RSS Feed
Archive for March, 2014
Cleanup after Texas oil spill causes disruption major waterway
Posted by Guardian: Associated Press on March 23rd, 2014
Guardian: The cleanup of an unknown amount of thick, sticky oil that spilled into the Galveston Bay blocked traffic on Sunday between the Gulf of Mexico and one of the world's busiest petrochemical transportation waterways, affecting all vessels, even cruise ships.
A barge carrying nearly a million gallons of marine fuel oil collided with a ship on Saturday afternoon, springing a leak. Officials believe only one of the barge's tanks – which holds 168,000 gallons, was breached, though Coast Guard Petty Officer...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Cleanup after Texas oil spill causes disruption major waterwayTimely study of Colorado oil and gas drilling
Posted by Denver Post: None Given on March 23rd, 2014
Denver Post: Though opponents call House Bill 1297 a fishing expedition to find something wrong with oil and gas operations, how can there be any harm in reviewing medical literature to determine whether health concerns exist?
The legislation sponsored by Rep. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, would spend about $567,000 over three years to study health effects of oil and gas operations in Adams, Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties.
"The intent of the bill is to do a retrospective analysis of public health data...
Elizabeth Kolbert on How Tech Can — And Can’t — Tackle Climate Change and Extinction
Posted by Recode: James Temple on March 23rd, 2014
Recode: Somewhere around two hundred thousand years ago, a new primate emerges on Earth.
"The members of the species are not particularly swift or strong or fertile," the New Yorker`s Elizabeth Kolbert writes in her new book, "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History." "They are, however, singularly resourceful."
It is, of course, us - big-brained, small-browed genetic mutants clever enough to outcompete animals ten times our size and gradually fan out across the globe.
Eventually, humankind invents...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Elizabeth Kolbert on How Tech Can — And Can’t — Tackle Climate Change and ExtinctionCould a global grab for fertile soil, bring civil unrest?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2014
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The estimated 1.6 billion hectares of fertile soils currently under cultivation can certainly feed the current world population.
If we still have approximately 800 million undernourished and hungry people on this planet, it is due to serious imbalances in the distribution of wealth, land and natural resources in general.
Market driven preference to allocate part of the fertile soils to producing energy or biofuels instead of food, as well as unsustainable consumption habits and market distortion...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Could a global grab for fertile soil, bring civil unrest?Keystone XL poses threat to South Carolina coast
Posted by Battle Creek Enquirer: Frank Knapp Jr. on March 23rd, 2014
Battle Creek Enquirer: Secretary of State John Kerry needs to talk with U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Better yet, he should come see the South Carolina coast firsthand. Last year, Jewell toured Bulls Island and witnessed how only a 1-foot rise in sea level over the last century has turned a vibrant hardwood island into a “boneyard beach.” The same disaster situation from even faster-rising seas is facing South Carolina’s vibrant tourism economy, from Cherry Grove at the North to Beaufort in the South. Only it...
Climate change to disrupt food supplies, brake growth says UN climate report draft
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2014
Reuters: The latest draft UN report on climate change points to options for disaster planning, drought and flood-resistant crops, and water and energy saving. Rising sea levels are a direct threat to low lying islands in the Pacific. (Credit: ABC) Global warming will disrupt food supplies, slow world economic growth and may already be causing irreversible damage to nature, according to a United Nations report due this week that will put pressure on governments to act. A 29-page draft by the Intergovernmental...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change to disrupt food supplies, brake growth says UN climate report draftScientists predict Australia will continue to get hotter
Posted by Radio Australia: Jeanavive McGregor and Jake Sturmer on March 23rd, 2014
Radio Australia: The latest United Nations report card on the impacts of climate change predicts Australia will continue to get hotter.
Scientists believe the world is still on track to become more than two degrees Celsius warmer. (Credit: ABC)
The latest United Nations report card on the impacts of climate change predicts Australia will continue to get hotter.
The ABC has obtained drafts of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Scientists believe the world is still on track...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists predict Australia will continue to get hotterCrews Mopping Up Oil Spill In Texas’ Galveston Bay
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2014
Associated Press: The cleanup of an unknown amount of thick, sticky oil in Galveston Bay continued Sunday, a day after a barge carrying nearly a million gallons of fuel collided with a ship. Crews are skimming oil out of the water and booms have been brought in to protect environmentally sensitive areas of the Houston shipping channel, Coast Guard Petty Officer Andy Kendrick said Sunday morning. The area is a popular bird habitat, especially during the approaching migratory shorebird season, and Kendrick said there...
Australia: Great Barrier Reef: govt faces second legal challenge on dumping
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on March 23rd, 2014
Guardian: The federal government is facing a second legal challenge over its decision to allow excavated seabed to be dumped in the Great Barrier Reef marine park.
Documents will be lodged with Brisbane’s federal court on Monday to challenge the dredging and dumping project that will expand the Abbot Point port near the Queensland town of Bowen.
The Mackay Conservation Group, which is bringing the legal action, claims environment minister Greg Hunt has contravened his international obligations by allowing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Great Barrier Reef: govt faces second legal challenge on dumpingYes, Manmade Global Warming Worsening California Epic Drought
Posted by Climate Progress: Joe Romm on March 23rd, 2014
Climate Progress: California`s epic drought got even worse last week. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that the area of California under moderate drought (or worse) rose from 94.6 percent of the state to a stunning 99.8 percent. The area under extreme or exceptional drought rose from 65.9 to 71.8 percent, encompassing the entire agriculture-rich Central Valley
Back in January, we interviewed 8 of the leading climate and drought experts in the country, who explained in great detail how climate change is worsening...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Yes, Manmade Global Warming Worsening California Epic Drought