RSS Feed
Archive for February, 2015
12 terrifying ways researchers think human civilisation likely end
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2015
Independent: Researchers at Oxford University have compiled a “scientific assessment about the possibility of oblivion”.
The scientists from the Global Challenges Foundation and the Future of Humanity Institute used their research to draw up a list of the 12 most likely ways human civilisation could end on planet earth.
“[This research] is about how a better understanding of the magnitude of the challenges can help the world to address the risks it faces, and can help to create a path towards more sustainable...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on 12 terrifying ways researchers think human civilisation likely endPennsylvania vs. climate change
Posted by Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Ed Perry on February 15th, 2015
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Slowly but surely, Lyme disease has reached near epidemic proportions in Pennsylvania. Twenty years ago, most of us never heard of Lyme disease. Now, most of us know someone who has had it and many of us have had it as well. Ticks not only are more abundant in Pennsylvania, but they also have migrated into Canada. It's no coincidence that warmer winters have facilitated the spread of ticks to the North.
Another noxious insect pest, the wooly adelgid, is decimating our state tree, the hemlock....
Satellites gauge dangerous rising sea levels due to climate change
Posted by Tribune: John Lindsey on February 15th, 2015
Tribune: John Swigert: “OK, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”
Houston: “This is Houston. Say again please.”
Jim Lovell: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
That famous and chilling conversation by the crew of Apollo 13 aboard their ill-fated spacecraft could very well describe the Earth’s condition at this time.
Today, we are seeing rising sea levels from global warming that can have devastating consequences. The rising seas combined with waves generated by high winds, storm surges, storm runoff...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Satellites gauge dangerous rising sea levels due to climate changeThreatened Smelt Touches Off Battles in California’s Endless Water Wars
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
New York Times: On a boat in the heart of California’s biggest river delta, a researcher pored over a sample of murky, weed-infested water, looking for a rare fish about the size of a finger. Spotting one, he shouted in triumph — then measured it and quickly tossed it overboard. “They’re very fragile,” explained the researcher, Greg Nelson, who works as a biological science technician for the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, as the silvery fish darted away. The tiny fish, known as the delta smelt, has helped...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Threatened Smelt Touches Off Battles in California’s Endless Water WarsBills in Washington State Seek to End Use of Coal
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Associated Press: Lawmakers hoping to wean Washington State off coal power are trying to ease the way for the state’s utilities to end the electricity they get from coal. Bills in the House and Senate would set favorable conditions for three private utilities if they decided to shut down a large coal-fired power plant in eastern Montana that provides power to a chunk of the Pacific Northwest. Supporters say the proposal gives the utilities the tools to begin divesting from coal power plants, including a way to issue...
Is fracking causing small earthquakes?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Associated Press: Small earthquakes shaking Oklahoma and southern Kansas daily and linked to energy drilling dramatically are increasing the chance of bigger and dangerous quakes, federal research indicates.
This once-stable region now is just as likely to see serious damaging and potentially harmful earthquakes as the highest risk places east of the Rockies such as New Madrid, Missouri, and Charleston, South Carolina, which had major quakes in the last two centuries.
Still, it’s a low risk, about a 1 in 2,500...
India: Capital City Hotter than Jaipur, Delhi
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Indian Express: Gradual disappearance of natural water bodies under the onslaught of development has made Bhubaneswar hotter than Jaipur or Delhi, said experts here on Saturday.
Though Bhubaneswar continues to retain its green canopy despite the Super Cyclone in 1999 and Phailin in 2013, mercury is shooting up during the summer, they said.
Though the city boasted of several water bodies in the past, many have shrunk causing change in climate. This can lead to erratic rainfall and even cloudbursts, Ajit Pattnaik,...
Study: Oklahoma’s daily small quakes linked to energy drilling raise risk of big ones
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Associated Press: Small earthquakes shaking Oklahoma and southern Kansas daily and linked to energy drilling are dramatically increasing the chance of bigger and dangerous quakes, federal research indicates.
This once stable region is now just as likely to see serious damaging and potentially harmful earthquakes as the highest risk places east of the Rockies such as New Madrid, Missouri, and Charleston, South Carolina, which had major quakes in the past two centuries.
Still it's a low risk, about a 1 in 2,500...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: Oklahoma’s daily small quakes linked to energy drilling raise risk of big onesNASA scientists predict global warming could dry up Southwest, Midwest America by 2050
Posted by Daily News: None Given on February 14th, 2015
Daily News: America the beautiful’s amber waves of grain could dry up and blow away if carbon emissions aren’t curbed, scientists predict. “Unprecedented drought conditions,” could leave much of California, the Southwest and Midwest dry as a bone by 2050 due to global warming, according to a study NASA scientists released Thursday. The epic dry spells would make current droughts look like a break in the clouds compared with the arid conditions predicted. “Nearly every year is going to be dry toward the end...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on NASA scientists predict global warming could dry up Southwest, Midwest America by 2050California to Face Mega-Drought of 35 Years from 20150, Warn Climate Scientists
Posted by MF Monitor: None Given on February 14th, 2015
MF Monitor: Last year was the warmest on record in California, its driest spell for more than 400 years but a new study says that’s nothing compared to what’s in store. In a paper, published by the journal Science Advances, researchers from Nasa and Columbia and Cornell universities warn that a vast swathe of the US, including the south-west states and the central plains, may face unprecedented drought conditions, unseen in the past 1,000 years. In about 35 years, the region’s millennia-long natural cycle...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California to Face Mega-Drought of 35 Years from 20150, Warn Climate Scientists