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BIOLOGYIn The News!
Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Shatters All-time Record Low, Report Scientists.ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2007) — Scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center said today that the extent of Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its minimum for 2007 on Sept. 16, shattering all previous lows since satellite record-keeping began nearly 30 years ago.
Arctic sea ice generally reaches its minimum extent in September and its maximum extent in March. "The amount of ice loss this year absolutely stunned us because it didn't just beat all previous records, it completely shattered them," said CU-Boulder senior scientist Mark Serreze of NSIDC.
Scientists blame the declining Arctic sea ice on rising concentrations of greenhouse gases that have elevated temperatures from 2 degrees F to 7 degrees F across the arctic and strong natural variability in Arctic sea ice, said the researchers.
http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2007/seaice.shtml
Greenland Melt Accelerating, According To Climate Scientist
ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2007) — The 2007 melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet broke the 2005 summer melt record by 10 percent, making it the largest ever recorded there since satellite measurements began in 1979, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder climate scientist Konrad Steffen.
Greenland is about one-fourth the size of the United States, and about 80 percent of its surface area is covered by the massive ice sheet. Greenland hosts about one-twentieth of the world's ice-- the equivalent of about 21 feet of global sea rise. The current contribution of Greenland ice melt to global sea levels is about 0.5 millimeters annually.
Helicopter surveys indicate there has been an increase in cylindrical, vertical shafts in Greenland's ice known as moulins, which drain melt water from surface ponds down to bedrock, he said. "These melt-water drains seem to allow the ice sheet to respond more rapidly than expected to temperature spikes at the beginning of the annual warm season," Steffen said.
"The more lubrication there is under the ice, the faster that ice moves to the coast," said Steffen. "Those glaciers with floating ice 'tongues' also will increase in iceberg production."
Steffen maintains an extensive climate-monitoring network of 22 stations on the Greenland ice sheet known as the Greenland Climate Network, transmitting hourly data via satellites to CU-Boulder to study ice-sheet processes.
Air temperatures on the Greenland ice sheet have increased by about 7 degrees Fahrenheit since 1991, primarily a result of the build-up of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, according to scientists.
Coal Ash Spill Revives Issue of Its HazardsBy SHAILA DEWANPublished: December 24, 2008
KINGSTON, Tenn. — What may be the nation’s largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity.
Federal studies have long shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems. But with no official word on the dangers of the sludge in Tennessee, displaced residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property, and wondering what to do.
The spill took place at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a Tennessee Valley Authority generating plantabout 40 miles west of Knoxville on the banks of the Emory River, which feeds into the Clinch River, and then the Tennessee River just downstream.
Friday, Jan. 09, 2009Toxic coal ash piling up in ponds in 32 states
By DINA CAPPIELLO - Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON -- Millions of tons of toxic coal ash is piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a situation the government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but hasdone nothing about.
An Associated Press analysis of the most recent Energy Department data found that 156 coal-fired power plants store ash in surface ponds similar to one that ruptured last month in Tennessee. On Friday, a pond at a northeastern Alabama power plant spilled a different material.
Records indicate that states storing the most coal ash in ponds are Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama.
Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2009
Tenn. spill site isn't on EPA hazard list
By Duncan Mansfield - Associated Press KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee site of one of the nation's worst coal ash spills failed to make a federal list of ash storage ponds posing the highest potential threat to nearby residents — a list that was compiled in response to the massive Tennessee disaster.
Critics say the Kingston Fossil Plant's absence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "high hazard" list underscores the need for greater federal oversight of coal ash and the weakness of a system that allows the Tennessee Valley Authority and other ash-site operators to rate their own storage sites.
"It's outrageous," said Steve Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "EPA as the regulator should not be allowing the utilities to regulate themselves on the safety of toxic coal. This is a fundamentally flawed approach to protecting human health and the environment." "The states give the sites their ratings. EPA does not rate the sites," EPA spokeswoman Tisha Petteway said. However in Tennessee, the self-regulating TVA assumes this authority.
TVA spokesman John Moulton said the "low" hazard rankings "were assigned by TVA personnel" some time ago, but they will be updated. "Clearly the accident at Kingston is a learning experience for TVA and the entire industry, and how to reduce risk is something that everyone in the industry is looking at," Moulton said.
