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Archive for September, 2013
Great Lakes Asian Carp Invasion Inevitable, Researchers Say
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on September 11th, 2013
Nature World News: If the right conditions are present, the introduction of fewer than two dozen Asian carp to the the Great Lakes system could be enough to establish a thriving population of an invasive fish notorious for out-competing native fish for food and resources, according to new research published in the journal Biological Invasions.
Researchers from Waterloo University in Canada say the arrival of Asian carp, which are well-established in major waterways like the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, is inevitable...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Great Lakes Asian Carp Invasion Inevitable, Researchers SayAnother sign of the growing North-South divide, but this time it’s climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
Independent: Global warming even applies to the North-South divide according to scientists who have discovered that temperatures in the south of the country have been rising much faster than in the north.
In the most extreme case of the temperature divide, a new paper finds that, since 1950, climate change has made the hottest days of the year rise by at least 2.5C in much of the south east, but just 1C or so in the north east.
Dr David Stainforth, the lead author on the paper, said: “In Britain, climate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Another sign of the growing North-South divide, but this time it’s climate changeArsenic in Vietnam Groundwater Slowly Moving Toward Hanoi, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: As the population and water needs of Hanoi mushroom, the capital city of Vietnam is slowly drawing poisonous arsenic into the aquifer that supplies its drinking water, say researchers from the U.S. and Vietnam. Water contaminated with arsenic has moved more than a mile closer to the aquifer over the last 40 to 60 years, the researchers report in Nature, due to the city's increasing water demand; municipal pumping in Hanoi doubled between 2000 and 2010. The good news, says lead researcher Alexander...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Arsenic in Vietnam Groundwater Slowly Moving Toward Hanoi, Study SaysMassive Aquifer Discovered in Kenya holds 70 Years Worth of Water, May Reshape Nation
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on September 11th, 2013
Nature World News: A newly-discovered aquifer in Kenya's arid Turkana region contains enough water to meet the nation's needs for the next 70 years.
The discovery of the Lotikipi Basin Aquifer was officially announced Wednesday at an international water security meeting of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in Nairobi.
The find is certainly a boon for the African nation, especially in a region known to be one of the driest parts of Kenya. In addition to Lotikipi, four other water...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Massive Aquifer Discovered in Kenya holds 70 Years Worth of Water, May Reshape NationEuropean biofuels vote delivers ‘desperately weak compromise’
Posted by Guardian: Karl Mathiesen on September 11th, 2013
Guardian: The European parliament has delivered a "desperately weak compromise" on the future of biofuels in Europe that industry says will "curtail jobs and investment".
In a tight vote on the use of biofuels in transport fuel, the parliament approved a 6% cap on the contribution of biofuels to Europe's renewable transport energy target of 10% by 2020.
The policy of replacing petrol and diesel for cars and other vehicles stems from efforts to reduce carbon emissions from Europe's transport sector. But...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on European biofuels vote delivers ‘desperately weak compromise’50 Years After Its Discovery, Acid Rain Has Lessons for Climate Change
Posted by Atlantic: Henry Grabar on September 11th, 2013
Atlantic: In the 1980s, the dying red spruce trees of New England--many of them taller than eight-story buildings and more than three centuries old--furnished frightening proof of the power of acid rain. The trees were seen as a canary in the coal mine, and it was easy to imagine the ensuing consequences for the forest at large.
"Half the red spruce... are dead," Dudley Clendinen wrote for The New York Times from New Hampshire in 1983. "Some of the balsam fir are beginning to look sick. Sugar maples have...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 50 Years After Its Discovery, Acid Rain Has Lessons for Climate ChangeKenya discovers vast aquifers in drought-hit north
Posted by Reuters: Richard Lough on September 11th, 2013
Reuters: Scientists have discovered giant reservoirs of underground water hundreds of meters beneath the surface of Kenya's drought-prone north that could irrigate crops and head off tribal conflict over shortages, according to the Kenyan government and aid agencies.
Using satellite imagery, seismic technology normally used in the hunt for oil and gas and old-fashioned drilling, the U.N.'s scientific and cultural agency, UNESCO, and the Kenyan government identified five aquifers, two of which were explored....
EU lawmakers reduce use of food-based biofuel
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2013
Associated Press: The European Parliament is capping the use of food-based biofuels to counter concerns over the energy source's ethical and environmental sustainability.
Parliament on Wednesday narrowly voted to lower the amount of fuel that must come from renewable sources across the 28-nation bloc by 2020 from 10 percent to 6 percent.
Environmentalists argue biofuels made from food like corn or soybeans add as much or even more to greenhouse gas emissions as fossil fuels they are meant to replace because...
Food price fears push EU lawmakers to put a lid on biofuels growth
Posted by Reuters: Claire Davenport on September 11th, 2013
Reuters: The European Parliament has voted to limit the use of fuels made from food crops because of fears that biofuels can push up grain prices or damage the climate, further undermining the once booming industry.
Lawmakers voting in Strasbourg on Wednesday set a ceiling on the use of such fuels at 6 percent of overall transport fuel demand in the European Union in 2020.
Although slightly higher than the 5 percent cap proposed by the European Commission in October, it deals a blow to EU biofuel producers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Food price fears push EU lawmakers to put a lid on biofuels growthFracking bill passes California state Assembly
Posted by Reuters: Rory Carroll on September 11th, 2013
Reuters: A hotly contested bill that would impose California's first regulations on fracking and other oil production practices passed the state Assembly on Wednesday, despite opposition from environmentalists and oil companies.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the practice of injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to crack rock formations and free up oil and natural gas. The technology makes it possible for oil companies to unlock California's vast Monterey Shale deposit, which is estimated...