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Archive for December 6th, 2015
United Kingdom: Environmental campaigners say Storm Desmond sign things to come
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2015
Guardian: Six years after an unnamed storm wreaked havoc across Cumbria, Storm Desmond struck the county with fearsome impact once again.
Those who had their homes flooded or were forced to wade waist-deep to seek drier ground will not have had time to make immediate comparisons, nor consider deeply whether it is all down to climate change.
The Met Office and the Environment Agency were busy ensuring people were safe and prepared for more rain over the coming days . They said communities in the north...
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Hawaiian Supreme Court rescinds construction permit for TMT
Posted by Northern Californian: None Given on December 6th, 2015
Northern Californian: The Supreme Court of Hawaii has withdrawn the construction consent for the hotly contested Thirty Meter Telescope project in a quite expected ruling on Wednesday. The court has ordered in a 58-page written opinion that a mistake was done by Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources in giving a building permit for the project ‘prior resolving the hearing of the request for a contested case and before holding the hearing’.
The Board has to now conduct a contested case hearing before re-issuing...
United Kingdom: Flood-hit homeowners face higher insurance bills after Storm Desmond
Posted by Guardian: Hilary Osborne and David Ward on December 6th, 2015
Guardian: Homeowners in flood-stricken areas of Cumbria could see their already high insurance bills increase further following Storm Desmond.
Under an agreement between the government and insurers, homeowners are supposed to be able to buy policies that include cover for flood damage from their existing provider. However, there is no cap on costs, and previously residents in the area have reported being quoted prices of £2,000 a year and offered policies with excesses of £20,000, or being turned down entirely....
Mary Robinson: climate change ‘very likely’ to increase radicalisation
Posted by Conservation: None Given on December 6th, 2015
Conservation: Former Irish president Mary Robinson is one of the world’s leading voices on climate justice. Appearing at the UN climate summit in Paris, Robinson has argued for warming to be kept within 1.5°C, to protect the nations most at risk from the effects climate change. She has also campaigned for women to be front and centre in the negotiations, citing their increased vulnerability in a warming world.
Robinson was President of Ireland from 1990-97, after which she was appointed United Nations High...
ArcticNet in Vancouver discussing ‘unsettling speed’ of climate change
Posted by CBC: Bob Weber on December 6th, 2015
CBC: Top Arctic scientists will gather in Vancouver this week to discuss everything from caribou populations to the high cost of food — but underlying it all is the unsettling speed with which the northern climate is changing. "It's a real challenge," said Ross Brown, an Environment Canada researcher who is to speak this week at the ArcticNet conference. Brown's presentation will attempt to sum up the profound changes that are expected in the Eastern Arctic if international meetings such as the one...
Rising waters prompt China’s sea change on climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2015
Globe and Mail: At Pleasant Banyan Bay in China's southern Guangdong province, couples flock by the dozens for elaborately staged wedding photos on the white sand. Large signs on a nearby hotel shout, "Forever."
But the love on display here might outlast the sand. A rising sea has narrowed the main beach by 10 metres and scoured around trees, exposing their roots. Smaller beaches on the fringes of the bay have already vanished.
"I know the glaciers and the poles are melting and that's why the water is rising,"...
Britain calls crisis meeting floods hit northern England, one killed
Posted by Reuters: Barbara Lewis on December 6th, 2015
Reuters: Britain's emergency response committee met on Sunday after prolonged heavy rain caused widespread flooding in northwest England and forced emergency services to evacuate residents from their homes.
The meeting was called after storms battered the country overnight, killing one man and leaving hundreds of homes flooded and without power. Police declared a major incident and coastguards were called in to rescue stranded residents.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said the government committee...
Does fracking cause earthquakes?
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on December 6th, 2015
Al Jazeera: Fracking has revolutionised the US energy market, with oil and gas extraction lowering household gas prices, reducing energy costs, while helping make the country energy self-sufficient.
Considered faster and more efficient than other methods of extraction, the process involves injecting large volumes of water, chemicals, and sand at high pressure deep underground to dislodge oil and gas.
The oil and gas are separated from the water, which is then pumped deep underground for storage in injection...
Telescope opponents: Construction equipment must be removed
Posted by Sacred Heart: None Given on December 6th, 2015
Sacred Heart: As the Thirty Meter Telescope construction permit revoked by Hawaii Supreme Court has left the continuation of the project on shaky grounds, the chair of the TMT International Observatory Board of Directors Henry Yang declared the process will be followed lawfully and the decision is met with full respect.
"We anticipate several years of litigation, and my clients and I are ready for the battle", said Richard Naiwieha Wurdeman, the group's attorney, as quoted by Hawaii News Now. We are assessing...
Climate talks enter next phase, toughest decisions ahead
Posted by Reuters: David Stanway and Richard Valdmanis on December 6th, 2015
Reuters: lobal climate change talks in Paris moved into a new, tougher phase on Saturday as negotiators agreed on a draft accord, albeit one that still leaves hundreds of points of dispute for ministers to resolve next week. While a largely procedural step in the four-year quest for a binding deal to slow global warming, the fact that senior officials from almost 200 nations agreed on a draft marks an advance over the last, failed summit in Copenhagen six years ago. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius...