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Canada: Tar Sands Development Is Killing Birds, New Study Finds
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on June 13th, 2014
ThinkProgress: Canada`s boreal forest is a key nursery for migratory birds, but tar sands development is destroying habitat and killing the birds that depend on it, according to a new report.
The report, published by the National Wildlife Federation and Natural Resources Council of Maine, outlines the risks Canadian tar sands development poses to migratory birds. More than 292 species of protected birds rely on the boreal forest for breeding habitat, including the endangered whooping crane, and at least 130...
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A Dusty Greenland Is Speeding Up Glacial Melt
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on June 10th, 2014
ThinkProgress: Greenland provides one of the best real-time visuals of climate change - cleaving glaciers the size of buildings cascading into the ocean as one long, slow river of ice returning to the sea. A new study shows that a layer of dust covering much of Greenland`s ice sheet could be speeding up this process.
A paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience suggests that dust particles embedded in Greenland`s massive ice sheet are gathering more heat than the otherwise white, reflective surface would...
Oil Lobby Overpowers Voters To Kill Statewide Fracking Ban In California
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on May 30th, 2014
ThinkProgress: A California bill that would have banned fracking while the state studied its risks was narrowly defeated in the state Senate on Thursday, despite polling that showed a majority of California voters favored the legislation.
SB 1132, authored by Democratic state senators Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno, failed to pass with a vote of 18-16. In all, seven Democrats prevented the bill from moving forward, with four voting against the bill and three more abstaining from voting.
The bill`s defeat was...
Dry Conditions Fuel An Alaska Wildfire That’s Bigger Than Chicago
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on May 26th, 2014
ThinkProgress: Alaska is battling a huge wildfire this Memorial Day. In the last 24 hours the fire has spread to become bigger than Chicago, prompting officials to issue an order for about 900 people as it threatens Alaska`s Kenai Peninsula, a region south of Anchorage. With just 30 percent of the fire`s 243 square miles contained, 1,000 structures have been evacuated.
Large wildfires are familiar to the region, where 1 million acres burn annually, and yet it is unusually early in wildfire season to see a fire...
Dust Bowl Days: Will We Cut Carbon Pollution Fast Enough To Prevent Permanent Droughts?
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on May 22nd, 2014
ThinkProgress: Large parts of the Southwest are drier than they were during the 1930s Dust Bowl. And the latest science says unrestricted carbon pollution will make this a near-permanent situation post-2050 in a growing portion of this country and around the world - for a thousand years or more! Earlier this month, the U.S. Drought Monitor warned that "devastatingly dry, dusty, windy conditions on the southern Great Plains fueled concerns of a 'New Dust Bowl`.” The epicenter of the 1930s Dust Bowl was where Kansas,...
Depletion Of California’s Groundwater Is Triggering Earthquakes, Study Finds
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on May 15th, 2014
ThinkProgress: California`s record-breaking drought is helping spark wildfires and drying up farmland, but it appears to be having another unforeseen consequence: increasing the state`s chance of earthquakes.
A study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday found that the depletion of groundwater in California’s San Joaquin Valley is putting pressure on the San Andreas Fault, which could be increasing the risk of earthquakes in the region. Colin Amos, Assistant Professor at Western Washington University...
20,000 Evacuated As California Spring Turns To Summer Of Fire
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on May 15th, 2014
ThinkProgress: Springtime in California. Birds chirping, flowers blooming. And this year wildfires raging, winds howling, and heat pounding.
In Southern California, almost a dozen fires sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing their homes as exceptionally strong Santa Ana winds from the east, reaching close to 90 mph, pushed back the normal cool coastal breezes blowing in - priming already tinderbox-like fire conditions. More than 20,000 evacuation notices have been issued.
A fire In San Diego County Wednesday...