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Archive for April 17th, 2013
Troubled waters: Big, bad algal blooms could become new norm for Lake Erie
Posted by Great Lakes Echo: Kathiann M. Kowalski on April 17th, 2013
Great Lakes Echo: Lake Erie faces a greener future—and that’s bad. Scientists say harmful algal blooms like the one from 2011 will strike more often. More extreme weather and warming trends could also extend bad blooms’ duration. As a result, Lake Erie’s aquatic life and wildlife in nearshore areas face more frequent exposure to toxins. Food webs face disruption. Fisheries will suffer. Lake Erie’s persistent dead zone will expand. And water chemistry will change. The reason is that all trends that caused Lake Erie’s...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Troubled waters: Big, bad algal blooms could become new norm for Lake ErieReview of National Climate Assessment calls for expanded government research
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
Bloomberg: The federal government should expand its efforts to understand climate change impacts in the United States and provide more practical guidance for adapting to climate change, the National Research Council said in an April 15 report. The draft National Climate Assessment does a reasonable job of fulfilling its objectives of assessing current climate change science and potential impacts on the United States, but the federal government should provide more information and guidance for the country, according...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Review of National Climate Assessment calls for expanded government researchAmerica’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2013
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on April 17th, 2013
EcoWatch: For thirty years, our America’s Most Endangered Rivers report has highlighted urgent threats to rivers and has spurred the public to take action. Through the report, we have helped sound the alarm on hundreds of rivers, saving them from threats like pollution and new dams.
The river at the top of the 2013 list, announced today, is the Colorado River--a river that is so dammed, diverted and drained that it dries to a trickle before reaching the sea.
Flowing for more than 1,400 miles across seven...
Is Ice Loss by Glaciers Abnormal?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
ScienceDaily: In the last few decades, glaciers at the edge of the icy continent of Antarctica have been thinning, and research has shown the rate of thinning has accelerated and contributed significantly to sea level rise. New ice core research suggests that, while the changes are dramatic, they cannot be attributed with confidence to human-caused global warming, said Eric Steig, a University of Washington professor of Earth and space sciences. Previous work by Steig has shown that rapid thinning of Antarctic...
Desertification crisis affecting 168 countries worldwide, study shows
Posted by RTCC: None Given on April 17th, 2013
RTCC: Severe land degradation is now affecting 168 countries across the world, according to new research released by the UN Desertification Convention (UNCCD).
The figure, based on submissions from countries to the UN, is a marked increase on the last analysis in the mid-1990s, which estimated 110 states were at risk.
In an economic analysis published last week the Convention also warns land degradation is now costing US$490 billion per year and wiping out an area three times the size of Switzerland...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Desertification crisis affecting 168 countries worldwide, study showsKeystone XL Oil Pipeline Exacerbates Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
Scientific American: The Keystone XL Pipeline would move enough tar sands oil to result in another 181 million metric tons of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere yearly. A new report prepared by environmental group Oil Change International (OCI) analyzes what the climate change impacts of the proposed pipeline might be.
Consultants hired by the U.S. State Department determined that completing the Keystone XL Pipeline that would transport tar sands from Canada to Texas would have no impact on greenhouse gas emissions,...
Route Change Forces Keystone Foes to Shift Aim to Climate Change
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Efstathiou Jr on April 17th, 2013
Bloomberg: Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline used to have a simple argument: the project would endanger Nebraska’s delicate Sand Hills region, a vast network of dunes and wetlands that have been designated a National Natural Landmark.
State leaders, including Republican Governor David Heineman, opposed the project on those grounds. President Barack Obama cited the threat to water in the state before denying TransCanada Corp. (TRP) a permit last year to build the pipeline, which would carry Canadian tar...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Route Change Forces Keystone Foes to Shift Aim to Climate ChangeHouse Tries Again To Force Keystone Pipeline Approval
Posted by InsideClimate: John H. Cushman Jr. on April 17th, 2013
InsideClimate: A House subcommittee has taken the first step toward legislation that would push through the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, bypassing the State Department and the White House while limiting other regulatory and court reviews.
The subcommittee on energy and power voted 17-9 on Tuesday to approve the Northern Route Approval Act and send it to the full Energy and Commerce Committee. Two Democrats joined 15 Republicans in support of the bill.
The legislation declares that the delivery of oil...
African nations strive to stem desertification with a ‘Great Green Wall’
Posted by UN News: None Given on April 17th, 2013
UN News: Stretching from Dakar to Djibouti, a United Nations-backed programme dubbed the 'Great Green Wall` brings together 11 countries to plant trees across Africa to literally hold back the Sahara desert with a swathe of greenery, lessen the effects of desertification and improve the lives and livelihoods of communities. The Wall, an initiative spearheaded by African heads of State, will stretch about 7,000 kilometres from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east and will be about 15 kilometres wide...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on African nations strive to stem desertification with a ‘Great Green Wall’Keystone fought by Nebraska landowners vowing to block
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Snyder on April 17th, 2013
Bloomberg: Bob Allpress describes himself as a “redneck Republican.” Standing on the pasture behind his Nebraska home, the burly former Marine Corps sergeant with a Fu Manchu mustache explains what made him an environmental activist.
The Keystone XL pipeline, which TransCanada Corp. (TRP) wants to build to bring Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico, would cut across the 900 acres near Naper, Nebraska, that Allpress’s grandfather acquired by homestead in 1886. He is vowing...