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Archive for May 21st, 2014
Time for France’s Biggest Bank to Stop Funding Mountaintop Removal Coal
Posted by Rainforest Action Network: None Given on May 21st, 2014
Rainforest Action Network: The campaign to stop bank financing of mountaintop removal coal mining is gaining momentum.
For years, RAN and other organizations in the global BankTrack network have urged U.S. and European banks to stop financing the devastation caused by mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. BankTrack members have worked closely with advocates from Appalachia -- the region hardest hit by MTR -- including Paul Corbit Brown and Elise Keaton from Keeper of the Mountains, and Bob Kincaid from Coal River Mountain...
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Iron From Melting Ice Sheets Could Have Major Impact On Global Warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
RedOrbit: A newly-discovered source of oceanic bioavailable iron could have a major impact on our understanding of marine food chains and global warming. A UK team, including researchers from the University of Bristol, has found that summer meltwaters from ice sheets are rich in iron, which will have important implications on phytoplankton growth. Their findings are reported today in Nature Communications.
It is well known that bioavailable iron boosts phytoplankton growth in many of the Earth’s oceans....
United Kingdom: £30bn bill purify water system after toxic impact contraceptive pill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
Guardian: Britain faces a £30bn bill to clean up rivers, streams and drinking water supplies contaminated by synthetic hormones from contraceptive pills. Drastic reductions in these chemicals, which have been linked to collapses in fish populations, are proposed in the latest European Union water framework directive.
But the plan, which would involve upgrading the sewage network and significantly increasing household water bills, is controversial. Water and pharmaceutical companies dispute the science involved...
As Waters Recede, Serbia’s Worries Turn to Disease
Posted by New York Times: Rick Lyman on May 21st, 2014
New York Times: For five days, as rain pelted the Balkans and the waters rose, Jovanka Sreckovic, 85, waited in bed in her tiny house, barely a hut, beside the Sava River. Ms. Sreckovic, unable to walk, had no food, no water, no medicine and no electricity, and felt herself sinking into sickness with nothing but a children’s book about Jesus to pass the time. And then, on Saturday, a squad of frantic police officers from neighboring Montenegro bashed in her front door and snatched her away so fast that she had...
Food quality to suffer as climate warms, report says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
LA Times: Crops grown by many of the nation's farmers have a lower nutritional content than they once did, according to the report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Research indicates that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reduced the protein content in wheat, for example. And the international Rice Research Institute has warned that the quality of rice available to consumers will decrease as temperatures rise, the report notes.
The U.S. should embrace research into animal biology...
Record rains turned Australia into a giant green global carbon sink
Posted by Guardian: Pep Canadell and Ben Poulter on May 21st, 2014
Guardian: Record-breaking rains triggered so much new growth across Australia that the continent turned into a giant green carbon sink to rival tropical rainforests including the Amazon, our new research shows.
Published in the international journal Nature, our study found that vegetation worldwide soaked up 4.1bn tonnes of carbon in 2011 – the equivalent of more than 40% of emissions from burning fossil fuels that year.
Unexpectedly, the largest carbon uptake occurred in the semi-arid landscapes of...
Global Warming Shrinks China’s Tibetan Glaciers by 15% in 30yrs
Posted by Business Times: None Given on May 21st, 2014
Business Times: China's very own glaciers off in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau have shrunk by 15 per cent in the last 30 years because of global warming.
In a report, official state-run media Xinhua News said at least 8,000 square kilometres (3,089 square miles) of glaciers have thinned out in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in western China. This plateau covers the Tibetan Autonomous Region and highland parts of neighbouring provinces.
From a total of 53,000 sq km, glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau are now only...
Water Goes ‘Missing’ as More Rain, Less Snow Falls
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on May 21st, 2014
Nature World: A new study finds that as temperatures rise, it will rain more and snow less, causing the total amount of water in rivers to decline.
Researchers compare in the journal Nature Climate Change areas of similar climate and precipitation, but with differing fractions of that precipitation falling as snow and as rain.
After examining the histories of 420 catchment basins in the US spanning the period 1948-2001, scientists discovered there is a significant difference in total streamflow if the fraction...
Minnesota Bans Anti-Bacterial Chemical From Soaps
Posted by Nature World News: Brian Stallard on May 21st, 2014
Nature World News: Minnesota will be the first US state to ban triclosan, an ingredient commonly found in soaps, toothpaste, and deodorants that some researchers have linked to health and environmental problems, including the increased prevalence of drug resistant bacteria.
Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota signed a bill on Friday which prohibits the use of triclosan in most retail consumer hygiene products. According to the Associated Press, the bill was inspired by a growing pile of reports that link the ingredient...
BP mounts last ditch effort limit Gulf of Mexio oil spill settlement
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
Guardian: BP last night mounted a last ditch attempt to limit the costs of its settlement for the victims of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill by lodging an appeal to the US supreme court to make a final ruling.
Earlier this week the British oil group lost an argument at the fifth circuit appeal court of New Orleans that compensation money was being spent on businesses not directly affected by the environmental damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon.
BP originally anticipated that it would have to pay...