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Archive for May 5th, 2013
Surge in valley fever blamed on climate change
Posted by Associated Press: Gosia Wozniacka on May 5th, 2013
Associated Press: California and federal public health officials say that valley fever, a potentially lethal but often misdiagnosed disease infecting more and more people across the nation, has been on the rise as a warming climate and drought have kicked up the dust that spreads it. The fever has hit California's agricultural heartland particularly hard in recent years, with the incidence dramatically increasing in 2010 and 2011. The disease -- which is prevalent in arid regions of the United States, Mexico, Central...
E.P.A. Plan to Clean Up Gowanus Canal Meets Local Resistance
Posted by New York Times: Joseph Berger on May 5th, 2013
New York Times: Almost everybody wants the Gowanus Canal cleansed of its toxic gunk. But a $500 million plan by the Environmental Protection Agency to do just that has run into protests from otherwise environmentally conscious residents in several Brooklyn neighborhoods. They want the canal purged of pollutants like PCBs, lead, mercury and raw sewage, but are fighting the methods the agency has chosen. One neighborhood fears that the sludge taken out from the canal would poison the air over their ball fields,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on E.P.A. Plan to Clean Up Gowanus Canal Meets Local ResistanceSqueezing More From Ethanol
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 5th, 2013
New York Times: Faced with a crop of lemons — too much ethanol, a population of cars not tuned to burn it effectively and a driving public leery of the fuel’s properties — the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to make lemonade. The effort to untangle itself from this sticky situation is part of a larger proposal by the federal government to make the most sweeping changes in gasoline since lead additives were banned. Tucked inside the E.P.A.’s March announcement of a plan to cut the amount of sulfur...
Some ‘green’ hot water systems fail to deliver on promises, study shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 5th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Two researchers affiliated with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering have published a paper which reports that hot water recirculating systems touted as "green" actually use both more energy and water than their standard counterparts.
Marc Edwards, the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, originated the efficiency study of the systems as part of an undergraduate design class six years ago. After a thorough analysis,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Some ‘green’ hot water systems fail to deliver on promises, study showsAs climate changes, boreal forests to shift north
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 5th, 2013
PhysOrg: It's difficult to imagine how a degree or two of warming will affect a location. Will it rain less? What will happen to the area's vegetation? New Berkeley Lab research offers a way to envision a warmer future. It maps how Earth's myriad climates-and the ecosystems that depend on them-will move from one area to another as global temperatures rise.
The approach foresees big changes for one of the planet's great carbon sponges. Boreal forests will likely shift north at a steady clip this century....
Climate Change May Increase Heavy Rains And Extend Droughts Throughout World
Posted by Latinos Post: Bianca Tan on May 5th, 2013
Latinos Post: The change in climate may cause extreme modifications in rainfall and drought in the certain areas of the world. According to a new study by NASA, the changes in the weather increase the risk of heavier rainfalls in tropical areas and longer droughts in temperate zones.
"These results in many ways are the worst of all possible worlds," Peter Gleick, climatologist, water expert and president of the research organization, Pacific Institute, said as reported by LA Times. "Wet areas will get wetter...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change May Increase Heavy Rains And Extend Droughts Throughout WorldOil Sands Growth Will Depend on Keystone, Says Major Industry Player
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 5th, 2013
Globe and Mail: New refinery capacity and pipeline projects coming on line will help demand and prices for Canadian bitumen in the next two years but Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. president Steve Laut says the proposed Keystone XL pipeline will eventually be essential for growth in the oil sands industry.
“Long-term, we do need Keystone to be able to grow the volumes in Canada,” Mr. Laut said in an interview following the release of his company’s first-quarter results on Friday.
Mr. Laut’s emphasis on the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oil Sands Growth Will Depend on Keystone, Says Major Industry PlayerTrying to make fracking sense
Posted by News Leader: Bruce Dorries on May 5th, 2013
News Leader: Fracking separates fossil fuels from rock more than a mile underground. The drilling technique, a boon for the natural gas industry this past decade, also divides environmentalists. Greens, locally and globally, are losing sight of their common ground due to this controversial extraction practice.
Last week, The News Leader ran two front-page stories about hydraulic fracturing. The technique involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals into subterranean shale via horizontal drilling, which...
In parts of Plains, drought fears nag for third year
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 5th, 2013
Associated Press: Two years of heat and little rain already have drained Oklahoma agriculture, including a cotton field near Pocasset, above, of more than $1.1 billion in direct losses. The ongoing drought is creating a "sense of despair" in the region, says Ryan McMullen, state director of USDA rural development, much like when landowners abandoned their property in places like Guymon, Okla., in 1937 during the Dust Bowl, top. (Sue Ogrocki, Associated Press (above); AP file (top)) FREDERICK, Okla. -- When Kent Walker...
Using the Mississippi River to rebuild Louisiana’s coast
Posted by Times-Picayune: None Given on May 5th, 2013
Times-Picayune: Coastal experts have been telling us since Katrina that our marshes are getting perilously close to a tipping point. If we don't act very quickly, we may be too late. We lacked a plan, and we lacked money. Now we have both.
As sources of funding from the BP oil disaster become available, the likelihood that big river sediment diversions -- which are proven strategies to build land -- will actually be done has some folks up in arms. Opponents of the plan, Louisiana's 2012 Comprehensive Master Plan...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Using the Mississippi River to rebuild Louisiana’s coast