RSS Feed
Archive for July 8th, 2010
World on track for warmest year on record, U.S. scientist says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
Bloomberg: The current year may become the warmest on record, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist. Temperature trends across the U.S. and around the world have been among the warmest on record, said David Easterling, a climatologist with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina. "If the warming around the world continues the way it has so far this year, we are likely to have 2010 be the warmest on record,' Easterling said ...
Posted in 
An oil pipeline from Canada? Some say ‘no way.’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
National Public Radio: Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, says the U.S. is in danger of becoming too dependent on foreign oil. But he doesn't mean from the Middle East or Venezuela -- he's referring to Canada. TransCanada Corp. is planning a 1,600-mile pipeline from Alberta to American oil refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Waxman wants to stop the pipeline -- and he's not alone. It's not that opponents don't trust Canada. They just don't like the ...
Mississippi coast faces environmental crisis
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
Reuters: Coastal Mississippi is facing its biggest environmental crisis since Hurricane Katrina as oil from a leaking BP well in the Gulf of Mexico fouls its beaches and creeps onto inshore wetlands. People watched in horror on Thursday as high tides washed oil onto beaches in the southeast of the state and in some cases the chunks of hardened oil floating offshore were as big as a school bus, said Long Beach Mayor Billy Skellie. The previous day, oily water breached a sea wall and ...
Controversial changes to Brazilian forest law passes first barrier
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
Mongabay: An amendment to undermine protections in Brazil's 1965 forestry code has passed it first legislative barrier, reports the World Wide Fund for Nature-Brasil (WWF). Yesterday the amendment passed a special vote in the Congress's Special Committee on Forest Law Changes. Pushed by a bloc of Brazilian legislatures known as the 'ruralistas', due to their ties to big agricultural, the amendment would scale down the forestry code's protection of Brazil's great forest ecosystems, including the ...
An Oil Pipeline From Canada? Some Say ‘No Way’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
National Public Radio: Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, says the U.S. is in danger of becoming too dependent on foreign oil. But he doesn't mean from the Middle East or Venezuela. He's referring to Canada. TransCanada Corp. is planning a 1,600-mile pipeline from Alberta to American oil refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Waxman wants to stop the pipeline -- and he's not alone. It's not that opponents don't trust Canada. They just don't like the ...
The Ash Comes Down Like a Blessing to Some
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
Inter Press Service: "It's unbelievable, the eruption has had a very good effect on the grass," says farmer Finnur Tryggvason in Raudafell, just beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier that erupted in April and continued till late May. The ash is thought to keep the soil warm, hence enhancing growth. "It's like putting fertilizer with potassium and phosphorous on the ground," he says. But it was not an entirely unmixed blessing. "The species composition has changed slightly, and some species have ...
Photos: Glowing Oil Could Aid Gulf Spill Cleanup
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
National Geographic: Late last week coastal geologist Rip Kirby was on the seashore as part of an effort to detect oil by shining UV lights--widely used to spot blood at crime scenes--on Gulf beaches. The method, he hopes, will allow scientists and cleanup crews to tackle hard-to-spot oil, such as crude mixed with mud or light stains on sand, that's washed ashore from the sinking of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig. Under UV light, clean sand appears purple or black. Some minerals, such as calcium ...
Weather Delays BP’s Plan To Collect More Oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
National Public Radio: Weather is delaying BP's plans to collect more oil from its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico. The company had been planning to hook up an additional ship to collect oil from the well, but the seas have been too rough.
New batfish species found under U.S. Gulf oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
Reuters: Researchers have discovered two previously unknown species of bottom-dwelling fish in the Gulf of Mexico, living right in the area affected by the BP oil spill. Researchers identified new species of pancake batfishes, a flat fish rarely seen because of the dark depths they favour. They are named for the clumsy way they "walk" along the sea bottom, like a bat crawling. "One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," John Sparks of the ...
US, Indonesian scientists journey to bottom of sea
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2010
Agence France Presse: US and Indonesian scientists on Thursday launched a joint expedition to map some of the deepest oceanic trenches in the world for clues on biodiversity and volcanic vents, officials said. The US embassy in Jakarta said the first joint expedition by Indonesia and the United States marked the beginning of a "multi-year partnership to advance ocean science, technology and education". "Indonesian waters are home to more marine biodiversity than any place else in the world," Jane ...