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Archive for August 27th, 2014
Forest Service to allow logging of burned trees near Yosemite National Park
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2014
Reuters: The U.S. Forest Service said on Wednesday it would sell thousands of trees burned in last year's devastating wildfire around Yosemite National Park to loggers in an effort to reduce fuel for future blazes and stimulate the regional economy.
In a draft decision, the agency said it planned to allow logging on about 33,000 acres near the park, less than initially proposed but more than environmentalists wanted.
Under the plan, which is expected to be finalized next month, logging companies would...
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How climate change could ruin your Hawaii vacation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2014
Christian Science Monitor: A University of Hawaii report is warning the state's tourism industry to start preparing now for the effects of climate change.
The study says Hawaii will likely see more competition for visitors as warmer climate zones expand and new, easier-to-reach tropical resorts emerge in coastal regions from Texas to Florida, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1sDkT0c ).
Hawaii will be a hotter place, with fewer cooling trade winds and more drought, fewer waterfalls and forest...
Dupont fined $1.275 million in West Virginia toxic pollution case
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2014
Reuters: DuPont will pay a fine of $1.275 million and spend an estimated $2.3 million more to settle claims by U.S. officials that the global chemical conglomerate failed to prevent toxic releases of hazardous substances in West Virginia that killed at least one man, environmental regulators said on Wednesday.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co reached the settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice in a case about eight alleged releases of harmful levels...
Megadrought Likely in Store for Southwestern US
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on August 27th, 2014
Nature World: Due to global warming, a megadrought is likely in store for the southwestern United States in the future, researchers say.
According to a new study, the chances that this region will experience a decade-long drought is at least 50 percent, and the odds of a "megadrought" - one that lasts over 30 years - ranges from 20 to 50 percent over the next century.
"For the southwestern US, I'm not optimistic about avoiding real megadroughts," lead author Toby Ault of Cornell University said in a statement....
Lafayette’s fracking ban tossed by judge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2014
Associated Press: Colorado's oil and gas industry has again won another court battle against a town that banned or limited fracking.
A Boulder District Court judge on Wednesday tossed out a voter-approved fracking ban in Lafayette voters. The ban was adopted last year.
The Colorado Oil & Gas Association challenged the fracking ban.
Judge D. D. Mallard also struck down a voter-approved fracking ban on Longmont. She said in both decisions that local governments cannot regulate drilling.
Earlier this month,...
What Global Warming Might Mean for Extreme Snowfalls
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on August 27th, 2014
Climate Central: So if the world is warming, that means winters should be less snowy, right? Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. OK, it's a lot more complicated.
Boston's North End neighborhood amid the snow drifts after a February 2013 blizzard.
While the average annual snowfall in most parts of the world is indeed expected to decline, the extreme snowfalls -- those that hit a place once every 10 or 20 years and can cause major headaches and economic impacts -- may decline at a slower rate, and could...
Secret $700,000 Donation Has Scott Walker Scrambling Address ‘Appearance of Corruption’
Posted by Nation: John Nichols on August 27th, 2014
Nation: When Gogebic Taconite LLC began moving in November 2010--the same month Scott Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin--to develop an open-pit iron mine in one of the most environmentally sensitive regions of northern Wisconsin, the Florida-based mining firm got a lot of pushback. Residents of the region objected, along with Native American tribes. So, too, did citizens from across Wisconsin, a state that has long treasured the wild beauty of the Penokee Range. Environmental and conservation groups...
The foggy future of fresh water in Chile
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on August 27th, 2014
SciDevNet: One of the two 17 square metre fog-catchers that harvest water for producing Atrapaniebla beer. The three main parts of the fog catcher are a structure with mesh, a gutter and a tank to store the water. Miguel Ángel Carcuro Each month the Carcuro brothers, owners of the Atrapaniebla microbrewery, produce 1,000 litres of this ale. They mainly supply the beer to the cities closest to Peña Blanca, where the beer is made. Marco Carcuro The tiny water droplets in fog naturally condense on vegetation....
Russia warms faster than rest of planet and sees disease, drought, and forest fires as a result
Posted by Quartz: None Given on August 27th, 2014
Quartz: When Vladimir Putin declined to support the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty to limit carbon emissions, he famously quipped that higher temperatures might actually benefit Russia since its people would have to spend less on fur coats.
Well, he`s getting his wish. Changes in wind and ocean currents caused by global warming shift heat around unevenly, causing some areas to heat up dramatically even as other regions cool. Russia, it turns out, is in the unusually hot category. Between 1976 and 2012, average...
UK study eyes links between global warming, extreme flooding
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on August 27th, 2014
Summit Voice: British scientists aren`t quite ready to say that last winter`s record flooding is linked with human-caused global warming, but in a recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, they warned that more coastal flooding is likely as sea level rises.
"We saw a number of examples last winter that demonstrated the vulnerability of coastal regions to flooding from surge events," said Dr. Jason Lowe, of the UK Met Office. "At present our best evidence points towards future increases in...