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Archive for January 7th, 2012
EPA reports says Mass. has reduced pollutants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 7th, 2012
Associated Press: A new report from federal environmental officials shows Massachusetts has reduced the amount of pollutants it releases into the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 Toxic Release Inventory shows that at 441 Massachusetts facilities, the overall release of pollutants was 4.3 million pounds, a decrease of 1.12 million pounds from 2009.
The inventory includes toxic chemical disposals and releases into the air, land and water.
Curt Spalding, regional administrator for EPA's...
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Extinctions from Climate Change Underestimated
Posted by LiveScience: Wynne Parry on January 7th, 2012
LiveScience: As climate change progresses, the planet may lose more plant and animal species than predicted, a new modeling study suggests.
This is because current predictions overlook two important factors: the differences in how quickly species relocate and competition among species, according to the researchers, led by Mark Urban, an ecologist at the University of Connecticut.
Already evidence suggests that species have begun to migrate out of ranges made inhospitable by climate change and into newly...
South Florida prepares for higher sea levels
Posted by Sun-Sentinel: David Fleshler on January 7th, 2012
Sun-Sentinel: A battle plan for an anticipated assault by seawater has been drafted by four South Florida counties, attempting to protect one of the nation's most vulnerable regions from the impact of climate change.
The proposal by Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties calls for 108 actions to deal with rising sea levels and other consequences of global warming.
Among the steps: Redesigning low-lying roads to keep them above water, restricting development in vulnerable areas and relocating...
Animals, plants could be on collision course created by climate change
Posted by Fars News Agency: None Given on January 7th, 2012
Fars News Agency: Predictions of the loss of animal and plant diversity around the world are common under models of future climate change. But a new study shows that because these climate models don't account for species competition and movement, they could grossly underestimate future extinctions.
"We have really sophisticated meteorological models for predicting climate change," says ecologist Mark Urban, the study's lead author. "But in real life, animals move around, they compete, they parasitize each other,...
When Property Rights, Environmental Laws Collide
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 7th, 2012
National Public Radio: The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in a case near and dear to EPA haters.
It would seem to be a David-and-Goliath case that pits a middle-class American couple trying to build their dream home against the Environmental Protection Agency. But the couple, Michael and Chantell Sackett, is backed by a veritable who's who in American mining, oil, utilities, manufacturing and real estate development, as well as groups opposed to government regulation.
On one side of the kaleidoscope, this...
United States: Grand Canyon-Area Uranium Mines to Be Blocked for 20 Years
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 7th, 2012
New York Times: The Obama administration is set to announce on Monday that it will block new uranium mining on one million acres in northern Arizona near the Grand Canyon, lobbyists and Interior Department employees who had been informed about the decision said on Friday. The department, which in 2009 imposed an interim ban that is soon due to expire, now plans a 20-year moratorium on new mines. Western environmental groups have long sought such a measure. In proposing an extended moratorium last year, the interior...