Archive for October 22nd, 2015

Women ‘less likely than men to support fracking, due to instinct’

Guardian: Women are far less likely than men to support fracking because they rely more on feel and gut reaction than facts, according to the woman representing the UK shale gas industry. Averil Macdonald, who was appointed chair of UK Onshore Oil and Gas this week, said that giving women more information about the controversial practice would not change their minds. “Women, for whatever reason, have not been persuaded by the facts. More facts are not going to make any difference,” the professor of science...

Beavers and the Environment: Dams Help Remove Nitrogen From Estuaries and Restore Streams

Nature World: Beaver dams are helping prevent harmful levels of nitrogen from reaching vulnerable estuaries in the Northeastern U.S., a new study revealed. Researchers from the University of Rhode Island discovered that ponds created from beaver dams slow the movement of water, which subsequently causes nitrogen build up. Along with organic matter build up this creates ideal conditions for scientists to adequately remove nitrogen, according to a news release. With the increased use of agricultural fertilizers...

Evaporation takes place differently previously thought: Implications global warming

ScienceDaily: The process of evaporation, one of the most widespread on our planet, takes place differently than we once thought -- this has been shown by new computer simulations carried out at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The discovery has far-reaching consequences for, among others, current global climate models, where a key role is played by evaporation of the oceans. They all evaporate: oceans and seas, microdroplets of fuel in engines and the sweat on...

Trudeau’s bold change pledge was a ruse. But Canada now a fighting chance

Guardian: On Monday night many Canadians breathed out a sigh of relief. Then they breathed in a whiff of apprehension. The ousting of the Conservatives was a victory, a rejection of Stephen Harper’s politics of fear and outright hatred. But Canadians now confront a Prime Minister gifted in the art of warm, fuzzy claptrap. They won’t be offered what they dreamed of: that was never an option in this election. The election’s most revealing poll was scarcely reported by the media. Those voting against Harper...

Perth’s double whammy: as sea levels rise the city itself is sinking

Guardian: Growing demand for water in Perth has caused the city to sink at up to 6mm a year and could be responsible for an apparent acceleration in the rate of sea level rise, according to new research released by Curtin University. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in October, found that the rate of subsidence in Perth increased between 2000 and 2005, at the same time as the Water Corporation of WA increased the amount of water it was drawing from the city’s two main aquifers to...

Justin Trudeau faces crucial test in picking finance, environment ministers: Hébert

Toronto Star: The cabinet Justin Trudeau unveils on Nov. 4 will have to hit the ground running. From recasting Canada in the anti-Islamic State international coalition, to deciding the fate of the just-negotiated TransPacific Partnership, beating a ticking Supreme Court clock on medically-assisted suicide, rewriting the Conservative anti-terrorism legislation and setting up an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, many of the items on the incoming government’s to-do list are time sensitive. On...