Coal ash a key source of tap-water toxin — report (subs req’d)
With U.S. EPA’s chief preparing to testify today before a Senate panel on toxics in drinking water, a new report from environmental and health groups identified the waste from coal-burning power plants as a key source of one of the chemicals coming under the microscope.
EPA took swift action last month to prod utilities to tighten drinking water screening for hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen, after a nonprofit group sounded alarms over tests that found significant amounts of the chemical in the tap water of 25 U.S. cities (E&ENews PM, Jan. 11).
A new report released yesterday draws a link between hexavalent chromium and coal ash, identifying the ash landfills as potential contributors to the groundwater pollution. Jackson is scheduled to testify on hexavalent chromium today at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (E&E Daily, Jan. 31).
Although EPA has moved to regulate coal ash, the groups behind the report — Earthjustice, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Environmental Integrity Project — say the agency ignored the cancer risk associated with the presence of hexavalent chromium in groundwater.
The groups called on EPA to treat coal ash as a hazardous waste — the tougher of two likely regulatory options.
Upton, Inhofe to float plan Wednesday that blocks EPA climate rules
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) will unveil draft legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a GOP aide on the House panel said.
“The bill is a narrowly drawn, targeted solution that prevents the Clean Air Act from being transformed into a regulatory vehicle to impose a cap-and-trade energy tax,” the Republican Energy and Commerce Committee aide said.
“The Obama administration will not be allowed to regulate what it has been unable to legislate,” adds the aide.
The comments reflect the widespread view among Republicans and many fossil fuel industry groups that regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the air law will harm the economy and eventually impose burdensome requirements on scores of facilities.
India’s crops affected by erratic climate
A number of India’s key crops are experiencing the effects of climate change, experts say.
H Pathak, an investigator with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s Climate Change Challenge Program, said global warming isn’t limited to a rise in average temperatures.
“It’s a little more complicated than that. There is for example also a rise in carbon dioxide and a change in rainfall patterns, which could affect India very severely because much of our agriculture is still rain-fed,” Pathak told The Times of India…
While some regions of India are getting too much rain, other regions aren’t getting enough, affecting crops ranging from coffee and tea to grapes and rice.
In the south, erratic rain patterns are causing the coffee crop to fruit twice and sometimes three times, resulting in inferior beans. The Coffee Board of India has instituted an insurance program to help coffee growers in Karnataka deal with the declining yields.
In the Kuttanad region of Kerala in the southwest, considered the state’s Rice Bowl, heavy rains delayed the normal sowing season, which begins in October, until December, which triggered an onslaught of pests.
Administration working to streamline offshore wind leasing
The country’s top offshore-energy regulator said Tuesday that the Obama administration is working to streamline the leasing process for offshore wind.
Offshore wind development in the United States has suffered significant delays, most notably the case of the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts, which has been trying to secure the necessary permits for almost a decade.
The comments also come as the oil and gas industry is criticizing the Obama administration for imposing new safety regulations in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill that have caused uncertainty in the industry and resulted in drilling delays.
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich said Tuesday that the administration is making offshore renewable energy a “top priority.” Bromwich said he is working to encourage offshore wind development by putting new focus on its Renewable Energy Program.
BP Expects to Raise at Least $4.4 Billion From U.S. Refineries
BP Plc expects to fetch at least $4.4 billion from selling half of its crude refining capacity in the U.S. and some retail assets as it raises cash to pay for last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP, the largest oil and natural-gas producer in the U.S., today said it plans to sell refineries in Texas City, Texas, and Carson, California, to focus on plants that can process heavy crude and raise diesel output. The company is also selling retail assets in southern California, Arizona and Nevada.
“These are not average refineries, these are some of the most highly upgraded in the world,” Iain Conn, BP’s head of refining and marketing, told reporters in London. “We would expect to get a value above the benchmarks.”
Chief Executive Officer Robert Dudley is making the company “more agile” following the worst oil spill in U.S. history. BP has so far sold $22 billion in assets as part of a plan to divest $30 billion to help pay for the damage.
Conn estimated that U.S. refining assets have in the past 10 years been sold at an average of about $6,000 per unit of capacity, valuing the plants at about $4.4 billion. The company will sell distribution terminals, power generators and infrastructure, potentially raising the value of the deal.
The company expects to complete the sale of the refineries along with marketing assets by the end of 2012, BP said. The Texas City refinery can handle 475,000 barrels of oil daily while Carson has a daily processing capacity of 266,000 barrels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
French Minister Rues Solar-Panel Trade Deficit Almost Doubling
France’s solar-panel imports surged last year as developers relied mostly on foreign manufacturers to supply a boom in renewable-energy projects, Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said.
