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Archive for July 9th, 2013
Explosion at West Virginia fracking site seriously injures four
Posted by Grist: John Upton on July 9th, 2013
Grist: Federal investigators are trying to figure out what caused an explosion at a West Virginia fracking site over the weekend. The blast injured at least seven people, including four workers who were sent to a hospital with life-threatening burns.
Residents and activists have long complained about safety practices by frackers operating in the state, where they draw natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation. Traffic accidents involving trucks traveling to and from frack sites in the state are...
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Quebec oil-train tragedy triggered oil spill that threatens water supplies
Posted by Grist: John Upton on July 9th, 2013
Grist: The deadly oil-train explosion in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on Saturday also sparked an environmental disaster. An oil sheen has stretched more than 60 miles down a river that’s used as a source of drinking water.
By Tuesday morning, 13 people had been confirmed dead and some 37 were still missing after runaway train cars loaded with fracked crude from North Dakota derailed in the town and ignited. Lac-Mégantic`s fire chief said the fire is now under control, but a small area of town is still off...
US well sites in 2012 discharged more than Valdez
Posted by E&E: Mike Soraghan on July 9th, 2013
E&E: It went up orange, a gas-propelled geyser that rose 100 feet over the North Dakota prairie.
But it was oil, so it came down brown. So much oil that when they got the well under control two days later, crude dripped off the roof of a house a half-mile away.
"It had a pretty good reach," said Dave Drovdal, who owns the land where the Bakken Shale oil well, owned by Newfield Exploration Co., blew out in December near Watford City, N.D. "The wind was blowing pretty good. Some of it blew 2 miles."...
Red Cross appeals for worst drought in 30 years in Namibia
Posted by Reuters: Katy Migiro on July 9th, 2013
Reuters: Desert-hardy Namibians, overwhelmed by the worst drought to hit their country in 30 years, are surviving off wild fruits with no harvest in sight until March 2014, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said as it launched an appeal on Monday.
The government of Namibia, the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, declared a national emergency in May. Drought has resulted in crop failure and livestock deaths across the tiny country of 2.1 million people.
Maize...
Michigan officials step up scrutiny of Enbridge after water law violations
Posted by Inside Climate: David Hasemyer on July 9th, 2013
Inside Climate: An oil pipeline being built across the southern part of Michigan is drawing new scrutiny from state regulators who recently cited the pipeline's operator--Canadian-owned Enbridge, Inc.--for violating laws that protect Michigan's waterways.
The violations occurred when Enbridge allowed nearly all the water it was using to test the pipeline's strength to escape into a creek instead of capturing some of it for treatment--and when the company did not self-report the violation to the Michigan Department...
More major hurricanes coming this century
Posted by Live Science: Becky Oskin on July 9th, 2013
Live Science: Strong hurricanes could hit Asia and the U.S. East Coast more often this century, a new study finds.
The research adds to a growing body of evidence that hurricanes are becoming more intense as global warming heats the oceans. This means Category 1, 2 and 3 storms will have fiercer winds, bumping them up to Category 3, 4 and higher. Overall, the study's modeling approach predicts a 40 percent global increase in tropical cyclones of Category 3 and higher during the 21st century.
The findings...
Anthony Ingraffea: Don’t label me an activist
Posted by Politico: Talia Buford on July 9th, 2013
Politico: Anthony Ingraffea doesn't want people to call him an activist.
Yes, the Cornell engineering professor is one of the researchers who inspired the fervent national debate on the dangers of fracking. He regularly speaks to anti-fracking groups, and he appears in the documentary "Gasland Part II,' which premiered Monday night on HBO.
Still, Ingraffea says there's a line between advocacy and activism that he's been careful not to cross. "I don't think I need to go there yet,' he said.
He'll admit,...
Monday’s storm was officially epic
Posted by Star: Raveena Aulakh on July 9th, 2013
Star: It is official: the epic rainfall in Toronto on Monday afternoon that drenched highways, had cars bobbing up and down in rainwater and overwhelmed 911 was an extreme weather event. No, experts say, it wasn’t because of climate change. But yes, we will likely see more storms like it. “This is likely the wettest moment in Toronto’s history,” David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said on Monday evening while rain was still falling. “By the end, we may have a new all-time one-day...
Fighting Global Warming: focussing on temperature is not enough
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2013
ScienceDaily: So far, international climate targets have been restricted to limiting the increase in temperature. But if we are to stop the rising sea levels, ocean acidification and the loss of production from agriculture, CO2 emissions will have to fall even more sharply. This is demonstrated by a study published in Nature that has been carried out at the University of Bern. The ultimate objective of international climate policy is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. To do...
Calls for climate change action
Posted by Fiji Times: Repeka Nasiko on July 9th, 2013
Fiji Times: ATTORNEY-General and Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has urged developed countries to stop talking about the issues of climate change and start taking action.
While opening the first joint regional meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in Nadi yesterday, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said there was a need for a concerted global effort to tackle the problem before it was too late for Pacific Island countries.
"We have to work together...