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Archive for August 4th, 2012
Climate change to blame for worsening summer heat, drought, NASA scientist says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
GlobalPost: Human-driven climate change is to blame for extreme heat and drought seen in the US, Europe and other regions in recent years, a top NASA scientist has said.
James Hansen, who directs the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, added in a Washington Post editorial that even his "grim" predictions of a warming future, delivered before the US Senate in 1988, were too "optimistic."
"I have a confession to make: I was too optimistic," Hansen wrote.
"My projections about increasing global temperature...
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United Kingdom: Act now or species will be lost, environment groups warn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
Guardian: Many species in some of the most remote vestiges of Britain's overseas territories face extinction unless a government plan to protect them sets out clearly defined preservation targets, according to wildlife experts.
A newly unveiled government white paper pledges to "cherish the environment" in its 14 overseas territories, which include the British Virgin Islands, the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the Falkland Islands.
However, the RSPB – which claims that...
Heatwave turns America’s waterways into rivers of death
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
Independent: The cruel summer heat-wave that continues to scorch agricultural crops across much of the United States and which is prompting comparisons with the severe droughts of the 1930s and 1950s is also leading to record-breaking water temperatures in rivers and streams, including the Mississippi, as well as fast-falling navigation levels.
While in the northern reaches of the Mississippi, near Moline in Illinois, the temperature touched 90 degrees last week – warmer than the Gulf of Mexico around the...
Wildfires burn dozens of homes in Oklahoma as temperatures reach 113F
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
Associated Press: Wildfires whipped by gusty, southerly winds have swept through rural woodlands north and south of Oklahoma City, burning dozens of homes as firefighters struggled to contain some of the fires amid 113F heat.
Hundreds of people were told to leave their homes in at least four counties on Friday, while smoke and flames prompted authorities to close parts of Interstate 44, the main roadway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and two state highways.
"A man refused to leave. From what I know, he wanted...
6 Ways California Is Planning to Adapt to Climate Change
Posted by Mother Jones: Erika Eichelberger on August 4th, 2012
Mother Jones: North Carolina is dealing with sea level rise by banning science. California is doing something else: actually making plans.
The Golden State has made itself a leader on climate change in recent years, with initiatives to slash greenhouse gas emissions and amp up renewable energy, and has now just released a hefty report on global warming's impacts on the state and how it plans to adapt to a hot new West.
The report, put out by the California Energy Commission and Natural Resources Agency on...
This Drought’s No Dry Run: Lessons Of The Dust Bowl
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
National Public Radio: This summer's drought continues to wilt and bake crops from Ohio to the Great Plains and beyond. Under a baking, late-afternoon sun just outside of the tiny east-central Illinois town of Thawville, John Hildenbrand walks down his dusty, gravel driveway toward one of his corn fields.
"You can see on the outer edge, these are a lot better-looking ears on the outside rows. Of course, it's not near as hot as it is inside the field," he says.
Walking deeper into the 7-foot-high corn stalks, the...
No help for Okla. as wildfires burn out of control
Posted by NBC News: None Given on August 4th, 2012
NBC News: Wildfires are burning out of control in Oklahoma, destroying homes and shutting down highways in a state that has suffered 18 straight days of 100-plus degree temperatures and persistent drought.
Emergency officials counted 12 different wildfires around the state, with at least 65 homes destroyed in parched areas north and south of Oklahoma City and south of Tulsa.
A state-wide burn ban was issued by Governor Mary Fallin Friday, according to a statement by Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management....
Court Weighs an Order on Yucca Mountain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
New York Times: A federal appeals court indicated Friday that it would issue an order for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume an evaluation of a possible nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, a volcanic ridge in the Nevada desert, unless Congress acted by December to resolve the legal tangle around the project. The commission is required by a 1987 law to determine if the site, 100 miles from Las Vegas, is suitable, but in 2010, President Obama had the government stop work on the project, making good...
Peru: More Than 100 Sickened by Toxic Spill at Mine
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
Associated Press: More than 100 rural Peruvians have been sickened by the spill of a toxic copper concentrate produced at one of the Andean country’s biggest mines, the authorities said Friday. The Ancash State regional health office said 140 people were treated for “irritative symptoms caused by the inhalation of toxins” after a pipeline carrying the concentrate under high pressure burst open in their community. Most of those affected had joined in efforts to prevent liquid copper slurry from reaching a nearby river...
Enbridge says pipeline system safe despite U.S. concerns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2012
Reuters: Enbridge Inc, whose pipelines ship the bulk of Canada's oil exports to the United States, defended the record of its system on Friday after a U.S. regulator said it had concerns about the safety of the operation following a series of spills.
The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has refused to allow Enbridge to reopen its 318,000 barrel per day Line 14 after a rupture spilled 1,200 barrels of oil into a Wisconsin field a week ago.
After a series of spills,...