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Archive for June 19th, 2013
Arizona wildfire threatens hundreds of homes, California blaze wanes
Posted by Reuters: Tim Gaynor and Alex Dobuzinskis on June 19th, 2013
Reuters: An Arizona wildfire whipped up by strong winds threatened hundreds of homes on Wednesday, even as firefighters were gaining an edge on a California blaze raging near a pristine wilderness, authorities said.
More than 500 firefighters were battling the Doce Fire, which has burned through 7,000 acres of chaparral, pine and juniper since Tuesday morning near Prescott, about 100 miles north of Phoenix, the Prescott National Forest said in a statement.
Fanned by gusting winds, the fire has led to...
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To Rebuild NYC’s Beaches, A Native Plant Savings And Loan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2013
National Public Radio: Across the New York region, people are still working to rebuild homes and businesses after the havoc wrought by Hurricane Sandy. But the storm also devastated the dunes and native flora of New York's beaches. When the city replants grasses on those dunes, it will be able to draw on seeds from precisely the grasses that used to thrive there. That's because of a very special kind of bank: a seed bank run by the Greenbelt Native Plant Center on Staten Island. Heather Lea Liljengren has been a seed...
Gulf of Mexico Faces Record-Breaking Dead Zone With Devastating Consequences
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on June 19th, 2013
Nature World News: This year may be one of the deadliest for marine life who call the Gulf of Mexico home, a number of researchers warn.
NOAA-supported models at the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium forecast that the hypoxic "dead" zone located along the shores of the gulf will stretch between 7,286 and 8,561 square miles, resulting in a biological desert.
Should this be the case, 2013 would rank in the top 10 for largest dead zones ever recorded...
Oily substance in Lake Michigan remains a mystery
Posted by Mother Nature Network: Melissa Breyer on June 19th, 2013
Mother Nature Network: What’s weirder than a slick, oily substance suddenly appearing at a northwest Indiana beach on Lake Michigan? Its equally sudden disappearance. Swimmers at Porter Beach at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore came out of the water Monday afternoon to find themselves covered in an oily substance and there was a silver sheen on the lake, according to the Coast Guard and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). But by the next day, it was gone. "They checked the beach, and they can't find...
Shell to resume Nigera delta oil spill compensation talks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2013
Guardian: Oil company Shell will resume talks next week in London with lawyers representing 15,000 of the poorest people in the world who are claiming millions of pounds' compensation for oil spills on the Niger delta. But Martyn Day, of Leigh Day law firm which is acting for the communities, said the case could still go to a full high court trial in London in 2014. The Shell petroleum development company of Nigeria (SPDC) has admitted liability for two spills from a pipeline in the Niger delta in 2008, but...
Will Climate Change Destroy New York City ?
Posted by LiveScience: Marc Lallanilla on June 19th, 2013
LiveScience: The city of New York -- America's largest metropolis and home to over 8 million people -- will be ravaged by the effects of climate change within a few years. That's the bleak scenario presented by a recent 430-page report developed by a blue-ribbon panel of academics, environmental planners and government officials. The report, nicknamed "SIRR" for Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, presents an ambitious plan for managing the worst effects of global warming, which include flooding,...
Nutrient Pollution Could Cause Record-Setting ‘Dead Zone’ In Gulf Of Mexico
Posted by redOrbit: April Flowers on June 19th, 2013
RedOrbit: cientists are expecting a very large “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, according to several NOAA-supported forecast models. Those same models predict a smaller than average hypoxic level in the Chesapeake Bay.
A research team comprised of scientists from the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium used the NOAA-supported models to forecast that this year’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxic “dead zone" will be between 7,286 and 8,561 square miles,...
Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits 49th state
Posted by Associated Press: Rachel D'oro on June 19th, 2013
Associated Press: A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.
With temperatures topping 80 degrees in Anchorage, and higher in other parts of the state, people have been sweltering in a place where few homes have air conditioning.
They’re sunbathing and swimming at local lakes, hosing down their dogs and cleaning out supplies of fans in at least one local hardware...
US Army Corps declines environmental reviews for coal export terminals
Posted by Greenwire: Manuel Quinones on June 19th, 2013
Greenwire: The Army Corps of Engineers today said it would not conduct an areawide or cumulative review of various coal export terminal proposals in Oregon and Washington state.
In a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy and Power Subcommittee, corps acting regulatory chief Jennifer Moyer also said her agency would not weigh the climate change impacts of burning more American coal overseas.
"The corps has determined that neither a programmatic nor an areawide regional [environmental...
Small global warming rise would have ‘alarming’ impact
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2013
Reuters: Much of Bangkok could flood within the next two decades if global warming stays on its current trajectory, as sea levels rise and cyclones intensify, the World Bank said in a new report on Wednesday.
The flooding of 40 percent of the Thai capital was just one of dozens of negative effects the Washington-based World Bank warned would happen if the world grew warmer by just 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), which it said is likely to occur in the next 20 to 30 years under a "business-as-usual"...