RSS Feed
Archive for February 1st, 2015
Fracking fears must be addressed
Posted by Scotsman: None Given on February 1st, 2015
Scotsman: SCOTTISH energy minister Fergus Ewing’s decision to place a moratorium on the granting of new licences permitting shale oil and gas exploration is, from one perspective, an opportunity for all interested parties to voice their support or raise concerns on the future of fracking in Scotland.
At first glance this announcement had the potential to cause serious consternation from those who believe fracking will be an important part of the energy mix which keeps the lights on in the UK – an approach...
Posted in 
Quakes may mean legal issues for oil companies
Posted by Topeka Capital-Journal: Jonathan Shorman on February 1st, 2015
Topeka Capital-Journal: The shaking comes suddenly.
“The quakes last night were two quick shocks and they were probably within a quarter second of each other,” Frank Smith explains.
Smith lives about 10 miles east of Anthony, a small town southwest of Wichita. Early Tuesday morning, he once again felt a tremor, as he has so often during the past year.
Smith is convinced the earthquakes are caused by the oil and gas operations that have proliferated in his part of the state in recent years. Increasingly, state government...
How climate change affects different regions of the country differently
Posted by Salon: None Given on February 1st, 2015
Salon: The U.S. is no stranger to differences among its sometimes bickering states, so perhaps it’s no surprise that even global warming finds itself with some regional rivalries.
A Climate Central analysis of regional and seasonal temperature differences in the contiguous U.S. since 1970 reveals a country divided along temperature lines, just as it is in so many other ways. Sure, that includes politics. And whether a certain bubbly drink should be called soda, pop or Coke (even though we all know the...
Obama 2016 budget urges U.S. states to cut emissions faster
Posted by Reuters: Jeff Mason on February 1st, 2015
Reuters: President Barack Obama's fiscal 2016 budget proposes $7.4 billion to fund clean energy technologies and a $4 billion fund to encourage U.S. states to make faster and deeper cuts to emissions from power plants, officials told Reuters.
Obama's budget, which will be published later on Monday, also calls for the permanent extension of the Production Tax Credit, used by the wind industry, and the Investment Tax Credit, used by the solar industry, the officials said.
Obama has made fighting climate...
Climate Change in Minnesota: 23 signs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2015
Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota is warmer than it used to be. Rain falls in bigger downpours. Hay fever sufferers have a longer sneezing season, and the ticks that deliver Lyme disease are expanding their range. Red maple trees are moving north. So are purple finches. Moose numbers have shrunk.
Without question, the state's climate has changed in recent decades. And that's had an impact on the lives of its wildlife, its plants, its people.
1. It's warmer
From 1895 to 1970, Minnesota's average temperature rose...
EPA’s methane crackdown to come slow and easy
Posted by InsideClimate: Neela Banerjee on February 1st, 2015
InsideClimate: The Obama administration on Jan. 14 announced its long-awaited plan to control the oil and gas industry's emissions of methane, saying it would in the next decade cut in half leaks of the potent global-warming pollutant. The White House called its approach a crucial step to achieving the greenhouse-gas emissions targets President Barack Obama announced in November in Beijing, but some environmental advocates said the plan, which relies heavily on voluntary efforts, does not go far enough. The plan...
Did Climate Change Condemn Easter Islanders?
Posted by ABC: Lee Dye on February 1st, 2015
ABC: The mysteries of the most isolated island in the world, Rapa Nui, commonly known as Easter Island, have baffled anthropologists and other scientists for generations, and one question about the curious inhabitants who erected those great, strange heads is what happened to the people who made them.
The island is best known for 887 monumental rock statues, weighing up to 82 tons and mysteriously moved over considerable distances by ancient people who had no beasts of burden, but that's only part...
California suffers dry January, prolonging devastating drought
Posted by Reuters: Alex Dobuzinskis on February 1st, 2015
Reuters: California has experienced one of the driest Januarys on record, and the lack of rain during a time of year when the weather is usually wet indicates the state is likely headed for a fourth straight year of drought, officials said.
A prolonged drought could portend further economic and environmental setbacks for the nation's most populous state, which has already lost both crops and jobs to the dry weather.
The state's driest January on record was in 1984, when the 30-day average precipitation...
Iceland is melting so fast, it’s literally popping off the planet
Posted by Quartz: Gwynn Guilford on February 1st, 2015
Quartz: Iceland is rising. Or, more precisely, the island’s “ice” part is shrinking, causing the “land” part to rebound from the Earth’s crust--a process that’s happening at a pace much faster than scientists had previously realised. In fact, its glaciers are melting so swiftly that parts of Iceland are rising as much as 1.4 inches (35mm) a year.
That’s according to research just published (paywall) by a team led by scientists from the University of Arizona. The study is the first to directly link the...
NASA launches climate change-observing satellite on third try
Posted by LA Times: Geoffrey Mohan on February 1st, 2015
LA Times: Amid growing concern about global weather patterns, a rocket roared into space Saturday carrying a NASA satellite that will give scientists new tools to forecast weather, track drought and monitor climate change.
The liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California was the third attempt to launch the craft. Upper-level wind shear above the base near Lompoc had already prompted NASA to push Thursday morning's launch to Friday.
The second postponement came after inspections revealed...