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What the IPCC found: The big news from new climate assessment
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 27th, 2013
Grist: It`s extremely likely that humans have been the dominant cause of global warming since the 1950s, according to a landmark report from the world`s top panel of climate scientists. And we`re failing in our efforts to keep atmospheric warming below 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 Fahrenheit, which many scientists say is needed to avoid massive disruption.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conducted an epic review of climate research over the last three years. It is summarizing the most important...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on What the IPCC found: The big news from new climate assessmentHow to clean a lake with an unstoppable oil spill: Drain the lake
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 26th, 2013
Grist: We told you in July that tar-sands oil had been leaking into the Canadian wilderness from a drilling site for well over a month - and that nobody knew how to stanch the flow. It would be nice to update you on how that leak was finally fixed. No such luck: The oil is still leaking. More than 12,000 barrels of leaked bitumen has been mopped up, but at least 100 animals have died at the Canadian Natural Resources` Primrose oil extraction site. So much bitumen has flowed into a 131-acre lake that Alberta`s...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How to clean a lake with an unstoppable oil spill: Drain the lakeEffort to ship Bakken oil through Great Lakes hits wall
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 24th, 2013
Grist: The Great Lakes have been spared the ignominy of becoming a conveyor for crude oil fracked at North Dakota`s Bakken fields.
At least for now.
Plans to build a crude shipping terminal at Duluth, Minn., on the western shore of Lake Superior, have been shelved because of a lack of refining capacity on the East Coast. From Wisconsin Public Radio:
The oil terminal would have shipped crude from the ever-expanding Bakken oil fields in North Dakota, where production has tripled over the past five...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Effort to ship Bakken oil through Great Lakes hits wallCourt to EPA on Gulf dead-zone rules: Make up your freakin’ mind
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 24th, 2013
Grist: Is it time for the federal government to drop the hammer on the farmers whose fertilizer gushes into the Mississippi River, fueling sweeping dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico? The Environmental Protection Agency now has six months to decide.
The deadline comes via a federal judge in New Orleans in response to a lawsuit from the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups. The enviros argue that states aren`t doing enough to tackle the problem, and have petitioned the feds to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Court to EPA on Gulf dead-zone rules: Make up your freakin’ mindIn wake of Colorado floods, officials start counting oil and gas spills
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 20th, 2013
Grist: As floodwaters recede following epic storms that hit the region around Boulder, Colo., a week ago, officials are trying to get a grasp on the extent of oil and gas pollution triggered by the deluge.
Oil spills and washed-out chemical tanks only add to the devastation of the unseasonable drenching, which killed 10 people. Another 200 are still unaccounted for, though that number is falling as phone and internet services come back online.
Nearly 1,900 oil and gas wells were shut down ahead of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In wake of Colorado floods, officials start counting oil and gas spillsJapan: Typhoon and earthquake strike Fukushima
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 20th, 2013
Grist: Two and a half years ago, the Fukushima Daiichi power facility was knocked out by a tsunami and earthquake. Myriad troubles ensued. Then this week it was hit by a typhoon, flooding, and another earthquake. Can`t a nuclear plant catch a break?
On Monday, Typhoon Man-yi smacked into Japan, causing flooding in some parts of the country, and new troubles at Fukushima. From Agence France-Presse:
The operator of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday that it dumped more than 1,000 tons...
British anti-fracking occupation will continue
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 18th, 2013
Grist: British opponents of fracking will continue to occupy the side of a road in a village 35 miles south of London - and they won`t have to fear being arrested for trespassing. A court ruled that a local council`s eviction notice was flawed.
The encampment of anti-fracking protesters in the village of Balcombe has become a symbolic occupation that at times has swollen to thousands of people. More than 100 have been arrested during protests since July. It`s the highest-profile battle in a war being...
Fracking industry says fracking made you $1,200 richer last year
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 6th, 2013
Grist: If you keep a close eye on energy news, you probably know by now that fracking for oil and natural gas is injecting $1,200 a year into the bank accounts of American households. Fricking awesome, right? Go on out right now and buy that 65-inch plasma TV on credit — you’re good for it. Because of fracking. Or maybe not. A new report [PDF] from consulting firm IHS CERA claims that fracking increased household disposable income in the U.S. by more than $1,200 last year, and that the industry supports...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking industry says fracking made you $1,200 richer last yearFracking triggered more than 100 earthquakes in Ohio
Posted by Grist: John Upton on September 5th, 2013
Grist: A single fracking wastewater well triggered 167 earthquakes in and around Youngstown, Ohio, during a single year of operation. That’s according to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research by Won-Young Kim, a researcher at Columbia University. Earthquakes had never been recorded at Youngstown before 2010. Then, at the end of that year, frackers started pumping their waste from Marcellus Shale drilling projects into the 9,200-foot deep Northstar 1 injection well. Within two weeks,...
Kalamazoo pipeline protester could get two years in jail
Posted by Grist: John Upton on August 30th, 2013
Grist: One oil spill in his community was more than enough for Kalamazoo resident Christopher Wahmhoff. To protest Enbridge’s replacement of the pipeline that burst along a Michigan riverbank in 2010, Wahmhoff spent 10 hours of his 35th birthday inside the new pipe, slowing construction for a single day in June. Now Wahmhoff, a member of the Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands, has been charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor, charges that could see him put behind bars for more than two years. “It...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kalamazoo pipeline protester could get two years in jail