French customs figures show the deficit in favor of solar panel imports widened to 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in 2010 compared with 800 million euros the previous year, she said at a conference in Paris.
“We can’t be satisfied with this,” Kosciusko-Morizet said. “Our new regulatory framework must be to the benefit of French industry.”
France in December suspended solar-energy projects for three months to study potential subsidy cuts and measures to limit growth in the industry after a boom in installations, supplied mostly from China. The halt applied to projects with a capacity of more than 3 kilowatts, about enough to run a home.
A report on development of solar energy will be submitted to the government Feb. 11 and new rules are to be announced after that, French Industry Minister Eric Besson said today. The regulations will be “stable and lasting,” he said.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced the halt to quell what he called a “veritable speculative bubble” in the photovoltaic energy industry and allow the government time to enact a new regulations.
Bingaman to meet with Obama Wednesday on ‘clean energy standard’
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) will meet with President Obama at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss a proposal to significantly expand U.S. low-carbon power generation.
Obama, in his State of the Union address last week, called on lawmakers to pass legislation requiring that 80 percent of the country’s electricity come from low-carbon sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas and coal with carbon-capture technology. Obama has not yet offered specific detail on how his “clean energy standard” would be structured.
The White House has reached out to Bingaman to help flesh out the details of the proposal. Bingaman, for his part, has been a strong proponent of a renewable electricity standard, which focuses on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar without including low-carbon sources like nuclear and natural gas.
Obama and Bingaman will meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss energy policy broadly. But Bingaman spokesman Bill Wicker said much of the conversation will focus on the clean energy standard.
I’m in Rio de Janeiro to find out more about Petrobras, the world’s third-largest oil company by market capitalisation and a giant of Brazilian technology. First stop, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s Institute for Graduate Studies in Engineering (COPPE), where research is focused on extracting Brazil’s “sub-salt” oil””huge reserves recently discovered 200-300km off the coast, and lying 7,000 metres below the surface, under a layer of salt around two kilometres thick. “There are logistical challenges,” says Segen Estefen, the institute’s director for technology and innovation. “How to transport personnel? Should there be intermediate bases?” Getting this oil to the surface will require innovative submarine equipment, which means developing robotics and new materials that can survive the great pressures and corrosive action of the sub-salt oil. And bringing it to the surface will require underwater energy grids that must not get blocked and can be maintained at extreme depths.
Petrobras has paid for a laboratory dedicated to non-destructive testing, corrosion and welding. The pressure at the sub-salt deposits is 400-600 bars””double that of a conventional oil field. New kinds of materials are required to operate at this depth, mainly to withstand the highly corrosive conditions. Since cracks propagate faster at higher pressure, even slight corrosion can quickly become catastrophic.
Pride of place in the institute goes to the world’s deepest pool used to simulate conditions for offshore drilling. At 15 metres, plus a well in the middle that adds another ten, it easily surpasses rivals in China, the Netherlands and Norway, which do not exceed ten metres. A wave generator is already in action, and a pump-and-pipe system that will be able to simulate currents is under construction. It can make waves up to half a metre high””which doesn’t sound like much, until you remember that it’s used on scaled models, which means it can simulate even the most colossal tempests. A motion platform, like the rigs underneath flight simulators that are used to make them bounce around, is used to study the “sloshing problem”"”what goes on inside a partially filled oil container, like a tanker, when the sea is rough. Waves get generated inside too, and these can exert a very large force on the vessel, to add to the bashing it’s getting from outside.
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
Colossal Storm Paralyzes Midwest As It Moves East
lizzard conditions stretching from Texas to Maine have paralyzed travel in major cities across the nation’s mid-section, closing airports and schools and leaving downtowns looking like snow-covered deserts.
The storm — billed as the worst in decades — unleashed most of its fury on the heartland, bringing Chicago and the rest of the Midwest to a standstill.
For the first time in history, Missouri’s Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City was shut down due to a winter storm. Public schools in Chicago called a snow day for the first time in 12 years, and the newspaper in Tulsa, Okla., canceled its print edition for the first time in more than a century.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/02/133423901/midwest-buckles-under-monstrous-storm?ps=cprs
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110201083924.htm
Arctic Mercury Mystery: Meterological Conditions in the Spring and Summer to Blame?
ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2011) — More mercury is deposited in the Arctic than anywhere else on the planet. Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) think that one explanation for this may lie in the meteorological conditions in the Arctic spring and summer.
Will China and the US be partners or rivals in the new energy economy?
Gang He When Chinese president Hu Jintao visited the US this month, many issues made headlines, but one that didn’t is nonetheless important: clean energy cooperation, competition, or both. This issue is a litmus test for the two superpowers’ ability to build a partnership based on mutual needs and opportunities. The outcome will affect our global economic, environmental and geopolitical future, and may influence the range of clean energy opportunities for emerging economies in fundamental ways. http://beta.worldbank.org/climatechange/blogs/will-china-and-us-be-partners-or-rivals-new-energy-economy
Crews work to contain Vic bushfires
The 7,600 hectare blaze burning in the state’s far east near Orbost since Monday has so far destroyed two houses and several sheds in the Wombat Creek area. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/crews-work-to-contain-vic-bushfires-20110203-1ae1p.html
BREAKING NEWS Republicans Vote To Repeal Obama-Backed Bill That Would Destroy Asteroid Headed For Earth http://www.theonion.com/articles/republicans-vote-to-repeal-obamabacked-bill-that-w,19025/
WASHINGTON—In a strong rebuke of President Obama and his domestic agenda, all 242 House Republicans voted Wednesday to repeal the Asteroid Destruction and American Preservation Act, which was signed into law last year to destroy the immense asteroid currently hurtling toward Earth.
The $440 billion legislation, which would send a dozen high-thrust plasma impactor probes to shatter the massive asteroid before it strikes the planet, would affect more than 300 million Americans and is strongly opposed by the GOP.
“The voters sent us to Washington to stand up for individual liberty, not big government,” Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said at a press conference. “Obama’s plan would take away citizens’ fundamental freedoms, forcing each of us into hastily built concrete bunkers and empowering the federal government to ration our access to food, water, and potassium iodide tablets while underground.”
“We believe that the decisions of how to deal with the massive asteroid are best left to the individual,” King added.
…
“This law is a job killer,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who argued the tax increases required to save the human species from annihilation would impose unbearably high costs on businesses. “If we sit back and do nothing, Obamastroid will result in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, which we simply can’t afford in this economy.”
“And consider how much money this program will add to our already bloated deficit,” Foxx continued. “Is this the legacy we want to leave our children?”
Convincing Even the Skeptics to Go Green
Centuries of burning fossil fuels to power our modern lifestyles is warming our planet and changing our climate. Or not. So goes the debate. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, making your business more environmentally friendly is just good business, according to L. Hunter Lovins, president of Natural Capitalism Solutions and co-author of “Climate Capitalism” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), which is set for release in April.
“You don’t have to believe in the problem to believe in the solution,” said Ms. Lovins, who advises businesses, governments and civil organizations on the merits of sustainability — that is, adopting practices to use less energy, produce less waste and reduce their environmental footprints.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/business/smallbusiness/03sbiz-conversation.html?_r=1&src=busln
Australia is the world’s third-largest sugar exporter, after Brazil and Thailand.
Farmer’s group Canegrowers estimates losses of more than A$500 million, including crop losses and damage to farming infrastructure from Cyclone Yasi, which is headed for the prime growing and milling region.
Raw sugar prices have soared 73% over the past five months.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704775604576120204024570510.html
“What we are having now is a creeping disaster,” the head of the state weather service, Graciano Yumul, on Wednesday told reporters in Manila.
Yumul said Surigao, a city of 120,000 people, had received 1.8 metres (nearly six feet) of rain in one day.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hchlhfnIMa0RSWPv5OV3bIr9gX8w?docId=CNG.f974d6c828ca767501df0b8103b261c7.891
Malaysian palm oil destroying forests, report warns
BusinessGreen: Study claims level of palm oil-related deforestation in Malaysia is higher than previously thought
Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, is destroying large areas of carbon-rich peat swamp forests to expand plantations, according to a report released late yesterday.
The report from Wetlands International said palm oil plantations are being greatly expanded, largely in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island.
Unless the trend is halted, none of these forests will be left by the end of this decade, said Marcel Silvius, a senior scientist at Wetlands International. “As the timber resource has been depleted, the timber companies are now engaging in the oil palm business, completing the annihilation of Sarawak’s peat swamp forests,” he explained.
The report claims that between 2005 and 2010, almost 353,000 hectares of peat swamp forests were cleared – a third of Malaysia’s total – largely for palm oil production.
