Natural Hazards: New York City versus the Sea: Scientific American

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, scientists and officials are trying to protect the largest U.S. city from future floods  By Jeff Tollefson and Nature magazine

Image: MICHAEL BOCCHIERI/GETTY

Joe Leader’s heart sank as he descended into the South Ferry subway station at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York. It was 8 p.m. on 29 October, and Hurricane Sandy had just made landfall some 150 kilometers south in New Jersey. As chief maintenance officer for the New York City subway system, Leader was out on patrol. He had hoped that the South Ferry station would be a refuge from the storm. Instead, he was greeted by wailing smoke alarms and the roar of gushing water. Three-quarters of the way down the final set of stairs, he pointed his flashlight into the darkness: seawater had already submerged the train platform and was rising a step every minute or two.

“Up until that moment,” Leader recalls, standing on the very same steps, “I thought we were going to be fine.” (more).

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

Obama Warns Congress to Act on Climate Change, or He Will: Scientific American

If Congress fails to act soon, Obama threatened to use his executive authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions

Permanent Address: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=obama-warns-congress-to-act-on-climate-change-or-he-will

By Evan Lehmann , Nathanael Massey and ClimateWire | Wednesday, February 13, 2013 | 10

EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY: President Obama will regulate carbon dioxide emissions from industrial facilities unless Congress acts soon to do so. Image: Flickr/whatatravisty

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President Obama warned Congress that it must tackle “dangerous carbon pollution” in a pointed State of the Union address describing Superstorm Sandy and other natural disasters as no “freak coincidence.”

The speech establishes a clear turning point for a president who treated climate change tentatively during a re-election campaign that featured a rare autumn hurricane with record storm surges and a blistering drought — all coming during the nation’s warmest year. It also accelerates the momentum on the issue that Obama began three weeks ago in his inaugural address, according to observers.

“But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change,” Obama said last night. “It’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods — all are now more frequent and intense.

“We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence,” he added. “Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science.          …(more)

NOVA | Earth From Space

http://video.pbs.org/video/2334144059
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/earth-from-space.html

“Earth From Space” is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. Produced in extensive consultation with NASA scientists, NOVA takes data from earth-observing satellites and transforms it into dazzling visual sequences, each one exposing the intricate and surprising web of forces that sustains life on earth. Viewers witness how dust blown from the Sahara fertilizes the Amazon; how a vast submarine “waterfall” off Antarctica helps drive ocean currents around the world; and how the Sun’s heating up of the southern Atlantic gives birth to a colossally powerful hurricane. From the microscopic world of water molecules vaporizing over the ocean to the magnetic field that is bigger than Earth itself, the show reveals the astonishing beauty and complexity of our dynamic planet.

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
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Activists arrested at White House protesting Keystone pipeline – The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/activists-arrested-at-white-house-protesting-keystone-pipeline/2013/02/13/8f0f1066-75fa-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html

Jim Lo Scalzo/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY – Members of the Sierra Club, 350.org and Committed Citizens, including actress Daryl Hannah, demonstrated Wednesday in front of the White House against the Keystone XL pipeline.

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson, Published: February 13

When President Obama spoke about climate change in the State of the Union address Tuesday night, he failed to mention the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which aims to transport heavy crude oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast and which needs his approval for a construction permit.

But that controversial project — which ranks as one of the top climate decisions the president will have to make this year — took center stage Wednesday as 48 activists engaged in civil disobedience at the gates of the White House. (more).

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

The Sierra Club’s Message to Obama: Say No to Keystone XL Pipeline

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Science adviser warns climate target ‘out the window’

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19359020

 

23 August 2012 Last updated at 09:06 ET

One of the government’s most senior scientific advisers has said that efforts to stop a sharp rise in global temperatures were now “unrealistic”.

Prof Sir Bob Watson told the BBC that he’d like to see the Chancellor George Osborne back efforts to cut CO2 emissions.

Pallab Ghosh reports.

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Projected Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions from the Power Sector under the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012, S. 2146 | World Resources Institute

http://www.wri.org/stories/2012/05/projected-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reductions-power-sector-under-clean-energy-standa

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Daryl Hannah & Robert Kennedy Jr. Arrested At White House Protesting Keystone Oil Pipeline

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Daryl Hannah Needs Your Help w/ The Keystone Pipeline

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48 Arrested at Keystone Pipeline Protest as Sierra Club Lifts 120-Year Ban On Civil Disobedience

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