Most of humanity today lives an a metropolis. Is all climate local? Cities are the locus of many of the world's unique environmental, social, and economic problems. But they are also demonstrating a unique talent for applying smarter technology and policy to create a better future.
"WYSOX, Pa. - The Marcellus Shale natural gas industry has a huge thirst for water - to hydraulically fracture a single gas well requires upward of a thousand tanker-trucks of water."
"Nearly 1,600 children age 5 and younger live close enough to an airport in Brevard County to be at risk from leaded gasoline used by small piston planes and helicopters."
"What landed in the Tyee's inbox was entirely in keeping with the government's handling of a contentious proposal by a natural gas company to divert large quantities of water out of Williston Reservoir. When word leaked that the government had approved the diversion scheme, a rather strange statement was issued that began by noting that the provincial Cabinet minister in charge was unavailable."
Ben Parfitt reports for The Tyee August 22, 2011.
"More than 40 employees at a Woodland cannery were taken to Sacramento area hospitals and more than 800 people were evacuated shortly after noon Sunday when a chemical used in tomato processing leaked into a work area, authorities said."
"BILLINGS, Mont. -- Cleaning up tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil that spilled from a pipeline and fouled a stretch of Montana's renowned Yellowstone River is expected to cost Exxon Mobil Corp. an estimated $42.6 million, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press."
Matthew Brown reports for the Associated Press August 22, 2011.
"NEW MADRID, Mo. -- After record flooding this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces an epic repair job on the nation's decades-old flood defenses in the Mississippi and Missouri River basins, and it's already clear that the work won't be completed in time to protect some areas from even run-of-the-mill flooding."
"A strengthening Hurricane Irene eased away from the northwestern Caribbean on Monday, leaving nearly one million people in the dark in Puerto Rico, a billionaire’s mansion torched by lightning in the British Virgin Islands and fears of a dark night of drenching rain and floods across Hispaniola."
"It would be natural to imagine that the fall of Tripoli would mean a significant decrease in the cost of oil and the pain that the average consumer feels at the pump. After all, in February, when unrest in Libya commenced, oil prices hit a two-year high. Libya is only the 15th biggest oil exporter in the world, but the oil it exports is of a particularly desirable type.
