RSS Feed
Archive for June 4th, 2015
Fracking poses potential risks some drinking water supplies: EPA study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2015
Reuters: Fracking for shale oil and gas has not led to widespread pollution of drinking water, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft report said on Thursday, although it warned some drilling activities could potentially cause health risks.
The study, requested by Congress and five years in the making, said fracking could contaminate drinking water under certain conditions, such as when fluids used in the process leaked into the water table.
The EPA said it found isolated cases of water contamination,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Fracking poses potential risks some drinking water supplies: EPA studyMystery of Greenland’s ‘disappearing lakes’ solved
Posted by LiveScience: Joseph Castro on June 4th, 2015
LiveScience: Geoscientists have solved a decade-long mystery of how some of the large lakes that sit atop the Greenland ice sheet can completely drain billions of gallons of water in a matter of hours. In 2006, Greenland's North Lake, a 2.2 square-mile (5.6 square kilometers) supraglacial meltwater lake, drained almost 12 billion gallons of water in less than two hours. In a study published two years later, researchers determined that this astonishing phenomenon is possible because giant hydro-fractures (water-driven...
As Jamaica’s Prime Forests Decline, Row Erupts Over Protection
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2015
Inter Press Service: For Jamaica, planting more trees as a way to build resilience is one of the highest priorities of the government`s climate change action plan. So when Cockpit Country residents woke up to bulldozers in the protected area, they rallied to get answers from the authorities.
On May 18, Noranda Bauxite Limited acted on 2004 mining leases and moved its heavy equipment into the outer areas of the Cockpit Country, ignoring unresolved boundary issues. Their actions reignited a simmering row between stakeholders...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As Jamaica’s Prime Forests Decline, Row Erupts Over ProtectionWhy Heat is Accelerating the California Drought
Posted by Environmental News Network: Usgs Newsroom on June 4th, 2015
Environmental News Network: Although record low precipitation has been the main driver of one of the worst droughts in California history, abnormally high temperatures have also played an important role in amplifying its adverse effects, according to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey and university partners.
Experiments with a hydrologic model for the period Oct. 2013-Sept. 2014 showed that if the air temperatures had been cooler, similar to the 1916-2012 average, there would have been an 86% chance that the winter...
Seven new miniaturized frog species found Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Following nearly 5 years of exploration in mountainous areas of the southern Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, a team of researchers has uncovered seven new species of a highly miniaturized, brightly colored frog genus known as Brachycephalus. Each species is remarkably endemic, being restricted to cloud forests in one or a few adjacent mountaintops, thus making them highly vulnerable to extinction, particularly due to shifts in the distribution of cloud forest due to climate change.
The Atlantic...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Seven new miniaturized frog species found Brazilian Atlantic RainforestDrought-hit Indian village looks to ‘water wives’ to quench thirst
Posted by Reuters: Danish Siddiqui on June 4th, 2015
Reuters: In the parched village of Denganmal, in western India, there are no taps. The only drinking water comes from two wells at the foot of a nearby rocky hill, a spot so crowded that the sweltering walk and wait can take hours. For Sakharam Bhagat, as for many others in the hamlet some 140 km (85 miles) from Mumbai, the answer was a 'water wife'. Bhagat, 66, now has three wives, two of whom he married solely to ensure that his household has water to drink and cook. ADVERTISING "I had to have someone...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought-hit Indian village looks to ‘water wives’ to quench thirstGanga water quality impacting health, feel people
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2015
Times of India: A survey report of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) says that 80% of Varanasi respondents feel that water quality of the Ganga has an impact on their health.
The TERI Environmental Survey 2015 was released on Wednesday and aims to gauge the perception, awareness, opinion and behavior of people towards environment in seven Indian cities, including Varanasi.
TERI is an independent, not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment, and sustainable development and devoted...
I have seen the future, and it looks like Mad Max
Posted by High Country News: None Given on June 4th, 2015
High Country News: Last Thursday, I emerged from a movie theatre weak-kneed and sweaty-pitted, nerves fried and brain buzzing, simultaneously terrified and exhilarated by the sight of my own car in the parking lot. I had just seen Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller’s deranged ode to vehicles, explosions, and maybe, just maybe, the importance of environmental advocacy.
Most of the commentary around Mad Max, including some ranting from the delusional “men’s rights” movement, has focused on the film’s feminist leanings....
Climate context for India deadly heat wave
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on June 4th, 2015
Climate Central: The broiling heat wave that suffocated parts of India with temperatures regularly above 110°F at the end of May -- and killed around 2,000 people in just a few days according to estimates -- has finally waned. But the deadly episode has focused world attention on the plight of vulnerable populations during such extreme events and raised questions about how to better prepare for such disasters when the climate could be tipping toward more of them.
While India is no stranger to heat waves this time...
Agriculture losses drought set jump 23% this year, economy coping
Posted by ClimateWire: Niina Heikkinen on June 4th, 2015
ClimateWire: This year, California farmers will likely experience worse drought conditions than they did in 2014, but a preliminary report suggests the economic impacts won't be as severe as some researchers had anticipated.
According to data collected by researchers at the University of California, Davis, the amount of available surface water supply will be about 33 percent less on average.
While the reduced water level is significant, increased groundwater pumping is expected to help buffer the agricultural...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Agriculture losses drought set jump 23% this year, economy coping