Chemical linked to Parkinson's diseaseBy Sarah VosHERALD-LEADER.COM January 9, 2008
In the late 1970s, Eddie Abney cleaned grease from metal gauges at a Berea factory using a chemical solvent called trichloroethylene, or TCE. The chemical, which is still used today as an industrial degreaser, soaked through his cotton gloves and into his skin. It splattered on his clothes. He breathed in its vapors.At night, when he came home, he would tell his wife that the smell was killing him.It may have been.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky have linked industrial use of TCE to Parkinson's disease, which Abney has. It was Abney, 51, who pointed researchers to a possible connection, leading to a study that was published last month
The study found that three people who directly handled TCE at the factory where Abney worked developed Parkinson's disease. An additional 14, who breathed in its vapors, had early symptoms of Parkinson's. As part of the study, researchers gave rats TCE. All of them showed brain damage to the same cells as Parkinson's patients, damage done through the same cellular pathway, the mitochondria.
Video: http://w2.uky.edu/UKPR/videos/parkinsonsandtce.mov
"We're now focusing our attention on mitochondrial dysfunctions, looking at ways to intervene and promote recovery of mitochondrial functions," said Don Gash, the lead researcher.
TCE is a clear liquid, most often used to clean grease from metal. It is found in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids and spot removers, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
TCE does not occur naturally but it is a common contaminant of water, air and soil near factories, military installations and hundreds of waste sites around the country, according to the National Academy of Sciences.
Link to movie
LAS VEGAS — The 15,000 fans packing the sold-out MGM Grand arena were enjoying the final concert of the season by Jimmy Buffett, a singer whose popularity and fortune grow greater even as he grows grayer. Buffett, who turned 62 on Christmas Day, long ago became an icon of certain baby boomers by offering the dream of throwing off their responsibilities for his tropical party vibe.
Thursday, Jan. 01, 2009The Mogul of MargaritavilleBy Nicholas K. Geranios - Associated Press
His recent License to Chill was the first No. 1 album of his career. In October, he was chosen by Vanity Fair as No. 97 on a list of the 100 most influential people. In the world. Buffett is rather rare among aging crooners in that his fan base is broad, and is not tied solely to a string of past hit songs. For most of his career, Buffett had only one Billboard Top 10 hit, Margaritaville, in 1977.
What he offers his fans is an accessible fantasy.
"Anyone of any age could imagine retiring to a tropical paradise and drinking margaritas," said Brian Hiatt, an associate editor for Rolling Stone who covers the concert industry ."There is something extra-musical about the whole thing."
Thursday, Jan. 07, 2010
Georgetown couple winners of $128 million lottery ticket
By Shawntaye Hopkins - [email protected]
LOUISVILLE — There were many sleepless nights after Rob and Tuesday Anderson realized they'd won the largest Powerball jackpot in Kentucky history.
Rob Anderson said he drank a few beers to calm his nerves while the $128.6 million ticket, which he bought Christmas Eve at a Pro Travel Marathon in Georgetown, was kept in a safe.
"We've thrown up a couple of times," said Rob Anderson, 39
The couple had wanted to remain anonymous but figured the media probably would learn their identities, Rob Anderson said. The Andersons declined to say whether they will remain in Georgetown. Rob Anderson, wearing a blue shirt, said they bleed University of Kentucky blue. "We don't live flamboyant lifestyles," Rob Anderson said. "That's not us."
They have discussed taking a trip to Hawaii and buying a new car. Rob Anderson, who does not have a college degree, said they also have considered going back to school. He said he would consider majoring in finance. "We just want to stay grounded and don't forget where we came from," Tuesday Anderson said.
In the beginning, Christians believe, Godcreated the Earth. And on the sixth day, mankindwas created to be a caretaker of it.
It’s a charge some churches are now taking toheart.
From the beginning, “humanity should have donea better job of caring for creation,” said Lisa Davison,Professor of First (Old) Testament at LexingtonTheological Seminary. “We must change our behaviorand recognize the incredible gift we have been givenand treat it with the great respect creation deserves. Icommend any church or congregation that iscommitted to being better stewards of creation andthat is willing to make the changes in their behaviorthat will reflect this commitment.”
Inherit the EarthFaith communities step up their global stewardshipBy Margaret Buranen – special to the Herald LeaderJanuary 12, 2008
One such local faith community is the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lexington, where members have set a goal of reaching Green Sanctuary status, as certified by the national denominational headquarters. The Green Sanctuary Program (http://uuministryforearth.org) calls for churches to "build a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness "
At Central Christian Church, the youth group recently teamed up with members of Twin Pines Christian and First Christian in Shelbyville to create a prayer gardennear the Catholic Action Center. The project, said Shane Isaac, resident minister at Central Christian, "fits well with our desire to learn more about our responsibility for creation as urban dwellers."
