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Archive for December 30th, 2011
Taking the pulse of a shrinking glacier
Posted by Nature: Patricio Segura Ortiz on December 30th, 2011
Nature: The Exploradores Glacier in southern Chile is riven with cracks that form vertical cliffs of luminescent blue and indigo ice. A constant sound of running water rises from the rivers snaking beneath the 20-kilometre-long frozen mass that sweeps down from Mount San Valentín. The scene is stunning. And it is also, slowly but surely, disappearing.
To understand why this is happening, scientists must measure the various processes that affect glaciers -- not an easy task in this frozen wilderness. Installing...
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Keystone XL oil sands myths and half-truths
Posted by Marketplace: None Given on December 30th, 2011
Marketplace: Jeremy Hobson: What do you really know about the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline? The one that would bring a certain type of oil, called oil sands or tar sands, from Canada to the United States?
One thing we know is that the pipeline has become a political hot potato in Washington. And as with everything that becomes a big political issue there, some of the facts get lost in translation.
Marketplace's Scott Tong from our Sustainability Desk has been to the oil sands and has this reality check....
The Oil That Comes in from the Cold
Posted by Inter Press Service: Humberto Márquez on December 30th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Thanks to soaring oil prices and new technology, oil producers in the hot sands of Arabia, the torrid Niger delta or the humid plains of the Orinoco are facing new competition from rivals in the frozen North.
The Anglo-Dutch Shell group was given the green light by the U.S. environmental agency to drill for oil off the coast of the northern edge of Alaska from July 2012, a project in which the company has already invested 3.5 billion dollars.
Meanwhile U.S. oil giant Exxon signed an agreement...
African rhino poaching hits record on Asian demand
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 30th, 2011
Reuters: A record number of rhinos were poached this year in South Africa, home to the greatest number of the animals, as rising demand in Asia for their horns led to increased killings of the threatened species.
At least 443 rhinos have been killed in South Africa in 2011, up from 333 last year, the national park service and conservationists said.
The street value of rhinoceros horns has soared to about $65,000 a kilogram, making it more expensive than gold, platinum and in many cases cocaine, as a...
China Proceeds With Plan for Disputed Xiaonanhai Dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 30th, 2011
New York Times: The Chinese State Council has removed a crucial roadblock to building one of the nation’s most contentious hydroelectric dams, dealing a decisive defeat to environmentalists critical of the project — and showcasing the clout of one of the most powerful and ambitious politicians in China. In a little-noticed ruling made public on Dec. 14, the council approved changes to shrink the boundaries of a Yangtze River preserve that is home to many of the river’s rare and endangered fish species. The decision...
Antarctic Mosses Record Conditions on the Icy Continent
Posted by LiveScience: Wynne Parry on December 30th, 2011
LiveScience: Moss beds provide habitat for other organisms that survive on the ice-covered Antarctic continent. A new study indicates increased wind speeds, linked with the ozone hole, have slowed the plants' growth by drying them out.
Thin shoots of moss taken from fuzzy clumps growing in Antarctica contain evidence of how human activities are affecting life on the ice-covered continent, new research indicates.
Antarctica has no trees, but the moss shoots act somewhat like tree rings, recording evidence...
Quebec on the verge of catastrophic climate change, expert say
Posted by Montreal Gazette: William Marsden on December 30th, 2011
Montreal Gazette: Record floods, melting permafrost, shoreline erosion and intense winds caused havoc for thousands of Quebecers as 2011 proved to be yet another year of higher than normal temperatures.
These higher temperatures add to the credibility of climate models that have predicted the march of global warming will accelerate the more greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere, scientists say.
“It is striking that over the last 10 to 15 years we didn’t have a single season colder than normal,” said Alain...