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Archive for May 17th, 2015
New tool to save salmon: Isotope tracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Salmon carry a strontium chemical signature in their "ear bones" that lets scientists identify specific streams where the fish hatched and lived before they were caught at sea. The new tool may help pinpoint critical habitats for fish threatened by climate change, industrial development and overfishing.
"Using this method, we can trace where the salmon were born and where they moved while they were growing in the rivers and streams," says University of Utah geochemist Diego Fernandez, a co-author...
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‘Paddle in Seattle’ protesters condemn Artic drilling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Environmental activists in Seattle paddled out to sea to protest a Shell oil rig moored off the coast of the US city that is headed for Arctic drilling, local media reported.
Hundreds of kayaks, canoes, sailboats and a solar-powered barge called "The People's Platform" circled around Shell's massive yellow and white oil rig moored in the city's port, The Seattle Times reported.
Protesters held signs reading "Paddle in Seattle" and posted flags from their boats calling for "Climate Justice,"...
Earth Wins Time as Land & Seas Absorb More Carbon
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on May 17th, 2015
Climate News Network: Half of all the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels remain in the atmosphere. The good news is that only half remain in the atmosphere, while the rest have been taken up by the living world and then absorbed into the land, and the ocean. That is, as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen, so also has the planet’s capacity to soak up atmospheric carbon.
The implication is that what engineers call “positive feedback”-in which global warming triggers the release of yet more greenhouse...
Droughts, Floods and Heatwaves: Blame It on Climate Change
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on May 17th, 2015
Climate News Network: As temperatures soar to record heights, blame it on global warming—but only about three-quarters of the time. And when the rain comes down by the bucketful, you can attribute one downpour in five to climate change. Yet another team of research scientists has looked at the probabilities, and has linked extremes of weather with global warming. Extremes have always happened and are, by definition, rare events. So, for the last 30 years, climate scientists have carefully explained that no particular...
Malaysian palm oil body encourages fiction over fact
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2015
Mongabay: In this commentary, David Dellatore, Program Manager at the Sumatran Orangutan Society, questions the value of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council's essay-writing contest which will pay contributors to conclude that palm oil is not a driver of deforestation. Dellatore argues that a solutions-oriented approach is a better use of time and resources. The views expressed are his own.
Real science begins with an idea, a hypothesis to test, only which after careful, meticulous research, one works to determine...
Disappearing Lake Powell underlines drought facing Colorado river
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2015
Guardian: The Colorado river and its tributaries took a hundred million years or two to carve the Glen Canyon out of the pink and scarlet sandstone which marks out the American southwest. Its myriad gorges, sheer cliffs and towering spires remain ed largely hidden. Prehistoric peoples farmed part of the canyon and Navajo Indian communities built camps close to the river, but few modern Americans ventured there besides explorers – until they disappeared under a man-made wonder, the vast Lake Powell, with the...
‘Paddle in Seattle’ protest gather against Shell oil rig
Posted by Seattle Times: Coral Garnick on May 17th, 2015
Seattle Times: They joined more than 200 other boats Saturday for Paddle in Seattle, a flotilla organized by a coalition of environmental groups, activists and tribal leaders from around the country to demonstrate concern about the impact of fossil-fuel consumption on climate change and to show disappointment in the Port of Seattle’s decision to host Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet.
The coalition, Shell No! Action Council, has said the protests will culminate Monday with a day of peaceful civil disobedience...
Congress’ attack on geosciences is a dangerous game
Posted by Wired: None Given on May 17th, 2015
Wired: The current U.S. Congress is trying desperately to brush science they don’t agree with under the rug. It’s a dangerous game where they are willing to risk the safety of the country because of their misguided ideological views on climate change (backed by powerful and wealthy donors) and end up putting the future of the country in danger by not only cutting funding to the Geosciences, but by portraying the field as outside the “core” and “uard” sciences. This Cold War against the study of the Earth...
Antarctic Ice Shelves found to be thinning from the top AND the bottom
Posted by Environmental News Network: British Antarctic Survey on May 17th, 2015
Environmental News Network: A decade-long scientific debate about what’s causing the thinning of one of Antarctica’s largest ice shelves is settled this week (Wednesday 13 May) with the publication of an international study in the journal The Cryosphere.
The Larsen C Ice Shelf — whose neighbours Larsen A and B, collapsed in 1995 and 2002 — is thinning from both its surface and beneath. For years scientists have been unable to determine whether it is warming air temperatures or warmer ocean currents that were causing the...
How El Niño affects everything from flu pandemics to the price of coffee
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on May 17th, 2015
Blue and Green: Noticed any crazy weather lately? You may be feeling the return of El Niño. Scientists announced yesterday that one of the most potent influences on global weather patterns is back after a 5-year hiatus. This article was written by Michael Reilly and first published on Timeline.com. Get Timeline App. A robust El Niño spells a muted hurricane season for the eastern US, and much-needed rains for the west, which has been parched for years. But other parts of the world are likely to face drought, wildfires...