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Summer’s over, but drought persists; most of Lower 48 affected
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on September 27th, 2012
MSNBC: You'd think the end of summer would mean the end -- or at least beginning of the end -- of this year's drought, but the nation's official stat keepers on Thursday revealed otherwise.
With the Midwest corn harvest in full swing, the worst U.S. drought in decades actually worsened: 65.45 percent of the lower 48 states was in some form of drought on Tuesday, up from 64.82 percent a week earlier, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The 65.45 percent is a new record in the 12-year index tracked...
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‘Grand Canyon’ under Antarctica tied to ice loss
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on July 26th, 2012
MSNBC: A newly discovered Antarctica valley buried by ice and as deep as the Grand Canyon could be contributing to rising sea levels, scientists reported Thursday.
The ancient topography is such that relatively warm sea water could be eating away at the ice edge -- and a question for future research is whether that process is happening elsewhere along Antarctica's coastal rift valleys.
A few other ice-covered valleys have been found but the geology of this one, discoverer Rob Bingham told NBC News,...
Satellites show ice melt across most of Greenland
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on July 24th, 2012
MSNBC: Three satellites found that 97 percent of Greenland -- the land mass second only to Antarctica for its volume of ice -- underwent a thaw never before seen in 33 years of satellite tracking, NASA reported Tuesday.
Satellite experts at first didn't trust their readings, especially since they showed an incredible acceleration. Over four days, Greenland's ice sheet -- which covers 683,000 square miles -- went from 40 percent in thaw to nearly entirely in thaw.
"This was so extraordinary that at...
2011 Texas drought was 20 times more likely due to warming, study says
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on July 10th, 2012
MSNBC: The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration issued a warning that previously unusual weather is now becoming more and more common, in part due to the changes occurring at the two poles of the Earth. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
Trying to get beyond the standard scientific disclaimer that no single weather event can be pinned on global warming, government scientists on Tuesday unveiled a new framework: what are the odds of a specific event being impacted by warming?
They tested...
Siberian wildfire smoke means rosy sunsets in Seattle
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on July 10th, 2012
MSNBC: The Pacific Northwest and Canada's British Columbia can thank Russia for some fantastic sunsets in recent days. Smoke from several dozen wildfires in Siberia has been wafting over the Pacific, turning the skies a brilliant red and orange at dusk. The downside has been some rather hazy daylight at times.
"It isn't uncommon for smoke from large wildfires in Siberia to be lofted high enough into the atmosphere that winds push plumes of it across the Pacific Ocean to North America," NASA noted on...
Drought hits 56 percent of continental US; ‘significant toll’ on crops
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on July 5th, 2012
MSNBC: The prolonged heat across the Midwest has not only set temperature records, it is also expanding and intensifying drought conditions -- and relief isn't on the horizon for most areas, the National Weather Service reported Thursday.
Drought conditions are present in 56 percent of the continental U.S., according to the weekly Drought Monitor.
That's the most in the 12 years that the data have been compiled, topping the previous record of 55 percent set on Aug. 26, 2003. It's also up five percentage...
Brazilian dam controversy spills over into ‘Earth Summit II’
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on June 19th, 2012
MSNBC: Brazil's biggest infrastructure project -- the $11 billion Belo Monte dam -- is also its most controversial, and one showcased at the international summit on June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro held 20 years after the Earth Summit.
Striking a balance between economic drive and environmental protection is the challenge nations are pondering this week in Brazil at an event marking the 20th anniversary of the U.N.-backed Earth Summit.
Brazil faces that issue in its own backyard -- the Amazon. Deforestation...
Billionaire pledges 90,000 acres for protected area
Posted by MSNBC: Miguel Llanos on June 15th, 2012
MSNBC: A billionaire hedge-fund manager on Friday pledged to protect 90,000 acres of his Colorado ranch from further development as part of a much larger planned conservation area. The Obama administration said it would be the "largest single conservation easement" ever provided to the federal government.
The easement, which would include tax benefits for New York-based Louis Bacon, provides "the foundation for the proposed new Sangre de Cristo Conservation Area," the Interior Department announced. ...