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Archive for September 26th, 2012
Report leaves debate open on contested Wyoming fracking study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2012
Reuters: The government on Wednesday released the latest water quality results from a Wyoming aquifer that federal regulators said was contaminated by natural gas drilling, but the data will likely do little quiet debate on the cause of the polluted groundwater.
While the United States Geological Survey report included raw data from samples it collected from a well near Pavillion, Wyoming, in April and May, the agency did not provide any analysis, leaving the information open to varying conclusions.
"Interpretation...
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UK Seeks to Use Climate Funds to Spur Kenyan Geothermal
Posted by Bloomberg: Alex Morales on September 26th, 2012
Bloomberg: The U.K. government plans to spur use of Britain’s green technology and financial expertise for geothermal and wind power projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania by tapping billions of pounds of state funds.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said he will head a trade delegation, including 30 executives from 19 U.K. companies, to the East African countries from Oct. 1 to 5. The markets have the potential to develop more than 15,000 megawatts of geothermal power, as well as wind and...
Climate Change And Drinking Water: Report Indicates Hurricane Irene Polluted New York’s Catskills Watershed
Posted by Huffington Post: Sara Gates on September 26th, 2012
Huffington Post: Over one year later, parts of the East Coast are still recovering from Hurricane Irene, the Category 1 hurricane that first hit the outer banks of North Carolina and made its way up the coast, tempering into a tropical storm by the time it reached New York. Forty-nine people died as a direct result of the hurricane, which racked up an estimated $15.8 billion in total damage. But truly lasting devastation could come from the effects of hurricanes like Irene on watersheds which contribute to drinking...
New Yorkers Call on Gov. Cuomo to Save Seneca Lake from LNG Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on September 26th, 2012
EcoWatch: More than 100 people and close to a dozen businesses came together to celebrate the Seneca Lake Scenic Byway today, while also bringing attention to the fact that fracking and Inergy`s proposed natural gas and NGL (natural gas liquids) storage facility threaten the Scenic Byway and local tourism.
Participants held a press conference calling on Gov. Cuomo, the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and State Legislature to protect the Scenic Byway and surrounding region from the economic...
Underwater Park—A Visualization of 20 Months of Frackwater in NYC
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on September 26th, 2012
EcoWatch: Earlier this week, we posted a report on the quantity of water that has reportedly been used in the U.S. for hydraulic fracturing in the last 20 months. The staggering number, 65.9 billion gallons, was translated into the number of hours it would take for all of that water to flow over Niagara Falls (it was about 24.5 hours in case you wondered). However, with a lot of attention on New York State’s pending decision on fracking, and the drinking water supply for 9 million people in jeopardy, the staff...
Adapting Gas-Fired Power to a Greener Grid
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2012
New York Times: Making electricity from natural gas is cleaner than making it from coal or oil, but as gas gains a bigger market share in the business in the United States and elsewhere, the idea of what constitutes a good generator is shifting. General Electric announced a line of new models on Wednesday, with two interesting environmental twists.
One is efficiency. New natural gas plants burn the fuel in something that resembles a jet engine that is chained to the ground and turning a generator. Over the years,...
Flood waters raise fears over home insurance
Posted by Guardian: Lisa Bachelor on September 26th, 2012
Guardian: In a week when hundreds of households have had their homes swamped by water, a war of words has broken out between the government and the insurance industry over paying for affected properties.
Householders in flood-risk areas should by now have the peace of mind of knowing their properties are still insurable under an agreement between the government and the insurance industry.
However, although that agreement was supposed to have been finalised in the spring, the two parties have failed to...
Keep new development goals simple – experts
Posted by AlertNet: Lisa Anderson on September 26th, 2012
AlertNet: The Millennium Development Goals may not be perfect but they are simple and straightforward - qualities diplomats and others fear could be lost in the process of crafting new targets to replace the MDGs, which expire in 2015.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon underscored this on Tuesday in remarks to members of a high-level panel charged with working out what comes next.
"We need a clear post-2015 development agenda - an agenda with shared responsibilities for all countries, with the fight...
Scientists Seek Insights into Outlier Drought Projections
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on September 26th, 2012
Climate Central: Although official drought outlooks failed to provide Americans with advanced notice of one of the worst droughts to strike the U.S. since the Dust Bowl-era -- a drought that is still ongoing -- there were some computer models that got the forecast right. Viewed as outliers at the time by climate forecasters tasked with making seasonal forecasts, such models look downright prescient with hindsight.
In the wake of the flawed forecasts, climate researchers are seeking to understand what enabled certain...
Earth’s Water System Could Be Affected By Land Use, Climate Change And Ecosystems
Posted by redOrbit: April Flowers on September 26th, 2012
redOrbit: We don`t yet understand the how the connections between water sustainability and hydrologic processes will be affected by climate change, but to better this understanding, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has teamed up with the United States Departments of Agriculture`s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The collaboration has awarded grants totaling almost $27 million through the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) program.
NSF`s Directorates for Geociences, Engineering,...