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Archive for June, 2014
Climate Change Is Cooking Up a New Permafrost in Alaska
Posted by Softpedia: None Given on June 11th, 2014
Softpedia: Study finds a new permafrost is now in the making in Alaska Except for people who live in smack in the middle of nowhere and folks who choose to remain oblivious to what is happening to the world around them, pretty much everybody knows that climate change is reshaping our planet's ecosystems.
Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists with McGill University and the United States Geological Survey explain that this man-made phenomenon is now cooking up a new permafrost in...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate Change Is Cooking Up a New Permafrost in AlaskaHow Drought-Stricken California Can Do More With Less Water
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 11th, 2014
EcoWatch: A dangerous drought continues impacting California, but a new study shows that water managers and agricultural users haven`t done the state`s supply any favors.
It also explains why it`s not to late.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pacific Institute, California uses 6 million acre-feet more water than its rivers and aquifers can sustainably provide. However, researchers found that a myriad of techniques could actually help California save 14 million acre-feet to fill...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Drought-Stricken California Can Do More With Less WaterExtreme weather to occur more often around Indian Ocean rim
Posted by Science: None Given on June 11th, 2014
Science: A double whammy of weird ocean behavior washed over the world in 1997. The Pacific Ocean had already succumbed to an exceptionally strong El Niño, and then the Indian Ocean was hit fiercely by El Niño’s close cousin: the so-called Indian Ocean Dipole. Surface waters off the coast of Indonesia cooled and the ocean’s predominant westerly winds reversed, leading to catastrophic weather. Fires raged across a drought-stricken Indonesia, and floods across east African nations killed thousands.
Climate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Extreme weather to occur more often around Indian Ocean rimCalifornia Could Stretch Current Water Supply by One Third: Report
Posted by NBC: Patrick Healy on June 11th, 2014
NBC: Drought-plagued California could stretch its available water supply as much as 30 percent by making more effective use of existing resources, according to a new analysis released by the Pacific Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The study projects gleaning as much as 14 million acre-feet a year, enough to slake the thirst of every city in the state. The water would be found by expanding use of such existing strategies as conservation, water recycling, rainwater capture, and more...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Could Stretch Current Water Supply by One Third: ReportFracking Boom could hit Germany next
Posted by Green Fudge: None Given on June 11th, 2014
Green Fudge: Analysts say energy disputes between the Ukraine and Russia could lead to a “fracking to the rescue” mentality in Europe, and based on a recent announcement from Germany, they could be right. For two years Germany has had a moratorium on providing permits for hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, to get natural gas out of the earth. Now leaders are using the rush to free Germany and other EU countries from their reliance on Russian energy sources to push for a lift on the ban as early as 2015.
The...
The Americas: Chile: Patagonia Dams Rejected
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2014
Associated Press: A government commission rejected an $8 billion proposal to dam Patagonian rivers to meet growing energy demands, handing a victory to environmentalists who praised the ruling on Tuesday. The commission, including the ministers of agriculture, energy, mining, economy and health, voted unanimously to reject the HidroAysén plan, which would have tamed two of the world’s wildest rivers, the Baker and Pascua, and built more than 1,000 miles of power lines to supply energy to central Chile. Patricio Rodrigo,...
Forest loss starves fish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2014
PhysOrg: Debris from forests that washes into freshwater lakes supplements the diets of microscopic zooplankton and the fish that feed off them - creating larger and stronger fish, new research shows.
The researchers warn that, as forests are eroded through human activities such as logging, the impacts will be felt in aquatic as well as terrestrial food chains.
In fact, the study was conducted at a Canadian lake chosen because it had suffered ecological disaster during the mid-20th century: acid rain...
Chile Patagonia Celebrates Decision Against Wilderness Dams
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2014
Inter Press Service: The Chilean government rejected Tuesday the controversial HidroAysén project for the construction of five hydroelectric dams on rivers in the south of the country. The decision came after years of struggle by environmental groups and local communities, who warned the world of the destruction the dams would wreak on the Patagonian wilderness.
"This is a historic day," Juan Pablo Orrego, the international coordinator of the Patagonia Without Dams campaign, told IPS after the decision was announced....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chile Patagonia Celebrates Decision Against Wilderness DamsColorado could be ‘ground zero’ fracking debate
Posted by 9News: Steve Staeger on June 10th, 2014
9News: If state lawmakers can't reach a compromise on fracking, it could lead to a battle on the ballot getting national attention.
Late Tuesday, it appeared a compromise drafted by Governor Hickenlooper and some of his democratic allies was falling apart. The Denver Business Journal reported the Colorado Oil and Gas Association voted against the proposal, after it sat at the table working to draft it.
That news came on the same day two residents of Lafayette filed a class action lawsuit against the...
Chile Scraps Huge Patagonia Dam Project Years Controversy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 10th, 2014
National Geographic: Chile's government canceled a controversial plan for five dams on two of Patagonia's wildest rivers Tuesday, after an eight-year battle between environmentalists and developers.
Chile's Committee of Ministers overturned the environmental permits for the HidroAysén project, which would have put dams on the Baker and Pascua Rivers, flooding 5,900 hectares of land in order to generate hydroelectric power.
The committee had previously approved the permits in 2011, but has faced strong public opposition...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chile Scraps Huge Patagonia Dam Project Years Controversy