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Archive for March 18th, 2010
Prescribed Burns in U.S. West Would Cut Carbon Footprint, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Yale Environment 360: The projected effects of prescribed burns in U.S. West used to destroy underbrush and prevent wildfires, would protect the larger trees that store carbon dioxide and help offset greenhouse gas emissions. Using satellite imagery and models that calculate carbon emissions related to wildfires from 2001 to 2008, researchers predicted that prescribed burns could reduce such emissions by 18 to 25 percent -- and as much as 60 percent in some areas. The burns would cut carbon emissions by 14 ...
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Damage to peat bogs driving climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Telegraph: Peatlands in beauty spots like Exmoor and the Peak District store carbon dioxide in ancient deposits of rotted vegetation. However a report by Natural England found farming practices such as ploughing the earth and burning heather means three quarters of the deep peat area in England is now damaged. This is causing three million tonnes of carbon dioxide stored in the soil to be released every year, the equivalent to the average emissions of 350,000 households. Helen ...
Salinisation, Drought Bring Worries to Mekong Delta
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Inter Press Service: He has worked this land for half of 64 years and is known among his fellow farmers in Kien Giang province here in the Mekong Delta as 'lao nong', or the old master of rice. But even a highly experienced and hardworking rice farmer like Nguyen Tu is finding it a great challenge to grow crops in the Mekong Delta these days. "I spent a whole day and whole night pumping water into the rice field, but the little amount of freshwater I got could hardly wash the five hectares of rice ...
EPA to study ‘fracking’ gas drilling method
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it will study potential human health and water quality threats from an oil and natural gas drilling technique that injects massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals underground. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," has gained widespread use to unlock huge natural gas reserves, but the technique also has raised concerns about environmental damage. EPA said the $1.9 million study, expected to be completed by ...
Mont. drilling leases on hold over climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Associated Press: A federal judge has approved a settlement requiring the government to suspend oil and gas leases on almost 38,000 acres in Montana because potential climate change impacts were not studied prior to leasing. Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, an attorney involved in the case, says it marks the first time the Bureau of Land Management has agreed to go back and consider if a lease sale could exacerbate climate change. Thursday's order approving the settlement was issued by U.S. District ...
Canada: Regulators approve Suncor oil sands expansions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Reuters: Regulators have approved three expansion stages at Suncor Energy Inc's Firebag oil sands project that will eventually add output of 188,000 barrels of bitumen a day, Suncor said on Thursday. The production phases, given the green light by the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, would follow the C$3.6 billion ($3.6 billion) phase 3 expansion being built now and scheduled to be in service next year, said Suncor, Canada's largest oil company. The northern Alberta ...
EPA begins study of fracturing’s effects on water supplies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
New York Times: U.S. EPA announced the start today of a study examining the effects of a controversial oil and gas production technique known as hydraulic fracturing on water supplies. "Our research will be designed to answer questions about the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on human health and the environment," EPA Assistant Administrator Paul Anastas said in a statement. "The study will be conducted through a transparent, peer-reviewed process, with significant stakeholder ...
Crops hit as drought worsens in south-west China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Deutsche-Presse Agentur: The worst drought in 60 years is expected to cut crop yields by more than half in much of south-western China, bringing more misery to some of the nation's poorest villages, state media said on Thursday. Dry weather since August has left at least 25 million people short of drinking water in the two worst-hit provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, with four other south-western provinces also badly affected. Grain output is forecast to fall by more than 50 per cent in Yunnan after the drought ...
EPA to begin study on shale gas drilling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 18th, 2010
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was set to announce on Thursday that it will begin to take a closer look at the environmental and human health impact of shale gas drilling, according to a U.S. congressman who wants to see more regulation of the practice. The study, which could take months to complete, will put the spotlight on the potential dangers of hydraulic fracturing for water supplies and public health at a time when major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP, Statoil ...