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Archive for August, 2012
Is spraying for West Nile virus safe?
Posted by NBC News: Maggie Fox on August 17th, 2012
NBC News: Texas state health officials, alarmed by the worst outbreak of West Nile virus since the infection first hit the United States in 1999, started spraying insecticide from airplanes Thursday night.
Years of research show the poisons being used in the spray are safe for humans -- and certainly safer than the virus, health officials said. But blogs and social media lit up with concerned comments from people afraid the insecticide might hurt them, their children or other creatures in the environment....
First Chinese ship crosses Arctic Ocean amid record melt
Posted by Reuters: Jon Viglundson and Alister Doyle on August 17th, 2012
Reuters: An icebreaker has become the first ship from China to cross the Arctic Ocean, underscoring Beijing's growing interest in a remote region where a record thaw caused by climate change may open new trade routes.
The voyage highlights how China, the world's no.2 economy, is extending its reach to the Arctic which is rich in oil and gas and is a potential commercial shipping route between the north Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, arrived in Iceland this week...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on First Chinese ship crosses Arctic Ocean amid record meltSolar Toilet Disinfects Waste, Makes Hydrogen Fuel
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
National Public Radio: The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge asked engineers to dream up a replacement for the antiquated flush toilet. Michael Hoffmann and his team at Caltech responded with a solar-powered toilet that disinfects waste and reuses wastewater to flush. Better yet, it pumps out hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells.
Drought, Climate Change Ended Egypt’s Pyramid-Building Era
Posted by Laboratory Equipment: None Given on August 17th, 2012
Laboratory Equipment: Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt's Nile Delta document the region's ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.
"Humans have a long history of having to deal with climate change," says Christopher Bernhardt, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey. "Along with other research, this study geologically reveals that the evolution of societies...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought, Climate Change Ended Egypt’s Pyramid-Building EraTriage System for Plant Species Devised Based on Geographic Range
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: With an increasing number of plant species worldwide facing growing threats, from climate change to invasive species, a team of U.S. scientists has developed a process to more rapidly evaluate those plants facing the greatest risks of extinction. Writing in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, the scientists from the New York Botanical Garden describe a triage method to identify at-risk species based on data from plant research collections and geographic information systems (GIS) technology....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Triage System for Plant Species Devised Based on Geographic RangeTexas will spray for West Nile virus despite fears of insecticide risks
Posted by Guardian: Tom Dart on August 17th, 2012
Guardian: Aerial spraying to combat the West Nile virus will continue tonight across north Texas despite the concerns of residents worried about potential health risks posed by the insecticide.
Dallas is the center of the worst West Nile outbreak in the US this year, which prompted local officials to declare a state of emergency on Wednesday and dispatch two airplanes to spray the city and surrounding areas last night.
The planes left Dallas' Executive Airport as planned at 10pm last night but were only...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Texas will spray for West Nile virus despite fears of insecticide risksTransCanada Begins Construction of Southern Leg of Keystone Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 17th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: The Canadian company, TransCanada, has begun construction on the U.S. leg of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, installing segments in east Texas even as the fate of the pipeline’s northern leg remains in question. Company officials confirmed that work began Aug. 9 on the section of the pipeline that will run from Oklahoma to Texas, just weeks after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the final construction permit. TransCanada, which ultimately hopes to build a pipeline to carry tar sands...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on TransCanada Begins Construction of Southern Leg of Keystone PipelineBrazil’s Belo Monte dam risks delay after court order
Posted by Reuters: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02andd=20120817andt=2andi=643509877and on August 17th, 2012
Reuters: The opening of Brazil's $13 billion Belo Monte dam in the Amazon could be delayed if a court order requiring construction to stop is not overturned by December, the head of the consortium building the project said on Friday.
A regional judge called for an immediate halt to construction on Tuesday after years of high-profile criticism. The likes of Hollywood director James Cameron and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights have said Belo Monte would displace indigenous people in the Amazon rain...
Lessons from Manila floods on climate change, responses
Posted by Bay Area Indymedia: None Given on August 17th, 2012
Bay Area Indymedia: As the Philippine government dithered and made excuses for its grossly inadequate response to the catastrophic floods -- which inundated 80% of the country's capital, Manila -- Sonny Melencio was leading a grassroots relief effort that brought the first food supplies in days to some of the poorest and most badly affected communities.
Together with other activists from the Party of the Labouring Masses (PLM), Melencio went to urban poor communities along the flood-breached Marikina River with supplies...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Lessons from Manila floods on climate change, responsesRecord Heat, Drought Pose Problems for U.S. Electric Power
Posted by National Geographic: Joe Eaton on August 17th, 2012
National Geographic: Record heat and drought conditions across the United States this summer have plagued power plants that require cool water to produce electricity.
From Connecticut to California, high water temperatures and diminished access to water caused by drought have forced a number of power plants to ramp down production or acquire waivers to operate with cooling water above regulated temperatures. At least one plant has suspended operations.
Many nuclear plants have struggled this summer with cooling...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Record Heat, Drought Pose Problems for U.S. Electric Power