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Archive for August, 2011
Regulators investigate “unsafe” NY natural gas line
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Reuters: A key natural gas pipeline which crosses southern New York state is in danger of rupturing and could pose a safety threat, according to a recent report from regulators.
An investigation by the New York State Department of Public Service into a leak on the Millennium Pipeline in January found that uninspected faulty welds were responsible for the accident.
Now the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is conducting its own investigation along a large stretch of the pipe between...
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No relief in sight for Texas heat and drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Reuters: The nation's triple digit heat wave -- which hit its 34th day on Friday -- could last until the end of August, while extensive drought in and around Texas may last into October, forecasters said.
The deadly heat event that has broken numerous records has left the southern plains and Mississippi Valley struggling to meet demand for power and water and has cost billions in impact on crops and livestock.
"Many more days of triple-digit heat are on deck as iron-clad high pressure at most levels...
Algae outbreaks across Britain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Telegraph: Algae has also been seen in north Wales near Aberdyfi, the Mawddach Estuary and the Menai Strait.
Carmarthen bridge -- town bridge coated with algae on the underside.
Wishing Tree Reservoir in Hastings.
Daventry Country Park, Midlands
Blue-green algae has been spotted in Loch Coulter in Stirlingshire.
Belhaven Bay, East Lothian
An algae bloom was found in fishing ponds in the Wirral, where a dog was also taken ill.
Scotsman's Flash in Wigan and Pennington Flash in Leigh, Lancashire...
‘Green slime’ outbreak blamed on pollution, not just hot weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Telegraph: Some 83 incidents of algae have been reported to environmental authorities so far this year, starving lakes of oxygen and putting native species at threat.
The highest ever number of annual reported incidents was 226 five years ago, but the Environment Agency said this year was an unusually bad one.
Toxic 'cyanobacteria', known as blue green algae, has been recorded along the Welsh coast, in Scottish lochs, infesting the Norfolk Broads, ruining swimming ponds in London and in fishing ponds...
Could Seawater Solve the Freshwater Crisis?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
National Geographic: With 1.8 billion people predicted to live in areas of extreme water scarcity by 2025, desalination--the removal of salt from water--is increasingly being proposed as a solution.
But before desalination can make a real difference solving in the looming water crisis, officials and experts need to commit to overcoming obstacles that make the process expensive and inefficient, a new paper argues.
Scientists predict that by 2016, the amount of fresh water produced by desalination plants will exceed...
Records Fall During Extended Heat Wave
Posted by Climate Central: Alyson Kenward on August 5th, 2011
Climate Central: As hot weather continues to bake much of the county's midsection, the National Weather Service issued heat advisories and extreme heat warnings for parts of 15 southern states yesterday. Across states like Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi, temperatures set new daily high records, adding to the tally of thousands of temperature records that were broken so far this summer across a wide swatch of the country. Here are some of the most striking records set during the past week: On Wednesday,...
Nigerian Oil Spill Cleanup Could Take 30 Years, U.N. Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Yahoo!: The African country of Nigeria is suffering environmental disaster that has been ongoing for years, according to a report from the United Nations. In November 2009, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched an assessment of environmental impact of oil spills that have dated back as far as 40 years in the country's Ogoniland region. The U.N. released a report Thursday on the disaster stating that this oil spill "could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up...
Analysis: Nigerian oil region’s gloomy outlook unmoved by U.N
Posted by Reuters: Joe Brock on August 5th, 2011
Reuters: A landmark U.N. report on 50 years of oil pollution in Nigeria is unlikely to bring the change many had hoped for, after Shell and the national petroleum company went on the defensive and weary local communities said they had seen it all before.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report focused on the Ogoniland region and is the most comprehensive, scientific analysis in any area of the vast Niger Delta wetlands, the heartland of Africa's largest energy industry.
The report offers...
Canada: Fake Twitter accounts used to promote tar sands pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2011
Mother Jones: Someone in the oil industry appears to be resorting to astroturfing to bolster support for the controversial proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil from Alberta down to Texas if approved by the Obama administration. The Rainforest Action Network thinks the American Petroleum Institute and its oil lobby allies are behind a slew of fake Twitter accounts designed to prop up public opinion about the pipeline.
The final decision on the project lies with the State Department...
Better grazing practices hold key to Kenyan droughts
Posted by SciDev.Net: David Western on August 5th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Drought is having a major impact on the livelihoods of Kenya's pastoralists The current drought in northern Kenya has deep roots in the current practices of pastoralists that need to be addressed, says conservationist David Western.
Failed rains have tipped the balance from poverty to starvation for 12 million in the Horn of Africa. But they don't explain the depth of the tragedy, any more than the growing threat of climate change explains the recent decades of rangeland deterioration.
Early...