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Archive for March 25th, 2013
EPA announces expert panel to review fracking study
Posted by Reuters: Valerie Volcovici on March 25th, 2013
Reuters: The U.S. environmental regulator has selected experts in fields ranging from well-drilling to toxicology to review a highly anticipated report on the natural gas and oil extraction method commonly known as fracking.
The Environmental Protection Agency's science advisory board on Monday named 31 experts from universities, scientific labs and companies to review the agency's landmark hydraulic fracturing study that is expected to be delivered in 2014.
The study, first requested by Congress in...
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United Kingdom: Atrocious spring weather prompts triple-dip recession fears
Posted by Telegraph: Sam Marsden, Louise Gray and Melanie Hall on March 25th, 2013
Telegraph: Disruption to transport, companies and schools caused by the snow and freezing conditions could be enough to leave the economy shrinking for a second quarter in a row.
Samuel Tombs, UK economist at forecasters Capital Economics, told The Guardian that past experience suggested that High Street spending would be about 1 per cent lower this month as a result of temperatures being 3C lower than the average for this time of year.
"Given that most economic indicators suggest that the economy was...
Did climate change cause the Syrian uprising?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Charles Kennedy on March 25th, 2013
Christian Science Monitor: A new study on the Arab Spring and Climate Change, finds evidence to suggest that it was not merely a coincidence that the Syrian revolution began just as the entire country was still struggling to survive after the worst drought ever recorded. Between 2006 and 2011 nearly 60% of Syria experienced the worst drought ever, turning much of the country’s farmland into barren dust bowls, and resulting in a series of severe crop failures. Due to the devastating drought and subsequent lack of food and...
Snow and slush blanket much of US prompting many to ask: where’s spring?
Posted by Guardian: Matt Williams on March 25th, 2013
Guardian: Five days after the official start of spring, much of the US remained firmly in the grip on winter on Monday as a wide-ranging storm pushed towards the east coast after blanketing the mid-west with snow and slush.
Light rain and snow fell in New Jersey on Monday morning after the storm dropped between 2in (5cm) and 6in (15cm) in Ohio. Similar accumulations were expected in some areas of Pennsylvania, except for higher elevations like the Laurel Mountains southeast of Pittsburgh, where 6in (15cm)...
Indigenous protester killed by masked assailants in Panama over UN-condemned dam
Posted by Mongabay: Robin Oisín Llewellyn on March 25th, 2013
Mongabay: A Ngäbe indigenous Panamanian, Onesimo Rodriguez, opposing the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam project was killed last Friday evening by four masked men. His body was then thrown into a nearby stream where it was discovered the following day.
Onesimo Rodriguez was attacked with a companion in Las Nubes, after they had attended a demonstration in Cerro Punta, Bugaba, against the dam. His companion, whose identity is being withheld for security reasons, received serious injuries but managed to escape...
Scientists link frozen spring to dramatic Arctic sea ice loss
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2013
Guardian: Climate scientists have linked the massive snowstorms and bitter spring weather now being experienced across Britain and large parts of Europe and North America to the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice. Both the extent and the volume of the sea ice that forms and melts each year in the Arctic Ocean fell to an historic low last autumn, and satellite records published on Monday by the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, show the ice extent is close to the minimum recorded...
Three Bills Seek to Halt California Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 25th, 2013
EcoWatch: Three California assembly members have introduced bills to halt hydraulic fracturing in the state and mandate review of the threats the practice poses to the environment and public health. Fracking uses huge volumes of water mixed with sand and dangerous chemicals to blast open rock formations and extract oil and gas. The controversial technique--currently unregulated and unmonitored by state officials--has been used in hundreds and perhaps thousands of California oil and gas wells.
Reflecting...
Thailand: Over ten percent of a species’ total population found in smuggler’s bag
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2013
Mongabay: On Friday, March 15th Thai authorities arrested a 38-year-old man attempting to collect a bag containing 54 ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) and 21 radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) in Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Found only in Madagascar both species are listed as Critically Endangered and protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but have become lucrative targets for the black-market pet trade given their scarcity and beauty....
Australia: Climate change a ‘threat multiplier’ for Defence
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Michael Brissenden on March 25th, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says the military is not doing enough planning to cope with the problem of climate change. The study, titled Heavy Weather, found climate change was not being considered by the Defence Department in its national and regional strategic scoping, despite the potential regional instability caused by rising sea levels, migration pressures, and the spread of infectious diseases. ASPI deputy director Antony Bergin says the ADF has already...
Tibet glaciers melting due to South Asian pollution: China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2013
Times of India: About 90% of glaciers in Tibet called the Third Pole region, are shrinking because of black carbon pollution "transferred from South Asia" to the Tibetan Plateau, a Chinese scientist has warned. The Third Pole region, which is centred on the Tibetan Plateau and concerns the interests of the surrounding countries and regions, covers more than five million square kilometres and has an average altitude of more than 4,000 metres. Like Antarctica and the Arctic, the Third Pole is drawing increased attention...