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Archive for January 26th, 2016
Model explains huge recurring rainstorms in tropical Indian and Pacific oceans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2016
ScienceDaily: El Niño is fairly well understood, and by now it's a household word. But another huge system in the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans, which wreaks similar havoc in world weather, is relatively unknown and is just beginning to be explained.
University of Washington scientists have published a mathematical model that could help explain and forecast the Madden-Julian Oscillation, a massive cluster of thunderstorms that plays a role in global weather.
"Over the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific...
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Oil price plunge threatens shale revolution
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Julien Dury on January 26th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: Producers of oil and gas from once hard-to-tap shale deposits are now facing the payback of the energy revolution they wrought: ultra-low prices forcing them out of business.
This year is expected to be a make-or-break year for US shale producers, after the 70 percent plunge in crude prices, with many at risk of failure.
Dozens of shale drillers sought bankruptcy protection in the last year as low oil prices made their operations uncompetitive and they could not pay debts.
But many are holding...
Watershed project conserves Himachal’s ecology, boosts economy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2016
Indo-Asian News Service: The World Bank-funded Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project in Himachal Pradesh has helped preserve natural resources and prevent soil erosion besides ensuring substantial improvement in the local economy.
The project was started in October 2005 in 10 districts, a government spokesperson told IANS. Initially, 602 gram panchayats of 42 development blocks were covered.
However, considering the fruitful results, another 108 panchayats that were covered under a micro watershed programme were...
Bernie bashes Hillary on Keystone and other pipelines
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 26th, 2016
Grist: Bernie Sanders came after Hillary Clinton on climate change and energy issues on Monday night. At a Democratic candidate town hall forum in Iowa, Sanders argued that he has the judgment to be president, pointing out that, unlike Clinton, he was correct from the start in opposing both the Iraq War and Keystone XL.
“On day one, I said the Keystone Pipeline is a dumb idea,” said Sanders - who, as it happens, looks remarkably like Larry David doing Bernie Sanders. "I think the Bakken pipeline, and...
Black Lives Matters calls Flint water crisis an act of “state violence”
Posted by Grist: Raven Rakia on January 26th, 2016
Grist: As Michigan`s neglect and indifference toward the Flint water crisis continues to make headlines, activists and social justice groups are throwing their support behind the residents still suffering from lead-contaminated water supply. The most recent of these advocates is Black Lives Matter: On Friday, the group released a solidarity statement linking the Flint water crisis to other instances of environmental racism and called the human-made disaster an example of state violence.
The statement...
2 Offices Won’t Investigate New York Constitutional Amendment on Adirondack Mining
Posted by New York Times: Susanne Craig on January 26th, 2016
New York Times: The offices of the New York attorney general and inspector general have declined to open investigations into the 2013 constitutional amendment that allowed a private company, NYCO Minerals, to conduct open-pit mining on state land in the Adirondack Mountains. Protect the Adirondacks, one of several environmental groups that opposed the amendment, requested the inquiries, accusing state officials of violating the New York Constitution by advocating the amendment. The group obtained hundreds of documents...
Ohio water system operator failed to notify public of unsafe lead levels
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2016
Associated Press: Ohio is sending pallets of bottled water and testing kits to several communities after environmental officials said the operator of a small water system failed to notify the public for months that unsafe levels of lead had been found in some homes. The state Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order Monday forbidding James Bates from working at the Sebring village water treatment plant and informing him that the agency intends to revoke his operating license for endangering the public...