Category Archives: Environment

Environment protection and geography

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US administration toughens rules for coal mining

US environmental agency repealed permit granted to the largest surface mine, that producing 10 percent of the total coal for US.

Spruce No. 1 coal mine, which is owned by Mingo Logan Coal Co.in West Virginia. The 2300 acre- mine has been in disputes since 1998.

The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA’s new decision to revoke grant from coal mine is likely to hamper many other projects too as they come under  ‘mountaintop removal’ a concept, unacceptable under agency’s new law.

The US administration had granted permit to coal mining projects during Clinton and Bush era, however the new guidelines have been implemented in April and therefore all previous permits are under revision.

Peter S. Silva, an official from the EPA stated that Spruce No. 1 coal mine, has been engaged in destructive mining practices that had affected the health of communities living nearby in Appalachian mountain region.

Spruce No. 1 coal mine has a capacity of employing250 workers and it could produce 44 million tons of coal in next 15 years had it’s permit not been taken. But theSection 404 of the Clean Water Act – implemented by the EPA has put a barrier on it. Experts call it a hard decision of the Obama administration that is likely to hamper future investment in mining.

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Traffic disrupted in Chicago due to snowfall

Another blow of cold covers Chicago on Friday night with snowfall. Temperature decreased to minus 12 degree Celsius according to the report by National Weather Service.

The entire northern America has been experiencing severe cold, temperatures much below freezing point and blizzard in different parts of the country. Bad weather loomed over the celebrations of Christmas and New Year too and people were bound to take shelter in their houses in stead of enjoying festivals outside.

Temperature is decreasing in entire northeast  especially in parts of Illinois and Indiana and expected to dip more.

However there will be intermittent snowfall in Chicago. Traffic will be more disturbed due to decreased visibility as per the weather department. The commuters will face more problems due to slippery roads owing to moderate snowfall up to one inch.

The Chicago city administration has fastened its service on the roads for clearing snow and the main route to the city –174 had 40 trucks of Dept. of Streets & Sanitation for monitoring bridges and overpasses to control traffic.

Many vehicles and commuters needed emergency help due to crashes that was caused by minimum visibility. The Illinois police is investigating about around 20 crashes occurred by 8:45 pm on Friday.

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US celebrates New Year eve amidst blizzard

The tornadoes following the Christmas blizzard in USA have completely spoiled people’s mood for festivity in the Midwest and northern belt. There were several people reported with injuries in the snowstorm and a woman died in Missouri.

The National weather Service’s warning for watch period expecting a Tornado in Mississippi and Alabama is over now, however Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois witnessed many thunderstorms throughout Friday. Two people were found dead in Missouri and three in Arkansas due to storms. So far, blizzard has taken 7 lives in different part of the United States.

Jay Nixon, governor of Missouri checked the area himself and visited victims. He expressed his gratitude to warning system for making people prepare for the storm in advance and saving lives.

Rolla town of Missouri received maximum damage due to blizzard affecting 18000 people living here. However, the residents cooperated with each other in the hours of emergency, the governor stated.

Further warning was issued expecting a snowstorm on Saturday in South Dakota.

In south Dakota, the capital city—Pierre, snowstorm brought a cover of  13 inches snow leading to a temperature around  minus 5 degrees.

Midwest and Chicago had a mild temperature on Saturday in comparison to other parts of Midwest.

The experts stated that the violent storms originated from the clash between warm wind and cold air in the Midwest.

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Tornado leaves Cincinnati destroyed with jam roads, power cuts and roofless houses

The National Weather Service has stated that there might be a dangerous storm that had worn out entire Cincinnati, Arkansas. The storm spread in seconds over the entire area and caused the death of 3 people also rooted out many homes, and buildings.

Many house lost there roofs due to high speed winds. And power lines were also cut off. There has been a feeding center set up by the American Red Cross in church in Cincinnati. More than 20,000 people had to live without electricity during the blizzard. All power poles were crashed in the stormy winds.

There is an immediate need of electricians and reconstruction work to repair for the damages. People hope power supplies will be resumed by today. An old age couple was found dead in Washington County in their home.