Southland Christian Church has focused efforts on recycling, placing bins in the office area and other buildings. In addition, the operations staff makes sure lights and heating and cooling are turned down or off when buildings are not in use. Regular lighting was replaced by energy efficient bulbs and energy management systems are used to control the climate in each building.Senior Minister Jon Weece has preached sermons about environmentalism.
Hendrika Pauley and son Logan Pauley participated in the Fourth
of July parade, drawing attention to environmental stewardship
Monday, Jan. 11, 2010
Pope denounces failure to forge new climate treaty
NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month, saying Monday that world peace depends on safeguarding God's creation.
"To cultivate peace, one must protect creation!" Benedict told the ambassadors. "The protection of creation is not principally a response to an aesthetic need, but much more to a moral need, inasmuch as nature expresses a plan of love and truth which is prior to us and which comes from God," he said.
To illustrate his point, the German-born pope recalled the experiences of eastern Europe under the "materialistic and atheistic regimes" of the former Soviet bloc. "The denial of God distorts the freedom of the human person, yet it also devastates creation."
"I trust that in the course of this year ... it will be possible to reach an agreement for effectively dealing with this question," Benedict said. Benedict has been dubbed the "green pope" for his increasingly vocal concern about protect the environment
Defining what ‘green’ means: New officer makes list of resolutions for first yearJanuary 13, 2010 by Katie Perkowski Kentucky Kernal
Porous pavement, more bike lanes and a new face for the Web site — all are in Shane Tedder’s plan for 2010.Tedder, UK’s recently appointed sustainability officer, has a list of plans in mind for the new year to make campus more environmentally-friendly.
One of the early challenges the committee faces is coming up with a working definition of what sustainability means at UK, Tedder said.“… (It) is hard to do because defining sustainability is really a moving target and a lot of people have defined it in different ways,” he said.
“Promoting sustainability goes way beyond an environmental agenda. It involves a triple bottom line, one that equally values ECONOMIC vitality, SOCIAL justice/equity, and ECOLOGICAL integrity. To pursue sustainability means taking care of people, prosperity, and the planet. Another way to think about sustainability is to compare it to responsible GLOBAL citizenship.”
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009 Berea man with Parkinson's tries to get workers' compBy Felicity Barringer - New York Times News Service
BEREA — When the University of Kentucky published new research in 2008 suggesting that exposure to a common industrial solvent (TCE) might increase the risk for Parkinson's disease, the moment was a source of satisfaction to Ed Abney, a 53-year-old former tool-and-die worker.
The study, Abney thought, was the scientific evidence he needed to claim workers' compensation benefits.
He was wrong. The medical researchers would not sign the form attesting that Abney's disease was linked to his work.
Individuals like Abney are caught between the conflicting imperatives of science and law — and there is a huge gap between what researchers are discovering about environmental contaminants and what they can prove about their impact on disease. The gap has ensured that only a tiny fraction of worker's compensation payments are received by those who were exposed to harmful substances at work.
The conclusion, published in the Annals of Neurology in February2008: "These results demonstrate a strong potential link betweenchronic TCE exposure and Parkinsonism." But when it came to the specifics of Abney's case, Gash said in an interview, "He started working at Dresser over 25 years ago, maybe 28 years ago. Tryingto reconstruct what was going on then is just impossible….he was exposed to other toxins." Implicating TCE requires ruling out other potential causes, he said — something that could take years.
Anita Abney sat next to her husband, with the fat files she has accumulated documenting aspects of his case —communications with doctors and with lawyers (all of whom left after the doctors refused to sign the forms).
Abney's wife, Anita Susan Abney, is frustrated by the high standard of proof required. "If you're saying in your study, 'Yes, the dots have been connected,' you should be able to say it in a court of law," Anita Abney said. "You should be able to say it at all levels." She added, "I don't blame it on the doctors, but on the strictness of the research."
How many people are caught in the same bind as Abney, "nobody really knows," said Rafael Metzger, a California lawyer who specializes in cases involving diseases contracted inthe workplace.
"It's awfully difficult for any doctor or researcher to say to an individual: 'You have this disease because you were exposed at this time,'" said J. Paul Leigh, a professor of public health sciences at the University of California, Davis.
Dwight Lovan, Kentucky's commissioner of worker's compensation, said, "We are dependent on the scientific and medical communities for the element of causality."
