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Archive for February 16th, 2011
Worldwide search for ‘lost frogs’ ends with 4% success, but some surprises
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
Mongabay: Worldwide search for 'lost frogs' ends with 4% success, but some surprises
Unprecedented search evidence of 'Sixth Great Extinction'.
Last August, a group of conservation agencies launched the Search for Lost Frogs, which employed 126 researchers to scour 21 countries for 100 amphibian species, some of which have not been seen for decades. After five months, expeditions found 4 amphibians out of the 100 targets, highlighting the likelihood that most of the remaining species are in fact extinct;...
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British floods ‘were the result of climate change’
Posted by Independent: Jonathan Brown on February 16th, 2011
Independent: The catastrophic floods of autumn 2000, which saw river levels reach 400-year highs and left 10,000 homes underwater across England and Wales, were most likely the result of global warming.
It is the first time scientists have been able to plot with any confidence the link between the extreme weather with man-made greenhouse gases. Researchers from Oxford University and the Met Office aided by thousands of volunteers online believe 20th-century industrial emissions made the natural disaster almost...
Extreme Storms and Floods Concretely Linked to Climate Change?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
National Geographic: If you were following headlines when Pakistan was underwater last year, you’ve heard that there may be a connection between climate change and increased flooding. Now new studies of severe storms and catastrophic floods add more evidence to the theory that rising greenhouse gas levels actually do increase the odds of such extreme weather events--and perhaps make them stronger.
The recent research is among the earliest that claim to present observable scientific evidence for a human role in altering...
Still a Ways to Go, After Historic Ruling Against Chevron
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
Inter Press Service: The plaintiffs in the case against Chevron tried in Ecuador, who won a historic 9.5 billion dollar verdict after a nearly 18-year struggle over environmental and health damages caused in a quarter-century of oil operations in the Amazon jungle, are not disheartened by the road still ahead.
Chevron announced that it would appeal the sentence handed down Monday by Judge Nicolás Zambrano in Nueva Loja, the capital of the northeastern Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos, which found the U.S. oil company...
Watchdog Groups Urge Stronger U.S. Standards for Oil Sands Pipelines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
Greenwire: The thick, sticky type of oil carried from Canada to the United States in several high-profile pipelines also brings a higher risk of leaks and ruptures that demand stronger government safety standards, green groups and pipeline watchdogs argue today in a new report. Safety along the nation's 2.3-million-plus miles of oil and gas pipelines became a flashpoint for many policymakers last year after a Michigan rupture spilled an estimated 800,000 gallons of crude and a gas leak caused a fatal blast...
United Kingdom: Researchers Link Extreme Rains To Global Warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
National Public Radio: Scientists have been saying for years that as the planet heats up, we will have to deal with more severe weather. But pinning any particular event "” such as a specific hurricane "” to global warming is difficult at best.
Now, scientists have tried to do just that: They've linked extreme precipitation to global warming.
Myles Allen at Oxford University is one of the scientists who undertook this effort, and he acknowledges upfront it's hard to feel the effects of a slowly warming planet.
"One...
Egyptians defy military rulers with more protests
Posted by Associated Press: Sarah El Deeb on February 16th, 2011
Associated Press: Egyptians staged protests and strikes Wednesday over a host of grievances from paltry wages to toxic waste dumping, defying the second warning in three days from the nation's military rulers to halt all labor unrest at a time when the economy is staggering.
The military-led caretaker government gave its first estimate of the death toll in the 18-day democracy uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Health Minister Ahmed Sameh Farid said at least 365 civilians died according to a preliminary...
Floods linked to manmade climate change: studies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
Reuters: Man-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to more frequent heavy rainfall, two studies published found on Wednesday, portraying a clearer human fingerprint after a spate of floods around the world.
Scientists agree that greenhouse gas emissions are warming the world and expect that in turn would lead in the future to more evaporation of water, more moist air and heavier rainfall.
But the two new papers were the first to pin an increase in heavy rainfall in the second half of the last century...
‘Substantial’ increase in heavy rainstorms proof of human-caused climate change: UVic study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
Vancouver Sun: Large trees lie toppled in front of a St. John's home last fall after tropical storm Igor blew through Newfoundland. The planet has seen plenty of such extreme precipitation events recently -- from last summer’s devastating flood in Pakistan to snowstorms that have buried many parts of the U.S. this winter. Although scientists say it is not yet known if the probability of these specific events was increased by greenhouse gases, according to new research, gases generated by human activity have intensified...
Extreme weather getting worse – and climate change to blame, studies say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2011
Associated Press: Extreme rainstorms and snowfalls have grown substantially stronger, two studies suggest, with scientists for the first time finding the telltale fingerprints of man-made global warming on downpours that often cause deadly flooding.
Two studies in Wednesday's issue of the journal Nature link heavy rains to increases in greenhouse gases more than ever before. s raining ice shards in Mississippi
One group of researchers looked at the strongest rain and snow events of each year from 1951 to 1999...