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Archive for September 13th, 2011
New evidence cites more BP oil spill mistakes
Posted by Associated Press: Harry R. Weber and Dina Cappiello on September 13th, 2011
Associated Press: A BP scientist identified a previously unreported deposit of flammable gas that could have played a role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the oil giant failed to divulge the finding to government investigators for at least a year, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press.
While engineering experts differ on the extent to which the two-foot-wide swath of gas-bearing sands helped cause the disaster, the finding raises the specter of further legal and financial troubles...
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Tools that will help reduce nitrogen pollution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2011
ScienceDaily: A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil scientist in Colorado is helping farmers grow crops with less nitrogen-based fertilizer.
The fertilizers are a major reason why agriculture is a significant source of both greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in estuaries like the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay. If growers apply too little fertilizer, it reduces crop yields. But if they apply too much, the excess can be released into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide or leach into waterways as...
Keystone XL Tests U.S.-Canada Energy Ties as Asian Suitors Loom
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2011
Greenwire: When Russ Girling describes the past three years of waiting for American regulators to approve his company's massive oil pipeline bid as "a strain on everybody," he means more than just fiscal or logistical stress.
"It's a strain on our company," the CEO of TransCanada Corp., sponsor of the $7 billion Keystone XL project, told Greenwire in a recent interview at his firm's headquarters. "It's a strain on our relationship with the U.S."
As the turbulent debate over the XL line chugs toward its...
Summer Arctic sea ice melt at or near record
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2011
Reuters: Arctic sea ice this summer melted to a record low extent or will come a close second, two different research institutes said on Tuesday, confirming a trend which could yield an ice-free summer within a decade.
The five biggest melts in a 32-year satellite record have all happened in the past five years, likely a result of both manmade climate change and natural weather patterns.
One impact of an ice-free summer may be disrupted world weather, with hints already as some scientists blame recent...
Study: Shift To Natural Gas Will Not Help Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2011
Reuters: Although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a new study concludes that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change.
The study by Tom Wigley, who is a senior research associate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), underscores the complex and sometimes conflicting ways in which fossil fuel burning affects Earth's climate.
While coal use causes warming through emission of heat-trapping carbon dioxide,...
Texas wildfires: More evidence of climate change
Posted by Houston Chronicle: None Given on September 13th, 2011
Houston Chronicle: Although it`s too soon to determine the total amount of insured property losses caused by Texas wildfires, 2011 is projected to be the worst in state history according to a spokesperson of the Insurance Council of Texas. The cost may exceed $150 million. The previous cost record was set in 2009, when fires caused more than $100 million in insured property damages statewide. In fact, Texas is currently dealing with its third yearlong wildfire season since 2005 -- and its most severe. Others were in...
The most anti-environment Congress ever?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2011
Mother Jones: > Votes against environmental laws by the Republican-dominated Congress. Photograph: Committee on energy & commerce
House Republicans have undertaken a war on environmental regulations since assuming the majority earlier this year, taking a total of 125 votes on measures that would take undermine environmental laws or take away the government's authority to set regulations. Together, the measures make this "the most anti-environment Congress in history," says Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking member...
New Canadian Hydro Project Could Bring Clean Energy Into U.S
Posted by ClimateWire: Julia Pyper on September 13th, 2011
ClimateWire: In the far northern reaches of Atlantic Canada, energy companies seek to harness untapped river sites with a hydroelectric project that could replace fossil fuel plants and export power into New England.
Utility company Nalcor Energy aims to build two hydroelectric sites along the Lower Churchill River in Labrador, downstream from an existing 5,428-megawatt station -- one of the largest in the world.
The proposed Muskrat Falls and Gull Island projects would have a combined capacity of more...
South Africa’s farmers struggle to cope with changing climate
Posted by AlertNet: Fidelis Zvomuya on September 13th, 2011
AlertNet: The dun maize fields at Vusi Mlozi's farm in Sopisfonteng, in South Africa's Senekal district, offer a possible warning about the future of agriculture in the country.
Spread over a vast 30 hectares, the farm is baked by a scorching sun and starved of water, the plants parched and nearly dead. A severe drought in central South African has rendered reservoirs temporarily unusable, devastated farm fields and made drinking water scarce.
A combination of excessive heat and high winds also has sent...
World Bank says African food, global warming crises can drive talks agenda
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2011
Associated Press: International climate change negotiators in Africa later this year will be looking back on the famine now sweeping eastern parts of the continent, and ahead to predictions that climate change will hurt Africa's future food production, a World Bank expert said Tuesday.
"The challenges are overwhelming,' Andrew Steer, the World Bank's special envoy on climate change, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"Africa needs to triple food production by 2050,' he said. "At the same time, you've...