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Colorado Floods Leave Three Dead, Thousands Displaced
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on September 13th, 2013
Nature World News: President Barack Obama approved federal disaster aid late Thursday for Colorado towns affected by a series of flash floods.
Triggered by days of heavy rain across Colorado's Front Range mountains, the flooding has left at least three dead and thousands displaced, Boulder officials report.
According to Fox News, roughly 4,000 people living around the mouth of Boulder Canyon were notified to head to higher ground late Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boulder County spokesman James Burrus said 8,000 telephone...
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Even Small Dams a Potential Hotbed for the Greenhouse Gas Methane
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 31st, 2013
Nature World News: Dams, it turns out, may take an even greater toll on the environment than previously thought.
Already scientists have shown that the world's 50,000 large dams are a source of methane, but a new study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, provides new evidence that smaller dams are a problem as well.
Methane is a known greenhouse gas with a warming effect 25 times more powerful than the headline-grabbing carbon dioxide. Among the largest contributors of emissions in the...
Proposed Method for Extracting Liquid Gas Would Trap CO2 Deep Underground
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 31st, 2013
Nature World News: A new technique for trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide deep underground could simultaneously be used to release the last remains of natural gas liquids from dwindling reservoirs, reports a new paper in the journal International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology. The method, the authors argue, could be used to offset a portion of the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels. While so-called "fracking" has dominated headlines of late, there are alternatives to obtaining the remaining...
Climate Change May Lead to Critical Water Shortages for South America
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 31st, 2013
Nature World News: As global temperatures continue to rise, Chile and Argentina may face critical water storage issues as rain-bearing westerly winds over South America's Patagonian Ice-Field move south, a new study by University of New South Wales researchers found. In reconstructing past changes in the North and Central Patagonian Ice-Field, which plays a vital role in the hydrology of the region, the scientists found that the ice field suddenly contracted around 15,000 years ago after a southerly migration of westerly...
Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico is Big, Though Not as Big as Feared
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 29th, 2013
Nature World News: This year's dead zone located off the coast of the Southeastern United States in the Gulf of Mexico, though big, is not a large as feared, NOAA announced Monday.
Dead -- or hypoxic -- zones result when runoff derived from agricultural and other human activities reach the watershed, causing an overgrowth of algae that sinks, decomposes and consumes much of the oxygen needed to support life.
With this in mind, many researchers braced for the worst based on flood conditions in the Midwest that...
Researchers Take Closer Look at Link Between Permafrost Thaw and Greenhouse Gases
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 29th, 2013
Nature World News: In a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers explain in greater detail than ever before how the thawing of the world's permafrost may result in a substantial release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and that crucial in predicting the overall effect of the process is the soil's water content.
Knowing this, the researchers argue, may lead to more accurate climate models in the future.
Permafrost, soil or rock that remains frozen all year round, occurs where...
Two Idaho Fires Rage as Summer Heat Wears On
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 22nd, 2013
Nature World News: Forest fires are once again blazing in the hot, dry West. Only this time, instead of Colorado or Arizona, it's Idaho that's feeling the heat after two fires started over the weekend continue to burn.
One, called the Lodgepole fire, is located roughly 15 miles west of the town Challisa and was discovered around noon on Saturday, at which point local fire resources responded both quickly and effectively, according to NASA. As of Monday, the cause of the fire remained unknown and firefighters continued...
Chesapeake Dead Zones Impacting Local Fish, Ecosystem
Posted by Nature World News: Tamarra Kemsley on July 10th, 2013
Nature World News: Dead zones occurring in the Chesapeake Bay are disrupting the distribution and number of many of the area's fish, according to a 10-year study by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).
As the first quantitative evidence on a bay-wide scale that these low-oxygen zones are impacting demersal fish (fish that live or feed near the bottom seafloor), the study warns that the affected species represent a key part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and support important commercial...