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Archive for August, 2013
Anything but fine
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on August 6th, 2013
BusinessGreen: A couple of weeks ago I spent a very pleasant evening at The Oval watching Surrey take on their local rivals Middlesex. It was a Friday night, a beautiful summer evening, and the cricket, despite a cameo from the great Ricky Ponting, was not at its most captivating. Consequently, the full house crowd at the Oval engaged in what full house crowds at the Oval always do when the home side are winning comfortably and enthusiastically par-took of the hospitality on offer from the bar. The net result is...
Himalayan researcher reverses earlier findings of looming water shortage
Posted by ClimateWire: Stephanie Paige Ogburn on August 6th, 2013
ClimateWire: One of the big unknowns of climate change predictions -- and one that has led to considerable contention -- lies in knowing the future of water runoff from the Himalayas. The snow- and ice-rich region supplies water for billions of people in Asia and is sometimes referred to as the Earth's "Third Pole." For years, scientists struggled to understand how precipitation will change in these mountains (ClimateWire, Oct. 24, 2011). They have also had difficulty determining how much glacier melt from the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Himalayan researcher reverses earlier findings of looming water shortageClimate change softens up already-vulnerable Louisiana
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 6th, 2013
USA Today: Pelicans and pickups roam the beach, where the waves roll in and return, lapping over the open water of the Gulf of Mexico.
The water covers land that was once beach, and it has devoured land that was once marsh tucked behind this 6-square-mile barrier island, a speed bump for hurricanes headed north from the Gulf.
On this sunny day, the Tarpon Rodeo - billed as "the oldest fishing tournament in the United States!" - is underway, with fishing boats and truck-bed hot tubs competing in nearly...
BP Cites New Fraud Allegations in Gulf Spill Settlement
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 6th, 2013
Associated Press: BP said Monday that it has uncovered new allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest inside the settlement program that has awarded billions of dollars to Gulf Coast businesses and residents for damage from the company’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP attorneys outlined the allegations in a court filing, which asks a federal judge to temporarily suspend settlement payments while former FBI Director Louis Freeh leads an independent investigation of the court-supervised settlement program....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP Cites New Fraud Allegations in Gulf Spill SettlementBack to the Future for Canada’s West Coast LNG Hopes
Posted by Wall Street Journal: Chester Dawson on August 6th, 2013
Wall Street Journal: Grassy Point, British Columbia is the once and future springboard for Western Canada’s dream of becoming one of Asia’s largest gas suppliers. Thirty years ago, the undeveloped nub of land jutting into the northern Pacific Ocean was heralded as the site of a multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas export terminal. Those plans never materialized, but today the same spot has attracted the likes of ExxonMobil Corp.XOM +0.21%, one of four business groups that have made an “expression of interest”...
Marine Life Reacting Faster to Climate Change
Posted by Voice of America: Rick Pantaleo on August 5th, 2013
Voice of America: Marine life is reacting to global climate change faster than land-dwelling species, according to a new three year study published in the journal, Nature Climate Change. The researchers said their findings show that the distribution of marine life is being re-arranged as the oceans get warmer. The research team includes 19 scientists from Australia, the United States, Canada, Britain, Europe and South Africa. According to the scientists, marine species are escaping the warming waters by heading...
Children given lifelong ban on talking about fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2013
Guardian: Two young children in Pennsylvania were banned from talking about fracking for the rest of their lives under a gag order imposed under a settlement reached by their parents with a leading oil and gas company. The sweeping gag order was imposed under a $750,000 settlement between the Hallowich family and Range Resources Ltd, a leading oil and gas driller. It provoked outrage on Monday among environmental campaigners and free speech advocates. The settlement, reached in 2011 but unsealed only last...
Announcing the Ecological Impacts of Climate Change Collection
Posted by PLos Blogs: Ben Bond-Lamberty on August 5th, 2013
PLos Blogs: The ecological impacts of climate change are broad and diverse, and include alterations to species’ range limits, plant phenology and growth, carbon and nutrient cycling, as well as biodiversity and extinction risk. Recent PLOS articles have used a variety of experimental and observational approaches to examine these subjects.
Identifying at-risk regions, taxa, and species is a critical first step in adaptation and conservation efforts. A study by Mouillot et al. suggested that rare species are...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Announcing the Ecological Impacts of Climate Change CollectionResidents flee as fire rages at Marathon, near Athens
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2013
Reuters: A wildfire fanned by strong winds raged near Athens on Monday, damaging homes and sending residents fleeing, fire brigade officials said.
Reuters witnesses said the blaze had damaged at least three homes at a hamlet by the town of Marathon - the site of the historic 490 BC battle between Athenians and Persians about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the Greek capital.
"The flames have reached homes, but we don't know yet how many are threatened," said a fire brigade official, speaking on...
Fukushima water leak ’emergency’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2013
BBC: Japan's nuclear watchdog has said the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is facing a new "emergency" caused by a build-up of radioactive groundwater.
A barrier built to contain the water could be breached in three weeks, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority warned.
This meant the amount of contaminated water seeping into the Pacific Ocean could accelerate rapidly, it said.
There has been spate of water leaks and power failures at the plant, devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Its...