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Archive for December 20th, 2010
Global rivers emit three times IPCC estimates of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
ScienceDaily: What goes in must come out, a truism that now may be applied to global river networks. Human-caused nitrogen loading to river networks is a potentially important source of nitrous oxide emission to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and stratospheric ozone destruction.
It happens via a microbial process called denitrification, which converts nitrogen to nitrous oxide and an inert gas called dinitrogen.
When summed across the globe, scientists...
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Wyo. Natural Gas Fracking Rules for Point the Way for Public Disclosure of Chemicals Used
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Greenwire: To coax more oil from a wildcat well named "Mad Hatter," Halliburton Co. is planning to inject water mixed with small concentrations of napthalene, ethanol, "1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene" and "hydrotreated light petroleum distillate" into a hole in the ground near Casper, Wyo.
Such detailed chemical information was once a closely guarded secret. But it is available to anyone with an Internet connection now that Wyoming is demanding that drillers disclose each chemical that they are putting in each well....
Probable Carcinogen Found in Tap Water of 31 U.S. Cities
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Greenwire: In 25 of 35 U.S. cities where tap water supplies were tested for hexavalent chromium -- deemed likely to cause cancer in humans in a U.S. EPA draft review this year -- levels of the chemical exceeded the minimum set by the state of California to protect public health, according to a report released today by an environmental group.
The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) new findings mark a public flare-up in the behind-the-scenes battle over estimating the carcinogenicity of oral exposure to hexavalent...
That snow outside is what global warming looks like
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Guardian: There were two silent calls, followed by a message left on my voicemail. She had a soft, gentle voice and a mid-Wales accent. "You are a liar, Mr Monbiot. You and James Hansen and all your lying colleagues. I'm going to make you pay back the money my son gave to your causes. It's minus 18C and my pipes have frozen. You liar. Is this your global warming?" She's not going to like the answer, and nor are you. It may be yes.
There is now strong evidence to suggest that the unusually cold winters of...
Why is it so cold this winter?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Guardian: What is causing the freezing weather?
The freezing weather is being caused by cold air from the north, known to meteorologists as a "block pattern". The UK's weather is usually dominated by the jet stream, a strong wind that blows straight from west to east, about 8km above the Earth's surface, that brings damp, mild weather off the Atlantic. In winter, the ocean is warmer than the land. But when the jet-stream is blocked by high pressure, as now, it dips southwards and lets chilled air flood...
Maryland should pass a moratorium on natural gas drilling from Marcellus Shale
Posted by Baltimore Sun: Heather Mizeur on December 20th, 2010
Baltimore Sun: In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught on fire and helped spark the American environmental movement. The result was landmark laws, the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a generation of efforts to end pollution of the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Forty years later and a short drive east, though, water is once again on fire.
A flood of natural gas companies has swept into Appalachia, bringing the promise of both economic development and an American energy...
United States: More bold steps on protecting state’s coast
Posted by Sacramento Bee: Editorial on December 20th, 2010
Sacramento Bee: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental legacy certainly includes Assembly Bill 32, the law that aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Equally significant, and less well known, is his support for conserving California's diverse coastal and marine wildlife and habitats along the 1,100-mile coastline.
During his tenure, much of the process for creating a network of regional marine protected areas has come to fruition.
More than a decade ago, the Legislature passed the Marine...
UGA scientists find climate change affects amphibian breeding
Posted by Red and Black: None Given on December 20th, 2010
Red and Black: If you hear frogs calling and it seems like the wrong time of year, scientists say it may be due to climate change. Researchers from the University Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that the breeding periods of several salamander and frog species have shifted over the last thirty years, possibly due to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns.
Here is a picture of a eurycea, and amphibean which has changed the timing of its annual...
Global warming linked to harsh winters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Irish Times: THE COLD spell Ireland and the rest of northern Europe has been experiencing may, paradoxically, be the result of global warming, rather than evidence it is not happening, according to the most recent scientific research.
The Journal of Geophysical Researchsuggested a link between diminishing levels of sea ice in the Arctic and an increased probability of harsh winters across Europe, saying these "do not conflict the global warming picture, but rather supplement it".
As HSBC Global Research...
2010’s world gone wild: Quakes, floods, blizzards
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Washington Post: This was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 - the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the U.S. Federal Emergency Management...