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Archive for September 5th, 2012
Analysis: U.S. bankers say, love or hate it, ethanol here to stay
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 5th, 2012
Reuters: Before the U.S. biofuels boom took off in 2007, the food vs. fuel debate raged: can we afford to use corn for ethanol in a starving world?
Five years later, farm bankers ask: can we afford not to?
"Ethanol demand is the linchpin of the current pricing model that we have," said Michael Swanson, agricultural economist at Wells Fargo, the largest commercial bank lender to U.S. farmers. "It's a completely different question whether it's right or wrong."
Amid the worst drought to hit the Midwest...
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Canada: Shell And Chevron Make Oil Sands ‘Green’ With Carbon Capture Project
Posted by Forbes: Christopher Helman on September 5th, 2012
Forbes: Shell, Chevron and Marathon Oil announced today that they will build a carbon capture and sequestration mechanism into their 225,000 barrels per day Athabasca Oil Sands Project. The goal, when the system is completed in 2015, will be to capture 1 million metric tons a year of carbon dioxide and inject it a mile underground.
The oil sands catch a lot of flack from the antis for being, among other things, more carbon intensive than other sources of oil. That’s because the sludge has to be partially...
Spike in glacier melt across Patagonia since 2000
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 5th, 2012
Mongabay: The rate of glacier melt across Patagonia has accelerated since 2000, reports a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Using NASA satellite data, researchers led by Michael Willis of Cornell University compared recent thinning of the Southern Patagonian Icefield with melt rates since the early 1970s. They found that on average, the Southern Patagonian Icefield glaciers have thinned by about 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) per year since 2000, translating to an annual increase sea...
To Say ‘Deep Water’ is a Great Read is Selling it Short
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 5th, 2012
Climate Central: How high and how fast will sea level rise? It's a hugely important question: the ocean is creeping ever higher thanks to global warming, posing a growing threat to life and property all over the world. The current consensus says sea level should go up another 3 feet or so by 2100, a disastrous enough scenario that would put many millions of people at risk in the U.S. alone. But some experts suggest the rise could be as much as 16 feet, which could make cities -- including New York, Shanghai and Mumbai...
Oil Sands, Carbon Capture and the Keystone XL Verdict
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 5th, 2012
New York Times: In the view of environmentalists, Canada’s oil sands operations are one of the biggest threats to the planet. The synthetic fuel they produce emits more carbon than almost any conventional fuel oil, and the mining in northern Alberta destroys vast sections of the boreal forest, which harbors many species of birds and other wildlife.
But with the battle for approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline likely to return after the American presidential elections, the Canadian authorities and the...
Did climate change ‘ruin’ summer? Report links Michigan cherry loss to rise in extreme weather
Posted by Michigan Live: Jonathan Oosting on September 5th, 2012
Michigan Live: Has climate change ruined summer?
"It's certainly altering them in dramatic ways, and rarely for the better," according to a new report from the National Wildlife Federation.
The findings are based, in part, on research by James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who has earned praise for his climate change work even as some have criticized his political advocacy.
In a journal article published last month, Hansen and a colleague asserted that increasingly-warm summers,...
Conservation Group Sounds Alarm for Asian Species
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 5th, 2012
LiveScience: Some of Asia's most magnificent animals are at a crossroads and may not survive if steps aren't taken to save them, an environmental group announced today (Sept. 5) at the World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea.
The Wildlife Conservation Society released a list of animals in danger of extinction, including tigers, orangutans, Mekong giant catfish, Asian rhinos, Asian giant river turtles and Asian vultures.
The group said the problem could be solved by following the "Three R's Approach":...
U.S. Points to ‘Gross Negligence’ by BP
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on September 5th, 2012
Al Jazeera: The U.S. justice department is blaming BP PLC for the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, describing in new court papers examples of what it calls "gross negligence and willful misconduct". The court filing is the sharpest position yet taken by the U.S. government as it seeks to hold the British oil giant largely responsible for the largest oil spill, as well as the largest environmental disaster, in U.S. history. Gross negligence Gross negligence is a central issue to the case, scheduled...
Asia ‘will be hit hard by drought in 2020s’
Posted by SciDev.Net: T. V. Padma and Li Jiao on September 5th, 2012
SciDev.Net: Asia's wheat and maize production will be severely affected by climate change as early as the 2020s -- with potentially devastating impacts on food security, a report warns.
Previous climate change projections have covered long periods: for example, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change focuses on predicting changes for the period 2050--2100. The new report -- 'Food Security: Near future projections of the impact of drought in Asia' -- focuses on the 2020s, and highlights the areas...
Water in DRC More Often Cause of Death than Source of Life
Posted by Inter Press Service: Donat Muamba on September 5th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Despite the desperate lack of access to water for domestic use in Mwene Ditu, in the central Democratic Republic of Congo, Dieudonné Ilunga spent a good part of July blocking up residents` wells.
"They`ve dug them in old cemeteries, in newly-demarcated lots, next to toilets," said Ilunga, head of the Water Resources Research Department in the city, the second largest in DRC`s Kasaï-Orientale province.
Just ten percent of Mwene Ditu`s 600,000 residents are connected to the water supply network...