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Archive for June, 2015
U.S. fracking rules to face early legal test
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2015
Reuters: Energy industry groups and states that oppose new U.S. rules for hydraulic fracturing on public lands are headed to court this month to try to block the regulations a day before they are to take effect.
Foes of the regulations will go before a federal judge on June 23 to seek a preliminary injunction. The Interior Department rules, slated to take effect on June 24, would require companies to provide data on chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and to take steps to prevent leakage...
Climate Change Has Left the US Exposed in the Arctic, Say Military Experts
Posted by Mother Jones: Karl Mathiesen on June 11th, 2015
Mother Jones: Political gridlock over climate change has left the US military exposed to Russia's superior fleets in the Arctic, flooding in its naval bases and a more unstable world, according to high-ranking former military commanders and security advisors. The comments, published on the Weather Channel on Wednesday, echoed president Barack Obama, who recently lambasted climate skeptic politicians for jeopardizing global and national security. Sherri Goodman, who served as Bill Clinton's deputy undersecretary...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate Change Has Left the US Exposed in the Arctic, Say Military ExpertsScientists Say Tar Sands Development And Limiting Climate Change ‘Incompatible’
Posted by ThinkProgress: Katie Valentine on June 11th, 2015
ThinkProgress: More than 100 scientists from the U.S. and Canada called for a moratorium on the development of tar sands Wednesday, saying the carbon-intensive form of energy was "incompatible" with limiting climate change.
The scientists published a consensus statement laying out 10 reasons why mining of tar sands - an energy source that`s found largely in Alberta, Canada`s Athabasca region and whose mining has led to significant deforestation and forest degradation in the province - needs to be halted. Those...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists Say Tar Sands Development And Limiting Climate Change ‘Incompatible’The Weird Effect Climate Change Will Have Plant Growth
Posted by Time: Justin Worland on June 11th, 2015
Time: Add the hindering of plant growth to the long and growing list of the ways climate change may affect life on our planet. The number of days when plants can grow could decrease by 11% by 2100 assuming limited efforts to stall climate change, affecting some of the world`s poorest and most vulnerable people, according to a new study in PLOS Biology.
Climate change affects a number of variables that determine how much plants can grow. A 7% decline in the average number of freezing days will actually...
El Niño Forecast Brings Calif. Hope for Drought Relief
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2015
Climate Central: El Niño is gaining steam in the Pacific Ocean and forecasters are now leaning towards it being a strong event, the first since the blockbuster El Niño of 1997-1998. That possibility is again raising the collective hopes of Californians that this winter may finally see some desperately needed precipitation to begin the slow climb out of a historic drought.
"In California, all eyes are on the Pacific given the ongoing historic drought,' Daniel Swain, an atmospheric science Ph.D. student at Stanford...
Nations warn time running short to prepare Paris climate deal
Posted by Reuters: Alister Doyle and Megan Rowling on June 11th, 2015
Reuters: Several nations expressed growing unease on Thursday that time is running short to resolve disputes about global warming after U.N. talks ended with little progress toward an international deal to combat climate change meant to be agreed in December.
Delegates representing almost 200 countries trimmed a few pages off an 89-page draft text at the June 1-11 preparatory meeting in Bonn, but stopped short of confronting major underlying issues such as whether to set a global goal for phasing out greenhouse...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nations warn time running short to prepare Paris climate dealSubaru Damage Not Bullet, Observatory Confirms
Posted by Big Island News: None Given on June 11th, 2015
Big Island News: Reports of a “bullet hole” found in the door of the Subaru Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea have been dispelled. The observatory has “confirmed a match between this hole and an intake manifold cover on the wall”, which indicates no guns or bullets were involved in creating the hole. Photos and police reports of the “bullet hole” created a stir in the media on Sunday, illustrating the tense situation that currently exists on the mountain. With construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope delayed...
Telescope protesters allowed to continue 2-month-old camp at Mauna Kea despite ban
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2015
Associated Press: State officials are allowing telescope protesters to continue camping on Mauna Kea, where they've been for more than two months. The camp sits on Department of Land and Natural Resources land. Agency spokeswoman Deborah Ward said in an email that the protesters are being allowed to stay for now, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1HrmssJ ). "At this time, we have allowed them to remain and peacefully express their right of free speech while we assess the situation," she said. Department...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Telescope protesters allowed to continue 2-month-old camp at Mauna Kea despite banJon Stewart: ‘It’s Time to Get Real’ About California’s Epic Drought
Posted by EcoWatch: Cole Mellino on June 11th, 2015
EcoWatch: “As you know California is going through a historic unprecedented dry spell and I’m talking about original movie ideas. Boom!,” says Stewart, poking fun at Hollywood and the highly anticipated release of yet another Jurassic movie next month. Then, Stewart gets serious. “No, I am talking about the catastrophic four-year drought. California’s reservoirs are empty, snowpack is gone, what little water remains is controlled by a ruthless, disfigured warlord, doling out precious moisture from his mountain...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Jon Stewart: ‘It’s Time to Get Real’ About California’s Epic DroughtBats fertilize tropical trees: A win-win situation in rainforest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Bats in tropical regions are fertilizing trees with their excretions. An international team of scientists recently discovered that seeds of a tropical tree species, which regularly hosts bats in large hollows, contain nutrients from bat excreta. The study has now been published in the scientific journal Biotropica.
Many tropical ecosystems are low in nutrients. Especially phosphorus and nitrogen are essential for plant growth and their availability limits the productivity of plants. Past studies...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bats fertilize tropical trees: A win-win situation in rainforest