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Archive for December 13th, 2013
In South American Highlands, Disease is Killing Frogs While Climate Change Threats Loom
Posted by Nature World: None Given on December 13th, 2013
Nature World: A study of declining frog populations in the Andes Mountains reveals that disease is accelerating their death.
A deadly fungus is striking the mountain frogs, which San Francisco State University professor Vance Vredenburg said is notable because it's not the cause of death many had suspected. Increasing temperatures, even at the high altitudes of the Andes, were initially believed to play a role in the frogs' death.
Vredenburg and his colleagues found that frogs living at higher elevations...
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11 Arrested Protesting Tar Sands and Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 13th, 2013
EcoWatch: On Friday, two activists with Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance and Cross Timbers Earth First! locked themselves inside a revolving door at the Devon Tower in Oklahoma City, OK in protest of Devon’s involvement in tar sands extraction and plans to increase fracking in Eagle Ford Shale.
Two activists locked themselves in a revolving door in protest of tar sands extraction and fracking. Photo credit: Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance
Simultaneously, a banner displaying a Mockingjay from the popular...
Is West’s Dry Spell Really a Megadrought?
Posted by Climate Central: Bobby Magill on December 13th, 2013
Climate Central: The drought that has been afflicting most of the Western states for the past 13 years may be a "megadrought,' and the likelihood is high that this century could see a multi-decade dry spell like nothing else seen over the past 1,000 years, according to research presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting on Wednesday and Thursday.
Today, drought or abnormally dry conditions are affecting every state west of the Mississippi River and many on the East Coast, with much of the Southwest...
Climate change is moving the North pole and affecting Earth’s rotation
Posted by Gizmodo: None Given on December 13th, 2013
Gizmodo: I thought I knew all the dreadful effects of climate change, but this new discovery has truly surprised me: "Climate change is causing the North Pole's location to drift, owing to subtle changes in Earth's rotation that result from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets." The entire Earth is tilting because this change.
One example:
The influx of fresh water from shrinking ice sheets also causes the planet to pitch over. Landerer and colleagues estimate that the melting of Greenland's ice is...
Land Use Decisions Impact Forest Benefits
Posted by Environmental News Network: ecoRI News on December 13th, 2013
Environmental News Network: A new study by Harvard University's Harvard Forest and the Smithsonian Institution reveals that, if left unchecked, recent trends in the loss of forests to development will undermine significant land conservation gains in Massachusetts, jeopardize water quality and limit the natural landscape's ability to protect against climate change. cientists researched and analyzed four plausible scenarios for what Massachusetts could look like in the future. The scenarios were developed by a group of forestry...
United Kingdom: Anti-fracking protesters clash with police at drilling site near Manchester
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
Guardian: Anti-fracking protesters clashed with police on Friday in demonstrations against shale gas drilling in Greater Manchester and against an application made for the first new well site since the South Downs national park was established.
There were scuffles between police and protesters at the IGas Barton Moss exploratory drilling site near Manchester. IGas, an independent oil and gas company, insisted the wider public was beginning to understand the benefits of shale.
"We support a right to protest...
Disease, Not Climate Change, Fueling Frog Declines in the Andes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
ScienceDaily: A deadly fungus, and not climate change as is widely believed, is the primary culprit behind the rapid decline of frog populations in the Andes mountains, according to a new study published today in the journal Conservation Biology.
Frogs living at higher elevations can tolerate increasing temperatures, researchers found, but their habitats fall within the optimal temperature range for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, a harmful pathogen they have only encountered relatively recently. The...
Generating Electricity May Utilize Otherwise Unwanted Carbon Dioxide
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
RedOrbit: A team of American researchers has designed a novel geothermal power plant that would sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide underground as part of its operations.
According to a report being presented on Friday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, carbon dioxide can be used to boost power generation from geothermal sources by at least 10 times compared to conventional means.
“Typical geothermal power plants tap into hot water that is deep underground, pull the heat...
A Tale of Two Cities: America Bipolar Climate Future
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
Spiegel: New York City and New Bern, North Carolina both face the same projected rise in sea levels, but while one is preparing for the worst, the other is doing nothing on principle. A glimpse into America's contradictory climate change planning.
When Veronica White and Tom Thompson stand on the coastline of their respective cities, 680 kilometers (423 miles) apart, they gaze out at the same ocean, but see different things.
White, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation,...
How Plastic In The Ocean Is Contaminating Your Seafood
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
National Public Radio: We've long known that the fish we eat are exposed to toxic chemicals in the rivers, bays and oceans they inhabit. The substance that's gotten the most attention - because it has shown up at disturbingly high levels in some fish - is mercury.
But mercury is just one of a slew of synthetic and organic pollutants that fish can ingest and absorb into their tissue. Sometimes it's because we're dumping chemicals right into the ocean. But as a study published recently in Nature, Scientific Reports helps...