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Archive for July, 2015
10 Powerful Images from Mauna Kea
Posted by Indian Country: None Given on July 1st, 2015
Indian Country: Dennis Miller Photography has set up a Facebook page called We Are Mauna Kea to document what’s been happening on the sacred mountain, where protectors recently were able to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope “until further notice.”
We wanted to call attention to some of these powerful images, which the page calls “reflections of aloha and of a people fighting for the protection of sacred lands.” The page says the images are meant to “support this integral effort to preserve pristine...
How Will We Feed a World of Nine Billion People?
Posted by National Geographic: Simon Worrall on July 1st, 2015
National Geographic: By 2040, the world’s population is predicted to rise to nine billion. That means two billion more mouths to feed. Even now, the earth groans under the weight of those numbers. More than 800 million people are malnourished. Another two billion are short of essential micronutrients, which affect health. A billion more consume too many calories and are obese. What can be done? In his new book, The End of Plenty: The Race To Feed A Crowded World, Joel K. Bourne Jr., a former senior editor for National...
Water Use Fracking Has Skyrocketed, Stressing Drought-Ridden States
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 1st, 2015
EcoWatch: Fracking operations in the U.S. have gotten thirstier in the last 15 years, consuming more than 28 times the water they did a mere 15 years ago.
A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with the American Geophysical Union, shows that not only has the number of such operations grown as fracking has expanded its reach and improved technology has allowed drilling in harder to reach locations, but individual wells are consuming more water as well. The median amount of water...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Water Use Fracking Has Skyrocketed, Stressing Drought-Ridden StatesHumans causing catastrophic ecosystem shifts, study finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 1st, 2015
Reuters: Never before has a single species become the top predator on land and sea, and human dominance over the natural environment has caused shifts in world ecosystems unprecedented in the last 500 million years, researchers said on Tuesday.
Human activity is leading to an international decline in the variety of plants and animals through extinction, as organisms not useful to human needs are killed off by ecosystem changes or over-exploitation, according to a new study.
The biggest immediate losers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Humans causing catastrophic ecosystem shifts, study findsCanada: Keystone developer says new regulations justify the project
Posted by Hill: Devin Henry on July 1st, 2015
Hill: Recent Canadian action on climate change helps justify the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a TransCanada executive said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry this week. The Alberta government’s hike of the province’s carbon tax, as well as Canada’s commitment to international climate change agreements, means the Keystone project has to meet high environmental standards in both Canada and the United States, Kristine Delkus, TransCanada's executive vice president and general counsel,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Keystone developer says new regulations justify the projectWith dwindling water supplies Catalina seeks more desalination
Posted by KPCC: None Given on July 1st, 2015
KPCC: Los Angeles County supervisors are considering ways to aid desalination plans on Catalina Island, where supplier Southern California Edison is considering requiring unprecedented 50% cuts in water use.
The island is home to some 4,000 people year-round, and it boasts hotels and a harbor that collectively have invested $40 million to boost the number of visitors to around 700,000 a year.
What Catalina doesn't have much of is water, which comes from a few wells and a desalination plant.
With...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on With dwindling water supplies Catalina seeks more desalinationHeat dome parked over West shatters temperature records, sparks fires
Posted by Mashable: None Given on July 1st, 2015
Mashable: The West is baking under a heat dome that has sent temperatures soaring to historically high levels, further drying out soils and priming the region for fast-spreading wildfires. The heat wave is noteworthy for its severity, extent and duration.
During the past seven days alone, 465 warm temperature records have been set or tied across the country, mainly in the West, with 49 monthly warm temperature records set or tied, according to the National Center for Environmental Information in Asheville,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Heat dome parked over West shatters temperature records, sparks firesStudy: Water Use Skyrockets as Fracking Expands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 1st, 2015
Climate Central: Oil and natural gas fracking, on average, uses more than 28 times the water it did 15 years ago, gulping up to 9.6 million gallons of water per well and putting farming and drinking sources at risk in arid states, especially during drought. Those are the results of a U.S. Geological Survey study published by the American Geophysical Union, the first national-scale analysis and map of water use from hydraulic fracturing operations. USGS map of water use from hydraulic fracturing between 2011 and...
Mercury Ruling Not Stopping EPA From Moving Foward with Climate Rules
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on July 1st, 2015
Hill: The Supreme Court’s decision against a key Obama administration air pollution rule is not stopping regulators from moving forward on the government’s most ambitious climate change rule.
Janet McCabe, head of the air pollution office at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), characterized the Monday ruling in Michigan v. EPA as “very narrow,” and said it does not affect any other air or climate regulations.
“The decision does not affect the Clean Power Plan, which EPA will be finalizing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mercury Ruling Not Stopping EPA From Moving Foward with Climate RulesTransCanada Makes New Push for Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by Huffington Post: Kate Sheppard on July 1st, 2015
Huffington Post: TransCanada, the company seeking to build the controversial pipeline that would carry oil from Alberta to refineries in Texas, is leaning on Secretary of State John Kerry to make a permitting decision. In letter to Kerry and other State Department officials, TransCanada's executive vice president and general counsel Kristine Delkus argues that because Canada has announced various steps to curb its overall greenhouse gas emissions, the United States should allow the Keystone XL pipeline to go forward....