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Archive for October 2nd, 2013
Pet fish invade ecosystem, upending nutrients & impoverishing fishers
Posted by Mongabay: Adam Andrus on October 2nd, 2013
Mongabay: If you, or someone you know, owns a freshwater aquarium, chances are you have seen the peculiar little creature attached face-first to the glass in effort to find a morsel of algae. This algae eater, popularly known as the sucker fish, is the sailfin catfish, or plecos. It is one of the most commonly purchased fish in the freshwater aquarium fish trade, and, according to recent research in The Royal Society B, aquarists often reintroduce the sucker-fish into the wild with detrimental consequences....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Pet fish invade ecosystem, upending nutrients & impoverishing fishersFracking protests hit UK public support for shale gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 2nd, 2013
Guardian: Protests against fracking by thousands of people in Sussex over the summer appear to have reversed the growth in British public support for shale gas for the first time.
Polling by the University of Nottingham has shown support for shale gas extraction in the UK steadily rising for more than a year, peaking at 61% in favour in July. But that number fell in September, to 55%.
In August, more than 2,000 people marched against fracking at an oil drilling site run by Cuadrilla near the village...
Kenya Giant Aquifer Highlights Groundwater’s Critical Role
Posted by National Geographic: Tanya Basu on October 2nd, 2013
National Geographic: The Turkana region in Kenya is not the type of place that would come to mind when picturing a wellspring bursting with water.
The area is dry and desolate. It is one of the most arid regions on this planet, with soaring temperatures that burn the earth and suck out moisture. The local people are nomads and follow water to survive. They and their livestock are often plagued by famine, thirst, and poverty.
But last month, surprising news came from this oft-ignored part of the world: Below their...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kenya Giant Aquifer Highlights Groundwater’s Critical RoleAre Sierra Nevada forest fires getting more severe?
Posted by Environmental News Network: Center For Biological Diversity on October 2nd, 2013
Environmental News Network: A new scientific study finds that fire severity is not increasing in the forests of California's Sierra Nevada. The findings are contrary to claims by those who have tried to use recent fires in the region to justify more logging in the state's forests. The study, by Dr. Chad Hanson of the John Muir Project, and Dr. Dennis Odion of the Earth Research Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara, was published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire. It found no trend of increasing...
Nobel laureates press EU leaders on tar sands law
Posted by Reuters: Barbara Lewis on October 2nd, 2013
Reuters: Twenty-one Nobel laureates including South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu have written to European Union leaders urging them to implement a law that would label oil from tar sands as dirtier than other crudes.
The EU tar sands proposal has incensed the government of Canada, whose economy is highly dependent on its vast reserves of unconventional oil and it has overshadowed protracted talks on a trade treaty with the European Union.
The Nobel laureates say the EU law is necessary...
Monsoon to get longer in India: IPCC
Posted by Economic Times: Vishwa Mohan on October 2nd, 2013
Economic Times: North India is likely to heat up more than the southern parts of the country while the entire Indian subcontinent may see longer rainy seasons in second half of the century, the UN's climate body has predicted in its latest comprehensive document on climate change.
The conclusion, showing variation in temperature and rainfall in South Asia, is part of the lengthy technical details of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which made its comprehensive report - Climate...
Radiation in Pennsylvania Creek Seen as Legacy of Fracking
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Efstathiou Jr on October 2nd, 2013
Bloomberg: Naturally occurring radiation brought to the surface by gas drillers has been detected in a Pennsylvania creek that flows into the Allegheny River, illustrating the risks of wastewater disposal from the boom in hydraulic fracturing.
Sediment in Blacklick Creek contained radium in concentrations 200 times above normal, or background levels, according to the study, published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The radium, along with salts such as bromide, came from the Josephine...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Radiation in Pennsylvania Creek Seen as Legacy of FrackingEurope has been warming faster than the global average
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 2nd, 2013
Guardian: Europe has been warming faster than the global average over the last 30 years, the UN's new climate report reveals.
This week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released part one of its scientific report in full.
Among some of the most significant findings from a summary of the report released a few days ago are that humans are responsible for at least half of the warming experienced in recent decades. The report also predicts higher sea levels and further warming worldwide...
Japan fast-food chain to grow food 100 km from wrecked nuclear plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 2nd, 2013
Reuters: A Japanese fast-food chain has announced plans to grow rice and vegetables on a farm 100 km (60 miles) from the crippled Fukushima power plant, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
Yoshinoya Holdings, which sells "gyudon", or stewed beef over rice, has formed a joint-venture with local farmers to grow onions, cabbage and rice for use in outlets across the country.
About 160,000 people nearest the plant were ordered to move out and the government established a...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Japan fast-food chain to grow food 100 km from wrecked nuclear plantMan dies of flesh-eating bacteria after wading into Florida river
Posted by Free Press: None Given on October 2nd, 2013
Free Press: A flesh-eating bacteria in the same family as those that cause cholera has killed nine people in Florida this year, most recently a 59-year-old who was wading in the Halifax River to set crab traps.
Henry Konietzky, 59, of Palm Coast, Fla., died Sept. 23 after setting the traps two days earlier in the river near Ormond Beach, Fla. The very next day, he noticed he had a sore on his leg that looked like a bug bite.
That's one way the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria is transmitted. It lives in warm,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Man dies of flesh-eating bacteria after wading into Florida river