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Archive for November 16th, 2015
Earth has enough groundwater to raise sea levels by 52 metres
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2015
New Scientist: Earth holds enough water underground to flood the surface of the continents to a depth of 180 metres - or raise sea levels by 52 metres if it were spread over the entire globe. But only a small percentage of this is renewable on a human timescale.
The size of this smaller renewable reservoir - never known until now - may help governments manage water resources in the face of growing demand.
Society is increasingly relying on groundwater from wells and springs for drinking and, especially, for...
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Brewing El Nino among strongest on record – WMO
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on November 16th, 2015
Climate Home: A "very strong” El Nino set to continue into next year is among the three most powerful on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
The UN weather agency said it will soon know if this year`s phenomenon will beat 1997-98’s event, which disrupted global rainfall patterns and caused billion-dollar economic losses. 1972-73 and 1982-83 were other strong El Nino years.
“[T]his El Nino is one of three strongest for more than 50 years,” Michel Jarraud, head of the Vienna-based body...
State Issues New Guidelines On Media’s Mauna Kea Access
Posted by Civil Beat: Anita Hofschneider on November 16th, 2015
Civil Beat: The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has issued news media guidelines for journalists and photojournalists who plan to report on efforts to resume work on the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.
Construction has been at a standstill since Native Hawaiian activists and other telescope protesters blocked construction crews last April, resulting in dozens of arrests. A similar confrontation took place in June when the TMT tried and failed to resume construction, and another...
U.S., Canadian leaders to discuss climate change and energy: White House
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2015
Reuters: The senior adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama on climate, Brian Deese, will meet with Canadian leaders about energy and climate change in Ottawa, Canada, on Monday, according to the White House. They will "discuss opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between the United States and Canada, particularly on issues of energy and climate change in the weeks leading to the Paris Climate Conference and beyond," the White House said on Monday.
Nepal farmers turn ‘climate smart’ as erratic rains bite
Posted by Climate Home: Shahani Singh on November 16th, 2015
Climate Home: Bimala Bajagain, a farmer and mother of three, wears a fading red kurta and appears older than her age at 35. She offers us plates of salted guavas at the porch of her quake-damaged house. By midday, October’s warm sun boils over Kalchebesi village of Kavrepalanchok district. Bajagain insists we also savour a plate of cucumbers. “We managed to build our temporary shelter from initial government funds and assistance from an INGO,” Bajagain shares, nodding toward a small hovel constructed of corrugated...
The secret life of plastics: revealed
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on November 16th, 2015
Blue and Green: Brits are binning 15 million plastic bottles every single day, despite the fact they can be transformed, through recycling, into a range of surprising items. To tackle this, Pledge 4 Plastics – a national initiative aiming to boost plastics recycling – has released a short animated video revealing the ‘secret lives’ of plastics after being recycled. Alongside plastic bottles, the animation places a strong emphasis on plastic tubs, pots and trays – only 30 per cent of which are recycled from UK...
El Niño strengthening, will be among biggest on record: WMO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2015
Reuters: The current El Niño weather pattern, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, is expected to strengthen before the end of the year and become one of the strongest on record, the U.N. weather agency said on Monday.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said this El Niño was already "strong and mature" and the biggest in more than 15 years.
The phenomenon is driven by warm surface water in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and this time three-month averages will peak at...
Indonesia: A hot issue at climate summit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2015
SciDev.Net: Shares As 190 nations prepare for the global climate summit in Paris this December, forest fires in Indonesia continue to rage since July 2015.
Emissions from this year's fires have reached 1.62 billion metric tons of CO2, bumping Indonesia up from sixth largest to fourth largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter in the world, surpassing Russia in a matter of six weeks and the entire US economy in just 38 days. [1]
Global Forest Watch Fires detected at least 127,000 fires across Indonesia this year,...
On Kenya’s climate frontline, female farmers building secure future
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2015
Guardian: On a slope overlooking the rugged land of dry shrubs around Lolmusikopyi village in Kenya’s Samburu county, Christine Letooya is busy harvesting her crop.
Letooya plucks the ripe cobs of maize from between the papery leaves. Like all farmers, she works long hours but at least this toil is safe – she used to be a pastoralist but armed raids by cattle rustlers persuaded the mother of four to change her way of life.
“Five years ago, our village was raided by armed young men from the Pokot community....
Climate change and La Niña may bring severe floods to Australia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2015
New Scientist: Queensland could face devastating floods rivalling those seen in 2010-11 in just a year`s time, as the effects of climate change and an impending La Niña weather event combine.
La Niña brings warm water to the ocean around Queensland, and with it comes rain. Fresh research now shows that the effects of climate change made the flood-causing rains three times more likely that year.
In 2010-11, Queensland suffered some of its worst flooding in a century. Some 35 people were killed, and so much...