URL: http://tehrantimes.com/science/96888-climate-change-throws-natures-timing-out-of-whack
Green living today
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Climate change throws nature’s timing out of whack
LiveScience: Timing matters: Flowers bloom, insects emerge, birds migrate, and planting and hunting seasons are carefully coordinated times in order to take advantage of what other organisms, or the weather, is up to. But increasing research is showing some of these relationships are falling out of sync as climate change alters important cues, such as the arrival of spring warmth. "There are going to be winners and losers," said David Inouye, a biology professor at the University of Maryland, who has followed...
To reduce global warming, address meat consumption
Climate Central: Dramatically reducing emissions of one of the key contributors to global warming -- nitrous oxide -- will require farmers to change their ways of growing food, and citizens in the developed world to slash their yearly meat consumption, according to a new study published Friday. The study by Eric Davidson, the director of the Woods Hole Research Center on Cape Cod, Mass., lays out actions that would be required in order to adhere to emissions scenarios developed by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel...
URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/to-reduce-global-warming-address-meat-consumption-study-says/
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/sized/images/uploads/news/CC-meats-420x252.jpg
Scientists Find Twice As Many Emperor Penguins in Antarctica
Reuters: Scientists counting Antarctica's emperor penguins from space have found twice as many of them as expected. Using high-resolution satellite images to study each of 44 colonies around the coastline of Antarctica, experts said Friday that they put the total emperor penguin population at 595,000, or roughly double previous estimates of 270,000 to 350,000. Seven of the colonies had never been seen before. Satellite technology was a boon for researchers; visiting dozens of remote colonies in temperatures...
Rig gas leak plans 'progressing'
Presss Association: There has been "significant progress" towards plans to stop a gas leak on an offshore platform, the operator has said. All 238 staff were evacuated from the Elgin platform, around 150 miles off Aberdeen, when it began leaking gas more than two weeks ago. About 200,000 cubic metres of gas are escaping from the platform each day, coming out from a rock formation below the sea. It is then escaping into the air from a leak on the platform at the top of the well, about 80ft above sea level. Oil...
URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rig-gas-leak-plans-progressing-7645595.html
Australia: Fears bipartisan support for green energy collapsing
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: TONY JONES, PRESENTER: So-called "green tape" might be facing a cut, and green energy backers are feeling the pressure too. The clean-energy industry is concerned it's becoming the target of a divisive political debate, similar to climate change. Key industry players have told Lateline they fear bipartisan support for green energy is collapsing, following a call today from the NSW Government today to abolish the national renewable energy target. Margot O'Neill reports. MARGOT O'NEILL, REPORTER:...
URL: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3476244.htm
Enclosure: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/lateline/video/201204/r925090_9644120.flv
Serious challenges in Aussie climate
The Land: THE UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report warns the world will experience heavier rainfall, more heatwaves and longer droughts as climate change deepens. The IPCC is also saying that Australia is extremely vulnerable and in the climate change firing line. Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Don Henry says the report contains warnings for Australian farmers about the impacts of climate change on their immediate communities now and into the future. ...
US House to try again to advance Keystone pipeline
Reuters: U.S. House Speaker John Boehner will make a new attempt to force approval of the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline as part of legislation for another 90-day extension of federal road, bridge and transit construction funding, Republican aides said on Friday. By seeking a second short-term funding extension, the plan aims to put the Canada-to-Texas pipeline and expanded drilling rights back at the top of the House agenda without the struggles that the House has endured in trying to pass a longer-term,...
URL: http://news.yahoo.com/house-try-again-advance-keystone-pipeline-165349502.html
Hybrid and electric cars see record sales in March
Associated Press: Americans are buying record numbers of hybrid and electric cars as gas prices climb and new models arrive in showrooms, giving the vehicles their greatest share yet of the U.S. auto market. Consumers bought a record 52,000 gas-electric hybrids and all-electric cars in March, up from 34,000 during the same month last year. The two categories combined made up 3.64 percent of total U.S. sales, their highest monthly market share ever, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. The previous high was 3.56...
MEND attacks oil pipeline in Nigeria owned by Italian corporation Eni
Reuters: A crude oil pipeline owned by Italian oil and gas group Eni was attacked on Friday in Nigeria's onshore Niger Delta and a militant group claimed the strike. Attacks in the restive region have been fewer since an amnesty for militants in 2009, although large-scale oil theft and sporadic pipeline sabotage still occurs. "We can confirm a pipeline, leading to Tebidaba, in the Clough-Creek area has been attacked," an Eni spokeswoman said. Eni's unit Agip owns the Tebidaba-Brass pipeline, which...
URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/eni-attack-nigeria-idUSL6E8FD19Z20120413
Biggest environment satellite goes silent
Agence France-Presse: The European Space Agency said on Thursday it had lost contact with Envisat, the biggest Earth-monitoring satellite in history. Designed to operate for only five years, Envisat was launched in March 2002, carrying 10 instruments to monitor the planet's oceans, ice, land and atmosphere. The giant 8.2-tonne, 10.5-metre (34.1-foot) craft carried on working for a decade, racking up a total of 2.25 billion kilometres (1.4 billion miles), or more than 50,000 orbits, ESA said. The satellite failed...
URL: http://news.yahoo.com/biggest-environment-satellite-goes-silent-154015178.html
Study: Corals Reefs Likely to Survive Climate Change
LiveScience: Some species of coral will be winners and others losers as ocean temperatures rise, a new study suggests. The research highlights the complexity of the changes that global warming is likely to have on ocean habitats. And which corals thrive and which struggle could determine what the coral reefs of the future look like. "The good news is that, rather than experiencing wholesale destruction, many coral reefs will survive climate change by changing the mix of coral species as the ocean warms...
Storms Threaten Great Plains With Hail, Tornadoes
National Public Radio: Major storms have reached a swath of the Great Plains from Oklahoma City up through central Kansas and into Nebraska. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz speaks with Chance Hayes, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wichita, Kansas.
URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/04/14/150639986/storms-threaten-great-plains-with-hail-tornadoes?ft=1&f=1025
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=150639986&m=150637136
Germany's solar woes dim the promise of green jobs
Christian Science Monitor: It has been a rough year for Germany's solar panel manufacturers. Hailed not long ago as a promising new sector ripe with job opportunities, the industry is now seeing its biggest players succumb to over-production and stiff competition from Asian firms. "It is fair to say that the industry is in a crisis," says Gerhard Stryi-Hipp, director of energy policy research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. The latest casualty of the downturn is Q-Cells SE, once one of the world's leading...
URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2012/0413/Germany-s-solar-woes-dim-the-promise-of-green-jobs
Enclosure: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/0411-germany-solar-green-jobs/12248487-1-eng-US/0411-germany-solar-green-jobs_full_380.jpg
A new approach to curb emissions: Buy coal in the ground and keep it there
ClimateWire: A Northwestern University economist who has closely followed strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide has a new recommendation for frustrated climate activists: Buy coal. In a paper published in the current Journal of Political Economy, Bård Harstad, an associate professor of managerial economics and decision sciences at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, argues that the most effective strategies to combat climate change do not focus on demand-side solutions such as...
