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Archive for July 25th, 2013
Dry area expands in western U.S. Corn Belt -Drought Monitor
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on July 25th, 2013
Reuters: Abnormally dry areas expanded in the U.S. western Corn Belt, including the top crop state of Iowa, over the past week to put much of the corn crop at risk, according to a weekly drought report.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, issued by state and federal climate experts, said dry conditions in the U.S. Midwest for the week ended Thursday, reached 18.94 percent, up from 7.16 percent a week earlier. Dry areas expanded in Minnesota and Iowa south to Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The spread of the...
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Comments Off on Dry area expands in western U.S. Corn Belt -Drought MonitorAntarctica’s permafrost is melting
Posted by Grist: John Upton on July 25th, 2013
Grist: Things are getting ugly on Earth`s underside.
Antarctic permafrost, which had been weathering global warming far better than areas around the North Pole, is starting to give way. Scientists have recorded some of it melting at rates that are nearly comparable to those in the Arctic.
Scientists used time-lapse photography and LiDAR to track the retreat of an Antarctic ice cliff over a little more than a decade. They reported Wednesday in the journal Scientific Reports that the cliff was "backwasting...
Monsoon Rains Bring Some Drought Relief to Southwest
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on July 25th, 2013
Climate Central: Dwindling reservoirs, dusty rangeland and desiccated crops have left the Southwest in dire need of rain. Luckily, July marks the typical start of the annual monsoon season, and it has arrived in earnest this summer, bringing daily thunderstorms from New Mexico to southern California. A "drunken' weather pattern, with weather systems moving in the opposite of their typical direction, also contributed rain to parts of the Southern Plains earlier this month. Though this has provided some relief to the...
The future is a desert, but we can make it bloom
Posted by Grist: Nathanael Johnson on July 25th, 2013
Grist: Over a decade ago, Gary Paul Nabhan moved to the plateau above the Grand Canyon to raise sheep. His timing was terrible: the beginning of one of the worst droughts on record. Some 80 percent of the pine trees around his new home, stressed by lack of water, succumbed to bark beetles. Every time he planted pastures, seedlings would push out of the earth and then wither. He was buying hay year-round, and paying dearly for it: Most of the springs that farmers relied on had gone dry, which meant that...
‘Rivers’ in air could boost flooding
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2013
BBC: Winter floods could intensify in Britain, according to new research into powerful weather systems called "atmospheric rivers".
Only identified about 20 years ago, atmospheric rivers are intense bands of moisture that flow through the air.
Known to be responsible for heavy rainfall, they have been blamed for severe flooding in California and the UK.
The new study suggests that warmer conditions could create more rivers - and make them more severe.
The paper is published by the Institute...
Methane meltdown: The Arctic timebomb that could cost us $60trn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2013
Independent: The sudden release from the melting Arctic of vast quantities of methane – a greenhouse gas at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide –is an “economic time-bomb” that could explode at a cost of $60 trillion (£40tr) to the global economy, a study has concluded.
A scientific assessment of the costs associated with the release of Arctic methane into the atmosphere has found that the financial consequences to the world would almost equal the entire global economic output of one year.
Scientists...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Methane meltdown: The Arctic timebomb that could cost us $60trnFlooding in winter to get worse, scientists warn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2013
Telegraph: Scientists have found that an atmospheric event behind the heavy flooding in Cornwall last year and in Cumbria in 2009 is to grow more intense and more frequent over the next century.
The researchers found that narrow bands of air packed with water vapour known as atmospheric rivers are responsible for the worst flooding events in the winter months.
These flows of moisture, which form in areas of low pressure and deliver sustained, heavy rainfall to the UK, are due to double in number, according...
Steam And Groundwater Raise Concern At Japanese Nuclear Plant
Posted by National Public Radio: Geoff Brumfiel on July 25th, 2013
National Public Radio: The troubles at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began over two years ago when an earthquake and tsunami sparked meltdowns in three reactors. But events over the past week serve as reminder that the problems are far from over.
First, a remote camera spotted steam rising from one of the melted down reactors at the plant. The steam was first seen at the unit 3 reactor late last week, and it's continued on-and-off ever since.
Steam rising from the ruins became an iconic image from the early...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Steam And Groundwater Raise Concern At Japanese Nuclear PlantUK: Anti-Fracking Protesters Halt Sussex Shale Gas Operation
Posted by Guardian: Robert Booth on July 25th, 2013
Guardian: Anti-fracking campaigners claimed a surprise victory on Thursday against attempts to extract oil in the home counties.
Dozens of protesters blockaded a drill site outside the West Sussex village of Balcombe. The drill was operated by Cuadrilla, the energy company headed by former BP chief Lord Browne.
Earlier in the day, the Department for Energy granted a drilling permit for the site to Cuadrilla, which also operates hydraulic fracturing rigs in Lancashire. It is looking for oil in the Sussex...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UK: Anti-Fracking Protesters Halt Sussex Shale Gas OperationWhite House Undercuts Coal Power Plant Water Pollution Rule
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on July 25th, 2013
Environment News Service: Coal-fired power plants, many operating with expired permits, have become the largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States, finds new research released Tuesday by a coalition of environmental and clean water groups.
In April, the U.S. EPA proposed the nation`s first standards to regulate this pollution, but the White House Office of Management and Budget has weakened the proposed standards, the groups claim.
Their report, "Closing the Floodgates: How the Coal Industry Is Poisoning...
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