab: On the one hand, the warming atmosphere is predicted to drench many parts of the U.S. with extreme rain. On the other, for much of the year it`ll likely desiccate vast areas into brittle tinder, setting the stage for more frequent and powerful wildfires.
Increasingly balmy temperatures and a steady lengthening of the wildfire season (peep what`s happening this year in Alaska and Canada) will light a flame under America`s fire potential. By mid-century, large hunks of the country-including the...
The Drought Isn’t Just a California Problem
Posted by Mother Jones: Julia Lurie on August 27th, 2015
Mother Jones: California's been getting a lot of attention for the drought, but it's not alone in its lack of rain: This year is on track to be the driest on record for several western states. As the map below--a recent iteration from the US Drought Monitor--shows, virtually all of Washington, Oregon, and Nevada are covered in swaths of "severe," "extreme," or "exceptional" drought.
Here's a primer of the situation in each state:
OREGON
While Oregon is technically in its fourth year of drought, the state...
In Canadian Peaks, Scientists Track Impacts Vanishing Ice
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Ed Struzik on August 27th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: In the summer of 1955, a floatplane flew a small group of American climbers to the edge of a massive icefield straddling the Continental Divide along the Yukon/Northwest Territories border in northern Ed Struzik is a fellow at Queen’s University’s School of Policy Studies, Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy. Canada. When the group saw the cluster of jagged peaks and sheer rock walls they were searching for, they were stunned: Emerging from the edges of the Brintnell/Bologna icefield...
China detains 12 Tianjin blasts, accuses officials dereliction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2015
Reuters: China has formally detained a dozen people over huge explosions in the city of Tianjin this month that killed at least 139 people, and has accused 11 officials and port executives of suspected dereliction of duty or abuse of power.
Anger over safety standards is growing in China, after three decades of swift economic growth marred by incidents from mining disasters to factory fires, and President Xi Jinping has vowed that authorities will learn the lessons paid for with blood.
News of the detentions...
Q&A: The legal battle over a giant telescope atop Mauna Kea
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2015
Associated Press: Long before dozens of people were arrested while protesting against building a giant telescope atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea, there were years of environmental studies, public hearings and court proceedings. The Hawaii Supreme Court on Thursday is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the project's permit from the state land board to build the telescope on conservation land.
Protesters are planning a rally before the hearing outside the Supreme Court building in downtown Honolulu....