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Somerset floods: this is a man-made
disaster
A Somerset apple farmer criticises the Environment Agency
for failing to dredge rivers to prevent flooding of farmland.
Environment secretary Owen Paterson has promised that rivers will be dredged when
the flooding subsides. Columnist George Monbiot criticises the decision.
Daily Telegraph
Climate and energy news:
Shell chief goes cold on Arctic adventure as
drilling put on ice
Royal Dutch Shell has announced it will suspend drilling in
Arctic waters off Alaska. as part of a multibillion-dollar scaling
back of spending on new projects. Two reasons are given in various
different reports - the company is
cutting costs, and awaiting the results of an
environmental court case challenging Shell's right to drill in the
region.
Daily Telegraph
UK floods: January rain breaks records in parts of
England
Parts of England have had their wettest January since
records began more than 100 years ago, according to figures from
the Met Office. In Somerset, the military remains on standby to
help flooded areas.
BBC News
EU Parliament sets up clash over aviation
emissions
European Union negotiators face a clash with member states
over whether to make all airlines using EU airports pay for their
emissions. Parliament's environment committee has backed plans to
charge carriers for part of their journeys, but some of Europe's
most powerful countries and international airlines strongly oppose
the proposals.
Reuters
Climate and energy comment:
Winter deluges may become the norm for
Britain
Britain will see greater rainfall in the next two decades,
with a maximum of 12 per cent more rainfall and an average rise of
4 per cent, according to a report on the regional impacts of
climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
This means Britain should brace itself for "even soggier winters in
the future", the Telegraph says.
Daily Telegraph
Sources of Methane Emissions Still Uncertain:
Study
From 1999 to 2006, methane concentrations in the atmosphere
stopped increasing after more than a decade of strong growth, then
started rising again. Researchers from the 'University of London'
are trying to solve the puzzle as to why.
Climate Central
RIP ECO
Companies have pulled the plug on all the country's solid
wall insulation schemes as a result of cuts applied to the Energy
Company Obligation (ECO), a government energy efficiency scheme,
according to Labour MP Alan Whitehead. But the market for ECO and
the government's Green Deal may expand significantly this year,
according to a new report.
Alan's energy blog
Britain needs more nuclear not fracking, says
IEA
The UK should consider building more nuclear power plants
and should not expect cheap energy prices to come from a US-style
"revolution" in shale oil and gas, according to Fatih Birol, chief
economist at the at the International Energy Agency. Birol is
interviewed in the Telegraph. Andrew Critchlow,
Daily Telegraph
New climate
science:
Glacial mass balance changes in the Karakoram and
Himalaya
A glimpse into the future of Himalayan and Karakorum
glaciers finds that if emissions stay high, the amount of ice the
glaciers hold is set to decrease six-fold, with 27 per cent of the
glaciers facing eventual disappearance by the end of the
century.
Climatic Change
The Dynamics of Hurricane Risk
Perception
As hurricanes Isaac and Sandy approached coastal cities in
the United States in 2012, residents under-estimated the potential
damage from winds and mistakenly assumed the greatest threat would
come from wind rather than water, according to new research. With
hurricanes expected to get more intense with climate change, the
scientists discuss how public understanding could be
improved.
Bulletin of the American Meteorological
Society
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