RSS Feed
Archive for November 8th, 2015
Megacities hit hard by surging sea levels even at 2C rise: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 8th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Large swathes of Shanghai, Mumbai, New York and other cities will slip under the waves even if an upcoming climate summit limits global warming to two degrees Celsius, scientists reported Sunday.
A 2 C (3.6 Fahrenheit) spike in Earth's temperature would submerge land currently occupied by 280 million people, while an increase of 4 C (7.2 F) -- humanity's current trajectory -- would cover areas lived on by more than 600 million, the study said.
"Two degrees Celsius warming will pose a long-term,...
Posted in 
Climate change could push 100m into extreme poverty
Posted by Climate Home: Megan Darby on November 8th, 2015
Climate Home: Whether it’s flooding in Mumbai slums or drought decimating goat herds in the Sahel, poor people are hardest hit by the changing climate.
Such impacts could push another 100 million into extreme poverty by 2030.
So warns the World Bank in its latest report, calling for targeted support to help marginalised communities cope.
“When we look at poverty today, we see that climate-related shocks and stresses are already an obstacle to people escaping poverty,” lead author Stephane Hallegatte told...
Wisconsin train derailment spilled thousands of gallons of ethanol
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 8th, 2015
Associated Press: Five tanker cars of a BNSF Railway freight train that derailed Saturday in western Wisconsin were leaking ethanol into the Mississippi River, the railroad said. The train derailed about 8:45 a.m. Saturday, around 2 miles north of Alma, a town along the Mississippi, BNSF said. Some of the 25 derailed cars were empty auto racks and tanker cars carrying denatured alcohol, also known as ethanol, the railroad said. BNSF said the railroad is working to contain the spill, but it didn’t say how much ethanol...
Second rare cyclone batters Yemen, kills one: official
Posted by Reuters: Noah Browning on November 8th, 2015
Reuters: A second extremely rare and powerful cyclone in two weeks battered the Yemeni island of Socotra with hurricane-force winds on Sunday, killing a woman and causing around 5,000 people to flee their homes, a local official said.
The new storm, called Megh, comes less than a week after Cyclone Chapala killed 11 Yemenis on Socotra and the mainland, dumping nearly a decade of average annual rainfall on the impoverished and war-torn country in just two days.
"A woman in her forties died when her home...
Derailed Wis train leaks ethanol into Mississippi
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 8th, 2015
Reuters: BNSF Railway Co crews have staunched the flow of ethanol from a freight train that derailed in Wisconsin after thousands of gallons of the denatured alcohol leaked into the Mississippi River, the company said on Sunday. Twenty-five cars derailed about two miles (3.2 km) north of Alma, Wisconsin, a rural community close to the Minnesota border, at about 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, the railroad said. No injuries were reported. The train was hauling a variety of freight, including empty auto racks and...
What can trees tell us about climate change?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Eva Botkin-Kowacki on November 8th, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: Trees don’t just provide the paper for history books. They actually write the historical records themselves.
Tree-rings, new layers of wood added to a growing tree each year, record climatic data annually throughout a tree’s life. Ancient trees provide a record of drought, rainfall, and other climatic variations. And that record could help scientists better understand current and future climate trends.
Dendrochronologist Edward R. Cook and his team at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of...
Canada’s Liberals plan ‘fresh start’ on energy after rejection of Keystone pipeline
Posted by Globe and Mail: Steven Chase and Paul Koring on November 8th, 2015
Globe and Mail: Barack Obama has formally rejected the Keystone XL pipeline project after seven years of review, saying that importing "dirtier crude oil" from Canada would tarnish the United States' reputation for fighting climate change.
The U.S. President's decision on the oil sands pipeline, while not unexpected, puts pressure on Justin Trudeau's new Liberal government to rehabilitate Canada's international image as a responsible energy producer and find new routes to get crude to foreign markets.
Foreign...
Canada: Pipedream nightmares and oilfield battles
Posted by Business Vancouver: None Given on November 8th, 2015
Business Vancouver: This was not a good week for oil companies, and it was particularly bad for Canadian pipeline companies and Alberta’s oil sector.
On Thursday, it was reported that New York’s attorney general had begun investigating Exxon Mobil over concerns it misled investors about the risk climate change posed to its business, and on Friday, President Barack Obama officially announced he would kill the TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline.
The pipeline “would not serve the interests of the United States,”...
Indonesia fires are the biggest eco-disaster in world right now
Posted by Vox: None Given on November 8th, 2015
Vox: One of the worst eco-disasters on the planet is currently unfolding in Indonesia. Over the past two months, thousands of forest and peatland fires have been raging out of control, choking the entire region in a thick, toxic haze.
The enormous smoke columns can be seen from space. NASA snapped this satellite pic of peat fires in Borneo on October 19:
The fires themselves have been a public-health nightmare, forcing multiple evacuations, killing at least 19, and triggering respiratory illnesses...
Time to shift climate change discussion to policy solutions
Posted by Missoulian: None Given on November 8th, 2015
Missoulian: Controversy is essential in a functioning democracy. You may be in favor (or against) background checks for gun purchases in Missoula or have a strong opinion on the school bond issue. The reality TV that fronts as our primary presidential debates sparks lively conversations around the social media water cooler. Climate change dialogue, however, is different. The discourse should be around policy, and not about whether climate change is happening or not. We have somehow digressed, responding to...