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Archive for June 6th, 2013
Drought, river fragmentation forcing endangered fish out of water, biologist finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2013
ScienceDaily: A Kansas State University researcher is discovering that the North American drought has caused dramatic changes in native fish communities.
"A couple of key species that we have been studying have virtually disappeared where they historically were abundant," said Keith Gido, professor of biology who researches fish ecology and conservation of aquatic systems.
Gido and his team study state and federal endangered and threatened fish species in river ecosystems, including the Arkansas, Kansas,...
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Alpine lakes reflect climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Increases in temperature as a result of climate change are mirrored in lake waters where temperatures are also on the rise. A new study, by Dr. Martin Dokulil, retired researcher from the Institute for Limnology at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, forecasts surface water temperatures in large Austrian lakes for 2050 and discusses the impact on the lakes' structure, function and water quality.
The research is published online in Springer's journal Hydrobiologia.
Austria has a multitude...
Arkansas pipeline spill casts shadow over Keystone XL
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on June 6th, 2013
LA Times: On warm spring evenings, North Starlite Drive buzzed with children. They cycled around the cul-de-sac at the end of the wide, block-long road, shot baskets in driveways and inevitably wound up on the swing set and trampoline behind the Bartletts' large brick house.
These days, there are no children. Yellow police tape stretches across the turns from the main road onto the street. All 22 families who lived there are gone.
About 2:45 p.m. on March 29, an underground ExxonMobil oil pipeline ruptured...
Floods in Germany may be a sign of climate change
Posted by Deutsche Welle: None Given on June 6th, 2013
Deutsche Welle: Germany copes with flooding Déjà vu for Grimma's soaked citizens Floods in Germany - a sign of climate change? Campaigning in rubber boots Merkel pledges immediate support as floods travel north Austrian flood handling successful but exhausting Floods hit Germany at economic low point Complaints arise over Germany's flood preparedness
Many regions of Germany, and other parts of Central Europe, have been hit severely by flooding in the wake of unusually heavy rain. Climate scientists say climate...
As Extreme Weather Increases, Bangladesh Braces for the Worst
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Brian Fagan on June 6th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Melting ice sheets, calving glaciers and rising sea levels: scenarios of impending inundation fill the news, while climate change skeptics assure us that these are long-term problems, part of the natural cycle of things. One thing is certain: These are multi-decade changes in a warming world, which we’re tempted to leave to future generations.
But as Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy forcibly reminded us here in the United States, warming brings more extreme weather events -- and the catastrophic...
Floods cause chaos across Europe – in pictures
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2013
Guardian: Rescuers help residents escape, as floodwater from the Elbe and Danube rivers continue to swamp swaths of Germany and the Czech Republic, with the highest water level expected to arrive on Friday
Vilsack: Climate change will soon affect agriculture
Posted by Des Moines Register: None Given on June 6th, 2013
Des Moines Register: U.S. farmers and ranchers must adapt or risk getting left behind as climate change becomes an increasingly influential part of the agricultural landscape, the head of the U.S. Agriculture Department said Wednesday.
During a speech in Washington, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said better technological advancements through products such as seed so far have been enough to maintain production levels despite more intense storms, forest fires and an increase in invasive species.
But Vilsack,...
United Kingdom: Locals can now veto windfarms: so what about fracking?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2013
Guardian: Power to the people! That, say ministers, is what changes to windfarm rules announced on Thurday deliver. What they fail to say is it only applies to the minority of people who live in Conservative constituencies where the Tories feel compelled to out-loony the climate change deniers of UKIP. The majority of the British public who support renewable energy are left powerless.
But giving local communities a veto on wind farms raises an intriguing question: will the same apply to those who oppose...
Japan: Water leak at Fukushima nuclear plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2013
BBC: Radioactive water is leaking from a storage tank at Japan's Fukushima plant, its operator says.
Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said a worker discovered the leak on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Tepco also announced that it had found radioactive caesium in ground water around the plant.
The plant was damaged in an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and has been hit by several leaks and power failures in recent months.
Hundreds of huge water tanks have been constructed...
Canada Oil Output Will Double by 2030, if Pipelines Built
Posted by Bloomberg: Edward Welsch on June 6th, 2013
Bloomberg: Canada’s crude output will more than double to 6.7 million barrels a day by 2030, provided new pipelines such as Keystone XL are built to transport growing oil-sands production, an industry group representing the country’s petroleum producers said.
Crude from the oil sands, the largest component of Canadian output, will rise to 5.2 million barrels a day by 2030 from 1.8 million currently, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said in its 2013 annual forecast. The group boosted its overall...