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Archive for May, 2010
Mediterranean most at risk from European heatwaves
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2010
Nature: A projected increase in heatwaves in Europe would hit low-lying river basins and coastal cities across the Mediterranean the hardest, say researchers. Erich Fischer and Christoph Schär of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich used global and regional climate models to predict changes in the frequency and duration of summer hot spells in Europe during the twenty-first century. They used a middle-of-the-road scenario for climate change and economic growth to learn about ...
Prehistoric fish extinction cleared path for vertebrates: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A mass extinction of prehistoric fish some 360 million years ago cleared the path for the evolution of modern vertebrates, a study published Monday has found. "Everything was hit; the extinction was global," said lead author Lauren Sallan of the University of Chicago. "It reset vertebrate diversity in every single environment, both freshwater and marine, and created a completely different world." While the mass extinction at the end of the Devonian period is among the ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Prehistoric fish extinction cleared path for vertebrates: studyLouisiana shrimpers glum despite oil leak progress
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2010
Reuters: News that energy giant BP has made progress in curbing the flow of oil gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico did little to lighten the mood of downtrodden fisherman along Louisiana's coast on Monday. "They should have plugged it up in the first place," said Drake Dupre, 48, a gray-bearded shrimp boat captain in the Terrebonne Parish village of Chauvin, as he hosed down his vessel. "They're doing all this stupid stuff first." Gesturing to his docked trawler, named for his ...
Fire destroys rare snake collection
Posted by Water Conserve: Water Conservation RSS Newsfeed on May 17th, 2010
Independent (UK): A fire in Brazil has destroyed what may have been the world's largest scientific collection of dead snakes, spiders and scorpions, which served as the main source for research on many species. Members of the Instituto Butantan said the nearly 100-year-old collection lost in the fire included almost 80,000 snakes and several thousand specimens of spiders and scorpions. The specimens were used to study evolution and how to avert extinctions, said institute director Otavio ...
Presidential commission to probe Gulf oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2010
Reuters: President Barack Obama will create a presidential commission to probe the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and energy giant BP said on Monday it had "turned the corner" in its efforts to contain it. London-based BP Plc said its latest "quick fix" -- a mile-long siphon tube deployed by undersea robots down to the leaking well-- was capturing about a fifth of the oil leaking from the ruptured well. Officials cautioned that the tube is helping contain the oil but will not stop the ...
Scientists worry current could carry oil to Keys
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2010
Associated Press: With BP finally gaining some control over the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are increasingly worried that huge plumes of crude already spilled could get caught in a current that would carry the mess all the way to the Florida Keys and beyond, damaging coral reefs and killing wildlife. Scientists said the oil will move into the so-called loop current soon if it hasn't already, though they could not say exactly when or how much there would be. Once it is in ...
To U.S. offshore drilling official abruptly retires
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2010
McClatchy Newspapers: The top federal official in charge of overseeing offshore drilling retired abruptly on Monday as BP's chief operating officer pledged that his company would never pump oil from the runaway Deepwater Horizon well that exploded, killed 11 workers and began spewing millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico . Some in Congress welcomed Chris Oynes' resignation as the head of the Minerals Management Service's offshore drilling program as a sign that the administration would ...
ALERT! Obamas Crude Awakening: Offshore Oil Drilling Is Ecologically Devastating and Must End
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on May 16th, 2010
By Ecological Internet's Climate Ark Climate Change Portal
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!
U.S. oil addiction [search] is killing American and global ecology. An international wake-up call must be delivered to both the administration and Congress, to focus more effort upon reducing the demand for oil. The risks and costs of offshore oil [search] exploration far outweigh their benefits, and the U.S. would be better off focusing upon promoting alternative energy sources. Will virtually every remaining intact ecosystem be razed to access every last bit of oil before we transition to lower energy use, a low carbon economy and renewable energy?
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=gulf_oil_spill
New estimates are the Gulf Oil Spill is leaking at least 10 times the amount of oil as previous estimates of 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons, or 795,000 liters) a day, meaning the ongoing spill already far exceeds the Exxon Valdez accident. BP has shown it lacks the necessary capacity to handle the spill, as capping the leak has taken too long, and the cleanup will be massive. Given the extent of the ongoing spill, and the potential for the spill to spread more widely during the hurricane season, the federal government must immediately nationalize the spill response and ...
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on ALERT! Obamas Crude Awakening: Offshore Oil Drilling Is Ecologically Devastating and Must EndUS asks BP to clarify cleanup intentions as Gulf spill gushes on
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 15th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Crews worked to place a siphon tube into a ruptured pipe spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico Saturday as globs of oil washed ashore in new spots and US officials told BP to clarify what cleanup costs it will pay. The latest effort by British Petroleum to contain the thousands of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf involves connecting an "insertion tube" to the leak site so oil can be siphoned to a container vessel at the surface. The process was supposed to be completed ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on US asks BP to clarify cleanup intentions as Gulf spill gushes onBP Tries Mile-Long Tube In Latest Bid To Plug Leak
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 15th, 2010
Associated Press: At first, BP tried to stop the oil rushing into the Gulf of Mexico by flipping a blowout preventer switch. A week ago, they attempted to capture the leak with a 100-ton box. The latest experiment? Trying to guide a skinny, mile-long tube into the gusher. BP PLC technicians were gingerly moving joysticks to guide deep-sea robots and thread the 6-inch tube with a rubber stopper into the 21-inch pipe spewing oil from the ocean floor. That work continued Saturday morning for a second day, ...