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Archive for September, 2011
New study predicts warmer Yellowstone if climate change isn’t slowed
Posted by Billings Gazette: Brett French on September 27th, 2011
Billings Gazette: The weather in Yellowstone National Park could feel more like that of Los Angeles in 60 years if climate change continues to accelerate, according to a new report released Tuesday.
Under that "medium high" climate change scenario, the average summer temperature in the nation's first national park would rise by 9.7 degrees by 2070.
Stephen Saunders of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, lead author of the report that was underwritten by the Bozeman-based Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on New study predicts warmer Yellowstone if climate change isn’t slowedCoal Industry, States Blast Obama Administration’s Stream Proposal
Posted by Greenwire: Manuel Quinones on September 27th, 2011
Greenwire: Here in the heart of coal country, just miles from numerous mining operations, a series of politicians, industry leaders and state regulators yesterday voiced strong opposition to the Obama administration's rewriting of rules to protect waterways from mountaintop removal mining. Critics spoke in near-apocalyptic terms about the Office of Surface Mining's effort to develop a new stream protection rule to replace George W. Bush-era regulations, saying it would kill thousands of jobs and jeopardize...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Coal Industry, States Blast Obama Administration’s Stream ProposalShale gas find threat to UK carbon goals
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2011
Guardian: Your report on fracking (Vast gas field set to turn Blackpool into Dallas-on-sea, 22 September) failed to mention the impact of the exploitation of huge quantities of gas in the shale beneath Lancashire on climate change. While it's true that burning natural gas produces less CO2 than oil or coal per tonne of fuel burnt, this argument does not take into consideration the leakage of methane. This greenhouse gas, some 70 times more potent at producing global warming after 20 years than CO2, would be...
Scientists find frog genes that provide immunity to extinction plague
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2011
Mongabay: Scientists with Cornell have discovered genetics that may provide immunity to frogs in face of the killer amphibian-disease chytridiomycosis. This plague, which is spreading to amphibian populations worldwide, is responsible for a number of frog species' recent extinction. But now researchers report in a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that they are one step closer to understanding why some frog populations are able to fend off the disease, while others succumb...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists find frog genes that provide immunity to extinction plagueDeforestation may boost rainfall on West African cropland
Posted by SciDev.Net: Christine Ottery on September 27th, 2011
SciDev.Net: The many negative effects of deforestation are well-known, but scientists have shown that farmers may derive one advantage from planting in deforested areas that are sandwiched between patches of forest. Converting rainforests into cropland increases rainfall in the new cropland by four to six times, but halves the amount of rain over the forest, says a modelling study by scientists from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. The effect stems from the heat difference between air over the cropland...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Deforestation may boost rainfall on West African croplandJail Before Climate-Wrecking Tar Sands, Canadians Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2011
Inter Press Service: More than 200 Canadians engaged in civil disobedience, with 117 arrested in Canada's quiet capital city on Monday. The reason? To protest the Stephen Harper right-wing government's open support for the oil industry and expanding production in the climate-disrupting tar sands.
The normally placid and polite Canadians shouted, waved banners and demanded the closure of the multi-billion-dollar tar sands oil extraction projects in northern Alberta to protect the global climate and the health of local...
In Need of a Unified Climate Change Policy
Posted by Inter Press Service: Tinus de Jager on September 27th, 2011
Inter Press Service: The implementation of a unified climate change policy across all of South Africa’s government departments will not be easy as the divisions currently work largely as separate entities, says Greenpeace Africa.
The South African government announced on Sep. 13 that it would beef up its climate policy "to ensure that all government departments responded well to the issue of climate change."
South Africa will host the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban from Nov....
Mapping error sparks new stance on climate change
Posted by Public Radio International: None Given on September 27th, 2011
Public Radio International: Glaciologists are up in arms about a new map of the world that they think overstates the effects of climate change.
The latest edition of the well-respected "Times Atlas of the World" has run afoul of many in the scientific community. A map of Greenland in the book shows that the country has considerably less landmass than ever before. Harper Collins, which prints the "Times Atlas," recently circulated a press release that said Greenland had lost more than 15 percent of its coastline after nearby...
Pittsylvania County uranium site prone to flooding, study says
Posted by Roanoke Times: Laurence Hammack on September 27th, 2011
Roanoke Times: A piece of Pittsylvania County land that may one day be a uranium mine is the site of "frequent and pervasive flooding," according to a study by an environmental group.
Floodwaters may carry the risk of radioactive contamination from uranium mining waste, called tailings, that would be stored underground at the mine site, said a report released Monday by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.
Since Virginia Uranium Inc. proposed tapping a huge uranium deposit beneath the Coles Hill farm...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pittsylvania County uranium site prone to flooding, study saysChemChina looks ahead to having zero emissions
Posted by China Daily: Zhang Zhao on September 27th, 2011
China Daily: China's leading chemical products manufacturers, China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina), is paying closer attention to environmental protection and climate change and is looking for eco-friendly concepts to improve society, a senior executive has reported.
"The chemical industry does not need to mean heavy pollution," explained Ren Jianxin, general manager of the China National Chemical Corp, so it is using more advanced technology and innovative management, while keeping social responsibility...