Wetlands International said satellite imagery combined with existing data and field surveys show that deforestation as a result of the practice was now far greater than the government claimed.
“Official Malaysian government figures now appear to have given a far too optimistic picture of the situation,” the report states.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/02/malaysian-palm-oil-forests
Two dead, almost 30,000 displaced in Malaysian flood
Kuala Lumpur – Two people died and nearly 30,000 were forced to evacuate their homes Monday after heavy rains closed major roads and caused rivers to overflow in Malaysia’s southernmost state of Johor.
The town of Segamat was cut off by flooding and at least two other neighbouring towns were inundated, state Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman said.
Three rivers in the state had burst their banks, while five more were recorded at dangerous levels, the irrigation department said.
Abdul Ghani was quoted by the Star newspaper as saying the floods claimed two lives and a total of 28,932 people had taken refuge to 200 centres statewide.
Railway services in the state were cancelled until water levels return to normal, officials said.
The meteorological department forecast rain through Tuesday. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1615815.php/Two-dead-almost-30-000-displaced-in-Malaysian-flood
Australia Wheat Suffers From Drought With Miners West of Flood
As Australia’s worst floods caused as much as $20 billion of damage to eastern states, 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) to the west farmer Pete Mills is battling a Chinese mining company for water after a decades-long drought.
“It’s ironic that they’re underwater and we can’t get enough of it,” said Mills, 44, as flies buzzed around his battered cowboy hat in the 35 degree Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) heat. “It’s noticeably getting worse. I’m worried this new mine is going to take the water that’s left.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-02/australia-wheat-suffers-from-drought-with-miners-west-of-flood.html
Walmart Donating $750,000 in Cash, Goods to Brazil Flood Victims
The Walmart Foundation will donate $400,000 to be used towards long-term relief efforts and the purchase of critical items like water, food and medical supplies. Campaigns by Walmart Brazil also helped raised nearly 100 tons of donations in goods, amounting to an estimated value of over $350,000.
All the donations will go towards emergency relief efforts in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where over 800 people died and thousands were displaced after torrential rains came down on the country last month, causing flooding and mudslides. http://www.wtma.com/rssItem.asp?feedid=114&itemid=29628584
Weather bureau officials said in a briefing in Malacañang that rainfall volume in several areas outside Metro Manila have tripled last month, indicating impending disaster as the situation is seen extending in the first half with stronger typhoons expected in the second half.
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?title=Weather%20bureau%20warns%20of%20increasing%20calamities%20from%20rains&id=25662
Nature Podcast
Digging deep
Worrying plans to mine for metals at underwater hot springs
http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index-2011-02-03.html
Alternative stable states explain unpredictable biological control of Salvinia molesta in Kakadu
Suppression of the invasive plant Salvinia molesta by the salvinia weevil is an iconic example of successful biological control. However, in the billabongs (oxbow lakes) of Kakadu National Park, Australia, control is fitful and incomplete. By fitting a process-based nonlinear model to thirteen-year data sets from four billabongs, here we show that incomplete control can be explained by alternative stable states1, 2, 3, 4—one state in which salvinia is suppressed and the other in which salvinia escapes weevil control. The shifts between states are associated with annual flooding events. In some years, high water flow reduces weevil populations, allowing the shift from a controlled to an uncontrolled state; in other years, benign conditions for weevils promote the return shift to the controlled state. In most described ecological examples, transitions between alternative stable states are relatively rare, facilitated by slow-moving environmental changes, such as accumulated nutrient loading or climate change5, 6. The billabongs of Kakadu give a different manifestation of alternative stable states that generate complex and seemingly unpredictable dynamics. Because shifts between alternative stable states are stochastic, they present a potential management strategy to maximize effective biological control: when the domain of attraction to the state of salvinia control is approached, augmentation of the weevil population or reduction of the salvinia biomass may allow the lower state to trap the system.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v470/n7332/full/nature09735.html
THE torrential rain that inundated dozens of towns in the region last month smashed rainfall records, some more than a century old.
As the clean-up continues following the floods, the remnants of two tropical cyclones will dump about 50mm of rain north of the Great Dividing Range by Saturday.
Maryborough headed a list of towns that saw their highest January monthly and daily rainfall since weather records began there in 1868.
On January 14, Maryborough had 90.4mm of rain, beating the record of 83.8 set in 1961, while its January rainfall was 240.7mm, smashing the previous highest of 132.5 set in 1928.
http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/big-wet-the-biggest-ever/2065293.aspx
Weather forecasters have warned of winds reaching speeds of up to 90mph over parts of Scotland during Thursday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12345623
Stephen Palumbi, director of Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station and a professor of biological sciences, will present a public lecture at UCLA on Feb. 3 as part of the “Year of the New Life Sciences at UCLA” series.
