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Archive for January 6th, 2011
Lakes a big source of climate-warming gas: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
Reuters: Lakes and rivers emit far more of a powerful greenhouse gas than previously thought, counteracting the overall role of nature in soaking up climate-warming gases, a study showed on Thursday.
A review of 474 freshwater systems indicated they emitted methane equivalent to 25 percent of all carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas blamed for stoking climate change -- absorbed by the world's land areas every year.
Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.
"Methane emissions...
Freshwater methane release changes greenhouse gas equation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
ScienceDaily: An international team of scientists has released data indicating that greenhouse gas uptake by continents is less than previously thought because of methane emissions from freshwater areas.
John Downing, an Iowa State University professor in the ecology, evolution and organismal biology department, is part of an international team that concluded that methane release from inland waters is higher than previous estimates.
The study, published in the journal Science, indicates that methane gas...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Freshwater methane release changes greenhouse gas equationFloods might become the norm for SE Iowa
Posted by KTVO: None Given on January 6th, 2011
KTVO: Flooded rivers may be something Southeast Iowans are just going to have to get used to.
That is if a report by the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council turns out to be accurate.
The council, consisting of top Iowa scientists and economic development specialists, spent the last 18 months studying the issue of climate change in the state and recently released its findings.
The report claims that Iowans are already facing the effects of climate change.
Some might seem pleasant like warmer...
Australia: La Nina blamed for weather upset, but climate link unclear – YAHOO!
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Claire Snegaroff on January 6th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Experts pin the floods that have ravaged northeastern Australia on a weather phenomenon known as La Nina but are cautious whether the peril could be amplified by climate change.
La Nina, or "girl child," is the counterpart of El Nino, or "boy child," together comprising a pendular swing of extreme weather that affects the Pacific Rim but can be disruptive as far as the coast of southern Africa.
El Nino occurs when the trade winds that circulate surface water in the tropical Pacific start to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: La Nina blamed for weather upset, but climate link unclear – YAHOO!Lakes a big source of climate-warming gas: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
Reuters: Lakes and rivers emit far more of a powerful greenhouse gas than previously thought, counteracting the overall role of nature in soaking up climate-warming gases, a study showed on Thursday.
A review of 474 freshwater systems indicated they emitted methane equivalent to 25 percent of all carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas blamed for stoking climate change -- absorbed by the world's land areas every year.
Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.
"Methane emissions...
Butterflies ‘take turns courting’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
BBC: Male and female butterflies switch courting roles depending on the season they were born in, say scientists.
Squinting bush brown butterflies use reflective "eye spots" on their wings to attract potential mates.
Males born in the wet season beat their wings to flash their spots but in the dry season females grow brighter spots instead and take the lead.
This behaviour could benefit females, allowing them to control mating when fewer food resources are available.
Published in the journal...
Methane from BP oil spill eaten by microbes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
Guardian: The huge quantities of methane gas that bubbled out of BP's broken well in the Gulf of Mexico were eaten up almost entirely by undersea microbes by the end of August, a new study reports today.
Other scientists cautioned that much oil remained on the ocean floor, where it has penetrated deep into the sediment, as well as in fragile marshlands. Oil is still turning up in tar balls on beaches and in fishermen's nets.
But the latest study, published in Science, offers an important new piece of...
Bacteria also removed spilled methane from Gulf
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
Associated Press: A sudden bloom of bacteria after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill helped clean up the methane gas that was also released into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new report.
"They did a good job on it and that was much earlier than expected," said John Kessler, a chemical oceanographer at Texas A&M University.
Earlier studies found that the oil-eating bacteria got a jump start by consuming the natural gases ethane and propane. A new report by Kessler and colleagues in Thursday's online edition...
7 Billion And Counting: Can Earth Handle It?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
National Public Radio: Earth's population stands at nearly 7 billion, and demographers project we may reach 9 billion by the middle of this century.
In the past 50 years, population has grown at a rate never before seen in human history. Pastures have become towns, cities have sprawled across the landscape, and humans now live in places once considered remote. The change is so dramatic that some scientists now refer to this as "the age of man."
But as humanity's reach expands, forests are vanishing, glaciers are...
Northern Ireland Water chief will not get golden handshake, says minister
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 6th, 2011
Guardian: The Northern Ireland minister in charge of water has denied that the resigning chief of the state water utility company will receive a "golden handshake".
Laurence MacKenzie resigned as chief executive of Northern Ireland Water (NIW) yesterday following criticism of its handling of the water supply crisis over Christmas.
Conor Murphy, the regional development minister, said today he was seeking legal advice over MacKenzie's minimum entitlement terms.
The Sinn Fein MP said he believed the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Northern Ireland Water chief will not get golden handshake, says minister