BBC News – Australia races to control fires as new heat wave looms

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20967410
9 January 2013 Last updated at 18:43 ET

NSW Emergency Minister Mike Gallacher: “If we get low humidity and wind we will have a problem”

Related Stories

• Cool relief for blazing Australia
• Can the body cope with 50C?
• In pictures: Australia wildfires

Fire crews in south-east Australia are racing to bring hundreds of bushfires under control before temperatures rise and winds pick up again.

More than 120 blazes are still burning in New South Wales, razing at least 300,000 hectares of land and killing thousands of livestock.

Cooler weather has brought some reprieve but forecasters predict another hot spell at the weekend.             ….(more).

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Unearthed: The Fracking Facade

uneartheddocumentary

Published on May 4, 2012

It’s time to look behind the glitzy commercials and PR campaigns.

Unearthed: Setting the track record straight –
A video exposing a flawed claim often abused in the sales pitch for promoting shale gas development across the world:

“With a history of 60 years, after nearly a million wells drilled, there are no documented cases that hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) has lead to the contamination of groundwater.”

Brought to you by the team behind the upcoming South African feature documentary, Un•earthed, that is investigating natural gas development and the controversial method of extraction known as “fracking” from a global perspective. Should South Africa and other countries drill down?

Donate to the independent documentary: http://www.un-earthed.com/help-unearthed-dig-deeper/

https://www.un-earthed.com
https://www.facebook.com/uneartheddocumentary

With special thanks to www.zooteestudios.com

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Book TV: “The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom”

BookTV

Published on Jan 9, 2013

Marcus Rediker, history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, recounts the slave revolt aboard the Spanish schooner, Amistad in 1839. The author reports that four days after the ship set sail the captives revolted, killed the captain, and took command of the ship. The Amistad was eventually commandeered by the U.S. Navy and the men aboard were sent to prison in Connecticut, where they awaited a trail heard by the Supreme Court. Their case, defended by John Quincy Adams, resulted in their release and return to Africa. Marcus Rediker speaks at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

See related:

• Drawings of the Amistad Captives

Best in Artic Oil Drilling Not Good Enough

freespeechtv

Published on Jan 9, 2013

Best in Artic Oil Drilling Not Good Enough

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Tainted Tin: The Deadly Cost of Smart Phones – YouTube

linktv

Published on Jan 9, 2013

Upgrading your smart phone may be cool, but there is a hidden cost: human lives and environmental degradation. The rapid growth of the electronics industry worldwide has increased demand for tin. Almost half of all tin produced is turned into solder for use in smart phones, iPads, and flat screen TVs. And much of the world’s tin comes from Bangka Island in Indonesia. The Ecologist Film Unit travels to the region to investigate the true cost of smart phones.

Watch more at http://www.linktv.org/earthfocus.

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

‘Idle No More’ aims to help indigenous Canadians

RTAmerica

Published on Jan 9, 2013

In Canada, a movement known as Idle No More has been getting a lot of attention. The effort calls on people to protect the resources of the indigenous societies from proposed bill C-45 and has sparked protests across the country. Aura Bogado, blogger for The Nation, joins us with more on the efforts of the Canadian Parliament and why it’s important protect the indigenous.

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Australia on Fire: Record-Shattering Heat, Wildfires Engulf World’s Largest Exporter of Coal

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/9/australia_on_fire_record_shattering_heat

Two new colors have been added to Australia’s weather maps to show temperatures exceeding 122 degrees Fahrenheit in the country’s fiercest heat wave in more than 80 years. Wildfires are raging through Australia’s six states, including in Tasmania where some 50,000 acres of forests and farmland have been destroyed. We go to Sydney to speak with Anna Rose, co-founder and chair of Australian Youth Climate Coalition. [includes rush
transcript] …(more).

Filed under Climate Change, Anna Rose

Guest:

Anna Rose, co-founder and chair of Australian Youth Climate Coalition. She is the author of Madlands: A Journey to Change the Mind of a Climate Sceptic.

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

2012 Hottest Year on Record in US, Second-Most-Extreme Weather

ABCNews

Published on Jan 8, 2013

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports average temperature of 55 degrees for 2012.

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Frankenyear 2012: Hottest on Record, as US emits 5 bn tons of CO2 Annually | Informed Comment

http://www.juancole.com/2013/01/frankenyear-hottest-annually.html

Posted on 01/09/2013 by Juan

Can we sue the Koch brothers and all the other dirty-energy, climate change-denying moguls yet for the billions they are costing us in climate disasters every year because of their poisonous carbon emissions?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that:

“2012 marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States with the year consisting of a record warm spring, second warmest summer, fourth warmest winter and a warmer-than-average autumn. The average temperature for 2012 was 55.3°F, 3.2°F above the 20th century average, and 1.0°F above 1998, the previous warmest year.”

The temperatures set records in 19 states and they were warmer than average in all of the lower 48.

Frankenyear was also the 2nd most destructive on record, lashing the nation with 11 catastrophes that reached at least $1 bn. in losses — including hurricanes, drought, wildfires, tornadoes and the great storm surge in New York City. Hurricanes are fed by warm water, and warmer water makes them more destructive and longer-lasting. It was the unusual warmth of the ocean off the New York coast that allowed Sandy to strike up there with such force. The average surface temperature of the earth has increased one Centigrade degree (1.8 Fahrenheit degrees) in the past century, and is heading for a calamitous 4 C. degrees increase in this century. ….(more).

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

BBC News – US oil production ‘to jump by a quarter by 2014’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20957073
9 January 2013 Last updated at 06:50 ETBy Richard Anderson Business reporter, BBC News

Shale oil and gas is now big business in the US, but has yet to to adopted elsewhere in the world
Related Stories

• US to be ‘biggest oil producer’
• Fracking’s risks and benefits
• Will coal kill clean energy?

US oil production will jump by a quarter by 2014 to its highest level in 26 years, figures suggest.

This is mainly because of the discovery of vast reserves of shale oil.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in the US also forecast average global oil prices would fall from $112 a barrel in 2012 to $99 in 2014.

It said US oil imports would fall by a quarter between 2012 and 2014, because of rising domestic production and the discovery of shale gas.

US oil imports have been falling since 2005, when they stood at 12.5 million barrels a day. By 2014, they will have halved to six million barrels, the EIA said. …(more).

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120