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Panel: Finding climate fingerprints in wild weather is valid
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
Associated Press: Climate science has progressed so much that experts can accurately detect global warming's fingerprints on certain extreme weather events, such as a heat wave, according to a high-level scientific advisory panel.
For years scientists have given almost a rote response to the question of whether an instance of weird weather was from global warming, insisting that they can't attribute any single event to climate change. But "the science has advanced to the point that this is no longer true as an...
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Comments Off on Panel: Finding climate fingerprints in wild weather is validReptile fossil discovery ‘extraordinary’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
BBC: A newly discovered 250-million-year-old fossil reptile from Brazil gives an "extraordinary" insight into life just before the dinosaurs appeared.
At the time, the world was recovering from a massive extinction that wiped out most living species.
The reptile, named Teyujagua or "fierce lizard", is the close relative of a group that gave rise to dinosaurs, crocodiles and birds.
The fossil is "beautiful" and fills an evolutionary gap, say scientists.
Dr Richard Butler from the University...
Planting more trees can reduce UK’s flood risk, research shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
Guardian: Natural defences, including planting more trees, could be a solution to the country’s flooding problems, according to new research.
In a study led by the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton, scientists found that planting trees could reduce the height of flooding in towns by up to 20%.
They found strategic planting on flood plains could help towns downstream reduce the “peak height” of floods.
But the scientists warned that natural flood defences would need to be combined with conventional...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Planting more trees can reduce UK’s flood risk, research showsUnited Kingdom: Planting trees ‘could cut flood risk’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
Telegraph: Natural defences, including planting more trees, could be a solution to the country's flooding problems, according to new research.
In a study led by the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton, scientists found that planting trees could reduce the height of flooding in towns by up to 20 per cent.
They found strategic planting on flood plains could help towns downstream reduce the "peak height" of floods.
But the scientists warned that natural flood defences would need to be combined...
Jackson, Mississippi residents asked to boil water, limit water use
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
Reuters: Residents in Jackson, Mississippi, the largest city in the state, were asked to boil their water and limit water use early on Friday after heavy rains and a mechanical issue caused a system outage, the city said. The city's public works department was working to restore water to households after a weather-related issue at one treatment facility and a broken valve at another facility temporarily caused an outage, the city said on a Facebook post late Thursday night. "All repairs have been made and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Jackson, Mississippi residents asked to boil water, limit water useRepublican debate: Candidates talk climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
CBS News: With Thursday night's GOP debate set in Miami, where concerns about rising sea levels and the effects of climate change are more acute than in many parts of the country, moderator Jake Tapper asked the Republican candidates to outline their position on climate change. The question came from Miami Mayor Tomás Pedro Regalado.
Here's what Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich said when they were asked about the issue--and how businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz feel about...
Oregon residents vote ‘no’ on canyonlands conservation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2016
Reuters: Voters in a rural southeastern Oregon county have registered their opposition to proposals to expand federal protective status within 2.5 million acres of scenic canyonlands near the wildlife refuge recently occupied by anti-government militants. The referendum follows calls by an environmental group to designate the area as a conservation zone, a move local ranchers and many others in the area perceive as a potential land grab by the federal government. Of more than 6,300 ballots cast in the non-binding...
Pennsylvania families win $4.24M verdict against gas driller
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 10th, 2016
Associated Press: A federal jury awarded two couples nearly $4.25 million on Thursday after finding one of the largest natural gas drillers in Pennsylvania polluted their well water.
The verdict came at the end of a bitter and long-running federal lawsuit pitting homeowners in the village of Dimock against Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.
Dimock was the scene of the most highly publicized case of methane contamination to emerge from the early days of Pennsylvania’s natural-gas drilling boom. State regulators...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pennsylvania families win $4.24M verdict against gas drillerThe miracle of Kolkata’s wetlands – and one man’s struggle save them
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 9th, 2016
Guardian: The trees on the streets of Kolkata in January are dusty, like neglected pot plants. At traffic lights, salesmen offer feather dusters for drivers to wipe their grimy cars. Shrubs are planted on the central reservation of the city’s new flyovers, surrounded by the implausible boasts on signs proclaiming a “clean and green” city. But the most frequently recurring poster, above almost every street corner, appeals for investors to “Come to Bengal – Ride the Growth”.
Kolkata, a famously cultured city...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The miracle of Kolkata’s wetlands – and one man’s struggle save themLocals eating radioactive food 30 years after Chernobyl: Greenpeace tests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 9th, 2016
Reuters: Economic crises convulsing Russia, Ukraine and Belarus mean testing in areas contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has been cut or restricted, Greenpeace said, and people continue to eat and drink foods with dangerously high radiation levels.
According to scientific tests conducted on behalf of the environmental campaigning group, overall contamination from key isotopes such as caesium-137 and strontium-90 has fallen somewhat, but lingers, especially in places such as forests.
People...
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