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Archive for December, 2012
Refiners Beating Exxon Join Pipeline Boom for Lost Margin
Posted by Bloomberg: Bradley Olson on December 27th, 2012
Bloomberg: Refiners (S5OILR) from Tesoro Corp. (TSO) to Phillips 66 that gained as much as 86 percent this year are investing in pipelines for new revenue as margins for turning oil into gasoline narrow from record levels.
Refiners are set to beat all except three of 154 industry groups on the Standard & Poor’s index for 2012, as a U.S. production glut let them buy oil at a record average of $17.46 a barrel below the global benchmark. That spread will diminish in 2013 as more than 20 new pipelines enter...
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Comments Off on Refiners Beating Exxon Join Pipeline Boom for Lost MarginWinter storm hits eastern U.S., snarls holiday travel
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on December 27th, 2012
Reuters: A powerful winter storm that has claimed at least five lives pounded the U.S. Midwest and Northeast and snarled post-Christmas travel on Wednesday after rare tornadoes pummeled the Gulf Coast.
Heavy snow and high winds prompted National Weather Service blizzard and winter storm warnings for the Ohio River Valley and into the Northeast. Fifteen inches of snow were recorded at New Baltimore, Michigan, as the storm headed north and east.
About 1,500 U.S. flights were canceled on Wednesday, according...
Climate change could cut Western water runoff by 10%
Posted by LA Times: Bettina Boxall on December 27th, 2012
LA Times: Another climate change study is projecting declines in runoff in many parts of the West, a scenario that would put more pressure on the region's water supplies.
Using new model simulations, scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory expanded on 2007 research that predicted a drier future for the Southwest.
The reasons involve more than a drop in precipitation -- which is actually expected to increase in some areas that are critical to Western water supplies. Rather,...
Low water may halt Mississippi River transport next week
Posted by Reuters: Tom Polansek on December 27th, 2012
Reuters: Commerce on a key stretch of the Mississippi River could "come to an effective halt" earlier than expected next week due to low water levels, disrupting shipments of billions of dollars of grain and other goods, a group of shippers said on Wednesday.
The Waterways Council, which represents shippers and receivers of commodities, said in a message to its members that it received an advisory from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday that indicated water levels around Thebes, Ill., could be...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Low water may halt Mississippi River transport next weekStorm Pummels Nation’s Midsection As It Heads East
Posted by National Public Radio: Pam Fessler on December 26th, 2012
National Public Radio: Bad weather was making its way across the eastern part of the U.S. on a busy post-Christmas travel day. Hundreds of flights were canceled and roads were treacherous in many East Coast and Midwestern states.
Storm Brings Tornado Outbreak and Blizzard Conditions
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on December 26th, 2012
Climate Central: A far-reaching storm system tore across the South on Tuesday, causing what is likely to go into the record books as the worst Christmas Day tornado outbreak on record. The storm responsible for the severe weather also spread a swath of snow and ice from Texas to Indiana, and the whole mess of extreme weather slid east on Wednesday, with a string of blizzard warnings that stretched at least 700 miles across seven states as of midday Wednesday.
The storm was already wreaking havoc with holiday travel....
Extreme Weather 101: Drought and Our Changing Climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 26th, 2012
Climate Central: Drought has left huge swaths of the United States parched this year. Are these dry conditions simply a fluke, or something we many need to get used to in a warming world? Scientist Mike Brewer and meteorologist Dan Satterfield explain the connection between drought and a changing climate in our series Extreme Weather 101.
Interview: What’s Damaging Marshes Along U.S. Coast and Why It Matters
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Kevin Dennehy on December 26th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: For centuries now, the salt marshes along the U.S. coast have been disappearing, with some experts estimating that 70 percent have been lost, largely due to development. While in recent decades the U.S. has done a better job of protecting these ecosystems, even marshes spared from development are now succumbing to more subtle threats, from rising sea levels to invasive species.
MBL Linda Deegan One factor scientists always thought marshes could withstand was nutrient enrichment, such as the flow...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Interview: What’s Damaging Marshes Along U.S. Coast and Why It MattersUnited States: Planners wary of coastal sea rise in St. Augustine area
Posted by Florida Times-Union: Peter Guinta on December 26th, 2012
Florida Times-Union: Scientists studying the effect of higher sea levels on the 100,000-acre Matanzas Basin -- which runs from Anastasia Island to Crescent Beach -- say that rising waters will turn coastal marshes into open water and coastal forests into marshes.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projections point to a potential 3- to 7-inch sea level rise along St. Johns County’s coast over several decades.
Kathryn Frank, assistant professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Planners wary of coastal sea rise in St. Augustine areaSandy tops list of 2012 extreme weather, climate events
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman, Michael Lemonick, and Dan Yawitz on December 26th, 2012
Climate Central: From unprecedented heat waves that shattered "Dust Bowl" era records from the 1930s, to Hurricane Sandy, which devastated coastal New Jersey and New York, 2012 was the year Mother Nature had it out for the U.S. No country on Earth rivaled the U.S. in 2012 in terms of extreme weather and climate events, as one rare episode after another rocked the country.
Many served to highlight the growing role that global warming may be playing in tipping the odds in favor of high-impact weather events.
2012's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sandy tops list of 2012 extreme weather, climate events