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Archive for January 8th, 2015
Tropical forests may reduce global warming rate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2015
Environmental News Network: A new study led by NASA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) shows that tropical forests may be absorbing far more human-emitted carbon dioxide than many scientists thought. The study estimates that tropical forests absorb 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide out of a total global absorption of 2.5 billion, in response to rising atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas.
This means, if left undisturbed, the tropical trees should be able to continue reducing the rate of global...
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Australian wildfires threaten to produce ashtray wine vintage
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2015
Reuters: Wildfires sweeping through southeast Australia are carrying with them the spectre of a silent killer for grapes growing in the nearby Adelaide Hills wine region.
The vineyards have so far escaped the direct ravages of the worst bushfires for 30 years but winemakers fear their grapes may have fallen victim to "smoke taint", which results in wines that taste like an ashtray and can ruin an entire vintage.
As fears grow that climate change is lengthening the time and severity of Australia's bushfire...
Just years to go for unburnable coal reserves, new study finds
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Peter Hannam on January 8th, 2015
Sydney Morning Herald: The viability of mining Australia's massive fossil fuel reserves has been called into question by new research that estimates the limits of carbon emissions possible if dangerous climate change is to be avoided.
In a study published in the journal Nature, University College London researchers say that 82 per cent of the world's coal, half its gas reserves and a third of its oil must remain in the ground if global temperature increases are to be kept within 2 degrees of pre-industrial levels. ...
Senate panel approves Keystone bill despite veto threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2015
Associated Press: Republicans pushed veto-threatened legislation to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline through a Senate committee Thursday, but Democrats blocked plans for an immediate debate in the full Senate. The Energy and Natural Resources committee moved the bill closer to the floor on a 13-9 vote. Sen Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of six Democrats sponsoring the bill, was the only committee Democrat to support it. The House will vote Friday on its version of the bill and is expected to pass the measure...