Archive for March 27th, 2015

Antarctica is basically liquefying

Grist: Antarctica`s icy edges are melting 70 percent faster in some places than they were a decade ago, according to a new study in the journal Science. These massive ice shelves serve as a buffer between the continent’s ice-sheet system and the ocean. As they disintegrate, more and more ice will slip into the sea, raising sea levels by potentially huge amounts. This study is just the latest bit of horrible news from the bottom of the world. Last year, we found out that the West Antarctic ice sheet...

Obama Unveils $1.2 Billion Plan Fight Superbug Crisis, But Is It Enough?

EcoWatch: President Obama is waging war against the superbug crisis, one of the “most pressing public health issues facing the world today,” causing tens of thousands of deaths and millions of illnesses every year in just the U.S. alone, the President said. Today, the White House announced its first-ever National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria. The 63-page document outlines five specific goals to control the spread of superbugs over the next five years: slow the emergence...

Stronger thunderstorms driving rise in tropical rainfall: Study

Reuters: An increase in strong thunderstorms could be responsible for greater rainfall in the tropics as a result of climate change, new research says. The joint research, which was conducted by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science (ARCCSS) and NASA, research found that even though other types of rainfall have decreased in frequency and the total number of thunderstorms has remained the same, the increase in big storms has elevated total rainfall. Thunderstorms...

In New York, Fracking Ban Fuels Secession Talk

LA Times: The national debate over fracking, which critics say can pollute groundwater and endanger public health, heated up last week when the Obama administration announced the first-ever federal regulations on the practice. But nowhere is fracking as heated an issue as in the stretch of New York known as the southern tier, where Cuomo's ban has spurred talk of secession. Political leaders like Price, Windsor's town supervisor, say secession is not such a farfetched idea, and they are gathering feedback...

Pakistan Shelves 6 Coal-Fired Power Projects

RTCC: Pakistan has halted work on six coal-fired power projects of some 14,000 megawatts due to environmental concerns, lack of needed infrastructure and foreign investment. Prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari broke ground of the first mega coal power project in January 2014 to help the country overcome its energy crisis. The cost of the entire project was estimated at US$6-8 billion and it was scheduled to be completed in 2017. The government was expecting to generate...