They’re finally figuring it out. An editorial from The Dallas Morning News warns that unless the US launches a major food relief effort to Central America, the country faces a tsunami of refugees fleeing to the US to escape famine. The swarm of immigrants who came across the border this year,
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The Disaffected Lib: Floods Come and Go But Drought Likes to Climb Onto Your Back and Stay There
We hear lots about California and it’s three-year-running drought that has left the State in severe water stress. Wells are running dry, emergency bottled water has to be brought in to help the poor survive, orchards are being bulldozed as the trees die off, Nestle keeps plundering the state to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: In Drought News
Central America continues to reel under severe, multi-year drought. Guatemala has declared a state of emergency in 16 of the country’s 22-provinces. Experts believe the impact on agriculture could soon leave hundreds of thousands of families without food. As America’s west coast and southwest continue to be plagued by drought,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: This Is What Happens When You Run Out of Water.
Could you get by for three weeks with 12-gallons of water? That’s a smidge over 45-litres which works out to about 2 litres per day. In Porterville, California, the county Office of Emergency Services, has delivered bottled water to 182 households where wells have now run dry. 12-gallons of water
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Mystery of California’s Vanishing Groundwater
You may have already heard about it. California, the Golden State, is reeling from three years of continuous, severe drought. Of course you’ve heard about it. The California drought is in the news almost daily. The problem with an event like this is putting it in perspective. Here’s a new
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Famine In the Americas
Red Cross food relief for central Mexico When we think of famine, we tend to think of Africa. Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan seem to come to mind. FEWS Net, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, has identified Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and central Nicaragua as countries most at risk of severe
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Your Global Warming Surcharge Coming Soon
Reservoir, What Reservoir? So, you see, you’ve got this conjunction of forces. There are more of us by the day, about 220,000 every 24-hours and that’s a net increase. And then our ever larger population is also movin’ on up. We’re making progress on reducing poverty and those mega-populated, emerging economies
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Avoiding Another Imbroglio: A Mound Of Sound Guest Post
This note from the Mound of Sound accompanied the post that follows: Some of the course material I’ve been going through lately got me thinking about the conflicts raging in Syria and Iraq. I got thinking about them in the context of water and food security as well as climate
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Range Wars, 21st Century-Style
It’s a classic theme of the ‘wild west’ – range wars where free-range cattle ranchers clashed with farmers whose fenced fields blocked their way. Today it’s a struggle between farmers and frackers and this time the struggle is over water, more specifically who gets it and who goes without. This
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Relief of California
Desperately needed rain may be enroute to northern California. With any luck some agricultural production may be saved. There’s hope that an El Nino believed to be building in the Pacific will indulge California with a good drenching next winter.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Guest Post From The Mound of Sound
In response to my last post, which dealt with climate change and the persistent drought in California, The Mound of Sound, a.k.a. The Disaffected Lib, offered some incisive commentary that I am featuring as a guest post. Mound has been doing exemplary work on the climate file, and people looking
Continue readingLeDaro: Drought is getting worse in California
Now that California’s Water Board is turning off the tap to certain distributors, and reservoirs are running dry, the cost of water is slated to rise and the impact on the state’s harvest could be devastating to many farmers. The videos below show the dire situation California is in. This
Continue readingLeDaro: California: Instead of rain or snow the state is getting wildfires in the dead of winter
California has a serious drought, it did not get such a weather in over a century. Drought is causing serious problems for farming besides other uses of water. Drought is affecting other states as well, but California is the worst hit. Drought is causing out of control wildfires and the
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Harper government ‘an embarrassment’ with bailout on U.N. drought convention "talkfest"
Another first for the UN-phobic Harper government. After earning the distinction of being first to bail out of Kyoto, they are now the first to jump ship from the UN’s convention on drought. Why? Less to do with the needed work the convention is actually doing and more because in
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive | News & Analysis: Elizabeth May: Harper making Canada the North Korea of environmental law
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: Green Party leader Elizabeth May says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is turning Canada into a “rogue nation” and the “North Korea of environmental law”. The Saanich-Gulf Islands MP was reacting to Thursday’s shocking revelation that the Conservative government last week quietly withdrew from yet another important international body, the United Nations
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Harper Cons Shame Canada Again
OMG. That wretched little Monkey King has done it again.Pooped on the planet. And shamed us in the eyes of the world.The Harper government is pulling out of a United Nations convention that fights droughts in Africa and elsewhere, which would make Canada the only country in the world outside
Continue readingTrashy's World: Say what?
The Canadian government is OK with drought and all of the human and environmental tragedies that go with it? Really? What is Stevo thinking? We can get a higher price for water exports to countries with drought conditions? Admitting that drought is a problem might be seen as an admission
Continue reading350 or bust: How Republicans (& Canadian Conservatives) Can Answer Obama’s Challenge To ‘Reduce The Threat Of Climate Change’
Today’s blog post is courtesy of Citizens Climate Lobby: In his State of the Union address, the President said, ‘If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations [from climate change], I will.’ Republicans who wish to avoid more regulations should embrace the free-market approach of a revenue-neutral tax on
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Climate Action Now!: #ForwardOnClimate Rally in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17th
via Sierra Club: Crippling drought. Devastating wildfires. Superstorm Sandy. Climate has come home — and the American people get it. What: The largest climate rally in U.S. history. When: February 17, 2013, Noon – 4:00 p.m. (please arrive by 11:30 a.m.) Where: The National Mall in Washington, D.C. Gather at the northeast corner of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: America’s Mini-Civil Wars
There’s one brewing in the midwest, another raging in the southeast and a third building in the southwest. They’re regional, inter-state conflicts over distribution of dwindling groundwater resources. In the southeast, the Army Corps of Engineers is under simultaneous attack by lawsuits from Georgia, Florida and Alabama, each state accusing
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