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Archive for January, 2015
Obama moves to create first methane limits for gas drilling
Posted by Associated: Josh Lederman on January 14th, 2015
Associated: The Obama administration laid out a blueprint Wednesday for the first regulations to cut down on methane emissions from new natural gas wells, aiming to curb the discharge of a potent greenhouse gas by roughly half.
Relying once again on the Clean Air Act, the rules join a host of others that President Barack Obama has ordered in an effort to slow global warming despite opposition to new laws in Congress that has only hardened since the midterm elections. Although just a sliver of U.S. greenhouse...
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Comments Off on Obama moves to create first methane limits for gas drillingMass Animal Die-Offs Are on Rise, Killing Billions and Raising Questions
Posted by National Geographic: Jane J. Lee on January 14th, 2015
National Geographic: We're not talking about a few dead fish littering your local beach. Mass die-offs are individual events that kill at least a billion animals, wipe out over 90 percent of a population, or destroy 700 million tons-the equivalent weight of roughly 1,900 Empire State Buildings-worth of animals.
And according to new research, such die-offs are on the rise.
The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to examine whether mass die-offs have increased...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mass Animal Die-Offs Are on Rise, Killing Billions and Raising QuestionsGold mining devours S.American forest land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Gold mining has gobbled up some 1,680 square kilometres (650 square miles) of tropical forest in South America in the 13 years to 2013, a research paper said Wednesday.
Much of the loss happened near conservation areas, placing protected zones at risk from chemical pollutants used in mining, said the study in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
The findings "highlighted the growing environmental impact of gold mining in some of the most biologically diverse regions in the tropics,"...
Carbon Pollution Costs More Than U.S. Government Estimates
Posted by ClimateWire: Evan Lehmann on January 13th, 2015
ClimateWire: Climate change could have much larger impacts on the economy than the U.S. government is anticipating, according to an analysis released yesterday that suggests the social cost of carbon should be six times higher.
A paper by two Stanford University researchers argues that the true cost of releasing greenhouse gases is about $220 a ton because rising temperatures could badly hinder a nation's economic growth over decades or centuries. The Obama administration estimates that the social cost of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Carbon Pollution Costs More Than U.S. Government EstimatesObama administration to issue rules to cut methane emissions
Posted by New York Times: Coral Davenport on January 13th, 2015
New York Times: In President Barack Obama's latest move using executive authority to tackle climate change, administration officials are announcing plans this week to impose new regulations on the oil and gas industry's emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The administration's goal is to cut methane emissions from oil and gas production by up to 45 percent by 2025 from the levels recorded in 2012, according to an official familiar with Obama's plans.
The Environmental Protection Agency will issue...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama administration to issue rules to cut methane emissionsEU vote gives governments the choice to grow GM crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 13th, 2015
Reuters: Individual EU nations will be able to ban cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops under a compromise deal agreed on Tuesday that ends years of deadlock over the barbed issue and could actually boost GM farming.
A list of GM products is awaiting EU approval and Tuesday's vote in the European Parliament opens the way for the authorities to review it.
EU member states will be able to opt out of any eventual GM approvals, but environment campaigners said the new law was not robust enough....
Ice researchers capture catastrophic Greenland melt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 13th, 2015
LA Times: Over a few summer days in 2012, nearly all of the Greenland ice sheet surface thawed right under the feet of a UCLA-led team of scientists.
What was not absorbed into snow quickly gathered and flowed across the 20,000-square-mile sheet, coalescing into roaring turquoise rivers. And then most of it disappeared.
Where all that water went may seem an easy guess. But that`s just the problem with Greenland ice science -- some of the guesses have been wrong, according to a study published online...
Southwest Florida’s valuable salt marshes in danger
Posted by Sun Times: None Given on January 13th, 2015
Sun Times: Say the words “salt marsh,” and some people will think of swarms of mosquitoes, and others will have no idea what you’re talking about.
But these little-known coastal plant communities are very important habitats that are being threatened by rising sea level.
According to a recent study by Jim Beever, principal planner for the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, area salt marshes are migrating landward ahead of rising sea level where possible — some authorities say that, in a best-case...
Keystone XL passes key Senate test, setting up showdown with Obama
Posted by Globe and Mail: Paul Koring on January 13th, 2015
Globe and Mail: The showdown between U.S. President Barack Obama and the Republican-dominated Congress over the controversial Keystone XL edged closer Monday in a test vote as the Senate cleared the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed with legislation approving the pipeline that would send Canadian oil sands crude across the United States. The 63-32 cloture vote set the stage for passage of Keystone XL legislation later this week. Mr. Obama has vowed to veto efforts by Republicans to wrest control away from him...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL passes key Senate test, setting up showdown with ObamaMosquito populations explode across Australia raising fears disease
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 13th, 2015
Guardian: Mosquito populations are exploding across Australia, with warm weather and strong tides bringing hordes of the blood-sucking insects to the east coast while flooding in central Australia has triggered warnings of mosquito-borne viruses.
More than 200mm of rain has hit parts of central Australia since Wednesday, submerging houses in Alice Springs. Standing pools of water are expected to lead to a boom in mosquito numbers, raising fears of disease carried by the insects.
Health authorities are...
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