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Archive for September 14th, 2015
“This is Future:” Gov. Brown Says Climate Change, Historic Drought Contributing Extreme Fires
Posted by NBC: Riya Bhattacharjee on September 14th, 2015
NBC: California Gov. Jerry Brown thanked firefighters for their courage Monday as they battled with nature to stop two fires raging in California that destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
"This is the future,' Brown said at a press conference Monday, warning that fires are "scary stuff' that were aggravated by a historic four-year drought and climate change.
The Valley Fire, which started Saturday and grew to 61,000 acres (95 square miles) Monday or about twice the...
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Tony Abbott out of a job, and another leading climate-change skeptic may soon follow
Posted by Washington Post: Ishaan Tharoor on September 14th, 2015
Washington Post: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was dramatically booted from office on Monday after a putsch within his ruling Liberal Party. A leadership vote led to the controversial Abbott being replaced by rival Malcolm Turnbull. The new premier will serve out the coalition government's remaining term before parliamentary elections are held next year.
Turnbull and Abbott have clashed in the past, most conspicuously on the subject of climate change. Abbott is one of the Western world's leading climate-change...
Rough Fire Spreads Near Ancient Sequoia Grove In California
Posted by National Public Radio: Kirk Siegler on September 14th, 2015
National Public Radio: The Valley fire is just one of more than a dozen currently burning in California. The largest, the Rough Fire, is burning near a grove of ancient Sequoias. It is currently 40 percent contained.
Australia’s incoming prime minister seen moving cautiously on climate policy
Posted by Reuters: Colin Packham on September 14th, 2015
Reuters: Australia's incoming prime minister Malcolm Turnbull may seek to reposition greater action to fight climate change as an economic booster, analysts and academics said on Tuesday, but will move slowly to avoid losing the support of his colleagues.
Turnbull is set to become Australia's fourth prime minister in two years when he is sworn in later on Tuesday after securing the leadership of the Liberal Party, the senior partner in the ruling conservative coalition, in a vote on Monday.
Australia...
Fierce Wildfires Force Thousands of Californians to Flee
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on September 14th, 2015
Environment News Service: One person is dead and up to 1,000 homes and buildings have burned down in a fast-moving northern California wildfire that exploded through dry brush and trees, fire officials said.
Started Saturday, the Valley Fire had set 50,000 acres ablaze as of Sunday night, forcing thousands of people in Lake and Napa counties to flee their homes. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
California Governor Jerry Brown Sunday issued an emergency proclamation for Lake and Napa counties due to the...
Firestorm Leaves ‘Mass Destruction’ in California
Posted by Climate Central: Bobby Magill on September 14th, 2015
Climate Central: The catastrophic wildfires burning in California, which killed at least one person over the weekend and injured several others, are being fueled by high temperatures, strong winds and years of withering drought influenced by climate change.
The Valley Fire ignited in drought-stricken Northern California early Saturday afternoon, destroying more than 400 homes and scorching 50,000 acres -- an area more than twice the size of Manhattan -- within about 12 hours.
"It's a true firestorm -- extremely...
Biosphere collapse: the biggest economic bubble ever
Posted by Ecologist: Dr. Glen Barry on September 14th, 2015
Ecologist: Worried about debt, defaults and deficits? Save up your concern for the real problem, writes Glen Barry. The systematic destruction Earth's natural ecosystems for short-term profit is the 'bubble' that underlies economic growth - and if allowed to continue its bursting will leave the Earth in a state of social, economic and ecological collapse.
The human family will only avert biosphere collapse if we choose to live more simply, share more with others, go back to the land, have fewer kids, protect...
The refugee crisis is a portent
Posted by Daily Kos: None Given on September 14th, 2015
Daily Kos: The images were searing. The body of a drowned 3-year-old washing up on a Turkish beach. At least 200 more drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Libya. An abandoned truck in eastern Austria wherein 71 people suffocated, their bodies so badly decomposed in the heat that authorities at first couldn't tell how many there were. There have been similar images all year. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, an estimated 300,000 people have fled across the Mediterranean this year, with at least...
Australia: Federal environmental oversight costs ‘vastly overstated’, analysis finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2015
Guardian: The Coalition’s bid to speed up environmental approvals for developments such as mines and ports will not save businesses as much money as claimed and will weaken protection for vulnerable species and ecosystems, according to a new report.
The analysis, by WWF-Australia and the Australia Institute, comes as the federal government presses ahead with plans to devolve environmental oversight of projects to the states, despite the move being blocked in the Senate last year.
The House of Representatives...
Northern California wildfire destroys hundreds of structures
Posted by Reuters: Noah Berger on September 14th, 2015
Reuters: A wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee as it roared unchecked through the northern California village of Middletown and several nearby communities, fire officials said on Sunday. The so-called Valley Fire, now ranked as the most destructive among scores of blazes that have ravaged the drought-stricken U.S. west this summer, came amid what California fire officials described as "unheard of fire behavior" this season. A separate fire raging since Wednesday...