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Archive for May 25th, 2014
Pakistan: Teams study bursting glacial lakes in northern areas
Posted by Dawn: Jamal Shahid on May 25th, 2014
Dawn: Meteorologists have been rushed to investigate two glacial lakes that burst out in Gilgit-Baltistan region recently, causing flash floods and disrupting traffic on Karakoram Highway (KKH).
Deputy Commissioner Hunza Usman Ali told Dawn that a lake formed atop the roughly 20 kilometre-long Hussaini glacier in Gojal Valley burst its banks at three or four points on May 7 and the rushing waters damaged some agricultural land but spared the settlements down below.
“Such floodwaters bring down a...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Pakistan: Teams study bursting glacial lakes in northern areasDebate continues to rage over how much of a population the earth can sustain
Posted by South China Morning Post: Martin Williams on May 25th, 2014
South China Morning Post: Ancient trees suggest Genghis Khan's success was built on grass Soul searching: Prague Ten of the best romantic movies in Asian cinema There's a lot more to our neighbour Shenzhen than cheap suits and massages Ancient trees suggest Genghis Khan's success was built on grass There's a lot more to our neighbour Shenzhen than cheap suits and massages Soul searching: Prague Ten of the best romantic movies in Asian cinema The Easter Island and Angkor complex are among places where Jared Diamond believes...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Debate continues to rage over how much of a population the earth can sustainMinnesota must change with climate
Posted by Saint Cloud Times: None Given on May 25th, 2014
Saint Cloud Times: Climate change is real, happening now and is affecting people in every state, declares the third National Climate Assessment Report. Released May 6, it is one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change impacts in the United States, examining every region in America and across major sectors of the U.S. economy. The results are clear: Climate change is not a distant threat but is visible today — including in Minnesota, the third-fastest warming state. We need to act responsibly to combat...
Eccentric scientist vindicated melting, global warming predictions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 25th, 2014
Toledo Blade: Thirty-six years after catching flak for one of the most bold and dire predictions about global warming, former Ohio State University glaciologist John H. Mercer is being hailed as a visionary.
Mr. Mercer was hardly the first to sound an alarm about greenhouse gases: Scientists were well on their way by the late 1950s toward connecting mankind's burning of fossil fuels to Earth's changing climate.
But Mr. Mercer made a groundbreaking contribution with a peer-reviewed research paper about West...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Eccentric scientist vindicated melting, global warming predictionsCalifornia: Where 13 Billion Barrels of Oil Simply Vanish
Posted by Motley Fuel: Matt DiLallo on May 25th, 2014
Motley Fuel: California was supposed to be heading toward a new gold rush. Although, this time it was for black gold. The Monterey Shale underneath the state was estimated to hold about 13.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil making it the country's largest shale oil deposit. That black gold rush is a lot less likely after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reportedly will slash its estimates of recoverable oil in the state by 96%.
According to the report in the LA Times, the EIA is set to announce...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California: Where 13 Billion Barrels of Oil Simply VanishPope Francis Pleas For Environment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 25th, 2014
Scientific American: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. That's what God told Adam and Eve in the King James Bible. Do Christians therefore have an obligation to tame the Earth and exercise "dominion' over all its plants and animals?
Not according to Pope Francis. In a speech on May 21, he noted that our planet is a great gift to humanity. Nature and the cosmos beyond are objects for wonder and awe--an awe that the Christian deity also shared after creating it.
That experience of...
CA Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Fracking Moratorium Bill
Posted by Daily Kos: Dan Bacher on May 25th, 2014
Daily Kos: "The costs to people, homes and the environment remain unacceptably high, but we now also know that the projected economic benefits are only a small fraction of what the oil industry has been touting."
In spite of the millions spent by Big Oil on lobbying in Sacramento every year, the California Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday voted 4 to 2 to approve a bill, SB 1132, to place a moratorium on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in the state.
SB 1132, authored by Senators Holly Mitchell...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on CA Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Fracking Moratorium BillAntarctic Ice Collapse Could Devastate Global Food Supply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 25th, 2014
Guardian: The ongoing collapse of a large part of the Antarctica ice sheet could devastate global food supply, drowning vast areas of crop lands across the Middle East and Asia, according to new research.
A new report urges the Obama Administration to step up research funding -- especially in developing countries -- to help make up a projected gap in future food supply.
The report, Advancing Global Food Supply in the Face of a Changing Climate, urges the Obama Administration to step up research funding...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Antarctic Ice Collapse Could Devastate Global Food SupplyClimate change needs urgent action
Posted by New York Times: Thomas Friedman on May 25th, 2014
New York Times: Of the many things being said about climate change lately, none was more eloquent than the point made by Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state in the Showtime series "Years of Living Dangerously," when he observed: "We're the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it." The question is how do we motivate people to do something about it at the scale required, when many remain skeptical or preoccupied with the demands of daily life —...
Babbling brooks adding to climate change?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 25th, 2014
ScienceDaily: Methane bubbles rising to the surface of fresh water. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison [Click to enlarge image]
Studying stream bubbles isn't exactly a walk in the park. What, with the mud and ticks, the long days hiking and swimming through mucky streams, the sun exposure and scratching brush.
But in the end, it may prove to be insightful. The bubbles coming from freshwater sources, new research suggests, may be a key and currently unaccounted for source of methane,...