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Archive for June, 2014
United Kingdom: Allow fracking in national parks, says Environment Agency chief
Posted by Guardian: Ben Quinn on June 28th, 2014
Guardian: Fracking in national parks should be permitted because the visual impact can be limited when the process is "done properly", the outgoing chairman of the Environment Agency has declared.
Chris Smith, who is due to step down from the post next month, waded into the debate over fracking by dismissing the claims of those campaigning against the impact of the controversial drilling at particular sites.
"Provided it is done carefully and properly regulated, those fears are definitely exaggerated,"...
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Floods in Alaska national park prompt emergency evacuations
Posted by Reuters: Steve Quinn on June 28th, 2014
Reuters: More than 100 tourists and workers have been airlifted out of a private lodge in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve after floods washed out portions of a road and left them stranded, a National Park Service spokeswoman said on Friday.
The group was evacuated late on Thursday by four fixed-wing airplanes and two helicopters after rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday morning caused two nearby shallow creeks to swell, said park spokeswoman Kris Fister.
The creeks turned into a "confluence...
Rising temperatures, seas seen costing US billions
Posted by CNBC: Mark Koba on June 27th, 2014
CNBC: Ignoring the effects of climate change will cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars, with a large part of that loss connected to farms that struggle to adapt and coastal lands flooded by the oceans, according to a report released this week.
The report, entitled "Risky Business," broadly addresses the risks climate change poses to the U.S. economy, and is endorsed by a bipartisan group of heavy hitters from the investing and business worlds. The report doesn't provide new climate change science....
Keystone XL opponents celebrate missed deadline
Posted by Lincoln Journal Star: Nicholas Bergin on June 27th, 2014
Lincoln Journal Star: Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline celebrated the passage of another regulatory deadline as the project remains tangled in governmental and legal red tape. TransCanada’s permit to build a 36-inch-diameter pipeline through South Dakota, issued June 29, 2010, gave the company four years to begin construction. After Sunday, state law will require TransCanada to recertify that the conditions of the permit are still met before starting construction. Also, interested parties who believe the project...
What’s behind Oklahoma’s surge in earthquakes?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 27th, 2014
CBS: Since January, there have been nearly as many earthquakes in Oklahoma than all of last year. With the sudden spike, residents in Oklahoma are questioning whether fracking is behind the change, reports CBS News' Manuel Bojorquez.
It was clear at a town hall gathering Thursday night in Edmond, Oklahoma, that rattled nerves are starting to fray. Hundreds of people crowded into a church demanding to know why the ground keeps shaking.
"The risk is all taken over the homeowner, it's our lives, it's...
New report evaluates progress of comprehensive everglades restoration plan
Posted by EurekAlert: Lauren Rugani on June 27th, 2014
EurekAlert: Although planning for Everglades restoration projects has advanced considerably over the past two years, financial, procedural, and policy constraints have impeded project implementation, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Timely authorization, adequate funding levels, and creative policy and implementation strategies are needed to achieve restoration benefits and to expedite implementation of the Central Everglades Planning Project. Climate change and...
Previous Greenland Ice Sheet Collapse Rose Sea Level up to 6 Meter
Posted by Nature World: None Given on June 26th, 2014
Nature World: More than 400,000 years ago, a warming period pushed Greenland's ice sheet past its limit and raised global sea levels up to 6 meters, according to new research. The results may give us a glimpse as to what may happen as a result of Greenland's current climate-induced melting dilemma.
Known as the Marine Isotope Stage 11, this exceptionally long warming period between ice ages resulted in a global sea level rise of about 6-13 meters above present, caused by changes in the Earth's orbit around...
Greenland Ice Sheet Collapse Linked To Sea Level Rise 400,000 Years Ago: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2014
RedOrbit: A new study suggests that a warming period more than 400,000 years ago pushed the Greenland ice sheet past its stability threshold, resulting in a nearly complete deglaciation of southern Greenland and raising global sea levels some 4-6 meters.
The study is one of the first to zero in on how the vast Greenland ice sheet responded to warmer temperatures during that period, which were caused by changes in the Earth`s orbit around the sun.
Results of the study, which was funded by the National...
Obama mocks Congress for hiding on climate
Posted by MSNBC: None Given on June 26th, 2014
MSNBC: Rachel Maddow points out the range of people, including many prominent (non-office holding) Republicans who have acknowledged the crisis posed by climate change, and yet Congressional Republicans continue to pretend there’s reason to deny reality.
Swimmers beware: water at some U.S. beaches may make you sick
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on June 26th, 2014
Reuters: Every summer millions of American families head for beaches, but few stop to think of the possibility that the water they swim in may harbor enough bacteria to cause stomach flu and a host of other illnesses.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that 10 percent of water quality samples collected from nearly 3,500 coastal and Great Lakes beaches in 2013 contained levels of harmful bacteria that exceeded "safe to swim" thresholds recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency....