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Archive for July 13th, 2014
Climate change signals the end of Australian shiraz as we know it
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
Reuters: Young Australian vintner Nick Glaetzer's winemaking-steeped family thought he was crazy when he abandoned the Barossa Valley - the hot, dry region that is home to the country's world-famous big, brassy shiraz.
Trampling over the family's century-old grape-growing roots on the Australian mainland, Glaetzer headed south to the island state of Tasmania to strike out on his own and prove to the naysayers there was a successful future in cooler climate wines.
Just five years later, Glaetzer made...
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Heartland Water Crisis: Why the Planet Depends on These Kansas Farmers
Posted by NBC: None Given on July 13th, 2014
NBC: In America’s Breadbasket, a battle of ideas is underway on the most fundamental topics of all: food, water, and the future of the planet. Last August, in a still-echoing blockbuster study, Dave Steward, Ph.D., and his colleagues at Kansas State University, informed the $15 billion Kansas agricultural economy that it was on a fast track to oblivion. The reason: The precipitous, calamitous withdrawal rates of the Ogallala Aquifer. The Ogallala is little known outside this part of the world, but it’s...
Doubts over ice wall keep Fukushima safe from damaged nuclear reactors
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
Guardian: In fading light and just a stone's throw from the most terrifying scenes during Japan's worst nuclear accident, engineers resumed their race against time to defeat the next big threat: thousands of tonnes of irradiated water.
If all goes to plan, by next March Fukushima Daiichi's four damaged reactors will be surrounded by an underground frozen wall that will be a barrier between highly toxic water used to cool melted fuel inside reactor basements and clean groundwater flowing in from surrounding...
Computer Models Says Australia Drying Due To Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gases
Posted by Science 2.0: None Given on July 13th, 2014
Science 2.0: A new climate model says that southwestern Australia's long-term decline in fall and winter rainfall is caused by increases in man-made greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion.
NOAA researchers conducted several climate simulations using their global climate model to study long-term changes in rainfall in various regions across the globe. One of the most striking signals of change emerged over Australia, where a long-term decline in fall and winter rainfall has been observed over parts of...
Australia drying out thanks to our emissions
Posted by New Scientist: Catherine Brahic on July 13th, 2014
New Scientist: Australia is drying out, and it's largely our fault. The south-west of the country can expect to see average annual rainfall drop by 40 per cent compared with the mid-20th century, and a new model suggests that the main cause is human greenhouse gas emissions.
Water from the skies is the stuff of life but the expectation is that many parts of the world will see less of it with climate change. But predicting how much rain will fall where is devilishly difficult.
It is an important question,...
South Australia faces water crisis by end century due climate change
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on July 13th, 2014
Guardian: A predicted 40% decline in rainfall in southern Australia could mean that the West Australian capital, Perth, will have to rely on alternative sources of water in future, a new climate change research paper warns.
The study, led by an academic at the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, examined the causes of rainfall decline in southern Australia over the past few decades and concluded that human activity was a significant contributor.
The findings, published in the journal...
Firefighters battling seven blazes Washington state
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
LA Times: More than 1,000 firefighters battled seven blazes in Washington on Friday, as a heat wave blasted through the state, threatening to aggravate conditions in one of the most active fire regions in the country.
Only three outbuildings had been damaged by the fires in the north-central part of the state by Friday afternoon, authorities said, and no injuries had been reported.
However, more than 100 homes were under orders to evacuate, and the residents of an additional 150 or so were told to be...
Feds fund Cape Wind
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
Living on Earth: The US Department of Energy has given the 130-turbine Cape Wind project a $150 million loan guarantee. Ken Kimmell of the Union of Concerned Scientists tells host Steve Curwood that this federal vote of confidence may help make Cape Wind the first commercial offshore wind turbine farm in the United States Transcript CURWOOD: Well, though Great Lakes offshore wind has yet to see a windfall of federal funding, things are looking better for a development off the coast of Massachusetts that's been...
Texas, leader in greenhouse gases, stands vulnerable their effects
Posted by New York Times: Neena Satija on July 13th, 2014
New York Times: As Republicans promote the state’s economic “miracle,” many climate scientists from Texas say prosperity has come at a steep price.
With its dependence on an energy industry that relies on extracting fossil fuels, scientists say Texas has become a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as well as more vulnerable to its consequences. Texas emits more greenhouse gases than any other state, according to federal data.
State Republican leaders, however, have questioned whether the earth is...
Why A Texas City May Ban Fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
National Public Radio: Denton, Texas, is considering a ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and a new study links this process of energy extraction with earthquakes. NPR's Arun Rath considers the risks with science writer Abrahm Lustgarten.