Archive for March, 2014

California Snowpack Measure Could Reveal Future of Drought

National Geographic: Surveyors will ski into the Sierra Nevada mountains Tuesday to perform what has become an anxiously watched rite of spring in drought-stricken California: measuring snow to determine how much water will flow to the state this year. A critical measure of a precious resource, April's survey will influence whether the state's water officials declare that the drought is easing or that it persists. At stake is the fate of summer water deliveries to farms and cities. elated: "Could California's Drought...

Brief lives linked to Amazon biodiversity

Mongabay: The South American Amazon rainforest is renowned for being one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, boasting an estimated 16,000 different tree species. However, the distribution of these diverse tree species is curiously uneven throughout the expansive forest. Some areas of trees, commonly called clades, can contain hundreds of different species while others contain only a few. What is the reason behind this irregular diversity? According to a new study headed by Tim Baker and published...

U.S. allows partial restart of Exxon pipeline a year after spill

Reuters: A U.S. regulator on Monday allowed Exxon Mobil Corp to restart operations on the Texas leg of its Pegasus pipeline, which spilled thousands of barrels of oil into a residential area in Arkansas last year. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) approved Exxon's restart plan for a 210-mile (338-km) stretch of the pipeline from Corsicana to Nederland at 80 percent of the operating pressure in place before the March 29, 2013 incident in the small town of Mayflower, Arkansas....

Effect of important air pollutants may be absent from key precipitation observations

ScienceDaily: Pioneering new research from the University of Exeter could have a major impact on climate and environmental science by drastically transforming the perceived reliability of key observations of precipitation, which includes rain, sleet and snow. The ground breaking study examines the effect that increased aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere, emitted as a result of burning fossil fuels, had on regional temperature and precipitation levels. Scientists from Exeter's Mathematics department...

UN scientists tell us, ready or not, here comes climate change

PRI: That's one way to summarize the latest message from the world's largest group of climate change scientists. A new report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is out and makes it clearer than ever that global warming is already changing the world and affecting our lives, and that the impacts are only going to get worse. The report contains a litany of sobering impacts, from too much water some places, to too little water elsewhere, shifting disease risks, failing infrastructure...

As oil shipments rise on rails, California cities fight to be heard

McClatchy: As rail shipments of crude oil have risen in Northern California, so has opposition in many communities along rail lines and near the refineries they supply. Concerned about the potential safety and environmental hazards of 100-car trains of oil rolling through population centers, leaders from Sacramento to San Jose say they're banding together to present a unified voice for "up-line" cities: communities that could bear some of the highest risks as California turns toward rail shipments to quench...

What the U.N.’s new climate report says about North America

Grist: Global warming is a global crisis, but the effects of climate change are being felt differently in different corners of the globe. The latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of a world wracked by hunger, violence, and extinctions. But the IPCC also dedicates chapters to impacts that are underway and anticipated in individual regions and continents. For North America, the report states there is “high confidence” of links between climate change and rising temperatures,...

IPCC Issues Stark Report On Present and Future Climate Impacts

Yale Environment 360: Rapidly rising levels of greenhouse gases are already having a major impact on the earth’s natural systems and the problem is likely to grow significantly worse unless these emissions are brought under control, according to a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, released in Yokohama, Japan, said that steadily rising temperatures are melting polar ice caps, sharply diminishing Arctic sea ice, intensifying heat waves and heavy rains, causing the death of coral...

Report Reveals High Risk, No Reward Enbridge Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion

EcoWatch: A new report released today by the Sierra Club and a coalition of 13 other organizations, including the Indigenous Environmental Network, examines the proposed expansion of the Alberta Clipper tar sands pipeline and concludes that there are significant threats to water, health and climate. The report, All Risk, No Reward: The Alberta Clipper Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion, comes in advance of a rally to stop the Alberta Clipper expansion that will take place before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission...

Climate catastrophes other countries will hit UK food security, experts say

Guardian: Britain can expect more droughts, heatwaves, storms surges and floods from climate change but may be most impacted by climate shocks in other countries, according to leading business analysts responding to UN climate science report released on Monday. With nearly 40% of all UK food imported to feed a population of about 63m and overseas assets worth trillions of dollars, the UK is particularly exposed to climate change, says Celine Herweijer, a member of the climate change team at PWC. "The...