RSS Feed
Anthropocene Science –Links Extreme Weather Human-Induced Climate Change
Posted by Galaxy: None Given on March 13th, 2016
Galaxy: Extreme weather events like floods, heat waves and droughts can devastate communities and populations worldwide. Recent scientific advances have enabled researchers to confidently say that the increased intensity and frequency of some, but not all, of these extreme weather events is influenced by human-induced climate change, according to an international National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report released on March 11. "In the past, many scientists have been cautious of attributing...
Protests disrupt Bangladesh power-plant plan
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on March 13th, 2016
Al Jazeera: Protests in the southern Bangladesh province of Khulna have forced the postponement of government plans to build a coal-fired power station near the world's biggest mangrove swamp. Campaigners insist on use of clean energy, arguing that the mangrove swamp, which is a World Heritage site, will be damaged by the smoke, ash and noise from the power plant. Coal is the cheapest option to provide energy to Bangladesh's population of 160 million, a third of which has no access to electricity. Sundarban,...
Climate change may boost toxic algae in Pacific: study
Posted by CTV: Bob Weber on March 13th, 2016
CTV: A recently published study suggests climate change may encourage longer and more frequent blooms of toxic algae along Canada's Pacific coast. The research on the presence of algae toxins in marine mammals along the Alaska coastline holds a warning for British Columbia, said study author Kathi Lefebvre. "It's the same coastline," said Lefebvre, a biologist with the U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Those regions are at risk in the same way as were Alaska and Washington."...
Lead exposure has terrifying effects on grown-ups, too
Posted by Mother Jones: Brandon Ellington Patterson on March 13th, 2016
Mother Jones: By now, we've all read plenty about Flint's lead contamination nightmare--and perhaps perused follow-up reporting about the numerous American cities with even higher levels of lead poisoning, thanks to the persistence of lead paint in old buildings. And while much has been written about the likely long-term consequences for the children, we've heard relatively little about lead's terrifying effects on grown-ups.
There isn't any known "safe" level of maternal lead exposure, since lead can move...
South Africa bans leopard hunts due to uncertainty on numbers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 13th, 2016
Reuters: For the first time in decades, hunters with deep pockets will not be able to shoot all of the “big five” game animals in South Africa after the government banned leopard hunts for the 2016 season.
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) recommended the temporary ban because it said leopard numbers could not be firmly established.
“There is uncertainty about the numbers and this is not a permanent ban, but we need more information to guide quotas,” John Donaldson, SANBI’s director...
Grand Canyon threatened despite win against developers, conservationists say
Posted by Guardian: Joanna Walters on March 13th, 2016
Guardian: Plans for a huge commercial development that would transform a tiny town near the edge of the Grand Canyon have been thrown out by federal officials in a surprise victory for conservation and indigenous interests – but campaigners warn that the world famous natural wonder remains in peril.
Tusayan, in northern Arizona, has a few low-key hotels and a population of just 560.
A mile from the entrance to Grand Canyon national park, it is the last settlement tourists pass through, if they even notice...
The Global Solution to Extinction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 13th, 2016
New York Times: DURING the summer of 1940, I was an 11-year-old living with my family in a low-income apartment in Washington, D.C. We were within easy walking distance of the National Zoo and an adjacent strip of woodland in Rock Creek Park. I lived most of my days there, visiting exotic animals and collecting butterflies and other insects with a net that I had fashioned from a broom handle, coat hanger and cheesecloth. I read nature books, field guides and past volumes of National Geographic. I had already conceived...
Conifer die-off increases threat of wildfire
Posted by Farmingont Daily Times: Laura Paskus on March 12th, 2016
Farmingont Daily Times: In the past few years, New Mexico has experienced huge, record-breaking fires in both the Jemez Mountains and the Gila National Forest. Big fires haven’t hit the Sandia district of the Cibola National Forest to the east of Albuquerque. But thousands of acres of dead conifer trees pose a hazard. That’s because after the trees die and dry out, they provide fuel for wildfires.
Silviculturists like the Sandia District’s Shawn Martin practice a specialty within forestry, managing forest health by paying...
Thunderstorms pound U.S. South after days of rain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 12th, 2016
Reuters: A line of severe thunderstorms hit Louisiana on Saturday, adding more rain to flooded rivers across the lower Mississippi Valley after days of downpours, meteorologists said.
Drenching rains this week have killed three people in Louisiana and one in Oklahoma. Two fishermen remain missing in Mississippi, state emergency management officials said.
Mike Steele, a spokesman for the Louisiana emergency office, said areas of the state had received more than 2 feet (60 cm) of rain during the deluge....
Coal phased out
Posted by Associated Press: Kristena Hansen on March 12th, 2016
Associated Press: With the stroke of Gov. Kate Brown’s signature Friday, Oregon became the first state to eradicate coal from its power supply through legislation and now boasts some of the most stringent demands for renewable energy among its state peers.
The new law will wipe out coal-generated energy in phases through 2030 and requires utilities to provide half of customers’ power with renewable sources by 2040, doubling the state’s previous standard.
“Oregon is known to be a leader in clean-energy programs,...