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Archive for August 12th, 2014
Study says Obama’s worst Keystone XL fears could come true
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Jared Gilmour on August 12th, 2014
Christian Science Monitor: President Obama is on the record stating he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the American Gulf Coast only if it did not significantly exacerbate climate change. Now, a new study is saying it could potentially do precisely that.
The controversial pipeline could spur up to 121 million tons in new carbon dioxide emissions – four times the State Department’s 27 million ton estimate, according to the study, published Sunday in Nature Climate Change. Researchers contend the pipeline...
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Heavy rains force millions of gallons of raw sewage into area waterways
Posted by Detroit Free Press: John Wisely on August 12th, 2014
Detroit Free Press: Monday’s rains overwhelmed sewer systems across metro Detroit, forcing millions of gallons of untreated and partially treated sewage into rivers and lakes.
“As far as the significance of the volumes, this is incredible,” said Laura Verona of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “We estimate that this was a 350-year event.”
Macomb County alone logged more than 1 billion gallons in overflows from storm-retention basins and sewers countywide, according to data posted on its website....
Climate change and drought in ancient times
Posted by Heritage Daily: None Given on August 12th, 2014
Heritage Daily: The influence of climate on agriculture is believed to be a key factor in the rise and fall of societies in the Ancient Near East. Dr. Simone Riehl of Tübingen University’s Institute for Archaeological Science and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment has headed an investigation into archaeological finds of grain in order to find out what influence climate had on agriculture in early farming societies. Her findings are published in this week’s PNAS – Proceedings of the...
Why the Earth is farting
Posted by CNN: Alan Weisman on August 12th, 2014
CNN: Every day, you have a close personal encounter with methane, a key ingredient of something we don't usually mention in polite company: farts.
Perhaps that's why methane is also called "natural gas." Unfortunately, neither propriety nor intestinal discipline can suppress its unpleasantness lately, because now not just us, but the Earth itself is farting.
Recently, three new craters, one of which measured approximately 100 feet wide and over 200 feet deep, were discovered in the Siberian permafrost....
New study says Keystone pipeline pollution worse than estimated
Posted by Houston Business Journal: None Given on August 12th, 2014
Houston Business Journal: A new study says the Keystone XL pipeline could produce four times as much global warming pollution as previously believed, the Associated Press reports.
The new estimates, from scientists at the Stockholm Environment Institute, were published over the weekend by the journal Nature Climate Change.
The earlier estimates by U.S. officials did not take into account that added oil from the pipeline would drop prices by about $3 a barrel and spur consumption that would then create more pollution,...