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Archive for February, 2012
Model to predict cholera outbreaks earlier, better
Posted by SciDev.Net: Syful Islam on February 14th, 2012
SciDev.Net: A newly developed cholera prediction model can help warn against possible outbreaks of the water-borne disease 11 months in advance.
The model, tested by a team of scientists from Bangladesh and the US, was reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month (23 January).
Scientists now have a tool that can even predict the severity of a cholera outbreak, Mohammad Yunus, senior scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, and a co-author...
Soil Erosion Increasing Global Warming Threat: UNEP
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2012
Reuters: Global warming will get worse as agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United Nations' Environment Programme report said on Monday.
Soil contains huge quantities of carbon in the form of organic matter. which provides nutrients for plant growth and improves soil fertility and water movement.
The top meter of soil alone stores around 2,200 billion tonnes of carbon, which is three times the level currently held...
Australia: Climate change role in floods won’t be clear for a decade, say scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2012
Sydney Morning Herald: THE floods inundating northern NSW and Queensland are likely to have been driven in part by human-induced climate change - although the precise extent of this influence won't be known for another decade.
Leading climate researchers said the frequency of El Nino and La Nina events that bring drought and flood to Australia seems to have increased in the past 30 years, even though such events have been occurring independently of human influence for far longer.
''It's completely naive to exclude...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia: Climate change role in floods won’t be clear for a decade, say scientistsEcosystems Respond to Climate Change Differently as the Seasons Pass
Posted by Planetsave: Joshua S. Hill on February 14th, 2012
Planetsave: Scientists studying the effect of drought and heat waves on grass growth have found that it matters when during the year these events take place, and that each month yields a different effect.
Scientists have found that U.S. midwest drought reduced prairie grass growth most in June.
"A major challenge in studying climate change is separating the effects of long-term trends from interannual variation," says Saran Twombly, program director for the National Science Foundation`s (NSF) Konza Prairie...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ecosystems Respond to Climate Change Differently as the Seasons PassIgnoring forests won’t bring Rio+20’s ‘future we want’
Posted by The Conversation: None Given on February 14th, 2012
The Conversation: In June 2012 around 40,000 participants are expected to attend one of the most important environmental gatherings in a generation – Rio+20. A draft agenda has been released, bearing the slogan “The Future We Want”. It identifies seven critical issues for new sustainable development goals that will be released in Rio: jobs, energy, cities, food, water, oceans and disasters.
But with forests only mentioned briefly in the text and in isolation to other key issues, will Rio+20 really help develop...
Fracking study sends alert about leakage of potent greenhouse gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2012
Christian Science Monitor: Fracking may lead to larger releases of methane into the air than previously estimated, according to a new study.
Scientists are now trying to find out if the underestimation is unique to the gas field they examined or whether rogue emissions from such fields are also being underestimated in other areas where there is hydraulic fracturing – or "fracking" – to collect natural gas form certain rock formations.
The study, conducted by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking study sends alert about leakage of potent greenhouse gasTop Scientists Write Letter to Congress, Oppose Keystone
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 13th, 2012
Climate Central: With possible House and Senate votes on the Keystone XL pipeline looming, climate activists -- including several prominent climate scientists -- are once again rallying to oppose the oil pipeline. As The Hill newspaper reported this morning, Senate Republicans may attach an amendment to an unrelated highway spending bill that could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and David Vitter (R-La.) would allow Congress to require...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Top Scientists Write Letter to Congress, Oppose KeystoneKeystone may be revived after U.S. election: Canada official
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Reuters: The finance minister for Canada's top oil producing province of Alberta said he expects the Canada-to-U.S. Keystone XL pipeline project to be "revived" following presidential elections this year.
In an interview on Monday, Ron Liepert said he thinks government approval for the $7 billion pipeline to ship around 830,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude from Alberta to South Texas could come following elections on November 6.
But he said Keystone's delays, and the possibility it will not be...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone may be revived after U.S. election: Canada officialWash. Nuclear Cleanup Project Under Scrutiny
Posted by National Public Radio: Anna King on February 13th, 2012
National Public Radio: ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block. Now to the sprawling desert of eastern Washington state. The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is home to millions of gallons of radioactive waste left over from World War II and the Cold War.
These days, it's the federal government's largest environmental cleanup project and it's become a big headache. As we hear from Anna King of the Northwest News Network, the...
Can Europe Derail the Shale Gas Express?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Following numerous warnings issued by geologists, health scientists and environmental experts throughout the United States, Europe is now well aware of the high ecological and health risks associated with the exploitation of shale gas fields.
Yet, despite ample knowledge and strong public opposition from various local communities, the recently discovered shale gas deposits across Europe – in particular in France, Germany, and Poland – are highly coveted and will likely soon be exploited by the...