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Archive for August 22nd, 2014
Urban areas are hives for wild bees
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2014
BBC: A study has found a "considerable richness" of wild bee species in most types of urban habitats.
French researchers recorded almost a third of the nation's 900 species of wild bees living in towns and cities.
Writing in Plos One, they added that 60 species were also found in very urbanised areas in the city of Lyon.
There is widespread concern that wild bee populations in rural areas are being adversely affected by a number of factors, including pesticides.
"For a bee species to be present...
Poll: New Yorkers don’t support fracking, pot
Posted by Poughkeepsie Journal: Joseph Spector on August 22nd, 2014
Poughkeepsie Journal: Only 35 percent of New York voters want to legalize marijuana for personal use, and 62 percent said they wouldn't use it even it were legal, a poll Friday found. The Quinnipiac University poll also found that opposition to hydraulic fracturing grew slightly to its highest point in its polling. Forty-eight percent of voters were opposed to the controversial drilling technique compared to 43 percent who supported it. The previous high for fracking opposition was in a Quinnipiac poll in March 2013,...
Hundreds meet to discuss proposed fracking rules
Posted by WRAL: None Given on August 22nd, 2014
WRAL: Officials from the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission were hearing from the public Friday night on proposed rules for the oil and gas drilling method known as fracking.
The second of four public meetings on the issue began at 5 p.m. at the Dennis Wicker Center in Sanford, where 86 people shared their thoughts on both sides of the issue.
Critics of fracking raised concerns about the rules.
"The rules are not written with people's interest in mind and the government in North Carolina...
Some tests near Imperial’s Canada mine spill show high copper
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2014
Reuters: A small number of water samples taken near the site of a major spill at Imperial Metals Corp's Mount Polley mine have shown copper levels high enough to pose a risk to fish, British Columbia officials said on Friday, but the copper did not exceed drinking water guidelines.
The local public health authority believes drinking water intake pipes have not been exposed to unsafe levels of contamination, Medical Health Officer Sue Pollock said on a conference call with reporters.
The copper and gold...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Some tests near Imperial’s Canada mine spill show high copperGlobal warming: Heat trapped by greenhouse gases going deep into the Atlantic Ocean
Posted by Summit Voice: Bob Berwyn on August 22nd, 2014
Summit Voice: Ancient currents that circulate the sun`s energy deep into the Atlantic Ocean may be swallowing up some of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases. In the past decade, the current has intensified, drawing surface heat as deep as mile beneath the surface of the sea, scientists said after analyzing data from a network of ocean buoys.
The new findings may help explain why the pace of warming has slowed, and suggest that, when the current reverts to weaker phase, surface temperatures could spike upward...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global warming: Heat trapped by greenhouse gases going deep into the Atlantic OceanStudy At Deepwater Horizon Spill Site Finds Key To Tracking Pollutants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2014
RedOrbit: A new study of the ocean circulation patterns at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill reveals the significant role small-scale ocean currents play in the spread of pollutants. The findings provide new information to help predict the movements of oil and other pollutants in the ocean. Nearly two years to the day after the Deepwater Horizon incident, scientists from the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE), based at the University of Miami...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study At Deepwater Horizon Spill Site Finds Key To Tracking PollutantsFracking Flares in Texas and North Dakota Equal to Greenhouse Emissions From 1.5 Million Cars
Posted by EcoWatch: Anastasia Pantsios on August 22nd, 2014
EcoWatch: Earthworks, a nonprofit which works to protect communities from the impacts of mineral and fossil fuel extraction and promote sustainable energy development, has released a new report showing that the flaring of natural gas waste in just two shale plays, or exploration areas, is the equivalent of an additional 1.5 million cars on the road. The flares occur when natural gas is burned rather than captured.
The report, "Up in Flames: U.S. Shale Oil Boom Comes at Expense of Wasted Natural Gas, Increased...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking Flares in Texas and North Dakota Equal to Greenhouse Emissions From 1.5 Million CarsHow big is your water footprint? You may be surprised
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2014
Reuters: If you recently bought a pair of jeans or ate a burger for dinner, followed by a nice cup of coffee, you probably didn't link the touch of cotton or the aroma of the food to the amount of water that was used to produce them.
It might be good idea to start thinking about it.
There is more to a cup of coffee than just the 125 ml of water poured into a cafetiere: an astounding 140 litres of water is needed to grow the coffee beans for one cup. The production of one hamburger requires 17 times...
Severe Drought Explains Ground Level Rise in Western US
Posted by Nature World: None Given on August 22nd, 2014
Nature World: The severe drought gripping the western United States in recent years is causing the region's ground level to literally rise up, according to a new study.
The loss of groundwater has been so extreme that it lifted the West an average of one-sixth of an inch since 2013, according to the study, published in the journal Science.
More than just browning lawns, the research shows that the lack of water is causing an "uplift" effect as Earth's tectonic plates shift. California's snow-starved mountains...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Severe Drought Explains Ground Level Rise in Western USDrought in Western U.S. Has Caused Land to Rise, Researchers Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2014
Yale Environment 360: The western U.S. has lost so much water during the ongoing severe drought that the land has sprung up by as much as 15 millimeters (0.6 inches), according to a study in the journal Science. Water at the surface of the earth typically weighs down the land, but the region has lost enough water that the tectonic plate underlying the western U.S. has undergone rapid uplift, much like an uncoiling spring, researchers explain. California's water deficit over the past 18 months has caused some of its mountain...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought in Western U.S. Has Caused Land to Rise, Researchers Say