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Archive for August, 2013
Lake Superior’s ongoing transformation, courtesy of climate change
Posted by WI Public Radio: Chuck Quirmbach on August 30th, 2013
WI Public Radio: Swimming in Lake Superior has never been easy without a wetsuit, but if you're going in with just a swimsuit late August is usually one of the best times. On a hot day near Marquette, Mich. last weekend, three college students jumped off what are called the Black Rocks and into the relatively cool water. Even a visiting journalist took the plunge.
As refreshing as a brief swim in the big lake might be, scientists and advocates say there appear to be trouble signs for the waters. In some of the...
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Pro-fracking group hits National Park Service over ‘appalling’ comments
Posted by Hill: Ben Geman on August 30th, 2013
Hill: The National Park Service is “lend[ing] credence to activist theater” in its formal input on federal hydraulic fracturing rules, a natural-gas industry group alleges.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), in a letter Thursday to Director Jon Jarvis, basically says the Park Service went rogue in its Aug. 23 comments to a sister agency that’s crafting the upcoming fracking regulations.
The group says the Park Service overstates concerns about leakage of the greenhouse gas methane...
Newly discovered Greenland “mega canyon” sends water to the sea
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on August 30th, 2013
Climate Central: Researchers have found a "mega canyon" in Greenland tucked under a mile and a half of ice that could rival the size and depth of Arizona's Grand Canyon. While the discovery won't become a major tourist attraction, it does provide insight into how meltwater courses its way underneath the world's second-largest ice sheet, and how that might affect ice shelves and glaciers at its periphery. Melting ice from Greenland and Antarctica is now the dominant contributor to global sea level rise, which is expected...
Greenland has its own Grand Canyon deep under ice, study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2013
Christian Science Monitor: A canyon similar in scale, if not in grandeur, to Arizona's Grand Canyon lies beneath Greenland's ice sheet, according to a new study.
Running from deep within the island's interior north to Greenland's northwest coast, the canyon measures at least 470 miles long, six miles across at its widest, and as many as 2,600 feet deep – reaching its widest and deepest points near the coast. The Grand Canyon, by comparison, is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and 6,000 feet deep.
The portrait points to...
BP accuses Louisiana leaders ‘political grandstanding’ over oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2013
Guardian: BP has become embroiled in an acrimonious slanging match with one of the US Gulf states most affected by pollution from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 with the two sides trading blows over the oil company's cleanup record.
A senior BP executive has accused the leaders of Louisiana of "political grandstanding" and making "patently false assertions" about the environmental record of the group since the spill.
The row reflects BP's growing frustration after it failed again to persuade a...
Climate Change Worsens Wildfires: Blazes Increase by 2050
Posted by Science World Report: Catherine Griffin on August 30th, 2013
Science World Report: Wildfires have become a major issue as they blaze across acres of land, consuming trees, dry grass, houses and anything else in their path. We may have to get used to more of these fires in the future, though. It turns out that climate change may be worsening wildfires and that by 2050, the wildfire season will be about three weeks longer, twice as smoky and will burn a wider area in western states.
As our climate continues to change, global conditions are shifting. Some areas are becoming drier...
Green groups: Keystone XL to increase tar sands production by 36 per cent
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on August 30th, 2013
BusinessGreen: The Keystone XL pipeline would boost oil production from Canadian tar sands by at least 36 per cent leading to an inevitable increase in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a major new report from a coalition of US green NGOs.
The group of more than a dozen organisations, including the Sierra Club, 350.org, and Oil Change International, released the report yesterday in response to President Obama's recent pledge that he would only approve the project if it "does not significantly exacerbate...
Climate change mitigation essential for even the most common species
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2013
Ecologist: It is well known that climate change will impact a great many species and ecosystems. The ranges of many species will change, ecosystem services will be disrupted, and biodiversity will be lost. But a new study has asked previously overlooked questions: What will happen if we try to stop climate change? What benefits would this bring in terms of avoiding biodiversity loss? And what will happen if we do nothing?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that, should temperatures reach...
Marshall Islands sounds warning on climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2013
Agence France-Presse: The Marshall Islands has warned that the clock is ticking on climate change and the world needs to act urgently to stop low-lying Pacific nations disappearing beneath the waves.
Marshalls Foreign Minister Phillip H. Muller issued a plea for action as he prepares for next week`s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), which includes some of the countries most affected by the rising seas blamed on global warming.
"We want to work as hard as we can to see if there is a possibility of having our islands continue...
Florida Successfully Combating Invasive Giant African Snail Infestation
Posted by Nature World: None Given on August 30th, 2013
Nature World: The Giant African Snail (Achatina achatina), in the genus Achatina, also known as the Agate Snail or Ghana Tiger Snail, which grows to be the largest land snail on Earth.
The Giant East African Snail (Achatina fulica), in the genus Achatina, a serious agricultural pest in some countries
Florida is finally winning the battle to combat the Giant African Land Snail infestation, according to Adam H. Putnam Commissioner of Agriculture, Florida. The new eradication program, which included specially...