Hydraulic fracturing: Obama sets up unconventional gas working group
Greenwire: The White House is setting up a new interagency working group to promote the safe development of domestic natural gas, President Obama announced today. The group will be chaired by the director of the Domestic Policy Council and will focus on development of so-called unconventional gas, which typically employs a controversial production technique known as hydraulic fracturing. The working group, which will comprise more than a dozen agencies, including the departments of the Interior and Energy...
China: Water shortages: Ms Fang's parched patch
Economist: FANG HAIXIN, a subsistence farmer near the village of Huopu in western Guizhou province, never used to fret about not having enough water. True, there was the odd dry year. But rainfall was usually abundant, and harvests adequate. Yet like many in south-west China over the past three years, Ms Fang has learnt to grapple with the sort of drought conditions that, until now, were more commonly a feature of China's dry northern plains. Accustomed to finding water close to the surface, Ms Fang and...
Obama's green jobs have been slow to sprout
Reuters: Three weeks ago, President Barack Obama stood in front of a sea of gleaming solar panels in Boulder City, Nevada, to celebrate his administration's efforts to promote "green energy." Stretching row upon row into the desert, the Copper Mountain Solar Project not far from Las Vegas provided an impressive backdrop for the president. Built on public land, the facility is the largest of its kind in the United States. Its 1 million solar panels provide enough energy to power 17,000 homes. And...
URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/us-usa-campaign-green-idUSBRE83C08D20120413
Enclosure: http://www.reuters.com/article/slideshow/idUSBRE83C08D20120413#a=1
'Carpeting' of land by wind farms will be crucial in local Scottish polls
Scotsman: ALEX Salmond`s drive towards a "renewables revolution" is trampling over local democracy and creating growing anger towards Holyrood, it has been claimed. A string of protest groups has sprung up across Dumfries and Galloway following plans to "carpet" the region with wind farms. Campaigners are angry at the SNP for overturning local council decisions to reject developments that many local people believe are scarring the countryside. Government approval for a rash of renewables schemes is likely...
Friday, April 13, 2012
Drilling of Arctic Could Pose Major Ecological Risks, Lloyd’s Report Warns
Yale Environment 360: A new report by Lloyd's of London, the world's largest specialist insurance market, warns that rapid development of Arctic oil resources threatens to cause huge ecological damage without strict oversight and appropriate risk management. The report, Arctic Opening: Opportunity and Risk in the High North, projects that as much as $100 billion ((£63 billion) will be invested in the Arctic region over the next decade as the melting of sea ice opens up vast areas to oil and gas exploration and creates...
India says EU tax a 'deal breaker' for climate talks
Agence France-Presse: India's environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said that the European Union tax scheme, which will charge airlines for carbon emissions, was a deal breaker in climate talks. Natarajan has sent a formal letter to the EU Commissioner for Climate Change demanding a reversal of the tax. Wednesday, April 11th 2012, 06:00 PM Tweet NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images The sun sets behind an Air India Boeing at the India Aviation 2010 show at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad on March 4, 2010. India's environment...
URL: http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/4f870c860169a50e2e000000/india-says-eu-tax-a-deal-breaker-for-climate-talks
Enclosure: http://images.newscred.com/4c68ebcf807f2eb074f4cb00fa64deed?width=635&height=350
E.P.A. Weighs Texas Plan to Cut Haze in National Parks
New York Times: Last year, as wildfires raged in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, visitors to Guadalupe Mountains National Park had to settle for a more limited view when hiking up Guadalupe Peak, Texas' highest point. "All summer, there was a haze here," said Jonena Hearst, the park's geologist. Even before the fires, she said, visibility had been decreasing slightly over time. The Environmental Protection Agency wants cleaner air at national parks across the country, including Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend...
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/us/epa-weighs-texas-plan-to-cut-haze-in-national-parks.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/04/13/us/13TTHAZE/13TTHAZE-articleLarge.jpg
Australia: Climate may not kill reef
Brisbane Times: Researchers believe rising temperatures are unlikely to mean the end of the coral reef. Rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change are unlikely to mean the end of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef, according to a new scientific study. The Cell Press journal Current Biology this morning published what it says is the first large-scale investigation of climate effects on corals and found while some corals were dying, others were flourishing and adapting to the change in water temperatures....
URL: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/why-climate-change-might-not-spell-death-for-the-reef-20120412-1wwdb.html
Enclosure: http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2012/04/12/3214261/729Coral-420x0.jpg
Is Understanding Climate Change An Economic Luxury?
AlterNet: Environmentalists, scientists, and pollsters have devoted a lot of ink and energy over the last few years assessing a curious trend in perceptions about climate change. Several years ago, the American public appeared to start rejecting the idea of climate change: poll after poll showed concern over the problem tailing off and suspicion of the science behind it rising. What was going on here? Did opinion on climate reflect the partisan politics of the moment? Were people swayed by the weather outside,...
URL: http://www.alternet.org/water/154969/is_understanding_climate_change_an_economic_luxury
Enclosure: http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1334248686_3362855747247ea40c53.jpg_640x504_310x220
"Water Schools" Foster More Sustainable Habits in Mexico
Inter Press Service: So-called water schools, which educate communities on the resource and its links with the environment, gender and climate change, are helping to raise awareness on proper water management in Mexico, at a time of severe drought. In recent years, projects of this kind have been set up in different parts of Mexico, especially in areas where water is scarce and measures to make water use more efficient are needed. "We are training people to understand the relationship between water and gender,...
URL: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107430
Enclosure: http://ipsnews.net/fotos/107430-20120413.jpg
Amazon tribe becomes first to get OK to sell REDD credits for rainforest conservation
Mongabay: An Amazon tribe has become the first indigenous group in the world's largest rainforest to win certification of a forest carbon conservation project, potentially setting a precedent for other forest-dependent groups to seek compensation for safeguarding their native forests. Today the Paiter-Surui, a tribe with 1300 members, announced their Surui Forest Carbon Project has been validated under both the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standard Gold, the...
URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0412-redd_surui.html
Enclosure: http://photos.mongabay.com/09/1208surui2.jpg
In Antigua, Climate Change Amplifies Human Destruction
Inter Press Service: Evi Johnson points to the spot where, as a young boy, he and his friends would go swimming at Crabb Hill Beach. But it is not the white sandy beach he knew as a teenager on Antigua's southern coast. Even the once turquoise water has turned brown as a result of the silt, forcing Johnson, now in his 60s, to find a new spot for his regular swim. "I don't know the reason why this is happening. I just know that there used to be a part of the beach there and it is no longer there," he told IPS, adding...
URL: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107420
Enclosure: http://ipsnews.net/fotos/107420-20120412.jpg
Indonesia to investigate contested oil palm concession as governor loses election in Sumatra
Mongabay: A high ranking Indonesian official is investigating the controversial grant of an oil palm concession within an area of protected peat forest in Aceh on the island of Sumatra, reports the Jakarta Globe. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of Indonesia's REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Task Force, told the newspaper he has asked the National Land Agency (BPN) to provide a map of the Tripa area so he can investigate violations alleged by environmental groups and local...
URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0412-tripa_investigation.html
Enclosure: http://photos.mongabay.com/12/0327tripa01.jpg
India ups ante in aviation emissions trade war
BusinessGreen: The international row over the EU's decision to include aviation emissions in its cap-and-trade scheme escalated further this week, after senior Indian officials warned that the bloc's stance could undermine international climate change negotiations. The EU has repeatedly rejected calls from other countries, such as India, China, the US and Russia, urging it to shelve the controversial plans. The bloc maintains it will only reverse legislation requiring airlines to hold tradeable carbon allowances...
URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2167508/india-ups-ante-aviation-emissions-trade-war
The Oceans Perpetual Motion
Environmental News Network: The ocean is not a placid body of water. It is a swirling convoluted mess of current flows due to temperature differentials and winds. The swirling flows of Earth's perpetually changing ocean come to life in a new NASA scientific visualization that captures the movement of tens of thousands of ocean currents. The high-definition visualization is available in 3-minute and 20-minute versions at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3827 . An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water...
URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/44249?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29
Enclosure: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3827
US government scientists link shale gas boom to sharp rise in earthquakes
BusinessGreen: A sharp rise in the number of earthquakes in the US over the past few years is almost certainly caused by human activity and could be linked to a boom in shale gas drilling. That is the stark finding of a report by the US government's Geological Survey, due to be launched in full at a conference next week. The report, produced by a team led by scientist Bill Ellsworth, set out to discover what has caused a six-fold increase in earthquakes in the midcontinent. Average annual earthquakes rates...
Tennessee teacher law could boost creationism, climate denial
Reuters: A new Tennessee law protects teachers who explore the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of evolution and climate change, a move science education advocates say could make it easier for creationism and global warming denial to enter U.S. classrooms. The measure, which became law Tuesday, made Tennessee the second state, after Louisiana, to enable teachers to more easily teach alternative theories to the widely accepted scientific concepts of evolution and human-caused climate change....
URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/us-usa-education-tennessee-idUSBRE83C0JR20120413
Enclosure: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20120413&t=2&i=594365281&w=320&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE83C1AXN00
Mississippi Delta is at risk, but restoration will create jobs and stimulate the economy
ClimateWire: Re-engineering the Mississippi River will stem catastrophic economic and environmental losses from human development and climate change while raising billions of dollars in value, according to a report released yesterday. The paper, titled "Answering 10 Fundamental Questions about the Mississippi River Delta," highlights the need to protect against land losses and preserve ecosystems along the Gulf Coast. Scientists and engineers from environmental advocacy groups and research institutions contributed...
URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/04/12/2
Enclosure: http://www.eenews.net/assets/2012/04/12/photo_cw_01.jpg
Cutting fuel subsidies key to sustainable development – report
AlertNet: Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies -- and using some of the savings to help the poorest cope with rising energy prices -- could curb climate change and energy waste, cut government costs and reduce social inequality, a report on sustainable development suggests. Such a transition to cleaner energy sources "is definitely do-able', said Balazs Horvath, an economist and a lead author of the United Nations Development Programme report, which looks at how development efforts could be made more sustainable...
URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/cutting-fuel-subsidies-key-to-sustainable-development-report
Enclosure: http://www.trust.org/contentAsset/resize-image/a4520df4-f206-4f29-ab0a-ebeadebd52fd/photowide/?w=460&h=318&vn=201204131608
NASA Climate Change Letter Belongs To Long Tradition Of Fake Expertise
Huffington Post: When former NASA administrators, astronauts and engineers released a letter earlier this week attacking the science of climate change, its veneer of legitimacy kicked off a media blitz. Yet none of the letter's 49 signatories are climate scientists, and with more than 18,000 people currently working for NASA, to say nothing of the tens of thousands more who are retired, the letter seems more than anything like a empty publicity stunt -- for which there's considerable precedent. "This is an old...
Drought expands throughout USA
USA Today: Still reeling from devastating drought that led to at least $10 billion in agricultural losses across Texas and the South in 2011, the nation is enduring more unusually parched weather. A mostly dry, mild winter has put nearly 61% of the lower 48 states in "abnormally dry" or drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal tracking of drought. That's the highest percentage of dry or drought conditions since September 2007, when 61.5% of the country was listed in those...
URL: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/drought/story/2012-04-11/mild-winter-expands-usa-drought/54225018/1
Enclosure: http://i.usatoday.net/news/graphics/2012-drought-expanding/drought.jpg
How to curb discharge of the most potent greenhouse gas
ScienceDaily: Meat consumption in the developed world needs to be cut by 50 percent per person by 2050, and emissions in all sectors -- industrial and agricultural -- need to be reduced by 50 percent if we are to meet the most aggressive strategy, set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to reduce the most potent of greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide (N2O). The findings are results of a study by Dr. Eric Davidson and are published April 13 in IOP Publishing's Environmental Research Letters....
Florida Left High and Dry and More Prone to Wildfires
Climate Central: In 2011, it was Texas that went up in flames, with a historic drought and searing heat wave leading to the worst wildfire season on record. A year later, another southern state affected by intense drought is bracing for a destructive wildfire season: Florida. While Texas has received drought-busting rains during recent months, long-term drought in the Southeast has created ideal conditions for large wildfires there. Water levels in swampy areas of southern Georgia and northern Florida are at historically...
URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/florida-left-high-and-dry-and-more-prone-to-wildfires?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/sized/images/uploads/news/river-levels-fl-4-12-12-375x366.jpg
Addressing Climate Change through Diet
Voice of America: Meat production and consumption are expected to soar by 2050. That's because the global population is projected to grow from the current 7 billion to 9 billion. But also, the diets of people in many developing countries are changing. Countries with emerging economies are seeing a sharp rise in protein consumption, especially red meat. Dr. Eric Davidson said changing how people eat can have a dramatic effect on greenhouse gas emissions. People in developed countries, he said, already eat much more...
URL: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/decapua-climate-food-fertilizer-13apr12-147305175.html
Enclosure: http://media.voanews.com/images/300*300/climate_dead_tree_sahel_300.jpg
Study: Meat eaters must cut consumption by half to forestall climate change
Guardian: Meat eaters in developed countries will have to eat a lot less meat, cutting consumption by 50%, to avoid the worst consequences of future climate change, new research warns. The fertilisers used in farming are responsible for a significant share of the warming that causes climate change. A study published in Environmental Research Letters warns that drastic changes in food production and at the dinner table are needed by 2050 in order to prevent catastrophic global warming. It`s arguably...
URL: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/13/study-meat-eaters-must-cut-consumption-by-half-to-forestall-climate-change/
Enclosure: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Meat-via-Shutterstock.jpg
New research on impacts of climate change on protected areas in West Africa
Daily Trust: A new research on how to mitigate the conservation impacts of climate change on protected areas in West Africa has been conducted by researchers from the universities of Kent and Durham. The Global Environment Facility-funded project, which involves Dr Bob Smith at the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), measured how well different species within West Africa's national parks and wildlife reserves were protected, and how this would change when species start...
