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Archive for April 18th, 2013
U.S. drought falls below 50 percent for first time in 10 months
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2013
ScienceDaily: The area of the contiguous United States in moderate drought or worse fell below 50 percent for the first time since June 19, 2012, according to the latest edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday.
Heavy precipitation across the Plains and the upper Midwest continued to ease drought. The area of the lower 48 states in moderate drought or worse declined to 47.82 percent, from 50.82 percent a week ago.
"We've been on a steady but slow recovery path from drought since the peak in...
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Anti-Fracking Activist Sandra Steingraber’s Pursuit of a Healthy Environment
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on April 18th, 2013
EcoWatch: Sandra Steingraber PhD, the acclaimed author and ecologist, is determined to stop natural gas companies from ever conducting hydraulic fracturing in her upstate New York community. She was raised in a family whose members did not close their eyes to the horrors around them. Steingraber, who was adopted as an infant, said part of the game plan of those who carry out atrocities is to make them seem unstoppable and inevitable. In her role as a public health biologist, she is witnessing atrocities being...
Climate change models fail to accurately simulate droughts
Posted by Scientific American: Ashutosh Jogalekar on April 18th, 2013
Scientific American: Most of my day job involves simulating the behavior of molecules like drugs and proteins using computer models. The field is more an art than a science, partially because the systems that are being modeled are too complex and ill-understood to succumb to exact solutions. Success often depends on experience and intuition gained by working on similar systems. That does not mean there are no correct predictions, but it does mean that surprises are more common than we think and that many phenomena are...
Wastewater released into Lake Michigan
Posted by Chicago Tribune: Michael Hawthorne on April 18th, 2013
Chicago Tribune: After several days of rain, an overnight deluge overwhelmed Chicago's underground labyrinth of aging sewers and giant tunnels Thursday, forcing a noxious mix of sewage and stormwater into local waterways and Lake Michigan.
The surge of murky, debris-strewn water so overloaded the system that sewage began to back up in basements and geysers of wastewater shot out of several sewer manholes - stomach-churning sights captured by smartphones and posted online.
To relieve the pressure, engineers...
Another Reason to Ban Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: Wenonah Hauter on April 18th, 2013
EcoWatch: When it comes to exposure to radioactive materials, how much is too much? If you’re like most people, or scientists, the answer is probably “any amount.” But the Obama administration apparently didn’t get the memo because this week, it finalized new guidelines for the amount of radioactivity to which the public can safely be exposed following a nuclear incident. Now, local authorities will be given more leeway than ever to determine acceptable levels of radioactive exposure next time a reactor melts...
Is Haiti condemned to dirty air, denuded hills, blackouts and dangerous flooding?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2013
ClimateWire: Robert Naylor walks the perimeter of an electricity substation high above the earthquake-battered capital of Port-au-Prince, pointing out new batteries, switches and transformers that his construction company, Perini Management Corp., installed here as part of a $12.7 million U.S. Agency for International Development project to strengthen Haiti's energy infrastructure.
This substation and others were damaged in the 2010 quake, and the United States is investing in repairs to the transmission and...
How celebrities helped rattle New York politics – and launch a new movement
Posted by EnergyWire: Colin Sullivan on April 18th, 2013
EnergyWire: Sighting a celebrity here is such a common event, it borders on the mundane. It's why so many live here, after all: New Yorkers have honed their ability to ignore everyone to such an extent that movie stars tend to become more obstacles on the sidewalk -- recognizable, yes, but able to go about their days without much hassle.
But with respect to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, an A-list group of actors and musicians who call the state home have managed to stand out in the political arena as...
Nebraska opposition muted ahead of Keystone XL hearing
Posted by Associated Press: Grant Schulte on April 18th, 2013
Associated Press: A proposed Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline would run just 1,000 feet from Terri Funk's doorstep, but the Nebraska farmer and her husband don't plan to protest or even attend the U.S. State Department's lone public hearing on the contentious proposal Thursday.
That's because the company building the pipeline has pledged to restore any of their land it digs up. So her opinion is this: Build away.
Just months after intense opposition in Nebraska helped delay and reroute the Keystone XL pipeline,...
Extremes in weather more likely
Posted by Columbus Dispatch: Spencer Hunt on April 18th, 2013
Columbus Dispatch: Weather experts and climatologists say people nationwide should not be surprised by more-extreme weather and warmer weather.
In central Ohio, climate-change models show that strong spring storms and hotter, dry summers will be the norm, said Jeff Rogers, state climatologist and a professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at Ohio State University.
“With climate change, there is going to be losers, and there is going to be winners,” Rogers said. “Currently, Ohio is a winner in that we’re...
As Final U.S. Decision Nears, A Lively Debate on GM Salmon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Few businessmen would relish promoting a product dubbed the “Frankenfish,” but the challenge does not seem to daunt Elliot Entis, co-founder and former CEO of a company, AquaBounty Technologies, that is on the verge of selling a rapidly growing, genetically altered farmed salmon. The company’s AquAdvantage Atlantic salmon — modified with a gene that enables it to reach harvesting weight in half the time of a regular salmon — received preliminary approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...