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Archive for January 3rd, 2013
Hydrofracking Safe, Says N.Y. Health Dept. Analysis
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 3rd, 2013
New York Times: The state’s Health Department found in an analysis it prepared early last year that the much-debated drilling technology known as hydrofracking could be conducted safely in New York, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times from an expert who did not believe it should be kept secret. The analysis and other health assessments have been closely guarded by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his administration as the governor weighs whether to approve fracking. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, has long delayed...
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Louisiana cemeteries sinking, washing away
Posted by Associated Press: Stacey Plaisance on January 3rd, 2013
Associated Press: As a young adult, Kathleen Cheramie visited her grandmother's grave in a tree-lined cemetery where white concrete crosses dotted a plot of lush green grass just off Louisiana Highway 1. Now, the cemetery in Leeville is a skeleton of its former self. The few trees still standing have been killed by saltwater intruding from the Gulf. Their leafless branches are suspended above marsh grass left brown and soggy from saltwater creeping up from beneath the graves. "It was a beautiful place to visit,"...
Britain had second wettest year on record in 2012
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 3rd, 2013
Reuters: Britain in 2012 experienced its second wettest year since records began in 1910 and extreme rainfall has become more frequent, the UK's Met Office said on Thursday.
Persistent wet weather resulted in total rainfall of 1,330.7mm in 2012, just 6.6mm short of the record set in 2000, data from the Met Office showed.
The environment agency said over 7,000 properties were affected by floods in 2012.
"We have always seen a great deal of variability in UK rainfall because our weather patterns are...
Congress extends farm bill, still manages to screw sustainable farmers
Posted by Grist: Twilight Greenaway on January 3rd, 2013
Grist: Is something always better than nothing? In the case of the farm bill extension that was buried in Tuesday’s last minute fiscal cliff deal, maybe not.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) calls the deal - which will provide $5 billion in subsidies to industrial-scale corn, soy, and wheat farmers while short-changing local food, organics, and beginning farmers, and decimating on-farm conservation efforts - “deeply flawed.” The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), meanwhile, has referred...
Andean glacier melt threatens floods, then drought
Posted by AlertNet: Santiago Ortega Arango on January 3rd, 2013
AlertNet: As glaciers melt in the Andes, western areas of South America can expect a period of repeated, extreme flooding that will later give way to drought conditions, creating new challenges for millions of people, researchers warn.
Tropical Andean glaciers and high-altitude ecosystems are vital to the economies of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia. The 8 million inhabitants of Peru's capital Lima depend on them for drinking water. The Bolivian capital, La Paz, takes 30 to 40 percent of its drinking...
United Kingdom: Engineers call for technical fix to tackle rising rainfall
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on January 3rd, 2013
BusinessGreen: Engineers have today called for the creation of a new national Water Security Task Force, as the Met Office confirmed that 2012 came within a few millimetres of being named the wettest year since records began.
The Met Office announced this morning that total annual average rainfall for the UK reached 1,330.7mm last year, just 6.6mm short of the record set in 2000.
In addition, the agency reported that England achieved its wettest year since records began, despite spending the first three months...
IDE Technologies to help build largest U.S. desalination plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 3rd, 2013
Reuters: Israel's IDE Technologies will help construct and run a nearly $1 billion desalination plant along the coast of southern California to help alleviate the region's water shortage.
The facility, expected to begin operations in 2016, will produce 54 million gallons (204,412 cubic meters) of potable water each day, making it the largest sea water desalination plant in the United States, IDE said in a statement on Thursday.
IDE said it signed a contract with Kiewit Shea Desalination to design and...
Polar tech uncovers how frozen regions are changing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 3rd, 2013
New Scientist: SOMETIME this Antarctic summer, Sridhar Anandakrishnan will fly to the mouth of Pine Island glacier in West Antarctica. It's a dangerous place. "You get these monster crevasses," he says. "If your helicopter needed to set down, it's not a trivial matter." But glaciologists like Anandakrishnan need to take such risks to predict how much of the Antarctic ice sheet will end up in the ocean due to climate change. So he is developing "geoPebbles" - wireless, instrument-laden devices that can be scattered...
Under Pressure, Boehner Agrees to Hold Two Votes On Sandy Relief Funding
Posted by The Hill: Erik Wasson on January 3rd, 2013
The Hill: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has agreed to hold two votes on Hurricane Sandy aid after coming under withering fire from New York and New Jersey Republicans.
The House will vote to provide $9 billion to shore up the National Flood Insurance Program on Friday and will vote on another $51 billion Sandy spending package on Jan. 15, according to GOP leaders.
"Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress, and that was reaffirmed today with...
Extreme rainfall in UK ‘increasing’
Posted by BBC: Roger Harrabin on January 3rd, 2013
BBC: The frequency of extreme rainfall in the UK may be increasing, according to analysis by the Met Office.
Statistics show that days of particularly heavy rainfall have become more common since 1960.
The analysis is still preliminary, but the apparent trend mirrors increases in extreme rain seen in other parts of the world.
It comes as the Met Office prepares to reveal whether 2012 has been the wettest year on record in the UK.
The study into extreme rain is based on statistics from the...