Italy puts new caps on renewable energy incentives
Reuters: Italy will scale back financial incentives for solar and other renewable energy that have inflated consumer power bills more than expected, and also will raise national renewable energy targets for 2020, two ministers said on Wednesday. Italy's green power industry has boomed in recent years as investors from around the world ranging from banks and private equity funds to utilities poured billions of euros into the sector, lured by generous support measures. With incentives ballooning above...
Indigenous Brazilian tribe certified to trade carbon credits
SciDev.Net: Brazil's Paiter Suruí community has become the first indigenous group in the country to receive international certification to sell carbon credits in return for protecting and restoring forests in their Amazonian territory. The Suruí community, which numbers around 1300 people, was first contacted by outsiders in 1968. Over the past decade, with assistance from environmental advocates, they have conducted a sophisticated campaign to prove to the world that they are helping to preserve their 248,000...
URL: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/indigenous-brazilian-tribe-certified-to-trade-carbon-credits.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
Enclosure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQGk9gXbWtE&feature=player_embedded
Wind Farms Little Threat To Most Bird Species, New Study Says
Yale Environment 360: A new study has found that wind farms do not have long-term detrimental effects on most bird species, but that populations of some species can decline during site construction. In a long-term analysis of breeding and population trends for 10 bird species at 18 wind farms across the UK, a team of conservationists found that most species were able to co-exist with the wind turbines. They found, however, that population densities for three species living near wind farms -- snipe, curlew, and red grouse...
URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/wind_farms_little_threat_to_most_bird_species_new_study_says/3419/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Enclosure: http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/view/0/editorschoice492.html
Japan plans to restart reactors
BBC: Two of Japan's nuclear reactors have been declared safe and should be restarted to combat looming power shortages, the government says. Since a tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima plant in 2011, residents have demanded reactors not be turned back on after routine maintenance. The sole nuclear reactor still in action will be switched off in May. Regional authorities need to give their approval before the two reactors at the Ohi plant in western Japan can restart. The plant is...
URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17703313#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59645000/jpg/_59645007_014500002-1.jpg
Life-Threatening Tornado Outbreak Likely in Plains States
Climate Central: A "high-end, life-threatening' tornado outbreak is likely on Saturday from Texas northeastward to Iowa, with Kansas and Oklahoma at the greatest risk for powerful tornadoes, and another area of heightened risk in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, according to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). Cities under the greatest tornado threat include Oklahoma City, Okla., Omaha, Neb., and Wichita, Kan. That National Weather Service forecast offices in those two cities have prepared multimedia forecast...
URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/life-threatening-tornado-outbreak-likely-in-plains-states-officials-warn?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%253A+climatecentral%252FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/sized/images/uploads/blogs/blog_andrew_tornado_day2-400x273.gif
A New Oversight Panel on Fracking
New York Times: In an effort to streamline federal regulation of the domestic natural gas boom, President Obama on Friday announced creation of an inter-agency task force to ensure what he called the "safe and responsible development of domestic natural gas resources." The move comes as the Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to issue draft regulations on air pollution from hydraulic fracturing, which extracts natural gas from rock formations by injecting water and chemicals deep underground at high...
URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/a-new-oversight-panel-on-fracking/
Enclosure: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/13/executive-order-supporting-safe-and-responsible-development-unconvention
Rapid Climate Change Threatens Asia's Rice Bowl
EP Magazine: As Asia's monsoon season begins, leading climate specialists and agricultural scientists warned today that rapid climate change and its potential to intensify droughts and floods could threaten Asia's rice production and pose a significant threat to millions of people across the region. "Climate change endangers crop and livestock yields and the health of fisheries and forests at the very same time that surging populations worldwide are placing new demands on food production," said Bruce Campbell...
URL: http://eponline.com/articles/2012/04/13/rapid-climate-change-threatens-asias-rice-bowl.aspx
Brazil moves first Chevron spill case, strips prosecutor
Reuters: A Brazilian judge moved the first case filed against U.S. oil company Chevron Corp and drilling firm Transocean Ltd for a November oil spill to a Rio de Janeiro court, stripping the original prosecutor of the case, a court filing said on Friday. The prosecutor can appeal the decision, the filing said.
Obama orders oversight group on shale gas
Reuters: President Barack Obama streamlined federal oversight of natural gas production from shale on Friday as the drilling boom has depressed prices for the fuel and increased pressure on the administration to allow companies to export it. Obama issued an executive order creating an interagency group to oversee development of natural gas, building on a pledge he made in his State of the Union address in January to support the industry while increasing safety. A government source said the panel would...
Climate Change 'boosts plants at first and then quickly stunts them'
Asian News International: Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not for long, a new study has revealed. According to the new research results, plants may thrive in the early stages of a warming environment but then begin to deteriorate quickly. "We were really surprised by the pattern, where the initial boost in growth just went away," Zhuoting Wu, lead author of the study from Northern Arizona University (NAU), said. "As ecosystems adjusted, the responses changed," Wu said. For the study, ecologists...
URL: http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-5581.html
California braces for the complex world of carbon markets
KQED: As chair of the California Air Resources Board, Mary Nichols is presiding over the nation's first comprehensive cap-and-trade program. When its nascent cap-and-trade program ramps up later this year, California will be the first state in the nation to reduce greenhouse gases by making a broad spectrum of big polluters buy permits to exceed their allotted emissions. Other governments, industry and scientists will be watching, but there`s still a lot to sort out. That much has been evident at...
Areva Solar to Build Asia's Largest CSP Plant
![][1] India's enormous solar potential has until now been seen mostly through the lens of a PV module. But this week's news that Areva Solar is planning a 250-megawatt project in the country's Rajasthan region is noteworthy for its size and its technology.
PUC May Decide California's Fight Over Net-Metering
![][1] As California continues to inch toward its 33 percent renewables target, a particularly contentious battle over the future of net-metering could soon be finding a resolution.
Rethinking Electric Cars -- Part 6
Electric cars need to lighten up to carry bigger battery packs for longer range. But how?
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2012/20120039.html
Renewable Energy to Benefit from EPA's Carbon Standard
![][1] Carbon emissions have been the buzz of the power industry over the last couple weeks since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the first proposed carbon standard for new coal-fired power plants. In carbon-conscious Europe, renewable energy has already been instrumental in helping to slash carbon emissions. So how might renewable energ
FIT and 20-GW National Solar Mission Lose Value in India
![][1] India faces yet another game-changer: Feed-in-tariffs and the ambitious government-sponsored 20-GW National Solar Mission (NSM) have lost value in India.
Bringing Solar to the Masses: Community Shared Solar Gains Popularity Nationwide
![][1] There are a lot of Americans who would love to get their energy from solar, but can't. They live in apartments and condos and don't own their rooftop. Or they do own a home or business, but really like the old oak tree that shades their roof. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimated that 75 percent of American residential buildings have physical restrictions to going solar. Other building owners may have a suitable roof but for a variety of reasons may not want to commit to having a solar system installed on their own property. By limiting ourselves to the traditional "panels on your roof" approach to PV, we are leaving a tremendous amount of solar potential on the table.
