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Archive for June 23rd, 2011
Fracking and Water: E.P.A. Zeroes In on 7 Sites
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
New York Times: A drilling rig in Washington County, Pa., where the E.P.A. will study the impact of fracking on water quality.
The Environmental Protection Agency has chosen seven natural gas drilling sites where it will conduct case studies to evaluate the impact of hydraulic fracturing on local drinking water.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves freeing of natural gas trapped in shale rock by injecting copious amounts of water at very high pressure. It has become increasingly controversial as companies...
RELEASE/VICTORY! Ecological Internet Successfully Leads in Protection of the Serengeti Wildlife Migration
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on June 23rd, 2011
EI 2011 Mid-Year Fund-Raiser Update: 44% to goal, $ 17,542 raised from 142 donors, $22,458 or 44% to go. Do you want more huge ecology victories like majorly contributing to protecting the Serengeti from roads and many dozen equally important victories (see highlights at http://forests.org/shared/kudos/ ) in the past? Then please, donate now to celebrate this huge victory: http://forests.org/shared/donate/
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
The Tanzanian government has cancelled for now a road that would have cut through the northern portion of the Serengeti National Park [search]. The road would have threatened the entire ecosystem and cut the migration routes of wildebeest, elephant, antelope, zebra and much other magnificent wildlife. Serengeti's migrations [search] are one of the natural wonders of the world.
The proposed and nearly constructed major commercial highway to be located near the Kenyan border would have been in the most remote and pristine area in the Parks entire ecosystem. It was expected that by 2015 some 800 vehicles a day would cross the park. The road would have physically blocked the migration, introduced invasive species, and led to greater poaching ultimately killing the migration altogether.
Posted in Uncategorized 
Comments Off on RELEASE/VICTORY! Ecological Internet Successfully Leads in Protection of the Serengeti Wildlife MigrationEPA to study natgas fracking in five U.S. states
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Thursday the locations in five states where it will study the safety of a natural gas drilling technique some blame for polluting water.
The EPA expects the initial results from its study on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which was mandated by Congress, will be released by the end of next year.
The agency said it will study fracking in the Haynesville Shale formation in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, and the Marcellus Shale in Washington County,...
Rain, falling temps help Texas douse wildfires
Posted by Reuters: Corrie MacLaggan on June 23rd, 2011
Reuters: Heavy rain, easing winds and lower temperatures helped crews battling wildfires that have torched dozens of homes and scorched thousands of acres in Texas and the Southwest, authorities said on Thursday.
Temperatures in West Texas dipped below 100 degrees Fahrenheit, helping firefighters there tackle the state's largest fire, while drenching rain gave fire crews a break to curb a blaze in a residential area north of Houston,
"It was a godsend," Grimes County Sheriff Donald Sowell said of the...
EPA Warns House Bill Would ‘Overturn’ Clean Water Law
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
Greenwire: U.S. EPA warned of the potential dire consequences of legislation being fast-tracked through the House that would give states final say on rules concerning water, wetlands and mountaintop-removal mining.
In a four-page legal analysis (pdf), EPA said the measure (H.R. 2018 (pdf)) sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and ranking member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) "would overturn almost 40 years of federal legislation by preventing EPA from protecting public...
Floods to north, but drought spreads in South
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on June 23rd, 2011
Reuters: Sweltering summer heat and a persistent lack of rain have deepened an historic drought gripping Texas and surrounding southern states.
And despite heavy rains and flooding to the north, there is little relief in sight for the South, according to a report issued Thursday by U.S. climatologists.
The "Drought Monitor" report released Thursday from a consortium of national climate experts said that over the last week, the worst level of drought, called "exceptional drought," expanded to cover more...
Breaking news: Serengeti road cancelled
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
Mongabay: Breaking news: Serengeti road cancelled
In what is a victory for environmentalists, scientists, tourism, and the largest land migration on Earth, the Tanzanian government has cancelled a commercial road that would have cut through the northern portion of the Serengeti National Park. According to scientists the road would have severed the migration route of 1.5 million wildebeest and a half million other antelope and zebra, in turn impacting the entire ecosystem of the Serengeti plains.
"The...
How Much Water Is There On Earth? Magellan Would Be Shocked
Posted by National Public Radio: Robert Krulwich on June 23rd, 2011
National Public Radio: Water feels good when we're thirsty, cools us when we're hot, looks great in a pond, a lake, a cloud. Because we ourselves are two-thirds water, we like the stuff, we're drawn to it. We search the universe looking for signs of water and when we look back at our planet, we are small and pale, yes, but we're dazzlingly blue.
Benjamin Arthur
It's good to be wet. Compared to our neighbors "” Mars, Venus, the dust-dry Moon "” we look the wettest. More than two thirds of our surface is ocean. Another...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Much Water Is There On Earth? Magellan Would Be ShockedRockies wilderness area sought as buffer to climate change
Posted by 360 Yale: None Given on June 23rd, 2011
360 Yale: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is recommending that 888,000 acres of public lands in Montana’s Crown of the Continent ecosystem receive federal wilderness protection to prevent habitat loss for species most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including wolverines, bighorn sheep, WCSGrizzlies in the Crown of the Continent bull trout, and grizzly bears. Drawing on the latest research on how climate change may affect these species, WCS senior conservation scientist John Weaver mapped...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Rockies wilderness area sought as buffer to climate changeWeather catastrophes in China soar: Reinsurer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
Agence France-Presse: The world's biggest reinsurance company, Munich Re, said on Tuesday that deadly weather catastrophes in China had soared around four-fold in the last 30 years, costing its economy billions.
Munich Re said in a report that the number of annual disasters including violent storms, floods, extreme temperatures, droughts and forest fires had risen to about 48 by 2010 from around 11 in the early 1980s.
A company spokesman noted however that official reporting of such catastrophes would have been...