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Archive for April 9th, 2015
Climate change seen bringing more fires, less snow to Yellowstone
Posted by Reuters: Laura Zuckerman on April 9th, 2015
Reuters: Predicted climate changes bringing warmer and drier conditions to Yellowstone National Park will likely fuel catastrophic wildfires, cause declines in mountain snows and threaten the survival of animals and plants, scientists said on Thursday. Warming that is expected in the American West over the next few decades would transform lands in and around Yellowstone from a wetter, mostly forested Rocky Mountain ecosystem to a more open landscape akin to the arid U.S. Southwest, the researchers said in...
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L.A. launches ‘Save the Drop’ campaign in face record drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 9th, 2015
Reuters: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti launched a "Save the Drop" campaign on Thursday, seeking to rally residents of California's most populous city behind water-saving measures in the face of a devastating, multi-year drought.
The public relations push comes as state officials tighten already strict rules on water usage and ask cities and towns across California to enforce a 25 percent reduction in water usage before the hot, dry summer season begins.
California is entering its fourth year of a...
Wisconsin GOP members on land board ban work climate change
Posted by Wisconsin State Journal: Steven Verburg on April 9th, 2015
Wisconsin State Journal: A Wisconsin state board made up of elected officials voted 2-1 Tuesday to ban staff members of a small agency from on-the-job discussion or work related to climate change.
Staffers for the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands had already removed a reference to climate change from its website in response to previous complaints by one board member, state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk.
Adamczyk is a Republican who recently sought to dismiss board executive secretary Tia Nelson from her post after...
Dramatic Increases Cancer-Causing Radon PA Homes Linked Fracking
Posted by Common Dreams: Jon Queally on April 9th, 2015
Common Dreams: Researchers in Pennsylvania have discovered that the prevalence of radon, a radioactive and carcinogenic gas, in people’s homes and commercial buildings that are nearer to fracking sites has increased dramatically in the state since the unconventional and controversial gas drilling practice began in the state just over a decade ago.
Both odorless and tasteless, radon is a naturally-occurring gas released from bedrock minerals beneath the ground and is found in millions of homes across the country....
What Record-Breaking Drought Means for California’s Future
Posted by LiveScience: Tia Ghose on April 9th, 2015
LiveScience: Wildfires, water rationing and snow-free mountaintops are all becoming the new norm in California.
The Golden State is experiencing the most severe drought on record, and research suggests the conditions will only worsen in the coming decades.
"Climate change is going to lead to overall much drier conditions toward the end of the 21st century than anything we've seen in probably the last 1,000 years," said Benjamin Cook, a climatologist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New...
Scott Walker Appointee Suggests Volcanoes Might Be Real Cause Of Global Warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 9th, 2015
Huffington Post: Wisconsin, which has been in the news this week for voting to bar staff of the state public lands board from talking about climate change, is getting a new state official who is skeptical of human contribution to climate change.
Gov. Scott Walker (R) recently appointed Mike Huebsch to the state Public Service Commission, and Huebsch was asked about his views on climate change during his confirmation hearing this week. The Public Service Commission oversees utility issues in the state, including...
Pipeline Segment That Spilled into Yellowstone River to Be Removed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 9th, 2015
Associated Press: Bridger’s Poplar pipeline carries oil from the Bakken region of Montana and North Dakota. The damaged section was installed in 1967, in an 8-foot-deep trench dug into the river bottom, according to documents submitted to regulators. A closer examination of the damaged section could help explain why it failed. “It will tell you whether or not there were any defects in the metal, or was it exposed and hit by something,” Salvin said. Officials are investigating whether high waters or an ice jam on...
Scientists seek source of giant methane mass over Southwest
Posted by Associated Press: Colleen Slevin on April 9th, 2015
Associated Press: Scientists are working to pinpoint the source of a giant mass of methane hanging over the southwestern U.S., which a study found to be the country's largest concentration of the greenhouse gas. The report that revealed the methane hot spot over the Four Corners region — where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet — was released last year. Now, scientists from the University of Colorado, the University of Michigan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA are conducting...
Community radio brings forecasts to Kenya’s most climate vulnerable
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 9th, 2015
Reuters: It is the top of the hour at ten o’clock in the morning and, broadcasting from the top of Esibila hill in Western Kenya, Moses Ombogo is telling farmers to prepare for early rains. “My dear listener, mother, father, grandma, grandpa, uncle and aunt, we are happy to inform you that the rains have now come and you should be preparing to start planting,” he says. Down the slope, 80-year-old Mariam Omulama is holding a blue radio with a long aerial. The radio has a winding handle to power it, and a...
California Works Out Details Mandatory Water Restrictions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 9th, 2015
National Public Radio: State regulators will begin enforcing the new restrictions on a sliding scale. That means that some cities that have been slacking in water conservation will have to do a lot more than others.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
More now on the severe drought that is affecting much of the West Coast. It's hit hardest here in California. And in a moment, we'll look at the impact on this state's massive agriculture industry.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We're also getting a better sense of what water restrictions...