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Archive for February, 2012
Watchdog clears State Department of impropriety in Keystone pipeline project
Posted by New York Times: John M. Broder and Dan Frosch on February 10th, 2012
New York Times: The State Department’s inspector general has found no conflict of interest or improper political influence in the agency’s review of the disputed Keystone XL pipeline project. But in a report released on Thursday, the official said the department had not adequately weighed concerns about the route of the 1,700-mile pipeline and should strengthen its oversight of contractors performing environmental impact statements for major projects. The proposed Keystone pipeline, which is to carry heavy oil...
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Comments Off on Watchdog clears State Department of impropriety in Keystone pipeline projectUnited States: Flood warnings at risk as cuts to critical gauges loom
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 10th, 2012
Climate Central: This is the first in an occasional Climate Central series on how reduced funding for scientific observations is affecting climate and weather research and forecasting.
On Sept. 7, 2011, a record deluge associated with Tropical Storm Lee struck Binghamton, N.Y., dumping 7.5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period -- the most the city had ever seen in such a short time. Weather forecasters, emergency managers and rescue teams knew the nearby Susquehanna River was already rising from an unusually wet...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Flood warnings at risk as cuts to critical gauges loomEU energy-saving law hit by amendments avalanche
Posted by Reuters: Barbara Lewis on February 10th, 2012
Reuters: Plans to improve the European Union's record on energy saving risk stalling over hundreds of highly technical amendments, including one that could be good for Germany and its giant utilities, but bad for poorer nations.
Denmark has made moving towards a political deal on the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive a priority for its six-month tenure as president of the 27-member bloc.
It argues saving energy through measures such as better building insulation would create jobs and help to reduce reliance...
Australia: Streams need trees to withstand climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 10th, 2012
Physorg: Researchers from Monash University, the Environment Protection Authority and the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research studied the effects of drought on Australia's fragile freshwater ecosystems using data collected in Victoria before, during and after the severe drought that lasted from 1997 until 2009.
The sustained monitoring allowed researchers to compare how sites with differing levels of vegetation responded to sustained drought.
The research, published in Global Change Biology,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Streams need trees to withstand climate changeDid Early Man Contribute to Central Africa Climate Change?
Posted by Voice of America: Joe DeCapua on February 10th, 2012
Voice of America: If humans are responsible for speeding the climate change currently underway, it may not be the first time. Scientists say a long time ago in Central Africa, early farmers may have contributed to the disappearance of rainforests. The question is being raised in the journal Science.
Scientists say about 3,000 years ago some of the rainforests were “abruptly replaced” by savannas – broad grasslands dotted with shrubs and trees. It was thought that climate change was the reason. But now research...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Did Early Man Contribute to Central Africa Climate Change?Canada PM vows to ensure key oil pipeline is built
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 10th, 2012
Reuters: Canada's prime minister on Friday made his strongest comments yet in support of a proposed pipeline from oil-rich Alberta to the Pacific coast, saying his government was committed to ensuring the controversial project went ahead.
Enbridge Inc's Northern Gateway pipeline, which is strongly opposed by green groups and some aboriginal bands, would allow Canada to send tankers of crude to China and reduce reliance on the U.S. market.
An independent energy regulator -- which could in theory reject...
La Nina seems to have peaked, set to decline: WMO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 10th, 2012
Reuters: La Nina, a weather phenomenon usually linked to heavy rains and flooding in Asia-Pacific and South America and drought in Africa, seems to have reached its peak and is expected to fade between March and May, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
A weak to moderate La Nina pattern has cooled the tropical Pacific since around October, a considerably weaker event than in 2010-11, the United Nations agency said in a statement.
"Model forecasts and expert interpretation suggest...
Climate change speeds up microbial change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 10th, 2012
Indo-Asian News Service: Climate change could affect Antarctica's Dry Valleys more rapidly than previously expected, particularly the microbial communities in the soil, a study reveals.
We used to think that microbial change took place slowly over centuries, said Craig Cary, professor at the University of Waikato, who led the study.
It's important we keep documenting the current biodiversity in Antarctica so we can predict the effects of climate change, said Cary, the journal Nature Communications reported.
To do...
Humans drove rainforest into savannah in ancient Africa
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on February 9th, 2012
Mongabay: Three thousand years ago (around 1000 BCE) several large sections of the Congo rainforest in central Africa suddenly vanished and became savannah. Scientists have long believed the loss of the forest was due to changes in the climate, however a new study in Science implicates an additional culprit: humans. The study argues that a migration of farmers into the region led to rapid land-use changes from agriculture and iron smelting, eventually causing the collapse of rainforest in places and a rise...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Humans drove rainforest into savannah in ancient AfricaGlaciers, Ice Caps Losing 150 Billion Tons of Ice Annually
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 9th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: A new analysis of global satellite data has found that the world’s glaciers and ice caps — excluding Antarctica and Greenland — lost about 150 billion tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2010, adding about 0.4 millimeters to global sea rise annually. Using data from the twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder compiled what they say is the most comprehensive data on planetary ice loss. The satellites, which are part of a...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Glaciers, Ice Caps Losing 150 Billion Tons of Ice Annually