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Archive for April 26th, 2013
Homeowners in Flood Zones Opt to Rebuild, Not Move
Posted by New York Times: Thomas Kaplan on April 26th, 2013
New York Times: A proposal to buy the damaged homes of New Yorkers who want to relocate after Hurricane Sandy is finding few takers, as most residents opt to rebuild, state officials said on Friday. “It’s up to the homeowner, and the vast bulk of homeowners are deciding to stay right where they are and rebuild,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at a news conference in Albany. The state has allocated an initial sum of $171 million to buy homes in low-lying areas, part of an ambitious effort by Mr. Cuomo to reshape coastal...
You’ve Got A Facebook Request From Mark Zuckerberg: Support Keystone XL!
Posted by Rainforest Action Network: None Given on April 26th, 2013
Rainforest Action Network: Today, Think Progress outed Mark Zuckerberg`s new political group as a shill for the fossil fuel industry. The Facebook mogul, along with the founders of Dropbox, LinkedIn and Microsoft (that would be Bill Gates) founded a new political group called FWD.US that has spent considerable resources on ads promoting the Keystone XL Pipeline and Arctic oil drilling. All in the name of "jobs," of course.
While the world faces extreme weather events like super-hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and rising...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on You’ve Got A Facebook Request From Mark Zuckerberg: Support Keystone XL!Europe needs genetically engineered crops, scientists say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2013
ScienceDaily: The European Union cannot meet its goals in agricultural policy without embracing genetically engineered crops (GMOs). That's the conclusion of scientists who write in Trends in Plant Science, a Cell Press publication, based on case studies showing that the EU is undermining its own competitiveness in the agricultural sector to its own detriment and that of its humanitarian activities in the developing world.
"Failing such a change, ultimately the EU will become almost entirely dependent on the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Europe needs genetically engineered crops, scientists sayGene-Spliced Salmon, Coming Soon to a Plate Near You?
Posted by OnEarth: None Given on April 26th, 2013
OnEarth: Today marks the deadline for public comments on a genetically modified salmon currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration. If approved, the fish will be the first transgenic animal ever to enter the human food supply. Some say it’s about time. In an op-ed that appeared last month in the New York Times under the title “Don’t Be Afraid of Genetic Modification,” science writer Emily Anthes explained that the company behind the fish, Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies, has been...
Scientists investigate release of bromine in polar regions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2013
ScienceDaily: The chemical element bromine, whose compounds contribute significantly to the depletion of ozone in the lower atmosphere, is also released in polar regions to a great extent from snow on land. This is the result reached by an international research team of scientists from the Institute of Environmental Physics of Heidelberg University and colleagues from the USA, who performed measurements and sampling together in Alaska. Until now, science has assumed that sea ice was the sole source of bromine...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists investigate release of bromine in polar regionsSoils Cannot Lock Away Black Carbon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2013
Scientific American: Climate scientists may have to rethink some of their old assumptions about carbon. US and European researchers have just established that black carbon, soot and biochar -- the burnt remains from countless forest fires -- doesn't stay in the soil indefinitely.
Around 27 million tons of the stuff gets dissolved in water and washed down the rivers into the oceans each year.
Black carbon or biochar has been hailed as one possible way of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, by taking carbon out of...
Wild Weather Swings May Be a Sign of Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2013
Climate Central: For a political candidate, being labeled a "flip-flopper' can be a career killer. Just ask Secretary of State John Kerry, who lost his 2004 presidential race in part because of his reputation for voting against bills before he voted for them. Increasingly, though, the label also applies to North American weather, which has been lurching from one extreme to the next in a pattern that is consistent with global warming.
Climate studies have warned us to expect more frequent and intense extreme events,...
Great Salt Lake Is No ‘Dead Sea’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2013
National Public Radio: Parts of Utah's Great Salt Lake are 10 times saltier than the ocean. But the lake is host to plenty of life, including salt-loving microbes that can turn the lake's water bubblegum pink. Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake, discusses how the bugs might hold the secrets to better sunscreen, hydrogen fuel cells—even life on Mars.
Greenpeace China becomes the biggest solar power producer in Beijing
Posted by Greenpeace: None Given on April 26th, 2013
Greenpeace: At 10:48 am on 17 April in Beijing, Greenpeace made a bit of history: we joined the first batch of around 50 rooftop solar PV projects that connected to the grid in China.
And to our surprise, we learned that our modest five-kilowatt solar system is actually the biggest rooftop solar power project currently in Beijing.
Our “system” is 65 square meters of solar panels at the new GP China warehouse in Shunyi, on the outskirts of Beijing. At full capacity on a day with clear weather, these panels...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenpeace China becomes the biggest solar power producer in BeijingIn Gasland sequel, fracking saga’s pressure ratchets up
Posted by Grist: None Given on April 26th, 2013
Grist: Josh Fox`s 2010 documentary Gasland alerted legions of people to the dangers of fracking and helped grow the movement against the drilling technique, which has created a natural-gas bonanza in many parts of the U.S. Now Fox is back with a sequel, Gasland Part II, that premiered this week at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
The new film begins much like its predecessor: Shots of politicians alternate with shots of the forest, dripping wet with fresh rain. Fox introduces himself, his...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In Gasland sequel, fracking saga’s pressure ratchets up