Archive for April, 2011

Brockholes nature reserve visitor centre – review

Guardian: Brockholes visitor centre, near Preston in Lancashire, designed by Adam Khan. Photograph: Ioana Marinescu If you turn off the M6, on the ragged edge of Preston, and follow some brown badger signs through a series of truck-filled roundabouts and ramps, you suddenly see a huddle of roofs above a lake, which look like a bronze-age settlement. The view recalls those meticulous yellow-brown reconstructions you get in old, earnest children's books, and you half expect to see men carrying spears and...

Extreme Weather Events Take Place in the Context of Global Climate Change

Moderate Voice: That is the theme of this guest piece at Think Progress by climate scientist Brad Johnson (emphasis in original): n an email interview with ThinkProgress, Dr. Kevin Trenberth, one of the world’s top climate scientists, who has been exploring for years how greenhouse pollution influences extreme weather, said he believes that it is “irresponsible not to mention climate change” in the context of these extreme tornadoes. Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section of the National Center for Atmospheric...

Environmental group to sue feds over SoCal frog

Associated Press: An environmental group says it plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on allegations that the agency failed to develop a recovery plan for the endangered Southern California mountain yellow-legged frog. The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports the Center for Biological Diversity filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue Thursday. The group accuses federal officials of not taking adequate steps under the Endangered Species Act to save the frog from extinction. The mountain...

Spanish nuclear power station in leak scare

Associated Press: Media say 14 people were working in the containment area of a nuclear power plant in northeast Spain this week when water used to cool a reactor was unexpectedly released. El Pais newspaper reported Saturday that the workers were in the building, although none are believed to have suffered dangerous contamination. Operator Anav said in a statement dated Thursday that "the opening of a valve caused the release of 25 cubic meters (883 cubic feet) of water from the primary refrigeration system toward...

Scientists probe genetic component of climate-hardy species

ClimateWire: Douglas firs have more than 38,000 genes, roughly twice the number in the human genome. So any gene that has helped those trees survive extreme drought, heat and disease has been passed down through generations of seedlings. "I think of them as the ultimate genomic pack rat," said Richard Cronn, a research geneticist at the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. "They save everything, and they have been saving things for millions of years. You never know when you are going to have...

The Indonesia mega rice disaster

LOE: Indonesia is a huge carbon polluter. That's largely because of massive destruction of the carbon-rich peatlands underlying its tropical forests. Now some are trying to stop carbon emissions from that damaged land, and give local people a leg up at the same time. Living on Earth's Ingrid Lobet reports. Transcript GELLERMAN: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bruce Gellerman. Indonesia is the world's third largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Only the United States and China generate more of the climate-disturbing...

CU-Boulder scientists study air ripples from wind turbines

Daily Camera: A new University of Colorado research project is designed to improve the efficiency of wind turbines. The University of Colorado is looking into ways to make wind turbine technology more efficient and perhaps less costly. A new project spearheaded by Julie Lundquist, an assistant professor in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department, considers the wakes of invisible ripples that turbines create. Understanding how the wakes move and how they are shaped will allow scientists to better determine...

Group wants rare Sierra Nevada red fox put on protected list

Redding: Threats to the Sierra Nevada red fox include grazing, logging and shrinking mountain habitat brought on by global warming. Sierra Nevada red fox caught on camera A rare fox once thought to be found only close to Lassen Peak could be a candidate for federal protection. The Center for Biological Diversity -- an environmental group known for its Endangered Species Act filings -- submitted a petition this week, asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider the Sierra Nevada red fox for...

African ocean current could boost Gulf Stream: Study

Reuters: An ocean current that flows down the east coast of Africa could strengthen a circulation pattern that brings warmth to Europe, according to a new study that challenges existing climate science. In a study in the latest issue of the journal Nature, scientists examining the Agulhas Current found more of the current's warm, salty water was entering the southern Atlantic, whose waters are cooler and fresher. This in turn could strengthen the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic that brings warm waters and...

Pakistan faces higher numbers of floods, droughts in the future

Tribune: The average temperature in the country has risen by 0.6 Celsius in the past 100 years. The average temperatures in Pakistan have gone up by 0.6 Celsius over the past 100 years. The increase in northern Pakistan was slightly higher at 0.8 Celsius versus 0.5 Celsius in the south. While seemingly less, the rise in temperatures means Pakistan faces rapid recession of glaciers in the coming years that will greatly increase the water inflow into the Indus River system. This will reduce the natural...