RSS Feed
Archive for December 6th, 2013
United Kingdom: Flood warnings continue as towns begin clear-up after record storm surge
Posted by Guardian: James Meikle, Andrew Sparrow, Laura Dixon and Andrew Culf on December 6th, 2013
Guardian: People living in areas vulnerable to flooding were on Friday urged to be extremely cautious over the weekend despite a weakening in the sea surge that threatened havoc along eastern coastlines over Thursday night.
As towns began clearing up after high tides flooded homes and other buildings, ministers warned the crisis was not over and the Environment Agency told people to continue taking extra care.
By mid-afternoon on Friday about 1,400 properties were thought to have been flooded by record...
Posted in 
United Kingdom: After the deluge: time to look again at our flood defences
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2013
Telegraph: In 1953, on the night of 31 January, a massive storm surge raced down the North Sea, overtopping defences along a thousand miles of coastline, and submerging 380 square miles of Britain's broad acres. Three hundred and twenty-six people were killed.
Last night an even higher surge struck in very similar circumstances. But it did relatively little damage. The River Tyne burst its banks, a sea wall was breached near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, and coastal areas of Norfolk witnessed the worst flooding...
Large Freshwater Reserves Buried Beneath Oceans
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on December 6th, 2013
Nature World News: Australian researchers have found large reserves of freshwater beneath oceans.
Water scarcity is growing by the day. Previously, other researchers had estimated that rising global temperatures would leave 500 million or more people without access to drinking water. The new research shows that humans might benefit from half a million cubic kilometres of (120,000 cubic miles) water from seabed on continental shelves.
The freshwater reserves have been found off the coast of Australia, China, North...
Is California’s Monterey Shale a major oil resource or over-hyped?
Posted by EnergyWire: Anne C. Mulkern on December 6th, 2013
EnergyWire: In the fight over hydraulic fracturing in California, opponents of the drilling process frequently argue that restrictions are needed because of the potential for a massive oil boom in the state.
There could be rapid expansion, they warn, if oil companies find a way to extract petroleum trapped in the state's Monterey Shale formation.
Now a report says that the hype over the Monterey Shale may be overblown.
An analysis funded by the Post Carbon Institute (PCI) and Physicians, Scientists...
Shipping crude oil by rail: New front in tar sands wars
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Jacques Leslie on December 6th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: On New Year's Eve 2009, a train with 104 tank cars of light crude oil traveled 1,123 miles from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields to a terminal in Stroud, Oklahoma, and opened a new front in the war over development of Canada's tar sands.
It didn't seem that way at the time. EOG Resources, the company that owned the oil, simply needed a way to get its crude out of North Dakota, Andrew Burton/Getty Images Tanker cars at a depot in North Dakota, where railroads now move 600,000 barrels of oil a day...
Global warming threatens freshwater mussels
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on December 6th, 2013
Summit Voice: Global warming may push many native freshwater mussel species to the brink of extinction, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report. In a laboratory setting, the researchers found that warmer water temperatures impair mussel growth.
Many aquatic biologists see mussels as bellwether species of for climate change impacts. Freshwater mussels are also good indicators of good water and sediment quality in U.S. rivers. They are also also important in the aquatic food web, filter large amounts...
Climate Change Is Creating Anxious Fish
Posted by Atlantic: John Metcalfe on December 6th, 2013
Atlantic: Seems like humans aren't the only ones anxious because of climate change. Beneath the briny waves could lie legions of stressed-out fish, whose bodies aren't up to coping with the ongoing acidification of the oceans.
Scientists have known for some time that the lowering of the oceanic pH level -- the result of humans pumping gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere -- isn't great for marine life. The CO2 reduces the amount of calcium-based minerals in the water, creating difficulties for animals with...
Deforestation Spawns Creeping Desert Central Argentina
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2013
Inter Press Service: This small town in the semi-arid central Argentine province of Córdoba now has a 24-hour hotline for people to report their neighbours for sprinkling their lawns or using water to clean off the sidewalks.
The water shortage is felt throughout the province, but it is especially bad in the most populous areas – the provincial capital Córdoba, the Sierras Chicas hills to the northwest of the city, and the Punilla valley.
Córdoba has the highest level of deforestation in Argentina. All that remains...
Federal Envoy Offers Blueprint Better Engage First Nations on Pipeline Projects
Posted by Vancouver sun: Derrick Penner on December 6th, 2013
Vancouver sun: Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s envoy to First Nations on western energy projects concluded there “has not been constructive dialogue” with aboriginal communities -- something the federal government must take drastic steps to change if it expects to win support for the projects.
That was the blunt assessment delivered Thursday by Douglas Eyford, appointed eight months ago by Harper to engage with First Nations, industry and governments to figure out a way forward on issues of aboriginal rights...
National Energy Board Sidestepping B.C. on Northern Gateway Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2013
Globe and Mail: The National Energy Board is planning to bypass British Columbia as it unveils a long-awaited decision on whether it supports or opposes the Northern Gateway pipeline that will have a massive impact on the province.
The board plans to hold a media lock-up in Calgary, but does not have similar plans to brief reporters in British Columbia, says an official with the independent federal agency established to regulate international and interprovincial issues around the electrical utility, gas and oil...