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Arctic sea ice falls to record low for winter
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on March 29th, 2016
Climate Home: Arctic sea ice fell to its lowest winter extent in recorded history for a second straight year, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and NASA.
Ice cover in the polar region averaged 14.52 million square kilometres (5.607 m sq miles) on March 24, the US science agencies said in a statement on Monday.
Arctic sea ice appears to have reached a record low wintertime maximum for 2nd year in a row https://t.co/L2Ki4T2FK9 pic.twitter.com/WUsnLikuh6
-- NASA (@NASA) March...
Drought, air pollution rise up agenda in Iran election
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on February 25th, 2016
Climate Home: As Iran prepares to elect its tenth parliament since 1979’s revolution on Friday, mounting concern about environmental degradation has surprised observers of the Islamic republic.
Hundreds of candidates have signed a 15-clause green pact promising to shun damaging projects and liaise with NGOs, according to analysts at the Tehran Bureau news service.
Such statements are unprecedented.
A seven-year drought is putting pressure on farmers while city-dwellers suffer from air pollution. Lake...
Looming Ethiopia famine highlights vulnerability climate change
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on February 25th, 2016
Climate Home: Food aid will run out for over 10 million Ethiopians by May, according to aid agencies, which fear a repeat of the horrendous famines of the 1970s and 80s. Chronic drought has sapped vast tracts of the north, central and eastern highlands, hitting crops and livestock as rain patterns have shifted. More than eight in ten people depend on rain-fed agriculture, according to Oxfam. Intensified by El Nino, the dry spell brings into sharp relief the vulnerability of the continent to a changing climate....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Looming Ethiopia famine highlights vulnerability climate changeShallow fracking wells contaminate drinking water, warns US scientist
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on February 15th, 2016
Climate Home: A kitchen tap catching fire in 2010 documentary Gasland highlighted the risks of the US shale boom, and energised a movement of anti-fracking activists.
Amid the controversy, does living near a gas or oil well really affect your drinking water?
"The answer to that question is usually 'no,` but there are exceptions," said Rob Jackson as the Stanford professor presented his research on groundwater quality on Sunday to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The US pumped out...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Shallow fracking wells contaminate drinking water, warns US scientistAs memory of Chernobyl, Fukushima fades, activists renew nuclear warning
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on January 29th, 2016
Climate Home: As aides escorted him past swaying chandeliers to a panic room, the mind of Japan`s prime minister flashed to his country`s seaside nuclear power stations.
Tremors in Tokyo meant tsunamis, Naoto Kan, a physics graduate, feared. It was 11 March 2011.
The next day 250km north-east of the capital, three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant went into meltdown as cooling systems failed.
Large explosions shot radioactive materials into the atmosphere following a barrage by 20-metre waves. Over...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As memory of Chernobyl, Fukushima fades, activists renew nuclear warningWorld headed for hottest year on record – WMO
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on November 25th, 2015
Climate Home: This year is poised to be the warmest in recorded history the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday.
Man-made climate change and a strengthening El Nino are set to ensure world surface temperatures reach 1C above pre-industrial levels in 2015.
“2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began," said Michel Jarraud, head of the Geneva-based agency in a statement. "This is all bad news for the planet."...
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...
Persian Gulf faces ‘intolerable’ heat on current emissions trends
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on October 26th, 2015
Climate Home: The Persian Gulf could be exposed to catastrophic temperatures by the end of the century if emissions of greenhouse gases follow current trends, US scientists said on Monday.
A mix of severe heat and humidity in the region would push temperatures past a “critical threshold” where the body overheats as sweat cannot evaporate, according to the study published in journal Nature.
Under such conditions, the cities of Doha and Dubai and parts of Saudi Arabia would become unbearable without air conditioning....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Persian Gulf faces ‘intolerable’ heat on current emissions trendsUN land restoration pact boosts Paris climate summit
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on October 26th, 2015
Climate Home: The UN’s desertification body has agreed to keep constant the stock of the planet’s healthy soil within 15 years. Envoys from 195 nations committed to target “land degradation neutrality” at the close of an Ankara summit on Friday, which officials called a “breakthrough”. The UNCCD estimates restoring the carbon storage capacity of land could reduce global warming by 0.5C by the end of the century. It is a first step in meeting a newly-launched international development goal to combat desertification...