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Archive for August, 2015
Pipeline Anxiety Spurs Alaska Plea for Obama Open Spigots
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 31st, 2015
Bloomberg: The U.S. agreed earlier this month to allow Royal Dutch Shell Plc to resume Arctic oil exploration, yet state officials say it may not be enough to save the 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline, Alaska’s economic lifeline for the past 40 years. Efforts to limit drilling and dwindling volumes on the line may eventually make it difficult to move crude at all.
“We have an oil pipeline that’s two-thirds empty,” Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, said in a telephone interview from Anchorage. “It’s...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Pipeline Anxiety Spurs Alaska Plea for Obama Open SpigotsEven the Bottom of the Grand Canyon is Now Contaminated
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 31st, 2015
National Geographic: By almost any calculation, the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is one of the most isolated places in the contiguous United States. Although about half a million people a year hike Grand Canyon trails, only a tiny fraction of them make the arduous trek to the bottom, almost a mile from the surface.
One might think that this inaccessibility protects the river's unique ecosystems. But that's wrong, says David Walters, lead author of new research conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Even the Bottom of the Grand Canyon is Now ContaminatedThis new high tech network is recording climate data across Alaska
Posted by Fortune: Katie Fehrenbacher on August 31st, 2015
Fortune: Engineers are building a data and sensor network across remote and icy Alaska to record how the state is being transformed by climate change.
This week, President Obama is bringing some rare attention to how climate change is impacting Alaska, with a visit to the state and an official name change for the nation’s highest mountain. But much more quietly, an important sensor network is slowly being built across the state that collects crucial information about how the warming temperatures are transforming...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on This new high tech network is recording climate data across AlaskaClimate Change Has The Earth In Hot Water
Posted by Forbes: James Conca on August 31st, 2015
Forbes: It is understandable that people discussing global warming focus on air temperatures. Lower atmospheric temperatures are shown on the news and weather reports every day. We walk around in the air. We breathe it in. We talk about how hot it’s been this summer, how warm last winter was, or how this is the hottest day on record.
But global warming is all about water. Water, not the atmosphere, drives the weather, and drives climate. The atmosphere is mostly affected by the water on Earth, not the...
Scientists search tea variety that can withstand climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2015
Economic Times: As climate change is affecting both quality and production of tea, scientists are testing which botanical varieties of the crop are resilient to climatic pressures.
At Tea Research Association's Tocklai Experimental Station here, a team of scientists has created chambers where they are studying how the 200-odd varieties of tea found in the country would react under different climatic models.
"We are testing the field varieties and we have also created 33 clones so far of the mother varieties....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists search tea variety that can withstand climate changeObama: Climate change threatens US ‘right now’
Posted by Hill: Mark Hensch on August 29th, 2015
Hill: President Obama is pointing toward Alaska as tangible evidence of the immediate danger climate change presents the U.S. “This is all real,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly address. “This is happening to our fellow Americans right now.”
“In fact, Alaska’s governor recently told me that four villages are in ‘imminent danger’ and have to be relocated,” he said, citing Gov. Bill Walker (I). “Already, rising sea levels are beginning to swallow one island community.” “Think about that,” Obama...
Obama addresses criticisms of Arctic oil drilling ahead of Alaska trip
Posted by Mashable: None Given on August 29th, 2015
Mashable: President Barack Obama is will be arriving in Alaska on Monday for a three-day tour of the state, which will become the longest trip to the state by a sitting president and make him the first president to visit the Arctic Circle.
During this week's address centered around the trip, Obama highlighted his reasons for the visit. Aside from Alaska's beautiful scenery, Obama's focus will be working with Alaskan communities as well as foreign Arctic countries in order to address the impacts of climate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama addresses criticisms of Arctic oil drilling ahead of Alaska tripObama heads north to Alaska where drilling decision looms large
Posted by Reuters: Roberta Rampton on August 29th, 2015
Reuters: President Barack Obama on Saturday defended his decision to allow Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean under what he said were rigorous standards, fending off criticism by environmental groups.
His message comes on the eve of a three-day tour of Alaska aimed at drawing attention to powerful images of melting glaciers and eroding coastlines as a "wakeup call" to Americans in the Lower 48 states about the urgent need to address climate change.
The trip is part of a broad campaign...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama heads north to Alaska where drilling decision looms largeEPA Urged by Nearly 100,000 Americans to Redo Highly Controversial Fracking Study
Posted by EcoWatch: Cole Mellino on August 28th, 2015
EcoWatch: The public comment period for the highly controversial U.S. Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA) fracking study ends today. Food & Water Watch, Environmental Action, Breast Cancer Action and other advocacy groups delivered nearly 100,000 comments from Americans asking the U.S. EPA to redo their study with a higher level of scrutiny and oversight.
The study produced significant controversy due to the discrepancy in what the EPA found in its report and what the agency`s news release title said....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EPA Urged by Nearly 100,000 Americans to Redo Highly Controversial Fracking Study6.5 Million Americans Drink Water Contaminated With the Chemical Used to Make Non-Stick Pans
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on August 28th, 2015
EcoWatch: When you drink a glass of water, you expect it to be clean and pure, not contaminated with invisible toxic chemicals. But nationwide testing has found that 6.5 million Americans in 27 states are drinking water tainted by an industrial compound that was used for decades to make Teflon.
The chemical, known as PFOA, has been detected in 94 public water systems. The amounts are small, but new research indicates that it can be hazardous even at the tiniest doses. PFOA and closely related fluorinated...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 6.5 Million Americans Drink Water Contaminated With the Chemical Used to Make Non-Stick Pans