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Archive for January 24th, 2015
Yellowstone River oil spill clean-up hindered by ice at site of pipeline break
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2015
Guardian: One week after a pipeline spilled nearly 40,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River and contaminated a Montana city’s water supply, clean-up crews have made little progress in their efforts to remove the oil from the partially frozen river.
The site of the pipeline break, six miles upstream from the high-plains city of Glendive, Montana, is almost entirely capped in ice, complicating efforts to retrieve the oil and slowing the response process. The cause of the spill remains under...
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Brazil’s most populous region facing worst drought 80 yrs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2015
BBC: Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira has said the country's three most populous states are experiencing their worst drought since 1930.
The states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais must save water, she said after an emergency meeting in the capital Brasilia.
Ms Teixeira described the water crisis as "delicate" and "worrying".
Industry and agriculture are expected to be affected, further damaging Brazil's troubled economy.
The drought is also having an impact on...
Decline South Florida wading birds could mean Everglades worse off
Posted by Miami Herald: None Given on January 24th, 2015
Miami Herald: A decline in small herons and egrets that nest and forage among the Everglades wetlands and tree islands could mean work to restore the troubled ecosystem is not moving fast enough.
An annual survey by the South Florida Water Management District released Thursday found that in 2014, five years after a record rebound, the overall number of nests in and around refuges, wildlife sanctuaries and water conservation areas was down by 60 percent -- 28 percent lower than in 2013. The drop in Everglades...
An Arctic ice cap’s shockingly rapid slide into sea
Posted by Washington Post: Joby Warrick on January 24th, 2015
Washington Post: For years, scientists have documented the rapid retreat of Arctic ice, from melting glaciers in Greenland to shrinking snow cover in far northern Eurasia. Now researchers have discovered one Arctic ice cap that appears to be literally sliding into the sea.
Ice is disappearing at a truly astonishing rate in Austfonna, an expanse of frozen rock far north of the Arctic Circle in Norway’s Svalbard island chain. Just since 2012, a portion of the ice cap covering the island has thinned by a whopping...
Midwest’s climate future: Missouri becomes like Arizona, Chicago becomes like Texas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2015
Washington Post: The bipartisan trio of climate risk prognosticators for the business community -- Michael Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, and billionaire investor Tom Steyer -- are back. And this time, their Risky Business Project has produced a report focusing in particular on how a world of rising temperatures could threaten the Midwestern region of the U.S.: the Heartland.
Perhaps the most striking finding? A higher prevalence of extremely hot temperatures could severely impact corn and...