RSS Feed
Archive for July 15th, 2010
Next steps in test of BP Gulf oil cap
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Associated Press: BP shut all three valves to close a new cap over its busted Gulf of Mexico well Thursday, stopping the flow of oil into the water for the first time since April. What's next? THE TEST: BP plans to keep the cap closed for 48 hours to see if it can withstand the pressure of the oil without blowing a new leak in the well. Every six hours, they'll assess the pressure readings and other data to decide whether to continue. High pressure is good; low pressure indicates a possible leak in the ...
Posted in 
The Prince of Wales accuses sceptics of peddling ‘pseudo science’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Telegraph: He likened the failure to combat rising temperatures across the world to playing "Russian Roulette with the future of our children". But instead of acting, the Prince said more and more people are listening to the "siren voices" of climate change sceptics who argue that the theory of man-made global warming is simply a "sinister attempt to undermine the capitalist system". "It has been profoundly depressing to witness the way the so-called climate sceptics are, apparently, ...
Bangladesh: Hasina for climate compatible rice
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Daily Star: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked scientists to invent new varieties of rice compatible with the climate change and varied seasons. "We have to produce rice that will harmonise with the seasonal changes and adjust the changing climate," she said during a speech at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at its 50th anniversary at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. The premier said the agriculture sector would directly be affected due to the adverse ...
Woolly mammoth hunters helped change climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Reuters: Ancient hunters who stalked the world's last woolly mammoths likely helped warm the Earth's far northern latitudes thousands of years before humans began burning fossil fuels, according to a study of prehistoric climate change. The demise of the leaf-chomping woolly mammoths contributed to a proliferation of dwarf birch trees in and around the Arctic, darkening a largely barren, reflective landscape and accelerating a rise in temperatures across the polar north, researchers at the ...
Happy (wet and windy) St Swithin’s Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Press Association: Folklore says today's rain heralds 40 days of downpours - and forecasters have not dismissed the possibility. Legend has it that showers on July 15 - St Swithin's Day - are an omen for a lengthy spell of wet weather. Forecasters said many parts of the UK would be deluged with showers this morning following heavy rain in the past 12 hours. Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said 25mm to 30mm fell overnight and warned bad weather and unseasonably strong winds will ...
EPA OKs more hazardous waste for Calif. toxic dump
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency says a central California landfill that local residents blame for birth defects can continue accepting hazardous waste. The landfill next to Kettleman City is run by Waste Management. In a letter released by the company on Wednesday, the EPA says it decided to allow more hazardous waste after an area where cancer-causing PCBs were found was cleaned up. But the letter says Waste Management must find the source of other PCBs, or polychlorinated ...
Firm Seeks ‘Blue Gold’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
New York Times: Freshwater supplies are strained in countries all over the world. But in a few places like Alaska, Greenland and Canada, there`s more than enough to go around. So why not ship water from where it`s plentiful to where it`s scarce? Associated Press Heading across a dry riverbed in Palghat, India, in a past drought. Most people would call this a fool`s errand: water is heavy and transporting it thousands of miles is tremendously expensive and energy-intensive. But not S2C Global ...
NYTIMES.COM: Success With Starlings, and Meeting the Chief
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
New York Times: We awoke early this morning to put in a long day of trapping in the village. The kids should be back in school, so we hoped that we would be able to work without too much disruption. Wilson drove over just after sunrise to begin setting up while I finished getting a few things ready at camp. While walking over to the village a few minutes later, I noticed a large mixed-species flock of starlings foraging on the ground in an enclosed area of houses. Although Wilson had found a few smaller ...
Canada: After the Gulf, an oil sands debate looms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Toronto Star: -America's gaze may be fixed on the Gulf of Mexico, as a tentative bid to stanch free-flowing environmental catastrophe begins to take hold. But with one pipe poised for closure, the Obama administration now must grapple with another, as a bid to dramatically increase the flow of carbon-heavy Canadian crude to the U.S. approaches its witching hour. By any measure, TransCanada Corp.'s proposed $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline was never going to arrive quietly. If approved, ...
Report: Forestry policy is working
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Business Green: There has been a dramatic decline in illegal logging in tropical forest nations over the last decade, according to a major new report from the Chatham House think tank that reveals improvements in forestry policy and enforcement are having a positive impact. However, the report's authors were quick to stress that illegal logging remains a major problem that requires widespread improvements in policy and governance if a sustainable framework for managing tropical forests is to be ...