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Archive for October 19th, 2012
Keystone XL pipeline brings out the protest in locals
Posted by LA Times: Molly Hennessy-Fiske on October 19th, 2012
LA Times: Eleanor Fairchild, 78, a great-grandmother and retired homemaker, became an alleged "eco-terrorist" in the early hours of Oct. 4, crawling through brush on her farm about 100 miles east of Dallas in jeans and a button-down shirt to stop work on the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. Her companion? The actress Daryl Hannah. Fairchild is one of several local landowners-turned-activists joining outside protesters in the fight to stop a Canadian company from building the pipeline across their properties....
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Powerful Windstorm Winds Down in Plains, Midwest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2012
Climate Central: A massive windstorm is finally winding down after it snarled traffic, helped burn down a tiny North Dakota town, and caused a dust storm that spawned a multi-vehicle accident in Oklahoma. The winds flipped tractor trailer trucks onto their sides in South Dakota, as drivers were unable to maintain control against hurricane-force crosswinds.
The storm, which was centered across the Upper Midwest but has since drifted eastward and weakened, was a powerful area of low pressure fueled by the strong...
Once this landscape was a pristine wilderness
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2012
Daily Mail: These incredible pictures show the bleak landscape of bitumen, sand and clay created by the frantic pursuit of 173billion barrels of untouched oil.
The Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, are the world's third largest oil reserve - but lush green forests once blanketed an area there larger than England.
The region where the blackened earth now stands has been dubbed as the most destructive industrial project on earth by shocked environmentalists.
Amazing scene: Oil floats on the surface of an...
Okla. dust storm causes highway pile-ups, injuries
Posted by MSNBC: None Given on October 19th, 2012
MSNBC: A dust storm swirling reddish-brown clouds over northern Oklahoma triggered multiple crashes involving about three dozen vehicles on Thursday, forcing police to shut down part of the heavily traveled Interstate 35 for several hours amid near blackout conditions.
More than a dozen people were injured as winds up to 55 mph whipped up the soil off farmlands near Blackwell, NBC station KFOR-TV reported.
In a scene reminiscent of the Dust Bowl days, choking dust shrouded Interstate 35, which links...
Why the wildfires still rage
Posted by New York Times: John N. Maclean on October 19th, 2012
New York Times: THE cooler temperatures of fall may have arrived on the East Coast, but in California and the Pacific Northwest, fire season burns on. There are six large fires raging out West, and this year’s season is likely to burn 10 million acres of land, more than in any year since 1960, when federal records began to be kept. Explanations abound: global warming has provided consistently hotter weather, and warmer winters have meant less snow melt during the spring. Drought has plagued the country, and invasive...
US on course to notch record year of heat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2012
Reuters: After a hot spring and a scorching summer, this winter is likely to continue a US warming trend that could make 2012 the hottest year since modern record-keeping began, US weather experts said Thursday.
Drought that ravaged much of the United States this year may spread in the coming months, said Mike Halpert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center.
"The large majority of that drought we expect to persist," Halpert said. "We even see drought expanding...
Australia: The role of coastal estuaries in cleansing the atmosphere
Posted by Coffs Coast Advocate: None Given on October 19th, 2012
Coffs Coast Advocate: AUSTRALIAN estuaries may be more important than previously thought in capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere, according to new research from Southern Cross University's Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Research.
Dr Damien Maher and Centre director Professor Bradley Eyre have published a paper in Global Biogeochemical Cycles that measured carbon flows and CO2 fluxes in three temperate Australian estuaries.
"Knowing carbon fluxes from these ecosystems is important in understanding...
No wars for water
Posted by Foreign Affairs: Shlomi Dinar, Lucia De Stefano, James Duncan, Kerstin Stahl, Kenneth M. Strzepek on October 19th, 2012
Foreign Affairs: The world economic downturn and upheaval in the Arab world might grab headlines, but another big problem looms: environmental change. Along with extreme weather patterns, rising sea levels, and other natural hazards, global warming disrupts freshwater resource availability -- with immense social and political implications. Earlier this year, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published a report, Global Water Security, assessing hydropolitics around the world. In it, the authors show...
Why aren’t candidates debating climate change?
Posted by Philadelphia Daily News: Editorial on October 19th, 2012
Philadelphia Daily News: THE PAST 12 months have been the hottest on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Throughout the nation, drought, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather have made global warming a visible reality.
So it was maddening - and tragic - that both presidential candidates spent significant time during Tuesday's debate trying to one-up each other on how much more fossil fuels they plan to extract, burn and allow into the atmosphere. In three debates so far, climate...
Reckless Coal Expansion Threatens South Africa’s Water Supply
Posted by EcoWatch: Melita Steele, Greenpeace International on October 19th, 2012
EcoWatch: Water is the foundation of life: we’re unable to survive without it. But the problem is that water is scarce, and South Africa is running out of it.
More than 98 percent of South Africa’s water has already been allocated, and this country is facing a severe water crisis in the coming decade. We’re going to face skyrocketing water prices, droughts due to climate change and increasing competition over water--possibly leading to conflict. Already a lack of access to water is leading to service delivery...