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Archive for August 11th, 2011
Rick Perry’s environmental record –
Posted by Mother Nature Network: None Given on August 11th, 2011
Mother Nature Network: Rick Perry’s environmental record is as straightforward as it gets. Under his leadership, the state has consistently ranked as the worst in the nation when it comes to carbon emissions. Yet Perry has taken on the natural gas industry when it comes to fracking and he has even incentivised green energy initiatives. He just tries to keep the federal government out of anything that happens in Texas. So without further ado, here are a few of the tenets that make up Perry’s energy and environmental platform....
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Coalbed Methane Drilling Plan Proceeds as BLM Rejects Enviro’s Petition
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
Greenwire: The Bureau of Land Management has dismissed a formal challenge to an agency plan that would allow nearly 500 coalbed methane wells to be drilled in an undeveloped section of northeast Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
The decision (pdf) to authorize the drilling project in Fortification Creek also marked the completion of an environmental assessment (EA) calling for a "performance-based" approach and phased drilling over a 10-year period. Each phase would proceed only after the agency determines that...
Polar climate change may lead to ecological change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
EurekAlert: Ice and frozen ground at the North and South Poles are affected by climate change induced warming, but the consequences of thawing at each pole differ due to the geography and geology, according to a Penn State hydrologist. "The polar regions, particularly the Arctic, are warming faster than the rest of the world," Michael N. Gooseff, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, told attendees today (Aug. 11) at the 96th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Austin,...
How climate data is bringing benefits to Senegal’s farmers
Posted by SciDev.Net: Emeka Johnkingsley on August 11th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Smallholder farmers have years of experience in assessing how climatic conditions, particularly rainfall, affect their crops. But as the climate changes, that knowledge -- often gathered over a lifetime -- may no longer be valid.
As a result, vulnerable farmers need help to adapt or fine-tune their practices. But as climate monitoring and research become more sophisticated, the gap between the technology and farming communities is getting wider.
A project in Senegal is now helping to bridge...
Climate change ‘to increase malaria’ in Indian Himalayas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Climate change is likely to spread malaria to new areas in the Indian Himalayas, and lengthen the periods in which the infection is spread in a number of districts, according to projections from malaria researchers in India.
But the country's east coast could see fewer malaria cases by 2030, because of rising temperatures which affect mosquitoes' activity, they said.
The projections by the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), Delhi, published in a special issue of Current Science...
New Yorkers want fracking, but see consequences
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
Reuters: New York State voters want the economic benefits of drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale more than they fear its environmental impact, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday.
Nearly 60 percent of voters say there should be a new tax on drilling companies, the poll found.
A majority of Republican voters and men said the state should throw open its share of one of the world's richest natural gas deposits to drilling, while most Democrats and women oppose it...
Somali refugee settlement in Kenya swells as row grows over empty camp
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
Guardian: Somalis fleeing famine and conflict have pushed the population of the world's biggest refugee settlement past 400,000 for the first time, with the host Kenyan government apparently blocking the opening of an already built overspill camp.
About 1,400 Somalis arrive at Dadaab in Kenya's north-east every day, pushing the boundaries of the refugee camps deeper into the arid scrubland, far from toilets, water points and security patrols.
Aid workers are desperate to move some of the most vulnerable...
U.S. Panel Endorses Fracking As Its Members Are Faulted for Industry Ties
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: A U.S. Energy Department advisory panel has issued a qualified endorsement of the controversial shale gas exploitation technique of hydraulic fracturing, but a group of scientists charges that the panel’s recommendations are tainted because six of its seven members have current financial ties to the natural gas industry. The panel’s report says that hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” could be a productive way of extracting natural gas if the industry follows a set of strict guidelines. These include...
Drought deepens in South; Texas driest in century
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on August 11th, 2011
Reuters: A devastating drought deepened over the last week in many areas, spreading through more of the Plains and going into the Midwest as triple-digit temperatures baked already thirsty crops and livestock.
The Corn Belt states of South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana saw drought develop quickly as the important corn-growing region got only spotty rainfall amid the high heat, according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, produced by a consortium of national climate experts.
Abnormal dryness intensified...
Texas toasts but will it conserve?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 11th, 2011
Christian Science Monitor: How hot is Texas? Really hot. Hot enough to bake chocolate-chip cookies on your Chevy’s dashboard.
Dallas is expected to hit 106 degrees today, a record. The city’s 10-day forecast reads like this: 106, 106, 105, 103, 103, 104, 103, 103, 103, 104. “Big D” has had 39 straight days of temperatures over 100 degrees. The state’s largest city will burn past its all-time record for 100-plus degree days in a row (42) this Friday.
But it’s not just the heat, it’s the dry that’s producing the biggest...