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Archive for April 13th, 2013
Dead dolphins and shrimp with no eyes found after BP clean-up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 13th, 2013
Independent: Hundreds of beached dolphin carcasses, shrimp with no eyes, contaminated fish, ancient corals caked in oil and some seriously unwell people are among the legacies that scientists are still uncovering in the wake of BP's Deepwater Horizon spill.
This week it will be three years since the first of 4.9 billion barrels of crude oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, in what is now considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. As the scale of the ecological disaster...
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Comments Off on Dead dolphins and shrimp with no eyes found after BP clean-upClimate change could hit Atlanta hardest, UGA research predicts
Posted by Online Athens: Lee Shearer on April 13th, 2013
Online Athens: The effects of climate change in Georgia might fall hardest on Atlanta and coastal counties, according to a University of Georgia graduate student’s research.
Binita KC, a doctoral candidate in UGA’s Department of Geography, mapped changing climate variables county by county, noting factors such as how much precipitation levels and temperatures have varied from historical averages, along with extreme weather measures -- flood, drought and heat waves.
Then she added in measures of so-called...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change could hit Atlanta hardest, UGA research predictsChina Confirms Their Warming is Human Caused
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on April 13th, 2013
Climate News Network: Chinese scientists have just confirmed that greenhouse gas emissions have sent the thermometer soaring in one country -- China.
This is, they say, the first study to directly link warmer daily minimum and maximum temperatures with climate change in one single nation, rather than on a global or hemispheric scale.
"Actually seeing a warming trend in a single location is hard', said Xuebin Zhang from Environment Canada in Toronto. "It's like trying to see the tide change when you're in a rowing...
As flood threats rise, federal reform to diversify the insurance risk sinks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 13th, 2013
ClimateWire: It was a few hours before Sharron Voorhees was scheduled to sign a new home loan when her bank canceled the closing appointment because she had private flood insurance.
Two more cancellations followed, both on the morning of her closing dates, based on the bank's concern that Voorhees had purchased coverage from Lloyd's of London rather than the U.S. government.
"It just doesn't look like a flood policy," a loan officer told her last fall.
For months, the retired lawyer from a low-lying...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As flood threats rise, federal reform to diversify the insurance risk sinksGlobal warming: Forest timberline impacts not so clear
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on April 13th, 2013
Summit Voice: For residents of high-elevation regions, including Colorado -- the impacts of global warming include a potentially radical change in the composition of plant communities. In mountainous areas, the distribution of many species is limited by factors related to elevation, including temperature.
With warmer and drier conditions potentially limiting growth at lower elevations, scientists have already documented the treeline creeping upward in some areas, but there are additional factors to consider,...
Report: Extreme weather events more likely, more often
Posted by West Deptford Patch: Edward Van Embden on April 13th, 2013
West Deptford Patch: On an interactive map of the United States that records the number of extreme weather events that have taken place over the last several years, New Jersey might as well be the black eye.
The red, purples and magentas that color each of New Jersey’s 21 counties make up the wrong end of the weather-related disaster spectrum, marking the entire state as a recurring extreme weather target. Should nothing be done to curb pollution and carbon emissions, a recent report from Environment New Jersey Research...
Secrets of the forest floor
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 13th, 2013
Living on Earth: When we think about carbon sinks, we usually picture dense forests packed with big trees. But new research from Sweden suggests that tiny fungi in the soil may deserve a little more credit for slowing global warming. Host Steve Curwood talks mushrooms with ecologist Karina Clemmensen.
Transcript
CURWOOD: It's Living On Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. If you hear the words "carbon sequestration", you might well think of dense forests filled with mighty trees. But new research reported in Science magazine...
Before Disney, Florida’s Silver Springs Lured Tourists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 13th, 2013
National Public Radio: Before Disney World, Silver Springs in Central Florida was for decades one of the state's most popular tourist destinations. Even if you've never visited Silver Springs, you might have seen it - if you're old enough. The 1960s television show Sea Hunt was filmed here, as were countless movies including Tarzan and Creature from the Black Lagoon. The crystal clear water of Silver Springs made it invaluable to Hollywood. Guy Marwick, the founder of the Silver River Museum, says it drew over a million...
Climate change to take its toll on Zim
Posted by NewsDay: None Given on April 13th, 2013
NewsDay: Nhekairo said this yesterday to legislators who were attending a Southern African Development Community parliamentarians’ climate change workshop in Harare. “Several climate studies suggest that water resources in the country are expected to dwindle and the evergreen forests of the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe can be reduced to seasonal forests,” said Nhekairo. “Southern Zimbabwe may result (sic) in desert conditions if climate change continues at current rates, and according to crop forecasts...
Residents Living Near Arkansas Oil Spill Site Concerned for Their Health
Posted by KATV: Jessica Dean on April 13th, 2013
KATV: Homeowners in Mayflower's Northwoods subdivision were not the only ones affected by the ExxonMobil oil spill. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the neighborhood surrounded by Lake Conway and the cove adjacent to it also remains an area of concern. Sherry Appleman is one of the residents who lives in that neighborhood. When KARK's crew arrived at her home, the smell of fumes was prevalent, but Appleman has to take our word for it. "I can't smell it anymore," she said,"It's embedded...
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