Around five people were critically injured as they were trapped under fallen roofs and walls.

Business was hampered severely in Arkansas with cancellation of flights. Many airports remained closed throughout the storms. There also a lot of debris fallen on the runways on the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport which needed to be cleared off before resuming the flights.

There was immediate action from the emergency department started in Madison County. Two mobile homes were damaged here and many trees felt down.

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Texas appeals against federal Gov’s authority to issue Greenhouse-Gas permits

Texas is filing an appeal challenging over the greenhouse-gas rules of the federal administration of the United States. The appeal will question US President Obama’s authority over granting permission to different states regarding green house emission.

A federal appeals court of New Orleans has rejected Texas’s request for not allowing the central administration to issue greenhouse-gas permits as the states wants an autonomy in this matter. The state’s new appeal has been made in the wake of its rejected plea.

The Environmental Protection Agency of the United States started granting permission on green house emission considering the fact that Texas officials were not ready to issue the permits.

Texas appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit citing the EPA’s actions as a violation of the Clean Air Act. The state called agency’s actions as an intrusion in the legal rights of Texas.

Texas has always opposed the environmental agency’s rules on greenhouse gas emission that oblige all units of oil refiners, power plants and other industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emission under permissible limits and obtain a compulsory permit for that prior to any construction or modification for their infrastructures.

The new rule implemented by the US Environmental Protection Agency will be effective from Jan. 2.

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Snowfall, storm spoil holiday plans in California

snow covered California

Many flights were cancelled in Southern California due to snowstorm on Sunday December 26.

A heavy cover of snow could be seen all over buses, trains and buildings, that has disturbed commuting through out California. The after-Christmas sales have been badly hampered due to such a bad weather.

New York and Boston have been covered with around one foot thick snow layer. Experts predicted up to 20 inches of snowfall for Philadelphia.

Flights have been cancelled throughout Northeast and also in Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and the Carolinas. New York City alone has witnessed cancellation of 1400flights of different airlines.

Blizzard caused a heavy loss to travel industry by leading to cancellation of travel plans. The United States has been experiencing bad weather conditions in many of states for many weeks. Thousands of travelers have been affected so far and even daily commuting to local destinations is difficult for people.

An official from Los Angeles airport reported that fights of Delta airline heading toward Kennedy were cancelled while American Airlines stopped all 15 flights for Boston, New York, and Washington. Weather forecasters have issued a warning for the Northeast and New York for another snowstorm and a further reduction in visibility respectively.

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US says Cancun Summit a ‘significant step forward’

Cancun Climate Change Summit

The United States has termed the conference on climate change in Cancun as ‘significant’ and promised to work with international community to remain focused on the environmental challenges in the coming days.

US president Obama hailed Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon for showing exceptional leadership and chairing the Cancun conference to a successful outcome on the foundation laid down at Copenhagen last year. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the conference reached to a significant point under the United Nations framework and from here lot of meaningful results could be achieved. Ms Clinton further said that the United States along with its friend nations would make all efforts to tackle the climate change and other environment-related issues.

She expressed utter satisfaction over the progress made at Cancun conference and said that the outcome would take forward the core elements raised in the Copenhagen Accord, such as creating a new Green Climate Fund, Working on a culture of transparency, creating a framework to reduce deforestation, establishing a technology mechanism, seeking international cooperation and many others.

The United States has been working with its global partners to move forward and sort out all differences since the Copenhagen summit took place last year, she reiterated.

“The United States joined other countries at Cancun for a fresh round of discussions focused at mobilizing common efforts to meet the shared objective. So now that we have reached an important milestone, time has come to enlarge our vision and work together to meet the challenges that come our way,” Ms Clinton Said.

The Cancun Summit has been able to reach a ‘compromise’ to organize a $100 billion ‘Green Fund’ to fight global warming. There was, however, no agreement regarding the Kyoto Protocol on carbon emissions cuts beyond 2012. The development made at Cancun will be followed up in the next round of talks to be held next year.