RSS Feed
Archive for January, 2013
A Closer Look at Melting Ice in the Andes and Antarctica
Posted by New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin on January 23rd, 2013
New York Times: Fascinating new studies of two of the world`s regions with accelerated melting, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Andes, are worth a closer look:
One paper, published in The Cyrosphere, finds that glaciers throughout the tropical Andes have been melting in the last 30 years at a faster rate than at any time since the peak of the "little ice age" 300 years ago. Here`s a direct link: "Current state of glaciers in the tropical Andes: a multi-century perspective on glacier evolution and climate change."...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on A Closer Look at Melting Ice in the Andes and AntarcticaPennsylvania Fracking Wastewater Likely to Overwhelm Ohio Injection Wells
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 23rd, 2013
EcoWatch: The total amount of fracking wastewater from natural gas production in Pennsylvania`s Marcellus shale region has increased by about 570 percent since 2004, as a result of increased shale gas production, according to a study released yesterday by researchers at Duke and Kent State universities.
Though hydraulically fractured natural gas wells in the Marcellus shale region produce only about 35 percent as much wastewater, per unit of gas recovered, as conventional wells, according to the new analysis,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pennsylvania Fracking Wastewater Likely to Overwhelm Ohio Injection WellsWhen Trees Die, People Die
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Atlantic: The blight was first detected in June 2002, when the trees in Canton, Michigan, got sick. The culprit, the emerald ash borer, had arrived from overseas, and it rapidly spread -- a literal bug -- across state and national lines to Ohio, Minnesota, Ontario. It popped up in more distant, seemingly random locations as infested trees were unwittingly shipped beyond the Midwest.
Within four years of first becoming infested, the ash trees die -- over 100 million since the plague began. In some cases,...
Water-stressed Kenyans learn to share to keep the peace
Posted by AlertNet: Kagondu Njagi on January 23rd, 2013
AlertNet: By the time the violence had died down, more than 80 people lay dead and hundreds were left homeless.
Yet there was scarcely enough water -- the resource the Maasai and Kikuyu tribes were fighting over -- to wash away the blood that had stained this part of Kenya's Rift Valley.
"The rivers were drying up,' shrugs Salau Ole Kilusu, a lanky and sunbeaten Maasai elder, recalling the conflict that erupted in 2005. "The Maasai needed the water for their livestock. The Kikuyus said they needed it...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Water-stressed Kenyans learn to share to keep the peaceNebraska governor approves Keystone XL route; Obama’s move
Posted by World-Herald: Joe Duggan on January 23rd, 2013
World-Herald: Gov. Dave Heineman delighted supporters and deflated opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline Tuesday when he approved a new route through Nebraska, saying the project represents a minimal environmental threat while holding substantial economic promise. The governor sent a 2½-page letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, explaining that Nebraska`s review of the new underground pipeline route found that it meets state standards. "Construction and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nebraska governor approves Keystone XL route; Obama’s movePresident Obama’s own words turn up heat on Keystone decision
Posted by Politico: Andrew Restuccia on January 23rd, 2013
Politico: President Barack Obama is in a pipeline pickle. The president’s call for action on climate change during Monday’s inaugural speech puts his upcoming decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline in an even brighter spotlight — pitting his pledge to tackle global warming against his stated commitment to an “all of the above” energy strategy. Republicans and industry groups will unleash a torrent of attacks on the president if he rejects the pipeline. And Keystone has strong support from some Democrats...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on President Obama’s own words turn up heat on Keystone decisionChina: Nomads resettled to protect prairie and wetlands
Posted by Shanghai Daily: None Given on January 23rd, 2013
Shanghai Daily: MORE than 737,000 nomadic herders have been resettled away from the headwaters region of the Yellow River over the past five years in an effort to protect China's "mother river" and stop over-grazing and erosion.
According to recently released figures, the nomads are all ethnic Tibetans and have been resettled, along with their animals, in new communities in the southern tip of Gansu Province in northwest China. The move is aimed at protecting prairie and wetlands.
"We want to give the grassland...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China: Nomads resettled to protect prairie and wetlandsAustralian coal mining threatens CO2 target
Posted by Age: Tom Arup on January 23rd, 2013
Age: The forecast expansion of Australian coal mining and exports would be the world's second-largest contributor of new carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels if fully realised, research by Greenpeace International has found.
An analysis of the planet's 14 largest proposed, coal, oil and gas developments - to be released on Wednesday by Greenpeace - finds if Australian coal production expands as projected, the mining, production and burning of the extra resources would by 2020 result in 759 million...
Canada: Oilsands makes Greenpeace list of top climate change villains
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Canadian Press: Canada's oilsands are midway down the pack of the world's climate change villains, according to a new Greenpeace report ranking potential carbon emissions from the globe's top energy developments.
Climate enemies Nos. 1 and 2 -- by far -- are expanding coal projects in Australia and China, the report says. The oilsands don't appear until fifth spot, which is shared with projects in Iraq and the United States.
"Coal is the biggest threat globally," said Keith Stewart, one of the report's authors....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Oilsands makes Greenpeace list of top climate change villainsThe human cost of Brazil’s energy policy
Posted by Daily Climate: Jan Rocha on January 23rd, 2013
Daily Climate: Jerky mobile phone footage shows men carrying the inert body of a young man, surrounded by distraught, weeping women. Their wailing is clearly audible, as are the shrieks of a pet monkey which scurries in and out of the crowd.
At least 30 large dams are planned for the Amazon region. If they all go ahead, every one of the major rivers feeding the Amazon will be dammed.
The body is finally laid at the feet of the young man's mother. She strokes away the hair over a bullet wound in his forehead,...