RSS Feed
Archive for September 2nd, 2014
United Kingdom: Pro-fracking newspaper ad banned by Advertising Standards Authority
Posted by Guardian: Sean Farrell on September 2nd, 2014
Guardian: The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a US energy company misled the public when it made unsubstantiated claims about the benefits of fracking and claimed a gas shortage put the UK close to catastrophe.
Breitling Energy's advertisement in the Telegraph began: "Dear Citizens of the United Kingdom, do you know that your country is blessed with an incredible gift?" It said higher shale gas estimates in the British Geographical Survey were "fantastic news for the UK".
The ad, published...
Posted in 
Halliburton reaches $1.1bn settlement over Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 2nd, 2014
Guardian: Halliburton Co, North America’s top oilfield services provider, said it reached a $1.1bn settlement for a majority of claims related to its role in BP’s fatal oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
The settlement, which includes legal fees, is subject to approval by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Halliburton said.
The amount, to be paid in three installments over the next two years, will be put into a trust until all appeals are resolved, the company said.
“We...
Antarctic sea ice growth doesn’t negate climate change, scientists say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 2nd, 2014
LA Times: In the blue half-light of the Antarctic autumn, a thin film spreads across the continent's coastal waters. It's an embryonic form of sea ice: a mush of microscopic crystals that floats on the dense, salty water of the Southern Ocean. As winter takes root, this proto-sea ice grows thicker and stronger until it encircles Antarctica in a vast frozen ring. The ice spans nearly 7 million square miles at its peak, an area roughly twice the size of the United States. This year, Antarctic sea ice has expanded...
What is a ‘Megadrought’?
Posted by Science Recorder: None Given on September 2nd, 2014
Science Recorder: The drought currently plaguing the Western US shares characteristics of the last megadrought in the 1150s and 1160s.
Science Recorder Pro Free trial. No ads. Exclusive interviews. Access to all articles. Just $4.99/year. Subscribe
The Western United States is currently experiencing a drought that scientists have to go back over eight centuries to match. The fierce drought that has raged in California for the last three years has led to devastating wildfires and water shortages that may carry...
Salton Sea could benefit from California water bond
Posted by U-T San Diego: Chris Nichols on September 2nd, 2014
U-T San Diego: Talk with leaders from Imperial County and you’ll hear a clear message: Time is running out to save the Salton Sea, the accidental desert lake whose receding shores pose a growing hazard for the wildlife and people who live nearby.
This largest of inland lakes in California is expected to see even more rapid water loss by 2018 connected, in part, to water sales to the San Diego region.
The water loss threatens the biological diversity of the sea, which serves as a central stop for hundreds...
The ultimate limitation of big data for development
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on September 2nd, 2014
SciDevNet: Big data can only capture the past -- without theory, they cannot predict into a changing future, says Martin Hilbert.
Recently, much has been written, talked, and done about the usefulness of big data for development. The UN Economic and Social Council recognises that "big data have the potential to produce more relevant and more timely statistics than traditional sources of official statistics, such as survey and administrative data sources', while the OECD is convinced that "big data now represents...
Court stand-off over illegal Indian coal projects
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on September 2nd, 2014
BusinessGreen: The legal battle over the governance of India's coal industry has taken another twist as the government urged the Supreme Court not to revoke all of the 218 coal mining licences that it last week deemed illegal.
The court had ruled all coal mining licences awarded between 1993 and 2010 had been allocated illegally, raising the prospect of a raft of licences being revoked and mining activity suspended at key mines.
The ruling had been seen as being in line with the newly-elected Modi administration's...
Great Barrier Reef dredge dumping plan could be shelved
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 2nd, 2014
Agence France-Presse: An India-backed mining consortium could shelve controversial plans to dump dredging waste in the Great Barrier Reef, with alternative sites on land being considered amid growing environmental concerns, Australia said Tuesday. Environment Minister Greg Hunt said there was an "emerging option" that could see the consortium -- India's Adani Group and Australia's North Queensland Bulk Ports and GVK Hancock -- submit a proposal suggesting onshore dumping locations. "There is an emerging option which...
Cool summer doesn’t invalidate climate change
Posted by Boston Globe: Tom Keane on September 2nd, 2014
Boston Globe: Labor Day has come and gone. Autumn looms. But how can summer be over when it never really began?
If you feel cheated -- where were the scorchers and leaden humid nights? -- it's not your imagination. July and August really did feel more like an extension of spring than a separate season. The Boston area had but four days over 90 degrees; usually it has 10. Average temperatures for the summer were well below normal too. This, of course, followed on the heels of a cold and snowy winter that felt...
Antarctic sea level rising faster than global rate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 2nd, 2014
ScienceDaily: A new study of satellite data from the last 19 years reveals that fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea-level around the coast of Antarctica to rise by 2cm more than the global average of 6cm.
Researchers at the University of Southampton detected the rapid rise in sea-level by studying satellite scans of a region that spans more than a million square kilometres.
The melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and the thinning of floating ice shelves has contributed an excess of around...