His talk, titled “Coral Reefs: Fighting Back Against Climate Change,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the CNSI Auditorium at UCLA, between Boelter Hall and Life Sciences–La Kretz Hall.
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/stanford-professor-stephen-palumbi-191608.aspx
Picture of the Day: Japan’s Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/picture-of-the-day-japans-shinmoedake-volcano-erupts/70645/
Yesterday’s Temperature & Rainfall
Minimum: Liawenee, TAS 3.8°C
Maximum: Lucinda Point, QLD 51.6°C (124F)
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/weather/
What the Ice Cores Tell Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G80mIbF5yEg
Joe Bastardi is at it again. This time he is predicting: “Three of Next Five Winters Could be as Cold or Colder.”
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/45220/bastardi-three-of-next-five-wi-1.asp
Arctic Oscillation brings record low January extent, unusual mid-latitude weather
Arctic sea ice extent for January 2011 was the lowest in the satellite record for that month. The Arctic oscillation persisted in its strong negative phase for most of the month, keeping ice extent low.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
Wash. state, BC, sign climate change agreements
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Officials from Washington state and British Columbia have agreed to work together to prepare for and try to limit climate change.
Under agreements signed Wednesday, the state and province will promote public awareness of higher sea levels and the effect on coastal areas, and to limit carbon emissions by the two governments.
Washington Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant says that besides rising sea levels, the two governments share many climate-related problems such as lower stream flows and diseased forests. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-02/wash-state-bc-sign-climate-change-agreements.html
Coincidence or climate change? http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/43560.html
On Our Radar: Take ‘a Fresh Look’ at Climate Change, Scientists Urge Congress
A group of leading climate scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, call on Congress to take a “fresh look” at the science linking human activity to climate change, which they contend is strong. “The debate about climate change has become increasingly ideological and partisan,” their joint letter states. “But climate change is not the product of a belief system or ideology. Instead, it is based on scientific fact, and no amount of argument, coercion, or debate among talking heads in the media can alter the physics of climate change.” [The Hill]
The United States Chamber of Commerce, the powerful business lobby, releases an energy plan proposing increased domestic oil and gas production and calling on Congress to revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. The plan also advocates further tax breaks and research funding for renewable energy technology. [CNN] http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/on-our-radar-take-a-fresh-look-at-climate-change-scientists-urge-congress/
With full engine into the age of doom, aka back to the stone age.
The Latest Absurdity From Kirk
Sen. Mark Kirk continues to ratchet up the ridiculousness. The junior senator is now blaming gossip about Al Gore’s personal life for his own flip flop on global warming. Try and wrap your head around that one. http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2011/02/02/latest-absurdity-kirk
Expect more extreme cyclones: Garnaut
As if Cyclone Yasi wasn’t frightening enough, the federal government’s top climate adviser says we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Professor Ross Garnaut on Thursday released the first of a series of eight updates of his landmark 2008 report on climate change.
He says the odds of more extreme cyclones and bushfires are rising as greenhouse gas emissions lead to higher average temperatures across the globe.
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“The science says that without mitigation and with the sorts of emissions growth that my analysis shows will follow from the industrialisation of China and India and Indonesia, and the acceleration of economic growth in Africa, then that first degree (of warming) is just the beginning,” Prof Garnaut said.
“And so, if we are seeing an intensification of extreme weather events now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/expect-more-extreme-cyclones-garnaut-20110203-1af7x.html
Government’s global warming adviser Ross Garnaut warns of worse natural disasters to come http://www.news.com.au/national/governments-global-warming-adviser-ross-garnaut-warns-of-worse-natural-disasters-to-come/story-e6frfkvr-1225999699355
Victoria’s big wet the biggest ever
THE torrential rain that inundated dozens of towns in the region last month smashed rainfall records, some more than a century old.
As the clean-up continues following the floods, the remnants of two tropical cyclones will dump about 50mm of rain north of the Great Dividing Range by Saturday.
Maryborough headed a list of towns that saw their highest January monthly and daily rainfall since weather records began there in 1868.
On January 14, Maryborough had 90.4mm of rain, beating the record of 83.8 set in 1961, while its January rainfall was 240.7mm, smashing the previous highest of 132.5 set in 1928.
