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Archive for July, 2014
Canadian environment groups, natives challenge Enbridge pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 12th, 2014
Reuters: A coalition of environmental groups launched a second legal challenge against Enbridge Inc's Northern Gateway crude oil pipeline on Friday, asking a Canadian court to quash federal approval that they say was based on a flawed report. The same group filed a lawsuit in January over a preliminary approval by the Joint Review Panel, which found the C$7.9 billion ($7.36 billion) project posed little risk to the environment provided Enbridge complied with 209 conditions. The Canadian government green...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Canadian environment groups, natives challenge Enbridge pipelineSlimy toxic algae will hit Lake Erie again this summer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 11th, 2014
LiveScience: This is the third year the agency has forecast the amount of toxic slime that would choke Lake Erie during the late summer. The forecast is based on models of fertilizer runoff and satellite tracking of precipitation and snowmelt. The noxious blooms occur when fertilizer runoff feeds the runaway growth of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae. The algae are harmful to marine life and to humans. Decaying cyanobacteria suck up oxygen, creating dead zones. Some kinds of algae also emit toxins that damage...
New England Confronts Surging Demand Natural Gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 11th, 2014
New York Times: Standing on a dirt road outside his aging barn, Walter Jaworski, a former veterinarian turned cattle rancher in this rural part of north-central Massachusetts, points south across his 200 acres of forest and pasture to a nearby tree line. If things don’t go his way, he says, that’s about where a new natural gas pipeline will slice through his land on a 180-mile journey from central New York to a transmission hub north of Boston.
The project, proposed by the pipeline giant Kinder Morgan at a cost...
DRC deforestation escalates despite resource shortages, protests, rape, homicide
Posted by Mongabay: John C. Cannon on July 10th, 2014
Mongabay: Road construction, the promise of employment, and the conversion of forest to farmland – the effects of logging tropical forests are often not confined to the boundaries of the concessions, where, in the best case, a timber company has gained legal access to harvest trees. Along the Congo River in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), recent data showing probable forest loss demonstrate the often-unforeseen consequences of timber harvesting.
It’s no secret that new roads to previously...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on DRC deforestation escalates despite resource shortages, protests, rape, homicideStudy: 40% of gas wells could leak methane in parts of Pa
Posted by Philadelphia Inquirer: None Given on July 10th, 2014
Philadelphia Inquirer: People who live among the fracking fields of Pennsylvania should expect considerable leaking of methane from natural gas wells into the groundwater and atmosphere, according to new research by a professor who has been a consistent critic of the boom in hydraulic fracturing.
A research team led by Anthony Ingraffea of Cornell University reached this conclusion after examining state inspection records of more than 41,000 wells drilled from 2000 through 2012 throughout Pennsylvania.
Because of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: 40% of gas wells could leak methane in parts of PaScientific Document Shows Why NY Fracking Moratorium Imperative
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 10th, 2014
EcoWatch: Less than two weeks ago, local communities triumphed over the fracking industry in a precedent-setting case decided by the New York Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the towns of Dryden and Middlefield can use local zoning laws to ban heavy industry, including oil and gas production within municipal borders.
While the court decision is a victory for the two towns, many New Yorkers continue to rally and push for a statewide fracking moratorium. In this vein, Concerned Health Professionals...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientific Document Shows Why NY Fracking Moratorium ImperativeLesions of Gulf of Mexico Fish Linked to Oil Spill
Posted by Nature World: None Given on July 10th, 2014
Nature World: Skin lesions found on large a number of fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico have been linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) ocean spill, scientists from the University of South Florida (USF) say.
Published in the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, USF scientists reported a strong resemblance between oil from the Deepwater blowout and an outbreak of skin lesions and oil residue signatures discovered in bottom-dwelling fish, like the red snapper, a year after the spill....
US Salamander Disappearances Puzzling Scientists
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on July 10th, 2014
Nature World: North America's largest salamander - also the third largest salamander in the world - is disappearing, and scientists are trying to figure out the reasoning behind it, the Associated Press reported.
Hellbenders, as they're called, which can grow two or more feet long, are vanishing from large parts of the 16 states they inhabit. Scientists believe the disappearance could reflect a plunge in the quality of the swift-flowing, rocky rivers and streams they are found in.
"These are animals that...
What Is Causing the Kidney Stone Epidemic?
Posted by io9: Annalee Newitz on July 10th, 2014
io9: The number of people suffering from kidney stones has grown over the past thirty years, and a new study shows it's likely to get worse. Here's why.
Pediatric urologist Gregory Tasian and his team analyzed over 60,000 medical records of people with kidney stones in major cities throughout the U.S. What they found was that people were more likely to develop the painful calcium deposits (pictured above) in their kidneys when average temperatures rose over 50 degrees. In fact, many cases of kidney...
India: Monsoon rains sharply lower average
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 10th, 2014
Reuters: Monsoon rainfall was 41 percent below average for the week ended July 9, the weather office said on its website on Thursday, the fifth straight week of poor rains after a late start to the season.
A poor monsoon season cuts exports, stokes food inflation and leads to lower demand for industries ranging from cars to consumer goods, while even a slow start can delay exports of some crops and increase the need for imports.
Rainfall was 53 percent below average in the previous week as the first...