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Archive for September 8th, 2010
Studies: Climate change threatens bees, flowers, food
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
USA Today: Climate change could threaten the pollination of plants and the watering of crops, both of which could affect food security, according to two studies released this week. New Canadian research suggests climate change may be causing flowers to open before bees wake up from hibernation, so the bees don't get early nectar and the flowers aren't pollinated. The findings could apply to a wide range of flowering plants such as tomatoes and strawberries. "Bee numbers may have declined ...
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After the flood: ‘We are grateful for any help.’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
Spiegel: The scope of the disaster is becoming more and more visible as flood levels fall along the Indus River in Pakistan. In the Swat Valley, controlled by the Taliban only last year, US troops are now helping the victims. It remains unclear as to who will gain their trust -- the government, the West or the extremists. The United States military transport helicopters arrive at daybreak, booming down from a sky where there is not a cloud in sight, now that the monsoon rains have ended. They ...
Border Mining Projects Before Ethics Tribunal
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Latin American activists who want to call attention to mining developments located in border areas will gather in Chile to "pass judgement" on projects they regard as detrimental to local communities, the environment and national security. "One of the features of mining today is its expansion into traditionally untouched areas, where entry was forbidden for geopolitical or national security reasons, like border zones," Lucio Cuenca, of the Chilean branch of the Latin American ...
Destruction of Giant Algae Doughnut Threatens Lake Michigan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
LiveScience: An invasive species of mussel called quagga has recently begun eating its way through the phytoplankton population of Lake Michigan, which could have dire effects on the lake's ecosystem, scientists now warn. A phytoplankton. "We saw that with each storm, you get a ring, and it can persist for weeks or even months," Kerfoot said. This doughnut, in turn, feeds the entire lake. Zooplankton, tiny animals that feed on phytoplankton, thrive there. The seasonal bloom helps ...
Interior: More changes needed at drilling agency
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
AP: The Obama administration says it will reinforce and expand reforms being carried out by the beleaguered agency that oversees offshore drilling. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says a report issued Wednesday provides a blueprint to solve problems at the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service. The report recommends that the agency -- now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement -- should increase the number and training of ...
United Kingdom: Alex Salmond unveils plan to turn Scotland into ‘world’s first hydro-economy’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
Guardian: The state-owned utility Scottish Water is to be given new powers to build windfarms, hydro schemes and "green" power stations in partnership and competition with established energy companies. The company, one of the country's last remaining state-owned firms, could generate £300m or more in extra revenues by using its 80,000 acres of land and vast pipe network for renewable energy projects. The proposal was unveiled by Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister and leader of the ...
Extreme weather offers glimpse of future
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
Newsroom Jersey: Everyone else should expect more record heat, severe rains, heavy snowfalls, rising tides and damaging floods, according to a new report by Environment New Jersey. "The record temperatures that we experienced in New Jersey this summer have given us a glimpse of what we can expect in the future," said Rutgers professor Jim Miller of the Institute of Marine and Coastal Science, one of the authors of the study. Entitled "Global Warming and Extreme Weather: The Science, the ...
Pakistan floods: The displaced and the saved
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
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Irrigation may offset climate change effects in some regions: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
ANI: Expanded irrigation might mitigate the effects of climate change in some areas, a new study has revealed. But some major groundwater aquifers, a source of irrigation water, are projected to dry up in coming decades from continuing overuse, and when they do, people may face the double whammy of food shortages and higher temperatures. "An important question for the future is what happens to the climate if the water goes dry and the cooling disappears? How much warming is being ...
BP report on Gulf oil disaster to accept ‘some blame’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 8th, 2010
AFP: A string of failures by BP and other companies led to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, the British energy giant concluded Wednesday as it sought to head off possible multi-billion-dollar US lawsuits. As expected in the findings of its own inquiry, BP did not admit "gross negligence" for the rig explosion in late April that killed 11 people and caused the worst ever US environmental disaster. It put a share of the blame contractors Transocean and Halliburton, but it also ...