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Archive for December 27th, 2012
Antarctic drilling project cut short
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 27th, 2012
BBC: An ambitious mission to drill through Antarctic ice to a lake that has been sealed off for thousands of years has been cut short. The British expedition was attempting to reach Lake Ellsworth, which lies over 3km (1.8 miles) below the ice, to see if it contained evidence of ancient life on Earth. A technical problem meant that the two bore holes failed to connect and the project was suspended. The BBC's science editor David Shukman explains what went wrong.
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Zimbabwe ill-prepared for rainfall extremes, farmers say
Posted by AlertNet: Madalitso Mwando on December 27th, 2012
AlertNet: Thumeliso Matshobana knows what the devastation of too much water looks like.
A smallholder farmer in Zimbabwe's Midlands, he watched helplessly last year as floods destroyed crops, livestock, homes and schools. The heavy rains, he says, came as "a total surprise.'
The floods left a trail of destruction in traditionally dry and impoverished rural areas of the Midlands and Matebeleland, and rebuilding has been a slow and painful process.
"We want rain but not the kind that kills us and destroys...
The year in food and farming
Posted by Grist: Twilight Greenaway on December 27th, 2012
Grist: It`s been quite a year for food and farming coverage here at Grist. Below is a wrap-up of some of the biggest stories of the year.
1. The worst drought in half a century
Corn withered, farmers scowled and resorted to feeding their cows candy, and many predicted the coming of the real Hunger Games. But the country’s worst drought in over 70 years was far more complex than most news sources reported. Most of that industrial corn was heavily propped up by crop insurance (supplemented with taxpayer...
An Abundance Of Extreme Weather Has Many On Edge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 27th, 2012
National Public Radio: "I've never seen anything like that," she says. "I sat there on the couch thinking, 'Oh my God, we're all gonna die!' "
Andrews says the derecho, combined with the year's unrelenting series of disasters, has instilled in her a new and visceral fear of the weather. And she's not alone.
"People begin to see that pattern and are starting to say, 'Whoa. Could all these be connected? Is this something to do with climate change?' " says Anthony Leiserowitz, who directs the Yale Project on Climate...
United States: Citizen-Scientists’ Plight to Protect Watershed from Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: SkyTruth on December 27th, 2012
EcoWatch: This past summer SkyTruth and the Downstream Project went up to Northern Pennsylvania to document Marcellus Shale gas development in and around the Pine Creek Watershed, a watershed known to Pennsylvanians as the “Grand Canyon of the East.” Our trip was facilitated by LightHawk, a volunteer conservation pilot association who took us up in a single-engine aircraft to get an aerial perspective on unconventional shale gas wells popping up across the Northern Tier. However, one of the most unique features...
The Unfulfilled Promise of ‘Promised Land’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 27th, 2012
New York Times: I recently attended a Manhattan screening of "Promised Land," a new feature film written by and starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski that aims to examine America`s natural gas drilling boom as a case study in "what happens when real people and real money collide," as Krasinski explained in publicity materials.
The film opens Friday in New York City and Los Angeles and then expands to more theaters in early January. My sense is that it will not satisfy many people - either as a drama or a potential...
Seven months later, no progress
Posted by Chicago Tribune: Editorial on December 27th, 2012
Chicago Tribune: It was a classic power play. In May, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, surprised representatives of the oil and gas industries with an amendment to a piece of drilling legislation that essentially killed the entire bill.
He wanted to get their attention. He did.
Seven months later, Illinois is no closer to realizing the potential for hydraulic fracturing that was addressed in the legislation. Also known as fracking, the controversial extraction technique involves injecting...
Why did the Antarctic drilling project fail?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 27th, 2012
BBC: A few members of the team that attempted to search for life in Antarctica's Lake Ellsworth are already beginning a long, sad and disappointed journey home.
The rest will be gone, along with all the equipment, the stores and a union jack, in a few weeks' time, leaving no trace of this daring mission to reach beneath the ice.
The most exciting science often carries the greatest risk and, despite three years of planning, this is a gamble that has not paid off.
The talk from the team is brave,...
Climate data ‘has helped African farmers boost production’
Posted by SciDevNet: Lala Cissokho on December 27th, 2012
SciDevNet: Farming communities in Africa are benefitting from an exchange programme to improve access to, and understanding of, climate science, according to a report presented at a seminar.
The seminar, held in in Dakar, Senegal, last month (20--21 November), discussed the results of the programme -- which encompassed two demonstration studies in Kenya and Senegal -- and identified the opportunities and challenges faced in making better use of short-range forecasts and early-warning systems for flooding....
Britain suspends exploratory drilling of Antarctic lake
Posted by Reuters: Dasha Afanasieva on December 27th, 2012
Reuters: An ambitious British plan to search for minute forms of life in an ancient lake beneath Antarctica's ice has been suspended because of technical problems, the scientist leading the project said on Thursday.
In a move that clears the way for U.S. and Russian teams to take the lead, Professor Martin Siegert said technical problems and a lack of fuel had forced the closure on Christmas Day of the 7-million-pound ($11 million) project, which was looking for life forms and climate change clues in the...