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Archive for July 31st, 2012
Report: USA’s heavy rain events rising due to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 31st, 2012
Associated Press: Nationally, Environment America's report found that storms with extreme precipitation increased in frequency by 30 percent across the contiguous United States from 1948 to 2011. It said the largest annual storms produced 10 percent more precipitation, on average.
It said New England was the region where the trend was most pronounced. Intense storms more than doubled in New Hampshire during the period studied while increasing 84 percent in Vermont.
The report, which analyzed 80 million daily...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Report: USA’s heavy rain events rising due to climate changeHow Climate Change and the Monsoons Affect India’s Blackouts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 31st, 2012
Time: Blame it on the rain--at least partially. Northern India has been plagued by prolonged blackouts over the past few days that have left some 600 million people without regular power. The electrical grid has never covered the entire country--around 300 million of India`s 1.2 billion citizens lack access to regular electricity--and isolated blackouts are common even in urban areas that normally get juice. But the collapse of the grid this week is something else, spreading to 22 of the country`s 28 states,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Climate Change and the Monsoons Affect India’s BlackoutsMaps: The Secrets Drillers Can Hide About the Fracking in Your Backyard
Posted by Climate Desk: Tim McDonnell on July 31st, 2012
Climate Desk: A new analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that the majority of states where fracking occurs have no disclosure laws at all, and that those that do are woefully behind when it comes to revealing behind-the-scenes details of their operations. While the Obama administration has put some new rules in place, many decisions about what drillers are allowed to hide are left to the states; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar complained to Reuters that state-level regulation is "not good enough...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Maps: The Secrets Drillers Can Hide About the Fracking in Your BackyardU.S. Drought and Climate Change: Science Points to Link
Posted by Wired News: Brandon Keim on July 31st, 2012
Wired News: The drought that`s turned most of the United States into a dessicated hotbox may be a symptom of climate change, a brutal blowback from carbon pollution.
Climate scientists, who prefer to speak in terms of probabilities and trends rather than single events, are reluctant to point fingers at any one cause - but signs point to human influence making a natural dry spell unnaturally severe.
"In any single event, it`s hard to really know if you`re just seeing a natural variation or climate change,"...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. Drought and Climate Change: Science Points to LinkEnbridge says Line 14 repairs to wrap up on Tuesday
Posted by Reuters: Scott Haggett and Ayesha Rascoe on July 31st, 2012
Reuters: Enbridge Inc said on Monday that repairs to a ruptured Wisconsin pipeline could be complete as early as tomorrow, though regulators have not yet said when they will allow the company to restart the line.
U.S. pipeline regulators said no decision had been made on whether Enbridge will have to take any corrective measures before restarting a pipeline shuttered after spilling more 1,000 barrels of crude oil in Wisconsin.
"Everything is still being looked at," said Pipeline and Hazardous Materials...
U.S. regulator blocks restart of Enbridge Line 14
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 31st, 2012
Reuters: The U.S. government blocked Enbridge Inc from restarting a key Midwestern oil pipeline on Tuesday, saying last week's spill on the line was "absolutely unacceptable."
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blasted Enbridge over the leak of more than 1,000 barrels of crude oil in a field in Wisconsin, which shut its 318,000 barrel per day pipeline on Friday.
"I will soon meet with Enbridge's leadership team, and they will need to demonstrate why they should be allowed to continue to operate...
America’s ‘Most Polluted’ Lake Finally Comes Clean
Posted by National Public Radio: David Chanatry on July 31st, 2012
National Public Radio: Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, N.Y., has often been called the most polluted lake in America. It was hammered by a one-two punch: raw and partially treated sewage from the city and its suburbs, and a century's worth of industrial dumping. But now the final stage in a $1 billion cleanup is about to begin.
Standing in his office amid stacks of reports, scientist Steve Effler glances at an old front-page headline of the Syracuse Herald-Journal: "Divers find goo in Onondaga Lake."
Goo was just part...
California prepares for harsh realities of changing climate
Posted by San Jose Mercury News: Dana Hull on July 31st, 2012
San Jose Mercury News: Climate change is real and unfolding, and the outlook for California is bleak.
A series of state-sponsored scientific studies released Tuesday warns that California can expect more scorching heat waves, severe and damaging wildfires, emergency room visits and strain on the electric grid as the Earth continues to warm and sea levels rise along the state's 1,100-mile long coast.
Higher temperatures in the next decade means that far more of the state's 37 million people will depend on air conditioning--increasing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California prepares for harsh realities of changing climateMore than 22% of Streams in Southern W.Va. Damaged by Mine Pollution
Posted by Duke: None Given on July 31st, 2012
Duke: Water pollution from surface coal mining has degraded more than 22 percent of streams and rivers in southern West Virginia to the point they may now qualify as impaired under state criteria, according to a new study by scientists at Duke and Baylor universities.
The study, published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology, documents substantial losses in aquatic insect biodiversity and increases in salinity linked to sulfates and other pollutants in runoff...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on More than 22% of Streams in Southern W.Va. Damaged by Mine PollutionLow Levels of Caffeine Found in Waters of U.S. Pacific Northwest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 31st, 2012
Yale Environment 360: In a new study, scientists document low levels of caffeine pollution in the waters off the Oregon coast, fresh evidence that contaminants from human waste are entering marine ecosystems with unknown risks to wildlife and human health. In a series of tests conducted at 14 coastal locations, researchers found that caffeine levels were higher -- about 45 nanograms per liter -- in remote waters, while levels were below reporting limits (about 9 nanograms per liter) near “potentially polluted” areas such...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Low Levels of Caffeine Found in Waters of U.S. Pacific Northwest