RSS Feed
Archive for August 5th, 2011
Buried in Wildfire Ash, a N.M. Monument Awakens to New Threat: Flash Floods
Posted by New York Times: April Reese on August 5th, 2011
New York Times: As its name suggests, Frijoles Creek isn't a very formidable waterway. Thousands of years ago, however, it was mighty enough to carve a canyon through 400 feet of compressed volcanic ash, and its clear waters enticed a good-sized Ancient Puebloan community to settle along its banks about 850 years ago. But on a blazing summer morning this week, Frijoles Creek merely trickled past the village ruins and the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center, slowly making its way to the Rio Grande. Yet...
Posted in 
United Kingdom: Enviro Groups Mull Legal Challenge of Shell’s Arctic Offshore Drilling Plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Greenwire: Environmental groups yesterday expressed unified opposition to the Interior Department's conditional approval of Shell Offshore Inc.'s plan to drill four wells in Alaska's Beaufort Sea beginning next summer and said they are considering their legal options.
The groups said they believe Shell is unprepared to respond to a potential oil spill in Alaska's frigid waters and that drilling activity could divert endangered bowhead whales from critical feeding grounds.
The conditional approval yesterday...
Regulators investigate “unsafe” NY natural gas line
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Reuters: A key natural gas pipeline which crosses southern New York state is in danger of rupturing and could pose a safety threat, according to a recent report from regulators.
An investigation by the New York State Department of Public Service into a leak on the Millennium Pipeline in January found that uninspected faulty welds were responsible for the accident.
Now the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is conducting its own investigation along a large stretch of the pipe between...
No relief in sight for Texas heat and drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Reuters: The nation's triple digit heat wave -- which hit its 34th day on Friday -- could last until the end of August, while extensive drought in and around Texas may last into October, forecasters said.
The deadly heat event that has broken numerous records has left the southern plains and Mississippi Valley struggling to meet demand for power and water and has cost billions in impact on crops and livestock.
"Many more days of triple-digit heat are on deck as iron-clad high pressure at most levels...
Algae outbreaks across Britain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Telegraph: Algae has also been seen in north Wales near Aberdyfi, the Mawddach Estuary and the Menai Strait.
Carmarthen bridge -- town bridge coated with algae on the underside.
Wishing Tree Reservoir in Hastings.
Daventry Country Park, Midlands
Blue-green algae has been spotted in Loch Coulter in Stirlingshire.
Belhaven Bay, East Lothian
An algae bloom was found in fishing ponds in the Wirral, where a dog was also taken ill.
Scotsman's Flash in Wigan and Pennington Flash in Leigh, Lancashire...
‘Green slime’ outbreak blamed on pollution, not just hot weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Telegraph: Some 83 incidents of algae have been reported to environmental authorities so far this year, starving lakes of oxygen and putting native species at threat.
The highest ever number of annual reported incidents was 226 five years ago, but the Environment Agency said this year was an unusually bad one.
Toxic 'cyanobacteria', known as blue green algae, has been recorded along the Welsh coast, in Scottish lochs, infesting the Norfolk Broads, ruining swimming ponds in London and in fishing ponds...
Could Seawater Solve the Freshwater Crisis?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
National Geographic: With 1.8 billion people predicted to live in areas of extreme water scarcity by 2025, desalination--the removal of salt from water--is increasingly being proposed as a solution.
But before desalination can make a real difference solving in the looming water crisis, officials and experts need to commit to overcoming obstacles that make the process expensive and inefficient, a new paper argues.
Scientists predict that by 2016, the amount of fresh water produced by desalination plants will exceed...
Records Fall During Extended Heat Wave
Posted by Climate Central: Alyson Kenward on August 5th, 2011
Climate Central: As hot weather continues to bake much of the county's midsection, the National Weather Service issued heat advisories and extreme heat warnings for parts of 15 southern states yesterday. Across states like Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi, temperatures set new daily high records, adding to the tally of thousands of temperature records that were broken so far this summer across a wide swatch of the country. Here are some of the most striking records set during the past week: On Wednesday,...
Nigerian Oil Spill Cleanup Could Take 30 Years, U.N. Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Yahoo!: The African country of Nigeria is suffering environmental disaster that has been ongoing for years, according to a report from the United Nations. In November 2009, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched an assessment of environmental impact of oil spills that have dated back as far as 40 years in the country's Ogoniland region. The U.N. released a report Thursday on the disaster stating that this oil spill "could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up...
Analysis: Nigerian oil region’s gloomy outlook unmoved by U.N
Posted by Reuters: Joe Brock on August 5th, 2011
Reuters: A landmark U.N. report on 50 years of oil pollution in Nigeria is unlikely to bring the change many had hoped for, after Shell and the national petroleum company went on the defensive and weary local communities said they had seen it all before.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report focused on the Ogoniland region and is the most comprehensive, scientific analysis in any area of the vast Niger Delta wetlands, the heartland of Africa's largest energy industry.
The report offers...