Monday, December 18, 2017

Rationale for Site C ‘Utter Nonsense,’ Says Former Hydro CEO

The Tyee

Province had ability to cancel project without cutting services, argues Eliesen. Story here.

Houses built too close to bush spread huge California fires on 'front line of climate change'


CBCnews

















California wildfires from the International Space Station. NASA/Randy Bresnik
State's 'new normal' is a fire season 70 days longer than just 15 years ago. Story here.


Sunday, December 17, 2017

While America Focuses on Tax Bill, Congress Quietly Tries to Open Arctic Refuge to Oil Drilling

EcoWatch


The U.S. Senate has passed a Republican tax-reform package that contains a provision to authorize oil drilling on the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, placing the biological heart of one of our last pristine, untouched places in severe peril. Story here.

Barrenground caribou, Nunavut. 


In 10 years, the world may not be able to feed itself

The World EconomicForum









Combines in a wheat field in Manitoba, Canada. PinP photo.
By 2027 the world could be facing a 214 trillion calorie deficit, says Sara Menker, founder of an agricultural data technology company. In other words, in just a decade, we won’t have enough food to feed the planet. More here.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Fracking linked to low birth weight in Pennsylvania babies

ScienceNews

Study of birth records finds association between infant health and mom’s proximity to production sites. Story here.

Photo by Pexels.


Expert reaction to research on Hurricane Harvey and links to climate change


Science Media Centre
A new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, reported that human-caused climate change made the record rainfall that fell over Houston during Hurricane Harvey roughly three times more likely and 15% more intense. Story here.

Hurricane Harvey. 
 Photo by urban.houstonian

How a Wayward Arctic Current Could Cool the Climate in Europe

YaleEnvironment360

The Beaufort Gyre, a key Arctic Ocean current, is acting strangely. Scientists say it may be on the verge of discharging a huge amount of ice and cold freshwater that could kick off a period of lower temperatures in northern Europe. Story here.