RSS Feed
Archive for July, 2014
Computer Models Says Australia Drying Due To Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gases
Posted by Science 2.0: None Given on July 13th, 2014
Science 2.0: A new climate model says that southwestern Australia's long-term decline in fall and winter rainfall is caused by increases in man-made greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion.
NOAA researchers conducted several climate simulations using their global climate model to study long-term changes in rainfall in various regions across the globe. One of the most striking signals of change emerged over Australia, where a long-term decline in fall and winter rainfall has been observed over parts of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Computer Models Says Australia Drying Due To Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse GasesAustralia drying out thanks to our emissions
Posted by New Scientist: Catherine Brahic on July 13th, 2014
New Scientist: Australia is drying out, and it's largely our fault. The south-west of the country can expect to see average annual rainfall drop by 40 per cent compared with the mid-20th century, and a new model suggests that the main cause is human greenhouse gas emissions.
Water from the skies is the stuff of life but the expectation is that many parts of the world will see less of it with climate change. But predicting how much rain will fall where is devilishly difficult.
It is an important question,...
South Australia faces water crisis by end century due climate change
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on July 13th, 2014
Guardian: A predicted 40% decline in rainfall in southern Australia could mean that the West Australian capital, Perth, will have to rely on alternative sources of water in future, a new climate change research paper warns.
The study, led by an academic at the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, examined the causes of rainfall decline in southern Australia over the past few decades and concluded that human activity was a significant contributor.
The findings, published in the journal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on South Australia faces water crisis by end century due climate changeFirefighters battling seven blazes Washington state
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
LA Times: More than 1,000 firefighters battled seven blazes in Washington on Friday, as a heat wave blasted through the state, threatening to aggravate conditions in one of the most active fire regions in the country.
Only three outbuildings had been damaged by the fires in the north-central part of the state by Friday afternoon, authorities said, and no injuries had been reported.
However, more than 100 homes were under orders to evacuate, and the residents of an additional 150 or so were told to be...
Feds fund Cape Wind
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
Living on Earth: The US Department of Energy has given the 130-turbine Cape Wind project a $150 million loan guarantee. Ken Kimmell of the Union of Concerned Scientists tells host Steve Curwood that this federal vote of confidence may help make Cape Wind the first commercial offshore wind turbine farm in the United States Transcript CURWOOD: Well, though Great Lakes offshore wind has yet to see a windfall of federal funding, things are looking better for a development off the coast of Massachusetts that's been...
Texas, leader in greenhouse gases, stands vulnerable their effects
Posted by New York Times: Neena Satija on July 13th, 2014
New York Times: As Republicans promote the state’s economic “miracle,” many climate scientists from Texas say prosperity has come at a steep price.
With its dependence on an energy industry that relies on extracting fossil fuels, scientists say Texas has become a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as well as more vulnerable to its consequences. Texas emits more greenhouse gases than any other state, according to federal data.
State Republican leaders, however, have questioned whether the earth is...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Texas, leader in greenhouse gases, stands vulnerable their effectsWhy A Texas City May Ban Fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2014
National Public Radio: Denton, Texas, is considering a ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and a new study links this process of energy extraction with earthquakes. NPR's Arun Rath considers the risks with science writer Abrahm Lustgarten.
Experts discuss climate change at Nimbus fish hatchery
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 12th, 2014
Sacramento Bee: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is hosting a third presentation on the effects of climate change on salmon and steelhead trout in the American River.
Kevin Shaffer, fisheries branch program manager, will discuss the potential effects of climate change on salmon and steelhead runs in the American River. Whitney Albright, a climate associate, will cover the steps the department is taking to reduce the effects of climate change and the actions needed to manage the fish runs. Both speakers...
Well, I’ll Be Un-Dammed: Colorado River (Briefly) Reached The Sea
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 12th, 2014
National Public Radio: For a few weeks this spring, the Colorado River flowed all the way to the sea for the first time in a half a century. And during that window of opportunity, writer Rowan Jacobsen took the paddleboarding trip of a lifetime.
The river starts in the Rocky Mountains, and for more than 1,400 miles, it wends its way south. Along the way it's dammed and diverted dozens of times, to cities and fields all over the American West. Tens of millions of people depend on the river as a water source.
By the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Well, I’ll Be Un-Dammed: Colorado River (Briefly) Reached The SeaEnvisioning Profit in Environmental Good Works
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 12th, 2014
New York Times: All day and all night, this ship off a knob of Louisiana at Alligator Bend sucks up silt from the floor of Lake Borgne and pumps it through a half-mile of fat steel pipe. At the other end, a slurry gushes noisily out into what was until recently a stretch of open water. New land is rising here, forming mud flats that will soon be covered with waving spartina grass.
This is the unglamorous, mucky — and, to be honest, smelly — work that goes into restoring the fragile marshlands that help protect...