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Archive for October, 2013
Hurricane Sandy Animations Could Improve Flood Forecasts
Posted by Scientific American: Mark Fischetti on October 29th, 2013
Scientific American: Soon after superstorm Sandy struck New York and New Jersey a year ago today, the public became aware that a half-dozen U.S. weather models had incorrectly predicted that the storm coming up the coast would veer northeast out to sea. Only the so-called European model predicted that Sandy would "turn left' and threaten the coast of the nation's most populous city and the surrounding metropolitan area. Less was heard about another set of models that had attempted to predict how high the storm surge...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Hurricane Sandy Animations Could Improve Flood ForecastsGrizzly Bears May Benefit From Effects Of A Warming Climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2013
RedOrbit: In contrast to many species, including our own, global warming and forest disturbances may have a silver lining for threatened species of grizzly bears in Alberta, Canada.
University of Alberta biologist Scott Nielsen and his team monitored 112 bears in Alberta`s Rocky Mountain region over the course of 10 years. He and his colleagues found that warmer temperatures and easier access to food associated with forest disturbances helped the grizzlies to build more body fat, known to increase the chances...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Grizzly Bears May Benefit From Effects Of A Warming Climate5 highly polluted urban areas you don’t want to live if you can help it
Posted by Grist: Brentin Mock on October 29th, 2013
Grist: You may have heard that Americans are pumping less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than we were a few years ago, which is great for mitigating climate change. But as Ben Adler pointed out in a post for Grist on Sunday, we still have a long way to go. CO2 isn`t the only greenhouse gas, and its often-overlooked “co-pollutants” have more immediate, localized effects on human health, particularly for poor communities and people of color.
During an address to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 5 highly polluted urban areas you don’t want to live if you can help itThe Next Superstorm: Will Congress Protect Us?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2013
Huffington Post: One year ago, Superstorm Sandy ripped through the Northeast with unprecedented force. I still remember the harried calls to loved ones, the anxious waiting to hear from friends in harms way, and the heartbreak for those who lost so much. More than 159 Americans died in the storm, and 72,000 homes and businesses were damaged in New Jersey alone. The official price tag topped $65 billion, but people's drained nest eggs and lost business may never be fully accounted for -- or recovered.
Still, this...
Missing logic of Australian prime minister’s denial of climate change link to bush fires
Posted by Guardian: Graham Readfern on October 29th, 2013
Guardian: o wanders into a classroom full of five-year-olds, sits down, pulls out a packet of cigarettes and starts to smoke them, exhaling puffs of cancer-inducing haze that waft into the little kids' faces.
"Please stop that," pleads one of the children. "My mummy says smoking gives you cancer."
"Rubbish," replies the smoker. "People have been dying of cancer ever since humans have walked the Earth. How did the cavemen die of cancer before cigarettes were invented, eh?"
Clearly, our cancer-stick...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Missing logic of Australian prime minister’s denial of climate change link to bush firesMelting Arctic sea ice means it’s only going to get wetter for northern Europe
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2013
Independent: The unprecedented run of wet summer weather in recent years could be due in part to the melting sea ice in the Arctic, which appears to be affecting the movement of high-altitude winds over Britain, a study has found.
Scientists believe they have discovered a “causal link” between the loss of Arctic sea ice in summer months and variations in the jet stream that have brought a series of very wet summers to Britain and northern Europe.
The six summers from 2007 to 2012 were all wetter than average...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Melting Arctic sea ice means it’s only going to get wetter for northern EuropeScientists: Asian Carp Breeding In Great Lake Tributaries
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 28th, 2013
National Public Radio: Scientists have confirmed for the first time that at least one variety of Asian carp is living and breeding in the Great Lakes watershed, where it threatens stocks of native fish.
A U.S. Geological Survey and Bowling Green State University study published Monday says Asian carp taken from the Sandusky River in Ohio show the fish are "the result of natural reproduction within the Lake Erie basin."
"It's bad news," USGS Duane Chapman told The Associated Press. "It would have been a lot easier...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists: Asian Carp Breeding In Great Lake TributariesGold mining in the Amazon rainforest surges 400%
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 28th, 2013
Mongabay: The extent of gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon has surged 400 percent since 1999 due to rocketing gold prices, wreaking havoc on forests and devastating local rivers, finds a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The assessment, led by Greg Asner of the Carnegie Institution for Science, is based on a combination of satellite imagery, on-the-ground field surveys, and an advanced airplane-based sensor that can accurately measure the rainforest canopy...
Hundreds of oil spills kept secret by North Dakota
Posted by Grist: None Given on October 28th, 2013
Grist: North Dakota`s fracking frenzy is leaking like a sieve. And you haven`t heard about it because fracking companies, oil pipeline owners, and state officials have been keeping information about hundreds of oil spills secret for years.
After a huge spill of more than 20,000 barrels on a wheat farm was hushed up for 11 days, the Associated Press discovered the extent of the years-long cover-up:
Records obtained by the AP show that so far this year, North Dakota has recorded 139 pipeline leaks that...
In flood-damaged Colorado, a race against winter
Posted by LA Times: Molly Hennessy on October 28th, 2013
LA Times: Six weeks after floods ravaged Colorado, this small town at the foot of the snow-covered Rockies was still without utilities, with 20% of homes damaged, most businesses shuttered and all roads in closed to the general public.
One of the few businesses that reopened was St. Vrain Market, Deli & Bakery, named after the nearby creek that overflowed its banks. Still, prospects are dim: 80% of inventory lost, staff reduced from 16 to four. And no flood insurance.
"We can get back up to operations,...