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Archive for August 13th, 2014
Fracking operations get closer to drinking water sources than we thought
Posted by Grist: None Given on August 13th, 2014
Grist: Fracking companies have tried their best to quell the public’s fears about the practice. But, uh, they’re not doing a very good job of it. A new study shows that oil and gas companies are fracking at much shallower depths than previously thought - sometimes even through potential underground sources of drinking water.
To be clear, the study - which looked at the fracking operations at two geological formations in Wyoming - did not find current drinking water sources to be contaminated. But Stanford...
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Report Finds Keystone XL Would Be Even Worse Than Predicted
Posted by EcoWatch: Nicole D'Alessandro on August 13th, 2014
EcoWatch: The final decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is indefinitely on hold, but damning evidence of the pipeline’s potential harm continues to grow.
The Big Picture With Thom Hartmann looks at a new report by the Stockholm Environmental Institute finding that, if approved, Keystone XL could be even worse for the environment than we already thought.
If built, the pipeline could add up to a whopping four times more carbon pollution to our atmosphere than originally estimated by the State...
Trapped Giant Waves In The Atmosphere Trigger More Extreme Weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 13th, 2014
RedOrbit: Weather extremes in the summer -- such as the record heat wave in the United States that hit corn farmers and worsened wildfires in 2012 -- have reached an exceptional number in the last ten years. Man-made global warming can explain a gradual increase in periods of severe heat, but the observed change in the magnitude and duration of some events is not so easily explained. It has been linked to a recently discovered mechanism: the trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere. A new data analysis now...
Giant Sequoias Under Pressure from Climate Change
Posted by Nature World: None Given on August 13th, 2014
Nature World: Giant sequoias, some of the world's oldest and tallest trees, are under pressure from drought, wildfires and climate change, according to scientists with the US Geological Survey.
Although sequoias aren't yet in trouble - even with the ongoing drought in California - scientists worry that them and trees alike, such as ancient redwoods and bristlecone pines, will soon be feeling the heat.
These types of trees aren't built to withstand decades of dry and warming weather. Their seedlings and saplings...
Wildfires Strike Northwest, Northern California
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 13th, 2014
National Geographic: Despite the extremely dry conditions in drought-afflicted southern California, the summer's most destructive fires have struck the Northwest and northern California, giving the region the unusual distinction of being the center of this year's wildfire season.
Washington and Oregon account for nearly half of the 2.5 million acres burned by wildfires this year. Over the past decade, only about 7 percent of the total acreage burned per year has been in the Northwest. Meanwhile, the fire-prone Rocky...
Precious Water Bottled and Shipped Out of Drought-Ridden California
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on August 13th, 2014
EcoWatch: California is suffering through a record drought. Water is being rationed and its usually fertile agriculture industry is suffering.
Meanwhile, someone in Minnesota or Kentucky or Maryland may be drinking a bit of California`s precious commodity. Mother Jones reported this week that at least four major bottled water companies--Aquafina, Dasani, Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead--use water from California, either ground (spring) water or tap water. Aquafina and Dasani both bottle and sell treated tap...
China Must Lift Trade Restrictions on Rare Earth Elements
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on August 13th, 2014
Environment News Service: In a decision that affects automakers around the world, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, has ruled that China's export duties and quotas on rare earth elements are not justified for reasons of environmental protection or conservation policy.
At least a thousand car parts use rare earth elements. For instance, they go into the permanent magnets, rechargeable batteries and regenerative braking systems for hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as the catalytic converters in...
Feds reverse course on wolverines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 13th, 2014
Associated Press: U.S. wildlife officials are withdrawing proposed protections for the snow-loving wolverine in a course reversal announced Tuesday that highlights lingering uncertainties over what a warming climate means for some temperature-sensitive species.
Wolverines, or "mountain devils," are rarely seen members of the weasel family that need deep, late-season snow to den.
But while there is broad consensus climate change will make the world warmer, drilling down to determine what that means for individual...
The meat you eat is worsening climate change
Posted by MainStreet: None Given on August 13th, 2014
MainStreet: There's a huge contributor to climate change that gets ignored when talking about our warming world -- and it isn't coal or cars . Rather, it's what we most of us eat on a daily or near daily basis -- namely, meat and milk . Read More: Carbon Tax Gains Steam to Fight Global Warming In 2006, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations released a lengthy report entitled "Livestock's Long Shadow." Among the array of environmental problems the livestock industry is accused of contributing...
‘Unprecedented’ flooding event in Detroit fits global warming pattern
Posted by Mashable: None Given on August 13th, 2014
Mashable: Detroit received 4.57 inches of rain in just a few hours on Monday, breaking its record for that date and coming in second place for the all-time wettest calendar day, behind a 4.74 inch deluge in July of 1925. The heavy rain -- which included more than an inch of rain falling in just 24 minutes -- led to some of the most widespread flash flooding on record in the Motor City.
Every major interstate was affected by the flooding, which longtime weather forecasters in the area called an unprecedented...