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Archive for July 18th, 2010
Our beaker is starting to boil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
New York Times: David Breashears is one of America's legendary mountain climbers, a man who has climbed Mount Everest five times and led the Everest IMAX film team in 1996. These days, Mr. Breashears is still climbing the Himalayas, but he is lugging more than pitons and ice axes. He's also carrying special cameras to document stunning declines in glaciers on the roof of the world. Mr. Breashears first reached the top of Everest in 1983, and in many subsequent trips to the region he noticed ...
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BP says “hopeful” well can stay shut indefinitely
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Reuters: BP Plc is "hopeful" that its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico can remain sealed until a pair of relief wells permanently stop the flow, a company executive said on Sunday. BP is more than two days into a pressure test on its crippled Macondo well, which had been described as a temporary measure to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf while engineers study pressure within the well. Now, BP officials say they want to keep the well sealed in until they finish a pair of relief ...
Beyond a Gulf Cleanup
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
New York Times: In Sunday`s paper, my colleague Justin Gillis and I present a science-based analysis of the environmental future of the Gulf Coast. It`s fairly optimistic, considering how badly polluted the coastline appears today in many places. In the course of our reporting, we were struck by how adept nature can be in healing itself from exposure to a "naturally occurring" substance (meaning oil, even if its spread results from human error) as opposed to say, PCB`s. Of course, nature`s ...
Oil Well Capped, But For How Long?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
National Public Radio: Government officials are continuing to monitor the cap on BP's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf, but it's not clear whether the well is sealed for good. Host Liane Hansen talks with NPR's Richard Harris about the latest developments.
BP, feds clash over reopening capped Gulf oil well
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Associated Press: BP and the Obama administration offered significantly differing views Sunday on whether the capped Gulf of Mexico oil well will have to be reopened, a contradiction that may be an effort by the oil giant to avoid blame if crude starts spewing again. Pilloried for nearly three months as it tried repeatedly to stop the leak, BP PLC capped the nearly mile-deep well Thursday and wants to keep it that way. The government's plan, however, is to eventually pipe oil to the surface, which ...
Experts fear long oil effect on marine life, food chain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Scientists studying the massive BP oil spill fear a decades-long, "cascading" effect on marine life that could lead to a shift in the overall biological network in the Gulf of Mexico. With some 400 species estimated to be at risk -- from the tiniest oil-eating bacteria to shrimp and crabs, endangered sea turtles, brown pelicans and sperm whales -- experts say the impact of oil and chemical dispersants on the food chain has already begun, and could grow exponentially. "A major ...
A fifth of the world’s mangroves gone in 30 years
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Mongabay: A new report by the United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) and the Nature Conservancy has found that mangrove forests are being lost at staggering rates worldwide: since 1980 one fifth of the world's mangroves have been felled. Mangroves, which grow in saline coastal habitats, are disappearing four times faster than other forests. They are being destroyed largely for aquaculture, agriculture, and coastal development worldwide. According to the report, even surviving mangroves are ...
Engineers detect seepage near BP oil well
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Reuters: Engineers monitoring BP Plc's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the government's top oil spill official said on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil gushed from the deep-sea Maconda well for nearly three months ...
Photos show dramatic shrinking of Mount Everest glaciers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Telegraph: The two pictures show an "alarming" retreat in ice over more than 80 years. The first was taken in 1921 by British mountaineer George Mallory, who later died trying to conquer Everest. The Asia Society commissioned the same picture to be taken of the main Rongbuk glacier on the northern slope of Mount Everest in Tibet in 2007. The new picture by mountaineer David Breashears show that the glacier is shrunk and withered. A spokesman for the Asia Society said the ...
United States: Lake Champlain affected by climate change, report says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Standard Speaker: My wife and I once lived near the shore of Lake Champlain. In fact, only a riparian forest and railroad tracks divided our yard on the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base from the big lake that's sometimes billed as another of North America's Great Lakes. One of our good memories from those years was hearing the yodeling call of a migrating common loon from the lake while camping outside in a newly purchased tent that was destined for use soon thereafter in the Adirondack ...