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Archive for July 22nd, 2014
Drier Dust Bowl: Waiting for relief in rural America
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 22nd, 2014
Washington Post: The water could start at any time.
Every few hours, Anita Pointon refreshes the Web site that tells when it’s coming, because the work begins as soon as they know. Her husband, Chuck, 62, will set out to walk the farm with a moisture probe to see which fields are the driest. One run of water covers only about 18 acres of their 500, so they have to choose carefully.
As rural America wilts, this is how those left working its powder-dry land get by: At the appointed hour, Chuck turns the head...
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Tinderbox Explodes in Wildfires Across Northwest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 22nd, 2014
New York Times: A cool, wet spring that drew out luxuriant growth in parts of the Pacific Northwest, followed by a ferociously hot and dry early summer, has created a fire-season tinderbox across the Pacific Northwest that exploded over the past week with dozens of wildfires burning hundreds of thousands of acres and forcing thousands of residents from their homes.
More than 3,500 people, including fire crews from all over the country and National Guard troops in Washington and Oregon, have been battling the...
Activists say arrests made in protest at Utah tar sands mine project
Posted by Reuters: Jennifer Dobner on July 22nd, 2014
Reuters: Sheriff's deputies in Utah arrested nearly two dozen environmental protesters who chained themselves to fences and construction equipment on Monday at a tar sands mining project in the remote Book Cliffs mountains, an activist group said.
The Tar Sands Resistance group said about 80 activists set up a "blockade" at the PR Springs mine to highlight what it said would be huge environmental damage if it goes ahead.
"These projects do nothing but devastate the land and pollute the water and air,"...
Global warming emissions from meat consumption rising rapidly
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 22nd, 2014
Mongabay: Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production have increased by more than 50 percent over the past 50 years and are set to zoom higher as the developing world consumes more meat, finds a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The research is based on analysis of the impacts of livestock production per calorie consumed, including water and fertilizer use, land area requirements, and other factors. It went beyond carbon dioxide, evaluating...