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Archive for July 25th, 2012
Logging Vital To Sustainability Of Ecosystem
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
redOrbit: According to researchers from Oregon State University and Michigan State University, active forest management will help reduce the chances of a devastating, habitat-destroying wildfire.
While targeted logging, tree thinning, and other fuel reduction activities might be a short term detriment to forested habitats of the Western U.S., they are vital to maintaining the long-term sustainability of this ecosystem, said the team’s report, which was recently published in Forest Ecology and Management....
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Meltwater from Greenland glacier wipes out key crossing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
Guardian: The gust of warm air that caused the unprecedented thaw in Greenland's surface ice also appears to have caused unusually high runoff from a glacier, wiping out a crossing near a key research and transport hub.
Scientists who fly in Kangerlussuaq, near the western edge of the ice sheet, have been keeping an eye on the Watson river bridge for years.
The bridge dates from the 1950s, but wasn't built for the magnitude of spring and summer melt of the last 12 years or so, said Jason Box, a glaciologist...
EPA finds remaining water safe in famous fracking town
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is discontinuing water deliveries to four homes in a rural Pennsylvania town that attracted national attention after residents complained that natural gas drilling polluted wells.
Further testing showed no reason for further action, the EPA said on Wednesday.
The EPA had been delivering water since January to four homes in Dimock, Pennsylvania where the agency did a second round of water sampling after residents and local regulators submitted data that...
“Shocking” Greenland Ice Melt: Global Warming or Just Heat Wave?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
National Geographic: After just a few days of intense melting this month, nearly the entire of the surface of Greenland's massive ice sheet had turned to slush, NASA images show-the fastest thaw rate since satellites began keeping score 30 years ago.
It may be tempting to link the event to global warming, but scientists say such melts might occur every 150 years. If such rapid thaws become common, though, they could add to already rising seas, experts say (Greenland satellite picture).
Most of the thawing occurred...
Massive Ice Melt In Greenland Worries Scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
National Public Radio: A pair of NASA satellite images taken just four days apart tells a potentially worrying story of melting ice in the polar summer.
The first, snapped from orbit on July 8, shows about 40 percent of the Greenland ice sheet shaded in pink or red to illustrate probable or confirmed surface melting. The second photo, taken on July 12, shows nearly the entire land mass - 97 percent - blotched in a red hue.
In a typical year, only about half of the Greenland ice sheet undergoes this kind of melting...
Drought will bring about higher food prices, US warns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
Guardian: The US government acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that the drought now covering two-thirds of the country will lead to significantly higher food prices.
The catastrophe in the corn belt, which has seen crops decimated by extreme heat and prolonged drought, will have ripple effects throughout the food system, the department of agriculture said in its food price outlook.
US consumers can expect to pay up to 4.5% more for beef because corn, which is used for cattle feed, will be in...
Greenland Ice Sheet Melts At Abnormal Blazing Speed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
National Public Radio: In July, the surface of Greenland's ice sheet melted at an unusually fast rate. In the span of four days, an estimated 97 percent of the ice disappeared. Audie Cornish talks to NASA scientist Tom Wagner for more.
How to Rebuild the Mississippi Delta
Posted by New York Times: Kelly Slivka on July 25th, 2012
New York Times: You may remember that during last year’s epic Mississippi River flooding, the Army Corps of Engineers opened spillways upriver of New Orleans and Baton Rouge to divert some water away from the cities. One of those spillways was the Bonnet Carré, built in the early 1930`s to protect New Orleans from high water.
When most of its bays were opened last May, the Bonnet Carré redirected 10 to 20 percent of the Mississippi’s floodwater out of the river and into Lake Pontchartrain.
While the diversion...
Record Aid Shortfall Abandons Millions to Their Fate
Posted by Inter Press Service: Kim-Jenna Jurriaans on July 25th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Global funding for humanitarian aid interventions saw the biggest shortfalls in 10 years in 2011, according to a new report, raising questions about the international community's ability to meet a 20-percent greater need for 2012 driven by drought and conflict.
The launch of the 2012 Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) report last week coincided with the release of new mid-year data by the U.N. that scaled up earlier projections of humanitarian needs from 7.9 billion to 8.8 billion dollars for...
Cultivating Toxic Crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2012
Inter Press Service: At a time when spiraling input costs and perennial shortages of irrigation water are breaking countless farmers' backs, a small village community on the outskirts of Lahore appears to have been spared.
The village of Hudiara, situated close to the Wagah border, falls in the way of a natural storm water channel called the Hudiara Drain, which originates in Batala in India's Gurdaspur District and flows for nearly 55 kilometres before entering Pakistan.
The farmers here say the drain ensures...