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Archive for December, 2010
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...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Maryland should pass a moratorium on natural gas drilling from Marcellus ShaleUnited 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...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: More bold steps on protecting state’s coastUGA 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...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UGA scientists find climate change affects amphibian breedingGlobal 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...
Whatever Happened to the Gulf Oil Spill?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2010
Time: Back in May I met the CEO of a major environmental group for coffee in Washington. This was a few weeks after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig had exploded but before the oil had really made landfall along the coast. The country's attention was focused on the spill, and anything seemed possible. No one knew exactly how much oil was leaking every day - the government said perhaps 5,000 barrels a day, but independent academics reported it could be far more. Models showed that currents might be able to take...
US water has large amounts of likely carcinogen: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 19th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A US environmental group has found that drinking water in 35 American cities contains hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
The study by the Environmental Working Group -- the first nationwide analysis measuring the presence of the chemical in US water systems -- is to be made public on Monday, the daily reported.
The group found hexavalent chromium in the tap water of 31 out of 35 cities sampled. Of those, 25 had levels that exceeded the goal proposed...
Facing the hard local realities of a warming world
Posted by Age: Michael Bachelard on December 19th, 2010
Age: One of the lucky ones - Nat White on his thriving Mornington Peninsula vineyard. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer
CLIMATE change has done Nat White a big favour. It has provided his boutique Mornington Peninsula vineyard with the perfect conditions for growing pinot noir and chardonnay.
Warmer temperatures in the hills that run down the spine of the Mornington Peninsula mean Mr White is now virtually assured that his grapes will ripen every year, even though he is harvesting them a full month earlier than...
Climate-smart agriculture to eradicate world hunger: FAO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 19th, 2010
Press Trust of India: With climate change, ozone depletion and droughts in Australia and California's Central Valley, some farmers are coating wallnuts with sunscreen to alleviate sun damage. File photo
Adopting "climate-smart" agricultural practises would be key to eradicate hunger from the world, a UN body has said.
Climate smart agricultural practises could address the twin problems of food security and climate change, FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation) Director-General Jacques Diouf said.
"By climate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate-smart agriculture to eradicate world hunger: FAOForest fragment climate not driven by edge-effect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 19th, 2010
Mongabay: Examining ten forest fragments in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, researchers have undercut the theory that the climate of forest fragment' is driven by the edge-effect. Writing in mongabay.com's open source journal Tropical Conservation Science, researchers found that edge-effect was too simple to explain the microclimate of isolated forest fragments from 3 to 3,500 hectares large, each at least 80-years-old.
After a forest is fragmented heat and moisture are exchanged occur between the forest and...