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Archive for March 23rd, 2014
Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change
Posted by Eureka! Science News: None Given on March 23rd, 2014
Eureka! Science News: Warmer summers brought on by climate change will cause more deaths in London and southeast England than the rest of the country, scientists predict. Researchers at Imperial College London looked at temperature records and mortality figures for 2001 to 2010 to find out which districts in England and Wales experience the biggest effects from warm temperatures. In the most vulnerable districts, in London and the southeast, the odds of dying from cardiovascular or respiratory causes increased by over...
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Oil Spill From Ship-Barge Crash Closes Houston Ship Channel
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on March 23rd, 2014
Environment News Service: A major oil spill Saturday has closed the Houston Ship Channel, preventing over 60 vessels, including three cruise ships, from transiting between the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay.
Efforts to contain and recover about 168,000 gallons of marine fuel oil spilled when a bulk carrier collided with a barge continue today with what the U.S. Coast Guard calls "aggressive deployment of all available response resources."
At 12:35 pm Saturday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston...
Cleanup after Texas oil spill causes disruption major waterway
Posted by Guardian: Associated Press on March 23rd, 2014
Guardian: The cleanup of an unknown amount of thick, sticky oil that spilled into the Galveston Bay blocked traffic on Sunday between the Gulf of Mexico and one of the world's busiest petrochemical transportation waterways, affecting all vessels, even cruise ships.
A barge carrying nearly a million gallons of marine fuel oil collided with a ship on Saturday afternoon, springing a leak. Officials believe only one of the barge's tanks – which holds 168,000 gallons, was breached, though Coast Guard Petty Officer...
Timely study of Colorado oil and gas drilling
Posted by Denver Post: None Given on March 23rd, 2014
Denver Post: Though opponents call House Bill 1297 a fishing expedition to find something wrong with oil and gas operations, how can there be any harm in reviewing medical literature to determine whether health concerns exist?
The legislation sponsored by Rep. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, would spend about $567,000 over three years to study health effects of oil and gas operations in Adams, Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties.
"The intent of the bill is to do a retrospective analysis of public health data...
Elizabeth Kolbert on How Tech Can — And Can’t — Tackle Climate Change and Extinction
Posted by Recode: James Temple on March 23rd, 2014
Recode: Somewhere around two hundred thousand years ago, a new primate emerges on Earth.
"The members of the species are not particularly swift or strong or fertile," the New Yorker`s Elizabeth Kolbert writes in her new book, "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History." "They are, however, singularly resourceful."
It is, of course, us - big-brained, small-browed genetic mutants clever enough to outcompete animals ten times our size and gradually fan out across the globe.
Eventually, humankind invents...
Could a global grab for fertile soil, bring civil unrest?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2014
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The estimated 1.6 billion hectares of fertile soils currently under cultivation can certainly feed the current world population.
If we still have approximately 800 million undernourished and hungry people on this planet, it is due to serious imbalances in the distribution of wealth, land and natural resources in general.
Market driven preference to allocate part of the fertile soils to producing energy or biofuels instead of food, as well as unsustainable consumption habits and market distortion...
Keystone XL poses threat to South Carolina coast
Posted by Battle Creek Enquirer: Frank Knapp Jr. on March 23rd, 2014
Battle Creek Enquirer: Secretary of State John Kerry needs to talk with U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Better yet, he should come see the South Carolina coast firsthand. Last year, Jewell toured Bulls Island and witnessed how only a 1-foot rise in sea level over the last century has turned a vibrant hardwood island into a “boneyard beach.” The same disaster situation from even faster-rising seas is facing South Carolina’s vibrant tourism economy, from Cherry Grove at the North to Beaufort in the South. Only it...
Climate change to disrupt food supplies, brake growth says UN climate report draft
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2014
Reuters: The latest draft UN report on climate change points to options for disaster planning, drought and flood-resistant crops, and water and energy saving. Rising sea levels are a direct threat to low lying islands in the Pacific. (Credit: ABC) Global warming will disrupt food supplies, slow world economic growth and may already be causing irreversible damage to nature, according to a United Nations report due this week that will put pressure on governments to act. A 29-page draft by the Intergovernmental...
Scientists predict Australia will continue to get hotter
Posted by Radio Australia: Jeanavive McGregor and Jake Sturmer on March 23rd, 2014
Radio Australia: The latest United Nations report card on the impacts of climate change predicts Australia will continue to get hotter.
Scientists believe the world is still on track to become more than two degrees Celsius warmer. (Credit: ABC)
The latest United Nations report card on the impacts of climate change predicts Australia will continue to get hotter.
The ABC has obtained drafts of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Scientists believe the world is still on track...
Crews Mopping Up Oil Spill In Texas’ Galveston Bay
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2014
Associated Press: The cleanup of an unknown amount of thick, sticky oil in Galveston Bay continued Sunday, a day after a barge carrying nearly a million gallons of fuel collided with a ship. Crews are skimming oil out of the water and booms have been brought in to protect environmentally sensitive areas of the Houston shipping channel, Coast Guard Petty Officer Andy Kendrick said Sunday morning. The area is a popular bird habitat, especially during the approaching migratory shorebird season, and Kendrick said there...