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Archive for September, 2012
Wetter Arctic Could Influence Climate Change, Study Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
ScienceDaily: Increased precipitation and river discharge in the Arctic has the potential to speed climate change, according to the results of a study led by Xiangdong Zhang, a scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research Center.
"As the Earth's climate continues to change, the high-latitude North is becoming even wetter than before," Zhang says. "In particular, air moisture, precipitation and river discharge have increased, leading to a stronger water cycle. These recent changes...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Wetter Arctic Could Influence Climate Change, Study FindsWildlife haven in the Korean DMZ under threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Guardian: A distant waterbird flaps lazily along a strip of verdant marshy shoreline, the brown river drifting sluggishly alongside, while a young soldier stands looking on bored with his rifle. There are no sounds but the water lapping and a soft drone of insects – only the barbed-wire fence and the military presence give a clue that this tranquil scene is the centre of one the world's most dangerous nuclear stand-offs.
The no man's land between North and South Korea, surrounded on all sides by heavily...
Climate change so serious Democrats mention it once in over 80 speeches over two days
Posted by Daily Caller: Jamie Weinstein on September 6th, 2012
Daily Caller: Though the 2012 Democratic Party platform declares that the “national security threat from climate change is real, urgent, and severe,” it is apparently not urgent and severe enough to merit mention by speakers at the Democratic National Convention during the past two days.
The Daily Caller reviewed the speech transcripts of the over 80 speakers who took the stage at the Time Warner Cable Arena here in Charlotte on Tuesday and Wednesday, and only one mentioned climate change — and even he only...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change so serious Democrats mention it once in over 80 speeches over two daysSalinity and Climate
Posted by Environmental News Network: Andy Soos on September 6th, 2012
Environmental News Network: The degree of salinity in oceans is a driver of the world's ocean circulation, where density changes due to both salinity changes and temperature changes at the surface of the ocean produce changes in buoyancy, which cause the sinking and rising of water masses. Changes in the salinity of the oceans are thought to contribute to global changes in carbon dioxide as more saline waters are less soluble to carbon dioxide. A NASA-sponsored expedition is set to sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot...
Amazon deforestation could trigger drop in rainfall across South America
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Mongabay: Deforestation could cause rainfall across the Amazon rainforest to drop precipitously, warns a new study published in the journal Nature.
Using a computer model that accounts for forest cover and rainfall patterns, Dominick Spracklen of the University of Leeds and colleagues estimate that large-scale deforestation in the Amazon could reduce basin-wide rainfall 12 percent during the wet season and 21 percent in the dry season by 2050. Localized swings would be greater. Forest clearing in the Congo...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Amazon deforestation could trigger drop in rainfall across South AmericaAnalysis: 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...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Analysis: U.S. bankers say, love or hate it, ethanol here to stayCanada: 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...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Shell And Chevron Make Oil Sands ‘Green’ With Carbon Capture ProjectSpike 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...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on To Say ‘Deep Water’ is a Great Read is Selling it ShortOil 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...