Longstanding monthly rainfall records were shattered at Kyneton and Boort.
Kyneton, which had a record daily downpour of 109.9mm following a severe thunderstorm on January 13, had 284.2mm at the end of the month – the highest since records there began in 1969, and more than doubling the previous high of 131.4mm in 1973.
Boort had 202.8mm in January, the highest monthly total since records began in 1898, and double the old record of 99.6mm in 1974.
At St Arnaud, the town recorded 225.8mm of rain in January, eclipsing the old record of 146.9mm in 1897.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Efron said the records tumbled with unprecedented falls of between 200mm and 300mm in mid-January.
“Some records were 30 to 40 years old but many were over 100 years old,” he said.
“That shows you how significant that rain even was. http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/victorias-big-wet-the-biggest-ever/2065293.aspx
Australians Take Cover as Cyclone Lashes Coast
The emergency services minister, Neil Roberts, said around two dozen homes were heavily damaged in the coastal village of Mission Beach, about 60 miles south of Cairns. In nearby Tully, about one-third of homes and 20 percent of businesses were seriously damaged, he said.
Television footage from Tully showed how the cyclone ripped the walls and roof from the senior citizens’ hall, stopping the clock at about 25 minutes past midnight, shortly after the storm made landfall. Some homes were spared major damage; others were reduced to matchsticks.
“It’s just like weapons have come through, bombs have come through and destroyed everything,” a Red Cross coordinator, Noelene Byrne, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The cyclone also devastated huge swaths of the state’s sugar and banana plantations, which had only recently begun recovering from damage when a less-powerful storm, Tropical Cyclone Larry, tore through the same region in 2006.
Some scientists have warned that the frequency and intensity of wildfires, floods and cyclones is likely to increase with climate change. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/world/asia/04australia.html
Unreliable Technology, Fossil Energy can no longer Deliver
Shell: Freezing Conditions Cause Flaring At Deer Park Refinery http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110202-712453.html
I’m not saying without fossil energy are no challenges, especially during cold episodes, but it is a hall lot of easier to deliver and generate electricity with renewable, clean technology solutions.
Joe, this might be very well a good headline: “Time for a supertax on the oil giants!”
Shell makes nearly £1.6m profits every hour
• Full-year profits hit $18.6bn
• Drivers are the losers, road lobby says
• Chief exec says: don’t complain to us
• Government under pressure to delay rise in fuel duty
• Poll: time for a supertax on the oil giants? http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/03/shell-profits-nearly-one-point-six-million-an-hour
New Zealand
Four times normal amount of January rain for North
Tropical storms made for the wettest January on record for parts of Northland, as much of the North Island was battered with four times the normal amount of rain.
Niwa’s National Climate Centre said January was “an extraordinary month for rainfall”, with lows caused by tropical cyclones Vania, Zelia and Wilma bringing torrential rains and gales to much of the North Island.
The bad weather caused extensive damage in parts of the North Island, flooding properties, bursting river banks and causing slips that blocked roads. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10703642
Flooding in Saudi Arabia kills 10
Torrential flooding this week in the western Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah continues to disrupt life in the region as schools were set to close on Saturday, according to the nation’s state news.
Rescue operations were ongoing and at least 10 people died related to the flooding, with three missing in Jeddah, said Director General of Civil Defense, General Saad bin Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri, according to state news Saudi Press Agency Friday.
Ground teams rescued 1,451 people, helicopters rescued 498 residents, and more than 1,500 families were provided temporary shelter, according to Al-Tuwaijri.
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Jeddah province received 111 mm (4 inches) of rain in three hours on Wednesday, according to the King Abdulaziz University’s Meteorology Department. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-29/world/saudia.arabia.flooding_1_jeddah-rain-water-rescue-operations?_s=PM:WORLD
Interns, I suggest adding the day of the week to the titles of your Energy and Global Warming updates. This edition would read:
Energy and global warming news for WEDNESDAY, February 2, 2011: Coal ash a key tap-water toxin; Congress moving to limit EPA; India’s crops affected by erratic climate
Thanks!
[JR: Would overshoot the top line.]
34 Prok, tragic situation.
Basic human condition….
Reckless practices in the banking and oil industries are tying us together in what Ban Ki-moon calls a ‘global suicide pact’
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=160838707299695&id=139434822741700
Flooding anit finished with Victoria….Gaia’s revenge indeed….
Thousands call for help as storms lash Victoria
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/05/3130668.htm
…heavy rain pummels the state and forecasters say more chaos is yet to come.