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Archive for November 18th, 2015
Hawaii Supreme Court grants temporary suspension permit for giant Mauna Kea telescope
Posted by Associated Press: Jennifer Sinco Kelleher on November 18th, 2015
Associated Press: The Hawaii Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily suspended a permit that allows a giant telescope to be built on a mountain many Native Hawaiians consider sacred. The court granted telescope opponents' request for an emergency stay of the effectiveness of the permit until Dec. 2, or until another court order. The ruling was issued as protesters were gathering on Mauna Kea in anticipation of blocking telescope work from resuming. Work has been stalled since April amid protests. "Mahalo ke akua,"...
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Small landscape changes can mean big freshwater gains
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2015
ScienceDaily: A typical bird's-eye view of the Midwest offers a patchwork landscape covered mostly by agriculture but mottled with forest, wetland, grassland, buildings and pavement. This pattern influences the quality and supply of the many natural benefits the landscape provides people, including freshwater. A new opportunity for improving the health and supply of Wisconsin's lakes, waterways and groundwater has emerged from a recent study in the journal Ecosphere by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Water...
DLNR agents no longer expected Mauna Kea following order suspend TMT work
Posted by Hawaii News: None Given on November 18th, 2015
Hawaii News: Hawaii News Now has learned DLNR agents who were scheduled to be on Mauna Kea Wednesday morning to ensure Thirty Meter Telescope crews safe, unobstructed access to their site have been told to stand down as TMT workers are no longer expected in light of the state Supreme Court's ruling to temporarily suspend construction for the next two weeks.
Hawai'i's Supreme Court has ordered that there be no TMT construction on Mauna Kea until December 2, or until another court order. The announcement this...
Supreme Court halts TMT construction
Posted by KITV: None Given on November 18th, 2015
KITV: It was supposed to be Round 4 in the battle over Mauna Kea – another potential clash between the TMT and those who oppose it. The previous three showdowns went in favor of those who call themselves the “Protectors of Mauna Kea.” But this time, not even a minute of protesting had to happen before TMT’s opportunity came to a halt. On Tuesday, those who oppose the TMT were getting ready to yet again stand as one in its way. But in a late turn of events, a Supreme Court ruling said TMT must temporarily...
Hawaii Supreme Court Temporarily Suspends Construction Giant Telescope
Posted by Business Times: Avaneesh Pandey on November 18th, 2015
Business Times: The Supreme Court of Hawaii on Tuesday temporarily suspended a permit that would have allowed the construction of a giant Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to proceed atop the Mauna Kea summit. In a unanimous ruling, the court granted an emergency stay on the construction, which was previously scheduled to resume Wednesday.
The court’s ruling prevents construction of the telescope until Dec. 2 or until another ruling is issued.
“They cannot legally do any work on Mauna Kea,” Richard Naiwieha Wurdeman,...
Heat records smashed again as big El Niño rides on global warming
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Peter Hannam on November 18th, 2015
Sydney Morning Herald: Worldwide temperatures last month soared to new heights for October, boosted by the second-strongest El Nino on record, adding to the likelihood that 2015 will also smash annual heat records. The amount of heat required to warm up just the top two metres of the El Nino hot spot in the Pacific has been calculated at 100 quadrillion kilojoules - or about the total annual energy use in the US. Average surface temperatures worldwide were 0.53 degrees above the 1981-2010 average and the warmest since...
In the Caribbean, a stinking seaweed menace spurs invention
Posted by Reuters: Rebekah Kebede on November 18th, 2015
Reuters: An unwelcome visitor sailed onto Caribbean beaches this year: huge rafts of seaweed.
The seaweed, called sargassum, has swept into the region in part as a result of changing weather conditions, turning many once-postcard-perfect beaches a dull pond-scum brown as it decomposes and releases a rotten egg stench.
"It's a dirty horrible brown lace that just washes ashore," said Noorani Azeez, CEO of the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association. "The foul stench of the seaweed is really an inhibitor...
Caribbean nations struggling with foul-smelling seaweed
Posted by Christian Science: None Given on November 18th, 2015
Christian Science: Putrid-smelling seaweed has been piling up on Caribbean beaches for months, straining the tourist-dependent region.
From Florida to South America, the seaweed has killed wildlife tangled in its thick vines, repelled tourists seeking pristine beaches, imperiled the livelihoods of fishermen, and snarled power plants that rely on the churn of the sea.
On one Mexican beach, the piles amassed were four feet high, causing some locals to flee their homes, The Washington Post reports. Tobago’s legislature...
Australia’s bush fire preparedness under threat as climate change kicks in
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Lucy Cormack on November 18th, 2015
Sydney Morning Herald: Australia risks being under-prepared for longer, drier and more severe bushfire seasons, a report from the Climate Council says.
The national report found that record-breaking temperatures and hot winds will place unprecedented strain on firefighting resources, estimating that the number of professional firefighters across Australia will need to double by 2030.
Australia's bushfire season got off to an early start, when more than 200 fires burned across Victoria in the first week of October,...
Water supply for 2 billion people at risk as snowpack declines across northern hemisphere
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on November 18th, 2015
Mongabay: Snowfields once considered permanent are shrinking from the Rocky Mountains to the Himalayas.
Nearly 100 drainage basins across the northern hemisphere that currently supply water to 2 billion people in the American West, southern Europe, the Mideast and central Asia are at considerable risk over the next century.
Dwindling water supplies will not be a universal impact of declining snowpacks due to climate change, however.
Scientists have observed declining snowpack accumulation across the...