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Archive for January 14th, 2016
Obama to Freeze New Coal Mines on Public Land
Posted by New York Magazine: Jonah Shepp on January 14th, 2016
New York Magazine: In his latest effort to secure his legacy as having actually done something about climate change, on Friday, President Obama will order the federal government to cease issuing new leases for coal mining on public land, an administration official tells the New York Times. Mining companies will still be allowed to exploit coal reserves that they have already leased, which the Times reports is enough to sustain current levels of production for 20 years, but the industry is facing hard times anyway....
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Forest loss increased annually for 25 yrs at oldest Amazon mega-dam
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on January 14th, 2016
Mongabay: Researchers examining changes in forest cover encircling the Amazon’s oldest mega-dam have found that hundreds of square kilometers of forest have been lost each year of the dam’s 25-year history. The study, published in Applied Geography late in 2015, was undertaken by an international team from the US, Brazil, and the Netherlands. They describe the Tucuruí dam, constructed in the 1980s, as “an ideal case for understanding the long-term impact of mega-dams on rainforest loss.” Great rivers across...
Global warming likely to delay next ice age
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: Global warming is likely to disrupt a natural cycle of ice ages and contribute to delaying the onset of the next big freeze until about 100,000 years from now, scientists said on January 13. In the past million years, the world has had about 10 ice ages before swinging back to warmer conditions like the present. In the last ice age that ended 12,000 years ago, ice sheets blanketed what is now Canada, northern Europe and Siberia. In a new explanation for the long-lasting plunges in global temperatures...
Warming Could Mean Major Thaw For Alaska Permafrost
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on January 14th, 2016
Climate Central: If you’d asked permafrost researcher Vladimir Romanovsky five years ago if he thought the permafrost of the North Slope of Alaska was in danger of substantial thaw this century because of global warming, he would have said no. The permanently frozen soils of the northern reaches of the state are much colder, and so more stable than the warmer, more vulnerable permafrost of interior Alaska, he would have said. “I cannot say it anymore” he told journalists last month at the annual meeting of the American...
Rocky Mountain meltdown: CU scientists find glaciers shrinking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2016
Denver Post: Colorado scientists using ground-penetrating radar have found climate change is shrinking glaciers and other icy terrain in the Rocky Mountains -- raising concerns about water supplies.
The Arikaree Glacier -- likely more than 1,000 years old -- has been thinning by about 1 meter a year over the past 15 years and will disappear completely in 25 years, a team of scientists concluded.
Their peer-reviewed research, unveiled Tuesday, found that rock glaciers and other ice that holds water west...
The coal industry is off to a terrible, no good, very bad year
Posted by Mother Jones: Tim McDonnell on January 14th, 2016
Mother Jones: During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama reiterated his call to eliminate federal subsidies for fossil fuels in an effort to speed up the transition to cleaner energy sources. It's something he's asked for nearly every year of his presidency, and it hasn't happened yet. But this year, he added something new: a plan to charge oil and coal companies more for leases on federal land, to offset the damage their products do to the climate.
It was just the latest piece...
Look at the oil spilled in the world’s 2nd ‘Best Place for Wildlife’
Posted by Guardian: David Hill on January 14th, 2016
Guardian: Walk into one of the many tour agencies in Iquitos, the biggest city in Peru’s Amazon, and you’ll hear many wonderful things about the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. “Best place to see animals in their natural habitat,” one guide says. “An abundance of parrots, paiche and monkeys, and all kinds of bird species,” cries another.
“Pacaya-Samiria”, as it’s dubbed, extends for just over two million hectares and is the second largest of Peru’s 170 “protected natural areas.” In 2015 USA Today’s travel...
Study: Deadly amphibian fungus may decline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2016
EurekAlert: A new study by WCS and other groups offers a glimmer of hope for some amphibian populations decimated by the deadly chytrid fungus: climate change may make environmental conditions for the fungus unsuitable in some regions and potentially stave off the spread of disease in African amphibian populations struggling to adapt to changes brought about by global warming.
Chytrid or Bd - short for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis - can cause a disease called chytridiomycosis, which is found worldwide and...
South Africa weather service says 2015 driest year on record
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2016
Reuters: The South African Weather Service said on Thursday that 2015 was the driest calendar year since complete nationwide records began in 1904, underscoring the severity of a drought that threatens the staple maize crop and economic growth.
The data showed that annual average rainfall in South Africa 2015 was 403 mm, about a third below the annual average from 1904 to 2015 of 608 mm.