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U.K. Lawmakers Urge Fracking Delay on Water, Climate Risk
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on January 26th, 2015
Bloomberg: Fracking shale for oil and gas should be put on hold in the U.K. because of risks to public health and the environment, a panel of lawmakers said.
A moratorium on fracking is needed to prevent the U.K. from missing its carbon targets and allow time to stiffen regulations for the industry, Parliament’s cross-party Environmental Audit Committee said in a report Monday. It called for measures including a ban on venting methane, public disclosure of chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing, and a regulatory...
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Typhoon adds urgency climate talks as rift opens on pollution
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on December 8th, 2014
Bloomberg: A typhoon that forced at least 900,000 people to evacuate their homes in the Philippines highlighted the stakes for envoys at United Nations climate talks as a rift opened over how to fight global warming.
The storm named Hagupit was the third of its kind to strike the island nation in as many years during the annual round of UN talks aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Last year’s Typhoon Haiyan killed 6,300 people.
Developing countries fear storms like Hagupit will become more intense...
Rising seas make living with global warming a UN priority
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on December 6th, 2014
Bloomberg: From the rising seas in the Seychelles to the melting glaciers of Switzerland and Peru, governments are learning to cope with damaging changes to the climate that threaten food and water supplies, and even the very survival of the most low-lying nations.
Having failed to prevent global warming from taking hold after two decades of discussions, more countries are focusing on how to live with its effects. The idea is rising to the top of the agenda at two weeks of United Nations climate talks that...
UN Tells Oil, Gas Industry to Leave Fuel in Ground
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on April 4th, 2014
Bloomberg: In a world that has never produced so much oil and gas, the United Nations is seeking to persuade producers they need to leave three-quarters of their reserves in the ground and explore cleaner energy to combat climate change.
“The fossil fuels we do use must be utilized sparingly and responsibly,” Christiana Figueres, UN climate chief, said in the copy of a prepared speech to the industry. “Three-quarters of the fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground.”
The UN is seeking to enlist...
Looming storm to end flooded Britons’ respite from deluge
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on February 14th, 2014
Bloomberg: Princes William and Harry helped flood protection efforts on the River Thames west of London as a new storm hit the U.K. with drenching rains, threatening to prolong the risk of inundations for another week.
The princes, second and fourth in line to the British throne, joined members of the Household Cavalry and Network Rail staff lugging sandbags to shore up defenses in the riverside Berkshire village of Datchet, video footage from the Guardian newspaper’s website shows.
Hundreds of homes...
Global Warming Seen Taking Toll on Economy, Health, Crops
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on November 4th, 2013
Bloomberg: Global warming is expected to take an increasing toll on the economy, food production, fresh water supplies and human health as the century progresses, according to a draft study for the United Nations. A temperature increase of 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) since industrialization may lead to losses of as much as 2 percent of global economic output, an analysis by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed. Temperatures have already risen by about 0.8 degrees. The...
Canadian Arctic May Lose 20% of Glaciers by 2100, Study Shows
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on March 7th, 2013
Bloomberg: A fifth of Canada’s Arctic glaciers may disappear this century, raising sea levels as their retreat becomes harder to reverse, scientists said.
An increase in average global temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) would be sufficient to melt the ice from glaciers on Canada’s northern islands, according to a statement e-mailed today by the British Antarctic Survey, whose researchers contributed to the study.
The Arctic has become a harbinger of climate change, with the effects of...
UK Seeks to Use Climate Funds to Spur Kenyan Geothermal
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on September 26th, 2012
Bloomberg: The U.K. government plans to spur use of Britain’s green technology and financial expertise for geothermal and wind power projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania by tapping billions of pounds of state funds.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said he will head a trade delegation, including 30 executives from 19 U.K. companies, to the East African countries from Oct. 1 to 5. The markets have the potential to develop more than 15,000 megawatts of geothermal power, as well as wind and...
Ice Loss Accelerates in Greenland, Antarctica, NASA Study Finds
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on March 9th, 2011
Bloomberg: Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets are shrinking more quickly, suggesting United Nations projections for sea-level rise are too conservative, a U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration-funded study said.
From 1992 to 2009, the two regions lost on average 36.3 billion tons more ice every year than the previous year, scientists led by Eric Rignot at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a study in the Geophysical Research Letters journal. The researchers...