Archive for the ‘Water Conservation’ Category

United Kingdom: Homeowners count the cost as floods force prices to plummet

Guardian: People trying to sell their properties in flood-hit parts of north-west England have begun dramatically dropping their prices amid fears that houses in some roads have become virtually unsellable. Large homes in and around the Warwick Road area of Carlisle, which in December 2015 experienced its second major flooding episode in a decade, have started to appear on the market for only 60% of their November values – leaving some people wondering whether they will ever be able to move house. After...

United Kingdom: Broken dreams, sodden homes and businesses – flood victims shortchanged by insurers

Guardian: They were still removing sodden drum kits and waterlogged guitar amps from York’s Melrose Yard Studios yesterday. A week earlier, floodwaters from the nearby river Foss had inundated the popular music studios with ruinous effect and left the North Yorkshire business among those feeling shortchanged by its insurers. A hitherto unnoticed clause in Melrose Yard’s insurance policy has left the firm ineligible for reimbursement, despite its owners calculating that it will need at least £20,000 to get...

California drought putting many trees at risk

Environmental News Network: California's forests are home to the planet's oldest, tallest and most-massive trees. New research from Carnegie's Greg Asner and his team reveals that up to 58 million large trees in California experienced severe canopy water loss between 2011 and today due to the state's historic drought. Their results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to the persistently low rainfall, high temperatures and outbreaks of the destructive bark beetle increased forest...

‘It’s going to get ugly’: Midwest calls in national guard as flood disaster unfolds

Guardian: Floods have submerged towns, roads, casinos and shopping malls around the south and midwest for more than three days, prompting governors in Illinois and Iowa to call in the national guard. Sixteen states issued flood warnings covering some eight million people. By Saturday floodwaters had begun to subside in many areas, reopening several important highways, after topping levees in the region late on Friday. But swollen rivers have yet to crest in southern states, alarming governors in Tennessee,...

Racism Captured At A Fracking Protest

Inquisitr: MMC Land Management employee John Pisone took it upon himself to confront anti-fracking protesters at the fracking site in Mars, Pennsylvania, where he was working. His dismay towards the protesters turned into flat-out racism as he hurled harsh words towards the black photo journalist, Tom Jefferson. Jefferson captured all of the racist landscaper`s words on a video that has now gone viral during the fracking protest. Pisone insulted all of the protesters in general. According to him, they`re...

Climate Change Warming World’s Lakes, Says Study

Reuters: A new study by NASA and the National Science Foundation reveals that climate change is rapidly warming lakes around the world, according to findings in Geophysical Research Letters. The study, published last month, used temperature data taken via satellites and ground measurements from 235 lakes around the world and analyzed temperature changes over 25 years. "What we wanted to do was see how lakes were changing over the entire globe and look at what variations there were in the warming rates...

Washington, D.C., eclipses warmest December on record by an enormous margin

Washington Post: December 2015 in Washington was the epitome of weird weather. It will be remembered not for its steadily decreasing temperatures and occasional flurry, but for its humid, foggy days with high temperatures in the 70s, and lows that could masquerade as normal highs. Some cherry trees, irises, roses and daffodils bloomed straight through the month, painting a surreal portrait next to evergreen trees and red bows. Instead of curling up in front of a fireplace, many in Washington turned to air conditioning...

Southern states brace for flooding as overflowing Midwest rivers recede

Reuters: Overflowing rivers were receding in Missouri and Illinois on Friday after flooding swamped communities and forced towns to evacuate, with forecasters warning that rain-swollen waterways flowing downstream could menace Southern states. At least 28 people have died in the U.S. Midwest since the weekend in rare winter floods, mostly when driving into flooded areas after storms dropped up to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain, officials said. Flooding in the Midwest usually comes in the spring as snowmelt...

Ethanol lobby losing clout in Iowa caucuses

Chicago Sun-Times: Renewable energy, yes. Ethanol, not so much. Sen. Ted Cruz, running for the GOP presidential nomination, says the corn-based biofuel deserves no special federal supports, and we have to agree, if for different reasons. Cruz, who opposes ethanol supports even as he campaigns to win the Iowa caucuses, opposes government policies that favor any form of renewable energy, calling it "corporate welfare." He also represents, we should note, a huge oil state, Texas. We, on the other hand, see an important...

Southern states brace for flooding as overflowing Midwest rivers recede

Reuters: Residents of southern states along the Mississippi River are bracing for the flooding that has swamped communities from the Ohio River Valley to eastern Oklahoma over the last week, causing thousands of evacuations and killing at least 31 people. Officials in Louisiana are checking levees daily, and Exxon Mobil Corp has decided to shut its 340,571 barrel-per-day refined products terminal in Memphis, Tennessee, as floodwaters threatened to inundate the facility just south of the city's downtown....