Union of Concerned Scientists Publishes Guide to Cutting Carbon Emissions.
"After two years of research, we learned that when it comes to reducing your carbon emissions, what matters most, in order of importance, is: what and how you drive, the energy you use at home, and what you eat," said Brenda Ekwurzel, a co-author and climate scientist at UCS. "Most of the carbon reduction strategies presented in the book will also help readers save money and live healthier lifestyles."
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12023.html
Rising Pacific linked to climate change
IOL: Sea levels in the southwest Pacific started rising drastically in the 1880s, with a notable peak in the 1990s thought to be linked to human-induced climate change, according to a new study. The research, which examined sediment core samples taken from salt marshes in southern Australia's Tasmania island, used geochemistry to establish a chronology of sea level changes over the past 200 years. Patrick Moss, from the University of Queensland, said major environmental events which impacted the...
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/rising-pacific-linked-to-climate-change-1.1275449
Renewables Revive Abandoned Mines
![][1] How can the potential negative legacy of a mine site be converted into a positive inheritance for the wider environment and local communities? Recent imaginative renewable energy projects give good grounds for confidence that many former mine sites can be ideal locations for developing alternative energy generation facilities, simply by looking in a new light at some of the qualities that made them problematic in the first place.
Tufts University Geology Professor's New Energy Source Gaining Steam
![][1] Soon, Tufts University may be powered by a new energy source: geothermal energy from groundwater beneath the urban campus.
Spire PV: US Sourced Solar Module Assembly Line to Go to Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Government has announced its goal to have 20% of its power capacity coming from solar energy within the next five (5) years.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12024.html
Another Great Example of (Non-Solar) Guerrilla Marketing
![][1] I love finding guerrilla marketing examples on YouTube. Unfortunately, I rarely find ones that are related to solar. Bummer. Nevertheless, it's always great to get inspired, and below is a wonderful model that you might be able to adapt…if you're willing to push that button. Watch this video first, and then we'll d
Heat-Pump Water Heaters Come of Age
Subtitle:
Now that pilot studies show that installed heat-pump water heaters are performing fairly well, it might be time to buy one
Images:
[![][1]][2]
[![][3]][2]
The least expensive way to heat domestic hot water is with natural gas. Homes without access to natural gas usually choose an electric water heater, since electricity is generally cheaper than propane.
[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Heat-pump water heater - A.O. Smith - 2.jpg (Photo of a Voltex heat-pump water heater from A.O. Smith)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/heat-pump-water-heaters-come-age
[3]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Heat-pump water heater - GE 2.JPG (Photo of a GeoSpring heat-pump water heater)
URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/heat-pump-water-heaters-come-age
Thursday, April 12, 2012
IBM, Honda, and PG&E Team on EV Smart Charging Pilot.
This demonstration combines grid and vehicle data to create an individualized charging plan for Honda's Fit EV battery electric vehicles (BEV), using IBM's cloud based software platform. By utilizing the existing in-vehicle communications system in the Honda Fit EV, the electric vehicle can interact with utilities and the grid, creating a direct channel for sending and receiving usage information that could improve local grid management.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12022.html
U.S. Wind Report: Nearly 7 GW Installed in 2011
![][1] As the American Wind Energy Association fights for the industry's policy backbone, it used the unveiling of its annual report to highlight growth over the past five years.
Greece, Italy See Solar as Path to Economic Stability
![][1] In places like Africa and India, solar energy has long been hailed for its ability to raise standards of living and boost developing economies. For two established members of the European Union, it may have the power to restore international confidence.
Great Wall Alternative Power Systems Builds Cyclone Power Prototypes for Biomass-Fueled Power Systems.
The engines built by Great Wall are based on Cyclone's WHE-25 design, and are meant for use with biomass-to-power generator systems. Applications will include distributed combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and power sources for bio-char producing environmental remediation equipment.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12021.html
Five More Winners of the Clean Energy Race
![][1] The Pew Charitable Trusts just released the 2011 edition of their report, "Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race?"
Brightsource Will Not Go Public After All
![][1] About a year ago, Brightsource, the developer of what could be the largest concentrating solar power plant in the world once it is done, announced its plans to go public.
Brazil stresses need for world consensus at Rio+20 meet
Agence France-Presse: The upcoming Rio conference on sustainable development must yield a commitment to manage the world economy in a way that respects the environment and fights poverty, a Brazilian official says. "I believe that Rio+20 will deliver the instruments to make sustainable development a paradigm for the economy, not just for the environment," Andre Correa do Lago, the host country's pointman for the June 20-22 summit, said in an interview with AFP. "I believe that we can have a convergence among the...
URL: http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-stresses-world-consensus-rio-20-meet-202332923.html
India: Japan boost for state forests
Times of India: State's forest conservation efforts will soon get a major boost with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) extending Bengal a Rs 396-crore loan to develop infrastructure for urban forestry, conservation of biodiversity and wildlife preservation. An agreement has recently been signed between the agency and the Centre. Forest minister Hiten Burman said the state would get the agreement papers soon. "We will be receiving the loan according to the terms and conditions in the pact," he...
Poll finds support for fossil, renewable energy in US
Houston Chronicle: Politicians on all sides of the nation's energy debate can find things to ponder in a new poll that suggests Americans are inclined to develop natural gas resources and build a disputed oil pipeline from Canada, but also want the government to support renewable energy. According to a University of Texas energy poll released Tuesday, 61 percent of Americans said they'd be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who backs more natural gas, while only 7 percent said such a candidate would...
URL: http://www.chron.com/business/article/Poll-finds-support-for-fossil-renewable-energy-3472646.php
U.S. Still Importing Illegal Timber
Inter Press Service: Since 2008, over 20 U.S. companies have imported illegally logged timber worth millions from the Peruvian Amazon, charged a multi-year investigative report released Tuesday by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). "Exporters in Peru and importers in the United States and around the world are currently integral parts of a systematic flow of illegal timber from the Peruvian Amazon. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes through sheer negligence, each of the actors and agencies involved in this...
URL: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107383
Enclosure: http://www.eia-global.org/PDF/PeruReportEnglish2.pdf
EU tax deal breaker for global climate talks - minister
Reuters: A European Union law that charges airlines for carbon emissions is "a deal-breaker" for global climate change talks, environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments. From January 1, all airlines using EU airports have come under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), prompting a volley of retaliatory threats, including of a possible trade war. U.S. airlines have said they would grudgingly comply,...
URL: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/india-eu-climate-idINDEE83A04D20120411
Rural Africa Looks Beyond the Grid
![][1] In picking South Africa for last year's meet-up, the COP-17 climate change talks prompted some inevitable grumbles. Why was the global climate change industry holding its jamboree in a country that, despite its commitment to renewables, pumps out so much CO2?
