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Archive for October 9th, 2010
Hungary fears second toxic wave
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
BBC: The Hungarian village of Kolontar has been evacuated after new damage was discovered at a burst reservoir that spilled toxic sludge on Monday. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it was "very likely" that an entire wall of the reservoir would collapse, releasing a fresh wave of chemical effluent. Mr Orban also said there would be "very severe" consequences for those to blame for the disaster. At least seven people have died as a result of the accident. Around 150 ...
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Second toxic spill feared as Hungarian reservoir wall cracks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
Independent: The wall of a reservoir holding the remaining 500,000 cubic metres of toxic sludge at a Hungarian alumina plant has cracked and could soon break, unleashing a fresh corrosive torrent. The 715 residents of Kolontar, the first town in the path of any new spill, have been evacuated, and 5,400 people in Devecser have been told to pack belongings in a single bag and be ready to leave at a moment's notice. In a statement yesterday, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, said: "Last ...
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Casts for Collaboration in Its New Climate
Posted by Water Conserve: Water Conservation RSS Newsfeed on October 9th, 2010
Scientific American: Changing Habitats: To conserve plant and animal species in the face of climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will attempt to anticipate how habitats may shift. Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region Climate change is a real, complex and widespread challenge that calls for a "new era of collaborative conservation." That's the message of a new strategic plan for dealing with the effects of global warming, released last week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife ...
United States: Climate change blamed in flood
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
Stevens Point Journal: The recent flash flood that swept through Portage County and most of the state was an anomaly with a unique set of circumstances, according to the National Weather Service. But some scientists say it might be part of broader climatic change. Rivers and other bodies of water already were higher than normal based on the near record-setting rainfall the area had this summer. "It's not part of a larger trend," National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Cultice said. "We ...
Hungary village near burst sludge pond evacuated: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
Reuters: Hungary's premier warned on Saturday that the wall of a damaged industrial reservoir could collapse, threatening a second spill of toxic red sludge, and a nearby village was evacuated as a precaution. About one million cubic meters of the waste material leaked out of the alumina plant reservoir into several villages and waterways earlier this week, killing seven people, injuring 123 and fouling some rivers including a local branch of the Danube. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said ...
Report warns of drastic glacier shrinkage in China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
Xinhua: The average area of glaciers in western China might shrink by about 30 percent by 2050 because of global warming, damaging crop production and worsening droughts. The dire prediction came Friday in a report released at the UN climate talks in north China's Tianjin Municipality. The "Climate Changes and Poverty -- Case Study in China" report was jointly released by organizations including the Institute of Environment and Social and Sustainable Development in Agriculture with the ...
Warmer, wetter weather has crops on the move
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
AP: Warmer and wetter weather in large swaths of the country have helped farmers grow corn, soybeans and other crops in some regions that only a few decades ago were too dry or cold, experts who are studying the change said. Bruce Babcock, an Iowa State University agriculture economist, said soybean production is expanding north and the cornbelt is expanding north and west because of earlier planting dates and later freezes in the fall. "The Dakotas are pretty big corn producers ...
Hungarian Sludge Reservoir ‘Very Likely’ To Collapse
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
AP: The cracking wall of an industrial plant reservoir could collapse at any moment and send a new wave of caustic red sludge into towns devastated by a deluge this week, Hungary's prime minister said Saturday. A crack in the concrete wall widened by 2.76 inches overnight, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters gathered at a fire station near the alumina plant that dumped up to 184 million gallons of highly polluted water and mud onto three villages in about an hour Monday, burning ...
Hungary evacuates village threatened by toxic sludge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
Guardian: A Hungarian village deluged with red toxic sludge earlier this week has been evacuated after further damage to a burst reservoir at the centre of the deadly chemical spill was discovered. Prime minister Viktor Orban said the village of Kolontar, which lies next to the reservoir at the alumina plant in Ajka, was evacuated because it was "very likely" that an entire wall of the structure would collapse, releasing a fresh wave of the chemical effluent that has killed at least seven ...
Hungary sludge reservoir at risk of collapse
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2010
AP: The cracking wall of an industrial plant reservoir appeared on the verge of collapse late Saturday, and engineers were working to blunt a possible second wave of the caustic red sludge that has already deluged several towns in western Hungary and killed seven. Residents of one nearby town were evacuated, others were ordered to be ready to evacuate, and everyone was bracing for a new onslaught of toxic material. "If another wave comes, I was thinking of standing on top of the ...