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Archive for January, 2015
Fukushima Operator to Miss Deadline on Decontaminating Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2015
Reuters: The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said it would not be able to meet a self-imposed deadline to decontaminate water containing highly radioactive substances by the end of March.
The admission by the utility known as Tepco is another setback in its struggle to cope with the contaminated water, which is mostly contained in hastily constructed tanks.
Tepco President Naomi Hirose visited officials at the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday to report...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Fukushima Operator to Miss Deadline on Decontaminating WaterThree Minutes Away from Doomsday
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2015
Inter Press Service: Unchecked climate change and the nuclear arms race have propelled the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock forward two minutes closer to midnight, from its 2012 placement of five minutes to midnight.
The decision was announced in Washington DC by members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS), the body behind the calculations and creation of the 1947 Clock of Doom."The simple truth on nuclear weapons is that they are inconsistent with civilisation." -- Alyn Ware
The last time the clock...
Surprise Lake Sheds Light on Underbelly Greenland Ice
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 22nd, 2015
Climate Central: On a clear day, anyone flying over Greenland on the route between North America and Europe can look down and see the bright blue patches of melted water atop the flat, blindingly white expanse of the ice sheet that covers the island, the second largest chunk of ice on Earth.
Scientists have long known this meltwater flows in streams along the ice sheet's surface before disappearing down chutes that take it tumbling to the bottom of the ice sheet, where the ice scrapes against bedrock.
It was...
How We Banned Fracking in New York
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 22nd, 2015
EcoWatch: My friends, we are unfractured.
And thereby hangs a tale.
It’s a tale in which we all are—each one of us is—a starring character and a co-author. We are the maker of this story that has been shaped by our unceasing, unrelenting efforts—all of which mattered and made a difference.
Every rally. Every march. Every jug of Dimock water. Every public comment. Every local ban. Every letter to the editor. Every letter to the Governor. Every concert. Every expert testimony at every hearing.
It...
Doomsday Clock Set at 3 Minutes to Midnight
Posted by LiveScience: Megan Gannon on January 22nd, 2015
LiveScience: The world is "3 minutes" from doomsday.
That's the grim outlook from board members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Frustrated with a lack of international action to address climate change and shrink nuclear arsenals, they decided today (Jan. 22) to push the minute hand of their iconic "Doomsday Clock" to 11:57 p.m.
It's the first time the clock hands have moved in three years; since 2012, the clock had been fixed at 5 minutes to symbolic doom, midnight.
The Bulletin of the Atomic...
Rapid Draining of Greenland Lakes Signals Massive Melting, Researchers Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 22nd, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Researchers have discovered craters left behind when two lakes under the Greenland ice sheet rapidly drained recently -- an indication that a massive amount of meltwater has started overflowing the ice sheet's natural plumbing and is causing "blowouts" that drain lakes away, they say. One of the two lakes once held billions of gallons of water and emptied to form a mile-wide crater in just a few weeks, researchers report in the journal The Cryosphere. The other lake, described this week in the journal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Rapid Draining of Greenland Lakes Signals Massive Melting, Researchers SayGlobal wheat yields threatened by warming with serious consequences
Posted by Ecologist: Paul Brown on January 22nd, 2015
Ecologist: Just one degree of global warming could cut wheat yields by 42 million tonnes worldwide, around 6% of the crop, writes Paul Brown - causing devastating shortages of this staple food.
Market shortages would cause price rises. Many developing countries, and the hungry poor within them, would not be able to afford wheat or bread.
Climate change threatens dramatic price fluctuations in the price of wheat and potential civil unrest because yields of one of the world's most important staple foods...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global wheat yields threatened by warming with serious consequencesUS coal declines, bucks global trend
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 22nd, 2015
Climate Central: Technological progress has been brutal to the yellow pages and compact discs. Coal may be headed the same way in the U.S., partly because of the market and partly because of national climate change policy.
Coal-fired power plants are the nation's largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions and driver of climate change, and an old technology slowly being replaced by newer, cleaner sources of energy. With solar, wind and natural gas gaining ground on the electric grid, change is in the air....
New Lakes Discovered Under Greenland Ice Hint at Warming
Posted by Live Science: None Given on January 22nd, 2015
Live Science: The discovery of two large lakes hidden beneath Greenland's ice suggests that climate change now cuts all the way to the bottom of the ice sheet, according to two new studies. The lakes, on opposite coasts, were only spotted because meltwater from Greenland's surface triggered gushing floods in the fall of 2011. Billions of gallons of water had flushed some 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the sea, leaving behind sunken craters in the surface of the ice above the lakes. Researchers found the fractured...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New Lakes Discovered Under Greenland Ice Hint at WarmingGreenland’s lakes fast disappearing
Posted by NVO: None Given on January 22nd, 2015
NVO: Rising temperatures have been at the centre of scientific study. Its impact could be easily felt on many hotspots across the world.
Right now the Meltwater lakes in Greenland are bearing the burnt. Reports have surfaced that how they have been found to be fast draining off.
And the culprit is none other than the rising temperatures in the region. How intense has been this can be understood from the fact that the lakes are disappearing within weeks.
Two sub-glacial lakes have suffered the...