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Archive for September 11th, 2013
Louisiana’s Gulf Coast adapts to global warming’s rising seas
Posted by Marketplace: None Given on September 11th, 2013
Marketplace: In southern Louisiana, the coast is moving. The sea is overtaking the land...pretty fast, too. Stronger hurricanes and tropical storms predicted for coming decades will wash away more of it. And while you often hear people invoke the rich cultural heritage as a reason to save the region, there’s a lot of rich oil and gas companies that would like protection, too.
Terrebonne Parish is the setting for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," last year’s Oscar-nominated film about a magical little girl and...
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British Columbia agricultural region issue preliminary blueprints dealing climate change
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Randy Shore on September 11th, 2013
Vancouver Sun: Increased salinity and greater risks of flooding are two of the possible effects of climate change on Delta farmland.
Three agricultural regions in B.C. have produced preliminary plans for dealing with the effects of climate change on food production.
Cowichan Valley, Delta and Peace River will deal with vastly different effects as temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change, from increased frequency of flooding to lengthy drought and the need for water rationing and new irrigation...
Global warming adds punch to bad weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
Washington Post: DID global warming contribute to the punishing heat wave much of the country endured during the summer of 2012? How about Superstorm Sandy? A group of 78 scientists led by experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) last week gave its preliminary answers, releasing a series of peer-reviewed analyses on those and other major weather events from last year. The picture the group offers is of a planet in which warming has boosted the chances, in some cases significantly, that...
Fracking fight heats up in Ohio
Posted by Environmental News Network: Nick Cunningham, Duncan Gromko on September 11th, 2013
Environmental News Network: What could make a former Marine, retired cop, and self-described "ultra-conservative" oppose fracking in his home state of Ohio? At a diner off of Route 22 near Steubenville, OH, Ed Hashberger had the answer. Dressed in a red polo shirt emblazoned with the U.S. Marine Corps logo and carrying a Marine Corps notebook, Hashberger first described his bona fides. He served three years in Panama. He recited half a dozen close relatives who served in World War II, the Vietnam War, Afghanistan, and Iraq....
Life found in the muck of Antarctic lake
Posted by LiveScience: Megan Gannon on September 11th, 2013
LiveScience: Researchers have found signs of life in mud pulled from the bottom of an ice-covered lake in Antarctica. Studying microbes in such extreme and closed-off environments could help scientists understand how life may thrive in the harshest places on Earth and potentially other planets. Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey and other institutions drilled through the ice sheet to dig up clean sediment samples from the bottom of Lake Hodgson, which is on the Antarctic Peninsula and 305 feet (93...
Policies worry farmers more than climate change, says new study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
PhysOrg: California farmers feel more threatened by climate policy than they do by climate change, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.
The study, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, found that the greatest climate risk Yolo County farmers believe they face in the future is not drought, water shortages, or temperature changes, but government regulations.
However, this view did not make them less likely to participate in government incentive programs that...
Kenya discovers huge water source
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
BBC: A huge water source has been discovered in the arid Turkana region of northern Kenya, which could supply the country for 70 years, the government says.
The discovery brings hope to the drought-hit region, tweeted Environment Minister Judi Wakhungu.
The Lotikipi Basin Aquifer was found using satellites and radar.
Last year, scientists released a map detailing the vast reservoirs which lie under much of Africa.
Another aquifer was found in Namibia - the continent's driest country.
Turkana...
Is the water debate suffering from a language problem?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
Guardian: The conversation was turning grumpy. A colleague from the UK government summed it up: "It's an awful word. I wouldn't be sad if I never heard it again." The others around the table – from a broad sample of NGOs and consultancies – nodded in agreement.
We were talking about "the nexus". For those not in the know, this refers to the profound connections between growing enough food, meeting rising energy needs and ensuring sufficient water for people around the world.
There's a strong, though...
Pipeline Safety Chief Says His Regulatory Process Is ‘Kind of Dying’
Posted by InsideClimate: Marcus Stern and Sebastian Jones on September 11th, 2013
InsideClimate: Jeffrey Wiese, the nation's top oil and gas pipeline safety official, recently strode to a dais beneath crystal chandeliers at a New Orleans hotel to let his audience in on an open secret: the regulatory process he oversees is "kind of dying." Wiese told several hundred oil and gas pipeline compliance officers that his agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration [2] (PHMSA), has "very few tools to work with" in enforcing safety rules even after Congress in 2011 allowed it to impose...
Japan: Tritium levels spike at stricken Fukushima nuclear plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
Reuters: The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said levels of tritium - considered one of the least harmful radioactive elements - spiked more than 15 times in groundwater near a leaked tank at the facility over three days this week.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said tritium levels in water taken from a well close to a number of storage tanks holding irradiated water rose to 64,000 becquerels per liter on Tuesday from 4,200 becquerels/liter at the same location on Sunday.
Tepco said...