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Archive for December, 2012
NY shale gas rush unlikely in 2013 if gov gives OK
Posted by Associated Press: Mary Esch on December 25th, 2012
Associated Press: After more than four years of environmental review marked by escalating battles between industry and anti-drilling protesters, New York regulators appear likely to complete strict new regulations for shale gas development by the end of February.
But it remains to be seen if drilling actually begins. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Department of Environmental Conservation have refused to say whether a 4 1/2 -year moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, will be lifted when regulations...
Storm brings white Christmas, tornado threat to central U.S
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2012
Reuters: A major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to the southern U.S. plains on Tuesday, contributing to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma.
The storm system surging east from Kansas and the Texas Panhandle includes the threat of tornados and severe thunderstorms along its southern fringe, from southeast Texas to Alabama, the National Weather Service said.
The storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 6 to 8 inches of snow as it strengthens and moves...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Storm brings white Christmas, tornado threat to central U.SWhat to pay attention to as the California fracking debate heats up
Posted by KQED: Amanda Stupi on December 25th, 2012
KQED: Last week, California issued draft regulations for fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly popular but controversial method of oil and natural gas retrieval. How does fracking work? KQED Science's Lauren Sommer explains: Millions of gallons of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, are injected underground at high pressure. That cracks the rocks, letting the oil out. Around the country, hydraulic fracturing has led to record levels of oil and gas production. Workers change the pipes...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on What to pay attention to as the California fracking debate heats upUK flood fears heightened by new downpours
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2012
BBC: Rain has returned to south-west England, bringing flooding and high river levels to areas already saturated by heavy downpours.
Christmas Eve was wet in parts of England, Wales and Scotland, with Wales and the South East of England set for a very wet Christmas Day.
The rail network in the South West of England suffered major disruption.
Operator First Great Western advised customers not to attempt to travel west of Taunton in either direction.
The Environment Agency has issued about 160...
Is the Amazon Rainforest drying out?
Posted by Scientific American: Barbara Fraser on December 25th, 2012
Scientific American: For tropical ecologist Gregory Asner, flying over the Peruvian Amazon from the town of Tarapoto is like traveling back in time. Modern houses, rice paddies and oil palm plantations give way to steep, forested mountains and then to green, unbroken forest that curves toward the horizon.
Suddenly the tree canopy below the twin-engine plane turns a mottled gray-brown, a sign of drought damage that he estimates may affect as many as half the trees.
In this remote corner of Peru’s Ucayali region,...
Iraq calls for Arab action on climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2012
Agence France-Presse: Iraq's most senior energy official called for coordinated Arab action on climate change while Egypt's environment minister proposed a regional green fund at a conference in Baghdad on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussein al-Shahristani warned of the risk of flooding, and also pointed to desertification and sandstorms affecting Iraq in his call for regional efforts to combat climate change. The two-day conference comes after the World Bank warned in a report this month that global...
Australia: Here’s a hot tip, it’s time for global warming’s just deserts
Posted by The Age: Tom Arup on December 25th, 2012
The Age: VICTORIA will be a hotter and drier place by mid-century, with more desert and fewer temperate regions because of the impacts of global warming, new scientific analysis has found.
In a major report, Victoria's Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, Kate Auty, warns the changes will put infrastructure and biodiversity at risk, and leave agriculture and endangered species exposed.
New climate modelling and analysis by the CSIRO and the Bureau of the Meteorology was carried out for the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Here’s a hot tip, it’s time for global warming’s just desertsGrowing body of climate science spells a challenge for ski resorts
Posted by WBUR: Fred Bever on December 25th, 2012
WBUR: Since its start, the nation`s ski industry has contended with the variability of the weather. But new science is calling into question whether climate trends could, before very long, put many New England ski resorts out of business for good.
The industry doesn`t necessarily buy the science, but some are at least planning for change.
Climate Change`s Impact On Business
On a sunny day at Shawnee Peak, a family-sized mountain about an hour northwest of Portland, Maine, faithful early-season...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Growing body of climate science spells a challenge for ski resortsClimate change, fracking to take center stage in 2013
Posted by Marketplace: None Given on December 25th, 2012
Marketplace: As the year comes to a close, we're looking ahead to what's next in 2013. We've got predictions for Washington, health care, and investing, but where are we headed when it comes to energy and the environment?
Marketplace sustainability reporter Scott Tong shares his take on a few hot button issues coming to the fore.
On what's next for fracking:
"A lot of people are thinking about this. It's happening in their backyards, so the inherent opposition to it is going to get louder. The federal...
Rapid Environmental Changes May Have Help Drive Human Evolution
Posted by redOrbit: April Flowers on December 25th, 2012
RedOrbit: A research team from Penn State and Rutgers University found that roughly 2 million years ago in East Africa, a series of rapid environmental changes may be responsible for driving human evolution.
"The landscape early humans were inhabiting transitioned rapidly back and forth between a closed woodland and an open grassland about five to six times during a period of 200,000 years," said Clayton Magill, graduate student in geosciences at Penn State. "These changes happened very abruptly, with each...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Rapid Environmental Changes May Have Help Drive Human Evolution