When Grownups Bully Climate Scientists
Time: We spend lots of time these days focused on children bullied by their classmates at school, at play, and online. Appropriately enough -- bullying is heart-breaking, even life-threatening behavior. A lauded documentary, Bully, takes a look at the national epidemic among children. But how about some serious soul-searching on the subject of grown-up (if you can call them that) bullying of their peers? Bullying is the nicest word to use in describing the recent spate of irresponsible attacks on climate...
URL: http://ideas.time.com/2012/04/10/when-grownups-bully-climate-scientists/?xid=rss-topstories
Rousseff Roils Amazon as Brazil Hydropower Makes People Homeless
Bloomberg: Brazil is investing billions to build 20 hydroelectric plants in the Amazon with power lines to faraway cities. The project will flood rainforests 107 times the size of Manhattan, displace thousands from their ancestral lands and send the country deeper into debt. Brazil's high-priced dam project is a featured story in the May issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine. Jose Carlos Arara puts a tarnished 38-caliber revolver into his waistband. It's a sweltering, mid- November morning in the Brazilian...
New data shows Canada to miss emissions goal
Reuters: Although Canada's output of greenhouse gases was almost unchanged in 2010 from 2009, the major oil producer will find it tough to meet its 2020 emissions-cut target, government figures signaled on Wednesday. Conservative government officials hailed the data, which showed emissions in Canada rose by just 0.25 percent in 2010 from the year before, hitting 692 megatons. The economy grew by 3.2 percent in the same period. Canada has committed to cutting emissions to 607 megatons by 2020, a goal...
URL: http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCABRE83A19D20120411
Warming Temperatures Boost Plant Growth, Then Causes Long-Term Decline, Study Says
Yale Environment 360: A new study has found that some plant systems may thrive initially in a warmer climate but then deteriorate over the long term. During a decade-long study, researchers from Northern Arizona University (NAU) transplanted four grassland ecosystems from higher to lower elevations to simulate a warming climate, and also introduced a range of predicted precipitation changes. After observing a boost in plant growth during the first year, the researchers say the positive effects of warming diminished over...
URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/warming_boosts_plant_growth_then_causes_long-term_decline_study_says/3416/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Enclosure: http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1486.html
Fires in Indonesian forest could wipe out 200 orangutans by year's end
Associated Press: Hundreds of critically endangered orangutans in western Indonesia could be wiped out by the year's end if palm oil companies keep setting land-clearing fires in their peat swamp forests, conservationists warned Thursday. "They are just barely hanging on," Ian Singleton, conservation director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, said of the Sumatran orangutans who live in the Tripa forest on the coast of Aceh province. "It is no longer several years away, but just a few months or even...
'EU's aviation carbon tax a deal-breaker'
Times of India: Union environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan warned on Wednesday that the European Union's (EU's) carbon tax on aviation could be a "deal-breaker" for the climate talks for a future global regime. "For the environment ministry, it is a deal-breaker. I don't know what civil aviation ministry is saying," Natarajan said at a function organized by TERI. The EU has enforced a carbon tax on all fliers landing or passing through European skies that many other countries, including India,...
Philippines: Environmental groups slam midnight approval of coal power plants in Mindanao
Bulatlat: The newly-established environmental party Kalikasan Party-list criticized the Benigno Aquino III administration for allegedly railroading the approval of coal power plant deals in Mindanao. The group said the administration continues to pursue dirty coal power and dangerous nuclear power plant projects despite strong opposition from the public and the popular call to pursue clean alternatives. "It`s obvious that Aquino is coddling private energy corporations, particularly those using dirty fuels....
US grabs lead over China in clean energy race
Agence France-Presse: The United States has regained the lead in the clean energy race, investing $48 billion last year to surpass China, which held the world's top spending spot since 2009, said a study Wednesday. The US surge in private investment was a 42 percent increase over 2010 and saw Washington maintain its lead worldwide in both venture capital and research and development cash, said the Pew Charitable Trusts annual report on clean energy. However, the US boom was largely driven by expiring tax incentives,...
URL: http://news.yahoo.com/us-grabs-lead-over-china-clean-energy-race-231942326.html
Signs Europe Bending on Airlines Carbon Charge
New York Times: The European Union, heading for a trade war over a new toll on the greenhouse gas emissions of international airlines using European airspace, has been warned the measure could wreck the prospects for global action on climate change. In the latest assault on a measure that came into force on January 1, Jayanthi Natarajan, India's environment minister, said on Wednesday the E.U.'s Emissions Trading Scheme, which requires airlines to buy carbon permits to cover excess emissions, was a "deal-breaker"...
URL: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/signs-europe-bending-on-making-airlines-pay-carbon-charge/
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/04/12/blogs/india-enviro-minister-rdv/india-enviro-minister-rdv-blog480.jpg
The Pew Charitable Trusts: U.S. Retakes Lead From China in Clean Energy Race.
In the global race to secure private clean energy finance and investment, the United States reclaimed the top spot, after trailing China since 2009. Globally, investment grew to a record $263 billion in 2011, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12020.html
AREVA to Build Asia’s Largest Concentrated Solar Power Installation.
AREVA Solar, an AREVA subsidiary, has been awarded a contract by the Indian group Reliance Power Limited to build a 250 megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power (CSP) installation in India.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12019.html
Window Performance 4 – Dealing with Edge Losses
Subtitle:
Warm-edge glazing spacers and high-performance windows
Images:
[![][1]][2]
[![][3]][2]
Over the last three weeks I've focused on the major strategies for [improving the energy performance of windows][4]: adding extra layers of glass, increasing the thickness of the airspace between the layers of glass, adding low-emissivityAmount of heat radiation emitted from a particular body or material. Emissivity is expressed in a fraction or ratio, with the lowest values indicating low emissivity and the highest indicating the high emissivity of flat black surfaces. coatings, and replacing air with a low-conductivity gas fill. These strategies all help to reduce heat flow through an insulating glass unit (IGU), and if we do a really good job with these strategies we can achieve center-of-glass R-values of R-5 or higher.
[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Glassonweb.com_278_Triseal2(1).jpg (Schematic of Edgetech Super Spacer)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/window-performance-4-dealing-edge-losses
[3]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/WindowNation_WarmEdge.gif (Comparing different glazing spacers)
[4]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions
.jpg){kind=link}
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
In pre-1492 Amazon, farmers managed without fires
Discovery News: Farming without fire in tropical regions, like indigenous populations did in Pre-Columbian times, may be the key to both feeding people and managing land more sustainably. For hundreds of years before Columbus arrived in Central America, indigenous people converted vast swaths of tropical savannas into agricultural fields with raised beds for growing crops -- all without the use of slash-and-burn or other fire-intensive techniques, which are common today and a major contributor to greenhouse gas...
URL: http://news.discovery.com/earth/sustainable-farming-precolumbian-120409.html
Green groups may call for boycott of Indonesian palm oil over forest destruction in Sumatra
Mongabay: Environmental groups are escalating their battle over an area of peat forest in Tripa, Sumatra that has been granted for oil palm plantations. The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), an initiative run jointly by the Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari and the PanEco Foundation, says that unless the government suspends the contested plantation permits and prosecutes the "rogue companies" operating in the area, it will push for a suspension of Norway's billion dollar aid package for Indonesia's...
URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0411-socp_tripa_battle_call.html
Enclosure: http://travel.mongabay.com/indonesia/600/sumatra_0360.jpg
Green Economy or Clean Energy With Equity for Latin America
Inter Press Service: Latin America and the Caribbean have the potential to uncouple regional economic growth from fossil fuel consumption and develop a "green economy" based on cleaner energy sources, while at the same time reducing social inequalities. "One out of three Latin Americans is living in poverty and nearly 90 million people are surviving on less than one dollar a day, so we need long-term growth that is more equitable and environmentally sustainable," José Rivera, the permanent secretary of the Latin American...
URL: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107391
Enclosure: http://ipsnews.net/fotos/107391-20120411.jpg
Hard freeze hurts Michigan cherry crop
Environment Report: A hard freeze has wiped out a big portion of the cherry crop in Northwest Michigan this spring. The area produces more than half the state's cherries that end up in desserts, juice and as dried fruit. An historic early warm-up in March left fruit trees vulnerable to frost once the weather turned cooler again. Temperatures broke records for the month of March across the Great Lakes region. Climate researchers say there's never been anything like it going back more than a hundred years. "We're...
Study blames ocean CO2 for oyster declines
Associated Press: Scientists are blaming slightly higher levels of carbon dioxide in Pacific Ocean waters linked to global warming for the failure of oyster larvae to survive in an Oregon hatchery. They say higher acidity of the water that comes with more carbon dioxide makes it harder for young oysters to form their shells, dooming them in a matter of days, even if they are moved to more favorable environments. "A lot of studies talk about the year 2050 when ocean acidification becomes a problem," for sea life,...
URL: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2012/04/11/study_blames_ocean_co2_for_oyster_declines/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Enclosure: http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/AP_Photo/2012/04/11/1334183358_5671/539w.jpg
U.S. suffers warmest March, breaking over 15,000 record temperatures
Mongabay: March was the warmest ever recorded in the U.S. with record-keeping going back to 1895, according to new data by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But the month wasn't just a record-breaker, it was shockingly aberrant: an extreme heatwave throughout much of the eastern and central U.S. shattered 15,272 day and nighttime records across the U.S. In all March 2012 was 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the previous warmest March in 1910, and an astounding 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit above...
URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0411-hance_record_march_us.html
Enclosure: http://photos.mongabay.com/j/namericalsta_tmo_2012068.568.jpg
How a Patch of Ocean Helps Keep Europe from Freezing
Climate Central: Climate scientists have been explaining for years that the problem with global warming isn't just warming. It's also about the other changes warming can bring, including heat waves, droughts, rising seas, intense storms and much more. One of the scariest possibilities is that major ocean currents could abruptly stop entirely, plunging areas like Western Europe into an abrupt deep-freeze. It's happened before, tens of thousands of years ago, and while climate experts doubt that it will happen again...
Renewable energy investment bounces back after 2010 slump
Guardian: Investment in clean energy in the UK bounced back last year after its 2010 slump, the respected US-based Pew charitable trust has said in a comparison of investment across G20 countries. A total of $9.4bn was invested in wind, wave, solar and other renewable sources of power compared to $3.3bn in 2010 – a leap of 185%. The UK came seventh in the global ranking for total investment in the Clean Energy Race 2011 report, below the United States, China, Italy and Germany. In 2010 the UK fell from...
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/11/renewable-energy-investment-bounces-back
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/4/11/1334165730617/Whitelee-windfarm-008.jpg
It's Official: March was Warmest Ever in United States
Environmental News Network: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has maintained records of weather and climate since the late 1800s. According to these records, the month of March, 2012 has set a new record as the warmest March ever for the contiguous United States. Across the nation, 15,000 local warm temperature records were broken. The average temperature was 51.1 degrees F, which is 8.6 degrees higher than the average 20th century March temperature. It is 0.5 degrees higher than the previous warmest...
Bill McKibben: It’s Time for Interfaith Moral Action on Climate Change
AlterNet: There are lots of types of people who have been taking action on climate change over the last several years: environmentalists (of course), students and young people, community-based groups, labor activists, indigenous peoples, Appalachian and Gulf Coast residents, ranchers and more. Also, importantly, have been people from the many different denominations that make up the broad religious community in the United States. It was personally inspiring to me when several dozen people of faith took...
URL: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/879798/bill_mckibben:_it%25u2019s_time_for_interfaith_moral_action_on_climate_change
Enclosure: http://www.interfaithactiononclimatechange.org/
Who Will Deal with the Thousands of Abandoned Oil Wells in Peru?
Inter Press Service: Peru has thousands of abandoned oil wells that continue to pollute their surroundings, with 269 considered to pose a serious hazard. But the government has yet to carry out an inventory in order to identify and subsequently clean up and seal them, despite a law passed in 2007 for this purpose. There are more than 6,000 environmental liabilities in the hydrocarbons sector, said Jorge Villar, an engineer from Peru's energy and mines regulator, OSINERGMIN. OSINERGMIN identified 1,821 improperly...
URL: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107389
Enclosure: http://ipsnews.net/fotos/107389-20120411.jpg
Canada: Alberta, Saskatchewan singled out for lazy tack on climate change
Globe and Mail: Some provinces are taking the climate change issue seriously with wide-ranging policies to reduce fossil-fuel emissions while others - specifically Alberta and Saskatchewan - are heading in the wrong direction, says a new report by one of Canada's leading environmental advocacy groups. Called All Over the Map, the report issued Wednesday by the David Suzuki Foundation looks at the steps each province and territory is taking to reduce its output of greenhouse gas. The release of the study follows...
Climate Change Boosts Then Quickly Stunts Plants, Decade-Long Study Shows
ScienceDaily: Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not for long, according to new research results. The findings, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, show that plants may thrive in the early stages of a warming environment but then begin to deteriorate quickly. "We were really surprised by the pattern, where the initial boost in growth just went away," said scientist Zhuoting Wu of Northern Arizona University (NAU), a lead author of the study. "As ecosystems adjusted,...
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120411120504.htm
Enclosure: http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2012/04/120411120504-large.jpg
Tennessee enacts evolution, climate change measure
Miami Herald: Tennessee enacted a law Tuesday that critics contend allows public school teachers to challenge climate change and evolution in their classrooms without fear of sanction. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam allowed the controversial measure to become law without his signature and, in a statement, expressed misgivings about it. Nevertheless, he ignored pleas from educators, parents and civil libertarians to veto the bill. The law does not require the teaching of alternatives to scientific theories of...
URL: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/11/2741855/tennessee-enacts-evolution-climate.html
Oil sheen in Gulf of Mexico triggers spill response: Shell
Reuters: An oil sheen spotted near Royal Dutch Shell platforms in the central Gulf of Mexico has caused the company to send a spill response vessel and seek aircraft over flights, a Shell spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The source of the one-mile by 10-mile sheen between Shell's Mars and Ursa projects is unknown and not linked to the facilities, but Shell is responding "proactively," a company statement said. An on-call, after-hours spokesman for the Coast Guard said he had no information about the incident....
URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/us-oil-spill-gulf-idUSBRE83A1HI20120411?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Enclosure: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20120411&t=2&i=593569295&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE83A1SB200
Arctic oil rush will ruin ecosystem, warns Lloyd's of London
Guardian: Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, has become the first major business organisation to raise its voice about huge potential environmental damage from oil drilling in the Arctic. The City institution estimates that $100bn (£63bn) of new investment is heading for the far north over the next decade, but believes cleaning up any oil spill in the Arctic, particularly in ice-covered areas, would present "multiple obstacles, which together constitute a unique and hard-to-manage...
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/12/lloyds-london-warns-risks-arctic-oil-drilling
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Travel/Pix/pictures/2009/11/27/1259333305591/Adult-polar-bear-Arctic-N-001.jpg
Judge blocks bid to stop Chevron Brazil operations
Reuters: A Brazilian judge denied an injunction seeking to bar oil company Chevron Corp and drill-rig operator Transocean Ltd from operating in Brazil after two offshore oil leaks, a federal court in Rio de Janeiro said on Wednesday. The judge, Guilherme Diefenthaeler of the appellate division of the Second Region Federal Court, ruled that granting the injunction would interfere with the legal authority of the ANP, Brazil's oil regulator, to manage the oil industry and would be an improper judicial intrusion...
ABB Wins Contract to Upgrade Energy Efficiency of Carnival “Azipod” Propelled Cruise Ships.
Carnival is the world's largest cruise ship operator and has 20 cruise vessels with Azipod propulsion systems. ABB's energy efficient Azipod uses less fuel than traditional systems, and provides better manoeuvrability in all operating conditions. The upgrades are projected to improve the already high energy efficiency of Azipod units by 2.5 to 4 percent.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12018.html
MiracleGen Launches its Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Products into the European Market.
Three years ago, MiracleGen got its first order of natural gas CHPs from the Czech Republic. Now, MiracleGen is exporting its CHPs to more than 30 countries including 9 European countries.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12017.html
Geothermal Industry Report Shows Growth, Potential and Frustration
![][1] Though the geothermal industry faces many hurdles including uncertain federal policies and lengthy project timelines, the Geothermal Energy Association announced last week that it added 91 MW of newly installed U.S. capacity in the past year. With this addition, the U.S. now has a total of 3,177 MW of capacity, which far outpaces the rest of the world.
Xtreme Power Guns For Electric Car, Neighborhood Energy Storage Markets
![][1] Xtreme Power, which has shown considerable success in selling its energy storage systems and services to utilities, is now eyeing the electric car market and developing not just a battery system for it but the entire drivetrain.
Dong to Invest $795 Million in Fossil-to-Biomass Conversions, Further Denmark's Renewable Goals
![][1] Denmark has long been a renewables pioneer, and it furthered its reputation with the announcement of a bold plan: It will produce one third of its power from renewable sources by the end of the decade and 100 percent by 2050. With full government support, Denmark hopes to avoid future energy price fluctuations.
Latin America Report: A $2 Billion Solar Plan for Chile
![][1] Ingenostrum is branching out beyond its traditional stronghold of Spain and Italy and into the emerging market of Chile as its looks to expand its portfolio in solar, wind and biomass.
American Vanadium to Evaluate Renewable Power and Energy Storage for its Nevada Vanadium Mine.
The system will include a vanadium flow battery combined with integrated solar and wind electric power generation capable of providing energy in excess of the needs of the proposed Gibellini Mine.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12016.html
Crossing the Valley of Dearth
![][1] For bio-based industry, beyond the Valley of Death lies the Valley of Dearth, a shortfall in capital necessary to finance global deployment at scale. A global OPIC can bring institutional investors to the rescue, say top capital strategists in New York.
URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/04/crossing-the-valley-of-dearth?cmpid=rss
Cape Wind Selects Construction Contractors.
Cape Wind is America's first offshore wind farm to secure Federal and State approval and to be issued a lease to operate by the Federal Government.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12014.html
Tropical, of Greece, to Introduce 5kW Natural Gas Fuel Cell Power System.
Tropical has announced that it will introduce GreenGen NG-5, its new 5kW natural gas fuel cell distributed power system at the upcoming H2+F Tradeshow in Hannover, Germany, April 23 -27, 2012.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12015.html
Zipcar to Feature Latest Advanced Technology Vehicles from Honda.
The agreement will include the expansion of Honda's Insight hybrid, the all-new CR-V compact SUV, as well as the introduction of Fit EV battery electric vehicles (BEV) this fall and Accord Plug-In Sedans, a plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) version of its popular Accord Sedan.
URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips412/apr12013.html
Big Conferences, Small Installers: A Growing Problem
![][1] PV America West in March had an array of great panels and a wide range of interesting exhibitors. There were module manufacturers, racking solutions providers, inverter manufacturers, a few financiers, and a handful of miscellaneous companies that service project developers. But installers were relatively absent. I called over one hundred local ins
The Big Question: Will Lower FiTs Hit UK Solar?
![][1] Leading figures in the UK's renewables sector share their views on the impact of feed-in tariff cuts for the UK's solar industry.
EPA Announces Lead-Safe Renovation Fines
Subtitle:
Three violations of the agency's lead safe rule are resolved as contractors agree to pay penalties, with fines ranging from $1,500 to $10,000
Images:
[![][1]][2]
The Environmental Protection Agency [announced last week][3] that it had imposed fines for three violations the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP), which is designed to ensure that renovation activities that can create lead dust are conducted properly by trained and certified contractors or individuals.
[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Peeling paint 4 - Scott Robinson.jpg (Photo of peeling paint)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/epa-announces-lead-safe-renovation-fines
[3]: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/ab2d81eb088f4a7e85257359003f5339/1146e74c2c12b0f8852579d70069adcc!OpenDocument
EPA Announces Lead-Safe Renovation Fines
Subtitle:
Three violations of the agency's lead safe rule are resolved as contractors agree to pay penalties, with fines ranging from $1,500 to $10,000
Images:
[![][1]][2]
The Environmental Protection Agency [announced last week][3] that it had imposed fines for three violations the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP), which is designed to ensure that renovation activities that can create lead dust are conducted properly by trained and certified contractors or individuals.
[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Peeling paint 4 - Scott Robinson.jpg (Photo of peeling paint)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/epa-announces-lead-safe-renovation-fines
[3]: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/ab2d81eb088f4a7e85257359003f5339/1146e74c2c12b0f8852579d70069adcc!OpenDocument
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Grant Program Supported up to 75, 000 Wind and Solar Jobs: Congress Killed It Anyway
![][1] A federal grant program created to boost renewable energy development during the height of the economic crisis supported 75,000 jobs and more than $25 billion in economic activity, according to a new analysis from the Department of Energy.
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