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Mississippi and Louisiana warily eye rising Pearl River
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Eva Botkin-Kowacki on March 14th, 2016
Christian Science Monitor: Louisiana and Mississippi emergency officials nervously eye the rising Pearl River which runs along the border of the two states, as more rain is predicted for later this week.
Flooding began last week and has already damaged thousands of homes across the region and claimed at least four lives in Louisiana. In Mississippi, the hunt continued Sunday for two missing fishermen. And this isn't the first time the Pearl River has surged over its banks.
The National Weather Service predicts the river...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Mississippi and Louisiana warily eye rising Pearl RiverScientists move one step closer to turning water into fuel, cheaply
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Eva Botkin-Kowacki on January 5th, 2016
Christian Science Monitor: Scientists have cleared one hurdle on the path to deriving hydrogen fuel from water affordably, a breakthrough that could drastically change the way we power vehicles.
Hydrogen has the potential to fuel incredibly environmentally-clean cars. But making that fuel hasn't been so efficient or economical. Pure hydrogen gas does not occur naturally on Earth, so scientists must devise ways to separate hydrogen from naturally-occurring compounds, like H2 O.
Until now, cars that run on water have been...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists move one step closer to turning water into fuel, cheaplyWhat can trees tell us about climate change?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Eva Botkin-Kowacki on November 8th, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: Trees don’t just provide the paper for history books. They actually write the historical records themselves.
Tree-rings, new layers of wood added to a growing tree each year, record climatic data annually throughout a tree’s life. Ancient trees provide a record of drought, rainfall, and other climatic variations. And that record could help scientists better understand current and future climate trends.
Dendrochronologist Edward R. Cook and his team at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of...
Global warming unlocking carbon stores long-locked in permafrost
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Eva Botkin-Kowacki on October 28th, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: For thousands of years, a large percentage of the world’s carbon stores have been safely locked in permafrost, the frozen layer of soil and organic matter that covers much of the planet’s northernmost latitudes. But as temperatures rise and some permafrost melts, that carbon is being released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide at an alarming rate.
For some ancient permafrost, about half its carbon could decompose in just one week after a thaw, according to a new study by the US Geological Survey,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global warming unlocking carbon stores long-locked in permafrost