Global Warming will require new management methods to protect our drinking water supplies October 6, 2008
Posted by bruce mcgranahan in climate change, water.Tags: Drinking water, global warming, Water supply
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Via Alternet …
Image from http://pixdaus.com/
An EPA Report, “National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change“, describes the impacts of Global Warming on water. It ain’t pretty and it’s going to be quite a challenge for local governments and utilities to protect our drinking water in the face of these changes. According to the report Global Warming will affect our water in several ways:
- More intense storms will threaten drinking water systems and increase polluted runoff.
- Shorelines will move inland from rising sea levels
- Changes in ocean chemistry will alter aquatic habitat and fisheries.
- Warmer water will likely change contaminant concentrations in water.
- New patterns of rainfall and snowfall are expected to alter water supply for drinking and other uses.
- Heavier precipitation in tropical and inland storms will increase the risks of flooding, expand floodplains, increase the variability of streamflows, increase the velocity of water during high flow periods and increase erosion.
- These changes will have adverse effects on clean water and aquatic ecosystems.
- Intense rainfall will result in more pollution, pathogens, and toxins being washed into waterbodies.
As a result, the strategy advises, city and county water managers will need to plan for extreme weather resulting in excess of water or a lack of water. EPA’s “National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change” describes steps for managers to adapt their clean water, drinking water, and ocean protection programs, but it is not a rule or regulation and is not legally binding. The new strategy focuses on 44 specific actions for the National Water Program to take in responding to climate change. They fall within five topic areas — mitigation, adaptation, research, the education of water program professionals on climate change issues and management of climate change work within the National Water Program.
To view the 119-page National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change, go HERE.
Pa first to pass GHG legislation July 17, 2008
Posted by bruce mcgranahan in climate change.Tags: climate change, global warming, Pennsylvania
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This is from a July 9 post at Celsius:
On July 3 Pennsylvania passed PA Senate Bill No. 266 , which will look into just how much the state contributes to global warming. Governor Ed Rendell has already championed many alternative energy programs and has said that he will sign the bill into law.
“Under the bill, the state Department of Environmental Protection each year must catalog the sources and amounts of greenhouse gases, which most scientists believe contribute to a warming global climate.” The first report is due December of 2009.
- Pennsylvania will be the first state to take serious steps to understanding their contributions to Greenhouse Gases.
- Despite the fact that the state has a large group of global warming deniers, Bill 266 passed 176-24.
- Celsius also reports that Montgomery County, Pennsylvania emits more greenhouse gasses than half of the world’s COUNTRIES and that these gasses were all man-made.
Go to Source Page at Celsius >>>
Warming climate means weather extremes June 24, 2008
Posted by bruce mcgranahan in climate change.Tags: climate, global warming, resources, weather extremes
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Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate Final Report, Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.3
CCSP, 2008: Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. Regions of Focus: North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, and U.S. Pacific Islands. A Report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research. [Thomas R. Karl, Gerald A. Meehl, Christopher D. Miller, Susan J. Hassol, Anne M. Waple, and William L. Murray (eds.)]. Department of Commerce, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, Washington, D.C., USA, 164 pp.
