RSS Feed
Archive for December 24th, 2012
Amazon rainforest failing to recover after droughts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2012
Mongabay: The impact of a major drought in the Amazon rainforest in 2005 persisted far longer than previously believed, raising questions about the world's largest tropical forest to cope with the expected impacts of climate change, reports a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research is based on analysis of rainfall observations and satellite data that measures characteristics of the forest, including water content in leaves and the overall structure...
Posted in 
Smaller Colorado River flows predicted
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2012
United Press International: A projected drop in the Colorado River's flow could disrupt longtime water-sharing agreements between farms and cities in the U.S. Southwest, researchers say.
Climate modelers at Columbia University report a predicted 10 percent drop in the river's flow in the next few decades may signal water shortages for some 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River Basin for water.
"It may not sound like a phenomenally large amount except the water and the river is already over-allocated," Richard...
In fracking culture war, celebs, billionaires and banjos
Posted by Reuters: Joshua Schneyer and Edward McAllister on December 24th, 2012
Reuters: Not so long ago, fracking was a technical term little known beyond the energy industry. Now it's coming to Hollywood, as the fierce battle between environmentalists and oil firms is played out in several forthcoming films.
Hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling technique also known as fracking, has lifted U.S. energy output dramatically, despite warnings from critics who fear it pollutes water deep underground.
Any shift in public opinion could impact policy - and huge sums in energy...
Cargo continues moving on the Mississippi River, but perhaps not for long
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2012
New York Times: The Mississippi River is still open for business — for now. January is another story. A Midwestern drought has brought the river, one of the world’s largest navigable inland waterways, to water levels so low that they threaten to shut down shipping. The Mississippi, which handles some $7 billion in trade in a typical December and January, is expected to be closed to navigation between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., when water levels dip toward the nine feet of depth that is necessary for most tugboats...
Boulder researcher teams on study showing rapid Antarctica warming
Posted by Daily Camera: Charlie Brennan on December 24th, 2012
Daily Camera: The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is showing nearly twice as much warming as previously thought, according to a new study co-authored by a researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
The discovery, published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience, raises additional concerns about the degree to which Antarctica will contribute to sea level rise.
"If this melt continues, if the summer warming continues, we could begin to see increased runoff from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet later...
US officials rule ‘Frankenfish’ is safe for environment
Posted by Daily Mail: Damien Gayle on December 24th, 2012
Daily Mail: Genetically modified salmon could soon be found on supermarket fish counters after the U.S. food safety watchdog ruled it posed no environmental risks, it emerged today.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it could find no valid scientific reasons to ban production of Atlantic salmon engineered with extra genes from two other fish species.
If it is now given final approval, the fish will be the first GM animal to hit supermarket shelves anywhere in the world - and in the U.S. they may...
Dry spell projected for southwest US
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2012
Agence France-Presse: Southwestern areas of the United States, reeling from its worst drought in 50 years, may have 10 percent less surface water within a decade due to global warming, a study said Sunday. While rainfall is forecast to increase over northern California in winter and the Colorado River feeding area, warmer temperatures will outstrip these gains by speeding up evaporation, leaving the soil and rivers drier, a research paper said. Texas will likely be dealt a double blow with declining rainfall and an...
United States: Resorts sound off on perils of climate change
Posted by Aspen Times: Scott Condon on December 24th, 2012
Aspen Times: An opinion piece about climate change by the head of Vail Resorts has Aspen Skiing Co.'s point man on environmental issues scratching his head.
Rob Katz, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts Inc., wrote an opinion piece on climate change that appeared Friday in The Denver Post.
Katz criticizes the efforts of some unnamed folks to use last winter's lack of snow and this winter's slow start as proof of global warming. The head of the country's largest ski-resort operator said the ski industry must...
Lots of grandstanding on energy, little action
Posted by Chemical and Engineering News: Jeff Johnson, Cheryl Hogue on December 24th, 2012
Chemical and Engineering News: Over the past year, Congress has accomplished little to influence the nation`s use of energy resources. Although key House of Representatives and Senate committees have held hearings and press conferences and issued statements and even passed bills, the committees cleared little legislation that had much of a real possibility of becoming law.
Instead, in the Republican-controlled House, committees focused primarily on oversight hearings and passed legislation with a political goal of attacking...
West Antarctic Warming Faster Than Thought, Study Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2012
New York Times: West Antarctica has warmed much more than scientists had thought over the last half century, new research suggests, an ominous finding given that the huge ice sheet there may be vulnerable to long-term collapse, with potentially drastic effects on sea levels. A paper released Sunday by the journal Nature Geoscience reports that the temperature at a research station in the middle of West Antarctica has warmed by 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1958. That is roughly twice as much as scientists previously...