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Archive for October, 2013
Obama will use executive powers to conserve lands: Interior secretary
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2013
Reuters: President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to protect more mountains, rivers and forests from development if Congress does not act to preserve such wild spaces, the U.S. Interior Secretary said on Thursday.
Portions of the Grand Canyon, Redwood forests in California and Caribbean seascapes have been protected under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president broad authority to put natural terrain and historic sites under federal protection.
Such preservation efforts can also...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Obama will use executive powers to conserve lands: Interior secretaryHeat, Drought Draw Farmers Back To Sorghum, The ‘Camel Of Crops’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2013
National Public Radio: Much of the world is turning hotter and dryer these days, and it's opening new doors for a water-saving cereal that's been called "the camel of crops": sorghum. In an odd twist, this old-fashioned crop even seems to be catching on among consumers who are looking for "ancient grains" that have been relatively untouched by modern agriculture.
Sorghum isn't nearly as famous as the big three of global agriculture: corn, rice and wheat. But maybe it should be. It's a plant for tough times, and tough...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Heat, Drought Draw Farmers Back To Sorghum, The ‘Camel Of Crops’Russia: Rising Summer Temperatures Threaten Eastern Siberia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2013
Environmental News Network: The high cliffs of Eastern Siberia, have been eroding at a relatively fast pace which researchers are attributing to rising summer temperatures in the Russian permafrost regions as well as the retreat of the Arctic sea ice.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Russia: Rising Summer Temperatures Threaten Eastern SiberiaAs people live longer, threats to wildlife increase
Posted by Mother Nature Network: Brian Bienkowski on October 31st, 2013
Mother Nature Network: As countries’ human life expectancy grows, so do their numbers of invasive and endangered species, according to a new study by University of California, Davis researchers. The researchers examined social, economic and ecological information for 100 countries to determine which factors are most strongly linked to endangered and invasive birds and mammals. Human life expectancy is rarely included in such studies but turned out to be the best predictor of invasions and endangerment in these countries,...
Marcellus Shale fracking wells use 5 million gallons of water apiece
Posted by Grist: John Upton on October 31st, 2013
Grist: Forget about residents. Forget about fish. The streams and rivers of Pennsylvania and West Virginia are being heavily tapped to quench the growing thirst of the fracking industry.
According to a new report, each of the thousands of fracking wells drilled to draw gas and oil out of the Marcellus Shale formation in those two states uses an average of 4.1 to 5.6 million gallons of fresh water. That`s more than the amount of water used by fracking wells in three other big shale formations around the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Marcellus Shale fracking wells use 5 million gallons of water apieceAlaska Roasts During October, Reigniting Wildfire
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on October 31st, 2013
Climate Central: Now is the time of year when Alaska's snowpack starts to build and temperatures plunge as the days become shorter and shorter. But this year, October has turned out to be more like September, with rainstorms instead of snowstorms, and some of the mildest temperatures on record for the month, particularly across interior Alaska.
While the warm weather pattern, which has been dominated by a high pressure area in the upper atmosphere, is beginning to change with colder and snowier conditions arriving...
Have Australia’s wildfires sent Tony Abbott’s climate policies up in smoke?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2013
Telegraph: Is nature trying to tell Tony Abbott something? No sooner had the new Australian Prime Minister started to dismantle the last government's policies for reducing carbon emissions, than wildfires swept across New South Wales, reigniting – as it were – the debate over climate change.
The fires – the worst in the state for two decades – followed unprecedentedly high temperatures. Both July and September were the hottest ever recorded in the state, with August only just falling short. And October is...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Have Australia’s wildfires sent Tony Abbott’s climate policies up in smoke?Climate Change May Curb Profits From Fossil Fuels, Study Says
Posted by Bloomberg: Justin Doom on October 31st, 2013
Bloomberg: Fossil-fuel assets such as coal mines and gas wells may lose value if climate change prompts tougher regulations, according to a report from Al Gore and David Blood’s Generation Investment Management. About two-thirds of the fossil fuels still underground must remain there if the planet is to meet a United Nations target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). That means assets such as coal mines and gas wells may have to reduce production, cutting profits, according...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change May Curb Profits From Fossil Fuels, Study SaysU.K. Fracking Review Sees Low Risk to Health From Shale Drilling
Posted by Bloomberg: Nidaa Bakhsh on October 31st, 2013
Bloomberg: Risks to the public from shale-gas drilling are expected to be low as long as operations are well-regulated, a U.K. government-backed body said in a draft report.
“Public Health England anticipates a low risk to public health from direct releases of chemicals and radioactive material if shale gas extraction is properly operated and regulated,” it said, seeking comments for the final report.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has proposed the world’s most generous tax system to encourage...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.K. Fracking Review Sees Low Risk to Health From Shale DrillingShale gas fracking a low risk to public health, review finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2013
Reuters: The risks to public health from emissions caused by fracking for shale oil and gas are low as long as operations are properly run and regulated, the British government's health agency said on Thursday.
Public Health England (PHE) said in a review that any health impacts were likely to be minimal from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves the pumping of water and chemicals into dense shale formations deep underground.
Environmental campaigners have staged large anti-fracking protests...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Shale gas fracking a low risk to public health, review finds