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Archive for July 29th, 2013
The drying of the West
Posted by LA Times: William deBuys on July 29th, 2013
LA Times: John Wesley Powell, whose legendary descent of the Colorado River in 1869 brought the one-armed explorer fame and celebrity, worried about America's westward migration. The defining characteristic of Western lands was their aridity, he wrote, and settlement of the West would have to respect the limits aridity imposed. He was half right. The subsequent story of the West can indeed be read as an unending duel between society's thirst and the dryness of the land, but in downtown Phoenix, Las Vegas...
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Olympic-size ‘North Pole Lake’ once again turns to ice
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 29th, 2013
Reuters: Images of a scientific observation buoy floating in what appeared to be an Arctic lake near the North Pole lit up the online world in the past week, sparking questions about whether this was a sign of global warming.
On Monday, the scientist who installed the buoy gave a succinct answer: No.
Also, the buoy was never quite at the North Pole, oceanographer James Morison said in a telephone interview. Its most recent location is about 300 miles away.
After about a week of being surrounded by...
Mining and metals firms reveal multi-million dollar water risks
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on July 29th, 2013
BusinessGreen: Mining and metals companies that are taking steps to reduce their expose to water-related risks such as drought and flooding are already performing better financially than their peers, according to a new analysis, which urges the industry to be more open about the environmental challenges it faces.
A report issued late last week by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Eurizon Capital, analysed the the water risks of 36 of the 57 mining and metals businesses in the Global 500 index.
All except...
Another View on Gas Drilling in the Context of Climate Change
Posted by New York Times: Andrew Revkin on July 29th, 2013
New York Times: I’ve received a “Your Dot” contribution on gas leaks and global warming from Louis A. Derry, an associate professor in the earth and atmospheric sciences department at Cornell University. It’s a critique of one element in “Gangplank to a Warm Future,” an Op-Ed article by Anthony R. Ingraffea, a professor of engineering at Cornell who is a prominent foe of expanded gas drilling using the bundle of methods commonly known as “fracking.” You’ll find it below. But first here’s a little context. In a...
Legal Battles Increase Over Pipeline Projects
Posted by National Public Radio: Mose Buchele on July 29th, 2013
National Public Radio: At Margaret O'Keefe's farm in East Texas, they grow high-quality Bermuda grass. The fields are flat and vibrant green, surrounded by woods of a darker, richer green. The family loves this land. O'Keefe inherited it from her mother, who divided it among eight children.
"She used to call it 'enchanted valley,' " O'Keefe says.
But her "enchanted valley" also lies in the path of the Crosstex NGL Pipeline.
That's a 130-mile underground pipeline to funnel natural gas liquids from Texas to processing...
Once Resilient, Trees In The West Now More Vulnerable To Fires
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 29th, 2013
National Public Radio: On any given day, there's a wildfire burning somewhere in the U.S. - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Many western forests have evolved with fire, and actually benefit from the occasional wildfire.
A nice little ground fire every few decades cleans house in the forest. It burns the grass and brush, and maybe some smaller trees - the "ladder fuels" that might carry a fire up into the tree canopy. Those canopy fires are the worst kind - they kill forests.
But scientists are discovering...
Researchers Take Closer Look at Link Between Permafrost Thaw and Greenhouse Gases
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 29th, 2013
Nature World News: In a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers explain in greater detail than ever before how the thawing of the world's permafrost may result in a substantial release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and that crucial in predicting the overall effect of the process is the soil's water content.
Knowing this, the researchers argue, may lead to more accurate climate models in the future.
Permafrost, soil or rock that remains frozen all year round, occurs where...
Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico is Big, Though Not as Big as Feared
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 29th, 2013
Nature World News: This year's dead zone located off the coast of the Southeastern United States in the Gulf of Mexico, though big, is not a large as feared, NOAA announced Monday.
Dead -- or hypoxic -- zones result when runoff derived from agricultural and other human activities reach the watershed, causing an overgrowth of algae that sinks, decomposes and consumes much of the oxygen needed to support life.
With this in mind, many researchers braced for the worst based on flood conditions in the Midwest that...
Climate study predicts a watery future for New York, Boston and Miami
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 29th, 2013
Guardian: More than 1,700 American cities and towns – including Boston, New York, and Miami – are at greater risk from rising sea levels than previously feared, a new study has found.
By 2100, the future of at least part of these 1,700 locations will be "locked in" by greenhouse gas emissions built up in the atmosphere, the analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday found.
The survey does not specify a date by which these cities, or parts of them, would actually...
Jobs and education needed to win British over to fracking: survey
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 29th, 2013
Reuters: Government incentives for affected communities must be followed up by education and job creation to convince a skeptical British public that fracking for shale oil and gas is right, according to a survey of industry professionals.
Some 70 per cent of almost 200 respondents to the survey by data provider Rigzone believe the British government was right to offer incentives to communities where hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and horizontal drilling will be used.
But 51 per cent believed...