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Archive for December, 2013
Australia: Is the coal industry about to wreck the Great Barrier Reef?
Posted by Grist: John Upton on December 17th, 2013
Grist: Here`s a conundrum for you: Would it be better to protect Australia`s Great Barrier Reef, which is visible from space, attracts more than a million visitors every year, and is home to thousands of species of fish, sharks, and other marine animals? Or would it be better to build one of the world`s largest coal ports near the reef, dredge the area around the port, dump millions of tons of dredged mud and sand into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and then create a coal-shipping superhighway through...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia: Is the coal industry about to wreck the Great Barrier Reef?Drought and climate change: an uncertain future?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 17th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Drought frequency may increase by more than 20% in some regions of the globe by the end of the 21st century, but it is difficult to be more precise as we don't know yet how changes in climate will impact on the world's rivers. The results come from a study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which examined computer simulations from an ensemble of state of the art global hydrological models driven by the latest projections from five global climate models used for...
Australian Coal ProjectsThreatened by Drop in Demand From China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 17th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Major Australian coal projects risk losing value due to falling demand from China, where leaders are increasingly concerned about growing public anger over severe air pollution, a new analysis from Oxford University has found. Future coal mining projects are vulnerable to being "stranded" by a range of policy changes from the Chinese government, including environmental regulation, carbon pricing, investment in renewable energy, and energy efficiency, the report said. One expert told The Guardian...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australian Coal ProjectsThreatened by Drop in Demand From ChinaUnited Kingdom: Half UK ‘suitable for fracking’
Posted by BBC: Roger Harrabin on December 17th, 2013
BBC: More than half of the UK could be suitable for shale gas fracking, according to a government-commissioned report.
Under the maximum scenario, up to 2,880 wells could be drilled for oil or gas in a new licensing round, the report says, generating 16,000 to 32,000 jobs.
This would markedly increase lorry movements and could squeeze water supplies for local communities.
But the environmental impact would be "manageable", say consultants AMEC.
A single well might create up to 51 daily lorry...
Study: Climate Change Could Drain Access to Water
Posted by National Journal: Ben Geman on December 17th, 2013
National Journal: A new study finds that climate change could jeopardize access to water for millions of people in places where scarcity is already a problem, according to U.S. News & World Report.
"The study, published Monday in a special issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that water resources will be affected by changes in rainfall and evaporation due to climate change, putting 40 percent more people at risk of absolute water scarcity," their story states.
Slate, meanwhile,...
‘Whole world at risk’ from simultaneous droughts, famines, epidemics: scientists
Posted by Guardian: Nafeez Ahmed on December 17th, 2013
Guardian: An international scientific research project known as the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), run by 30 teams from 12 countries, has attempted to understand the severity and scale of global impacts of climate change. The project compares model projections on water scarcity, crop yields, disease, floods among other issues to see how they could interact.
The series of papers published by the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that policymakers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Whole world at risk’ from simultaneous droughts, famines, epidemics: scientistsUK’s Cameron to EU: Don’t stifle fracking with new laws
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 17th, 2013
Reuters: British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned the European Commission not to propose European Union-wide legislation to regulate the nascent fracking industry, saying such a move could create uncertainty and stifle investment.
The rising cost of energy bills is a big issue ahead of a 2015 election and Cameron is keen to tap Britain's large resources of shale gas to shore up the country's energy security as its North Sea oil reserves decline.
In January, the European Commission, the EU executive,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UK’s Cameron to EU: Don’t stifle fracking with new lawsUnited Kingdom: Government hails fracking report as step towards unlocking shale gas “prize”
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on December 17th, 2013
BusinessGreen: The government has once again welcomed the "exciting prospect" presented by the UK's nascent shale gas industry, after a major new independent report predicted new fracking activity could deliver up to 25 per cent of the UK's current gas demand in the 2020s while supporting between 16,000 and 32,000 additional jobs.
However, opponents of fracking were quick to seize on the report's admission that fracking would bring with it "significant negative effects", including a potential increase in greenhouse...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Government hails fracking report as step towards unlocking shale gas “prize”The year fracking shook the world
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 17th, 2013
Guardian: The pumping of water, sand and chemicals underground at pressure to crack rocks and release gas dominated headlines in 2013. Fracking for shale gas, even if the process has not actually been producing much energy beyond its homeland in the US, has barely been out of the public consciousness.
In the UK, drilling for oil by fracking explorers Cuadrilla in Sussex roused one of the biggest environmental protests in years, as thousands marched outside the village of Balcombe and Green party MP Caroline...
Antarctica’s Soggy Bottom: New Lakes & Streams Found
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on December 17th, 2013
LiveScience: Dimples in Antarctica's vast ice sheet frequently pop up and down like creatures in the arcade game "Whac-A-Mole" — a sign that water is forcing its way through a vast network of channels and lakes under the ice, researchers said last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Scientists reported new evidence of many previously unknown "active" lakes and hollows, which fill and drain like a bathtub, as well as better maps of the drainages connecting these basins....