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Archive for July 1st, 2015
Heat dome parked over West shatters temperature records, sparks fires
Posted by Mashable: None Given on July 1st, 2015
Mashable: The West is baking under a heat dome that has sent temperatures soaring to historically high levels, further drying out soils and priming the region for fast-spreading wildfires. The heat wave is noteworthy for its severity, extent and duration.
During the past seven days alone, 465 warm temperature records have been set or tied across the country, mainly in the West, with 49 monthly warm temperature records set or tied, according to the National Center for Environmental Information in Asheville,...
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Study: Water Use Skyrockets as Fracking Expands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 1st, 2015
Climate Central: Oil and natural gas fracking, on average, uses more than 28 times the water it did 15 years ago, gulping up to 9.6 million gallons of water per well and putting farming and drinking sources at risk in arid states, especially during drought. Those are the results of a U.S. Geological Survey study published by the American Geophysical Union, the first national-scale analysis and map of water use from hydraulic fracturing operations. USGS map of water use from hydraulic fracturing between 2011 and...
Mercury Ruling Not Stopping EPA From Moving Foward with Climate Rules
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on July 1st, 2015
Hill: The Supreme Court’s decision against a key Obama administration air pollution rule is not stopping regulators from moving forward on the government’s most ambitious climate change rule.
Janet McCabe, head of the air pollution office at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), characterized the Monday ruling in Michigan v. EPA as “very narrow,” and said it does not affect any other air or climate regulations.
“The decision does not affect the Clean Power Plan, which EPA will be finalizing...
TransCanada Makes New Push for Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by Huffington Post: Kate Sheppard on July 1st, 2015
Huffington Post: TransCanada, the company seeking to build the controversial pipeline that would carry oil from Alberta to refineries in Texas, is leaning on Secretary of State John Kerry to make a permitting decision. In letter to Kerry and other State Department officials, TransCanada's executive vice president and general counsel Kristine Delkus argues that because Canada has announced various steps to curb its overall greenhouse gas emissions, the United States should allow the Keystone XL pipeline to go forward....
Countries must deal with health risks of more frequent heatwaves: UN
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Agnes Pedrero on July 1st, 2015
Agence France-Presse: The UN on Wednesday urged countries to create preparedness systems to counter the health risks of heatwaves, as they become ever more frequent and intense, and dangerous, due to climate change.
For the first time, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) and its World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have joined forces to create guidelines for experts and authorities for how to lower the health risks of heatwaves like the ones currently scorching Asia and Europe.
"Heatwaves have emerged as...
Astronomers to convene in Hawaii this summer amid TMT controversy
Posted by Pacific Business News: None Given on July 1st, 2015
Pacific Business News: As officials await a start date of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope project on the Big island, thousands of astronomers from around the world are making plans to gather in Hawaii in what will be the largest International Astronomical Union triennial general assembly in history.
Hawaii was selected for the union's 28th assembly in 2009. The two-week meeting will be held Aug. 3-14, with events for astronomers, science journalists and the public.
Dr. Günther Hasinger, director of the University...
Residents return to see homes destroyed by Washington state fire
Posted by Reuters: David Ryder on July 1st, 2015
Reuters: Families whose homes were destroyed in a massive grassland wildfire in Washington state were returning to scenes of destruction on Tuesday as firefighters fought to contain the virtually unchecked blaze, officials said. Fueled by extreme heat and gusting winds, the so-called Sleepy Hollow fire has scorched nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) of rolling grasslands and brush around the city of Wenatchee since it erupted on a parched central Washington hillside on Sunday. The blaze was just 10 percent...
New York State First to Ban Fracking
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on July 1st, 2015
Environment News Service: A statewide ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was made official across New York State on Monday, nearly a year after communities won the right to ban oil and gas development locally.
This action concluded New York Department of Environmental Conservation`s comprehensive, seven-year review and officially prohibits fracking anywhere in the state.
Joe Martens, head of the Department of Environmental Conservation, DEC, said in a statement, "After years of exhaustive research...
Ocean acidification: Not just for oceans anymore!
Posted by Grist: Amelia Urry on July 1st, 2015
Grist: Move over, ocean acidification - or don`t, actually. "Freshwater acidification" doesn`t have quite the same ring to it, though it is happening, thanks to the same carbon emissions currently souring the seas. And apparently fish are feeling the burn already, according to a study in Nature on juvenile pink salmon. From Scientific American:
The study was among the first to look at how different CO2 levels could affect fish larvae in fresh water, according to the lead author, Michelle Ou, a former...