thenextgeneration.org - by Robert Collier - August 8, 2013

This is the first installment of a special series looking at the potential climate and public health implications of a boom in Monterey Shale production.

Over the past few years, the United States has found itself in the midst of a major boom in oil and gas production. Rapid expansion in the use of a drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” has opened up previously unreachable pockets of oil and gas, and returned the U.S. to its historic position as a major global producer of these fossil fuels.

And it seems the boom may be coming to California.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by Albert Gomez

veritythink.com - by Andrej Verity - September 3, 2013

In my June post Who are the Humanitarian Decision Makers, I outlined why I have problems with how easily we use the phrase “for the decision makers” without really knowing who they are. Once you start investigating the problem, you quickly realize how large and diverse the range of decision makers are in humanitarian response.

Now, it is easy to complain but harder to do something. So rather than leaving this problem to fester within the community, a few of us decided to do something.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Protesters converged on Dimock, Pennsylvania, in 2011 over the effects of fracking on residents' water. Now an increasing number of communities are seeking to ban fracking outright, sparking court battles.  Photograph by Nina Berman/NOOR/Redux

Obama's trip to fracking territory underscores the controversy.

nationalgeographic.com - by Joe Eaton - August 22, 2013

As President Obama visits upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania this week to discuss his education agenda, a separate issue looms large in the background: fracking, a practice that has transformed Pennsylvania's economy and divided New York, where a moratorium is in place.

Protesters on both sides of the issue are expected to greet the President. And while his trip highlights many unresolved issues related to America's new wealth of natural gas and oil, a growing number of communities are taking matters into their own hands.

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uspirg.org

Released by: U.S. PIRG Education Fund Release date: Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Driving Boom—a six decade-long period of steady increases in per-capita driving in the United States—is over.

Americans drive fewer total miles today than we did eight years ago, and fewer per person than we did at the end of Bill Clinton’s first term. The unique combina­tion of conditions that fueled the Driving Boom—from cheap gas prices to the rapid expansion of the workforce during the Baby Boom generation—no longer exists. Meanwhile, a new generation—the Mil­lennials—is demanding a new American Dream less dependent on driving.

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Report:  A New Direction - Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s Future (69 page .PDF file)

ecowatch.com - by Kiley Kroh - August 16, 2013

While the national debate remains largely focused on President Obama’s impending decision regarding the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, communities across the U.S. and Canada are grappling with the oil and gas industry’s rapidly expanding pipeline network—cutting through their backyards, threatening water supplies and leaving them vulnerable to devastating spills.

As production booms in Alberta, Canada’s tar sands and fracking opens up vast oil and natural gas deposits around America, companies are increasingly desperate for new pipelines to get their product to market. “We’ve so narrowly focused on Keystone that a lot of these other projects aren’t getting the scrutiny they probably need,” said Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust.

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1.  Miami, Fla.

There is really no way around it: Thanks to climate change, sea levels are rising. A huge question on the minds of many is, what does this mean for America? Will sea walls and city planning protect major metropolises, or are we bound to lose some national gems?

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http://projects.scpr.org/firetracker/rim-fire/

Fire Tracker, KPCC's tool for following & researching California wildfires, contains fire information displayed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection -- also known as CalFire -- which protects more than 31 million acres of California's privately-owned wildlands and provides emergency services in 36 of the State's 58 counties.

About the data

                                                 (TO ENLARGE - CLICK ON MAP IMAGE BELOW)

Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct

eastbayexpress.com - by Robert Gammon - August 23, 2013

The massive Rim Fire is closing in on Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park and is threatening the main water supply for the City of San Francisco and numerous other Bay Area communities. As of this morning, the fast-moving blaze was about 2.5 miles from Hetch Hetchy, according to a map created by the US Forest Service. If the enormous fire reaches the tinder-dry forests surrounding the reservoir, it could pollute the freshwater with huge amounts of ash. That’s bad news for San Franciscans and other communities that depend on Hetch Hetchy because the reservoir is not equipped with a water-filtration system.

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noaa.gov - August 2013

CLICK HERE - Highlights

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS)
CLICK HERE - State of the Climate in 2012

CLICK HERE - State of the Climate in 2012
(258 page .PDF report)

2012 was one of the 10 warmest years on record globally

The end of weak La Niña, unprecedented Arctic warmth influenced 2012 climate conditions

August 6, 2013

submitted by Luis Kun

bmj.com - nbcnews.com - reuters - by Kate Kelland
August 6, 2013

CLICK HERE - BMJ - Research - Probable person to person transmission of novel avian influenza A (H7N9) virus in Eastern China, 2013: epidemiological investigation

LONDON - The first scientific analysis of probable human-to-human transmission of a deadly new strain of bird flu that emerged in China this year gives the strongest evidence yet that the H7N9 virus can pass between people, scientists said on Wednesday.

Research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) analyzing a family cluster of cases of H7N9 infection in eastern China found it was very likely the virus "transmitted directly from the index patient (a 60-year-old man) to his daughter."

Experts commenting on the research said while it did not necessarily mean H7N9 is any closer to becoming the next flu pandemic, "it does provide a timely reminder of the need to remain extremely vigilant."

(NBC - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

earth-policy.org

Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

Chapter 7. Grain Yields Starting to Plateau

by Lester R. Brown

From the beginning of agriculture until the mid-twentieth century, growth in the world grain harvest came almost entirely from expanding the cultivated area. Rises in land productivity were too slow to be visible within a single generation. It is only within the last 60 years or so that rising yields have replaced area expansion as the principal source of growth in world grain production.

Chapter 7. Grain Yields Starting to Plateau
http://www.earth-policy.org/books/fpep/fpepch7

Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity
http://www.earth-policy.org/books/fpep

( ALSO SEE - http://resiliencesystem.org/chapter-4-food-or-fuel-full-planet-empty-plates-new-geopolitics-food-scarcity )

submitted by Albert Gomez

gov.uk - June 12, 2013

This document is designed to help companies in complying with the greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting regulation, a requirement from the Climate Change Act 2008; and all organisations with voluntary reporting on a range of environmental matters, including voluntary GHG reporting and through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-reporting-guidelines-including-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-guidance

Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Guidance

Ref: PB13944
PDF, 598KB, 135 pages

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206392/pb13944-env-reporting-guidance.pdf

earth-policy.org - by J. Matthew Roney - July 31, 2013

The world installed 31,100 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2012—an all-time annual high that pushed global PV capacity above 100,000 megawatts. There is now enough PV operating to meet the household electricity needs of nearly 70 million people at the European level of use. While PV production has become increasingly concentrated in one country—China—the number of countries installing PV is growing rapidly.

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