In the workplace, as John Burton, Rutgers University, said, "Youstill have the underlying requirement to establish that the workplace was the cause." Because the burden of proof is so high and the relative benefits are so low, lawyers have little financial incentive to take on a case like Abney's.
E. Donald Elliott, a Yale Law School professor specializing in these cases, said that simply being exposed to a risk in the workplace "should in itself be a compensable injury. From a policy standpoint, does it make sense for the entire burden of uncertainty or unknown science to fall on the injured parties rather than falling on the business or industry involved?"
For Abney and his wife, the disappointment still rankles. "You read this study and you hear about it and it builds you up," Abney said. "And then you get let down. You get to where you just don't care."
The geology behind the Haiti earthquake
Chaitanya S Jan 23, 2010 On 12th January 2010, Haiti experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes known to mankind. The death toll, according to initial estimates, may be anywhere between 100,000 to 200,000.
Haiti has traditionally been an earthquake prone region and has the misfortune of having been directly affected by several devastating earthquakes in the past. The earliest reported earthquake in October 1751 was so powerful that, according to French historian Moreau de Saint-Mry, only one masonry building had not collapsed in Port-au-Prince. This was followed in 1770 by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. The 1842 quake killed 10,000 people. In 1946, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in nearby Dominican Republic resulted in massive tsunamis that killed over 1700 people.
What accounts for the regularity and magnitude of earthquakes in Haiti? Haiti is situated on the Hispaniola Island, which rests at a place where two giant pieces of the earth's crust, the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates, grind against each other as they pass in opposite directions. In geological terms, the boundary between two tectonic plates that pass horizontally in opposite directions is called a Transform Boundary. Plate movement at transform boundaries gives rise to strike-slip faults, smaller features where the movement of rocks is in opposite directions along the fault.
Along a strike-slip fault, rocks move in opposite directions and interlock eachother. A large amount of stress is built up as the rocks compress each other. Even though rocks are highly elastic in nature, there is a limit beyond which rocks break, much like a rubber band that breaks if stretched too much. When this occurs, the large amount of stress that had been built up gets released in a few seconds or minutes, with devastating effects. This stress is released in the form of seismic waves that pass throughout the earth and also appear on the earth's surface. When the waves reach the surface, vigorous shaking is caused resulting in an earthquake. Strike-slip faults give rise to devastating earthquakes because the focus, the point beneath the crust where the break
The San Andreas Fault in California is one of the best examples of a transform boundary manifesting in a strike-slip fault.
In Haiti's case, things are slightly more complex. The boundary between these two tectonic plates is formed by a complex system of strike-slip faults involving the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone and the Septentrional-Orient fault zone. According to geologists, the latest quake was caused when the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone, that gathered stress for a long period, 250 years, gave away.
Many of these faults are in the ocean, but some are on land, including the New Madrid fault zone that includes Western Kentucky
Mississippi Delta Earthquake: America's Haiti Waiting to Happen?
Scientists Predict Haiti-Magnitude Quake Along Fault Under Miss. Delta
By SUZI PARKER Christian Science Monitor Jan. 23, 2010
In 1811 and 1812, the New Madrid fault zone that zig zags through five states shook so violently that it shifted furniture in Washington, D.C., and rang church bells in Boston. The series of temblors changed the course of the Mississippi River near Memphis, and historical accounts claim the river even flowed backward briefly.
Geologists consider the New Madrid fault line a major seismic zone and predict that an earthquake roughly the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake (7.0 on the Richter scale) could occur in the area during the next 50 years.
One of the strongest series of earthquakes ever to hit the United States happened not in Alaska or along California's San Andreas fault, but in southeast Missouri along the Mississippi River.
The New Madrid fault zone crosses five state lines and the Mississippi River in at least three places. It extends from northeast Arkansas through southeast Missouri and into western Tennessee, western Kentucky, and southern Illinois.
In the 1800s, few people lived in the region. Today, it is densely populated and includes Memphis and St. Louis.
"All the faults are active," says Haydar Al-Shukri, director of Arkansas Earthquake Center. "We would see an earthquake 10 times larger than the Haitian earthquake or even those in California because of the amount of distance the seismic waves of the earthquake would travel."
Moreover, the area is comparatively less prepared to deal with a huge earthquake than are other seismically active areas in the US, says Mark Ghilarducci, vice president of James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis and emergency management consulting company in Washington.
That forecast is of particular concern because the New Madrid zone sits beneath one of the country's most economically distressed areas – the Delta. In many counties in the Mississippi Delta, the poverty level is triple the national average.
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 Quake hits near WilliamsburgBy Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Herald Leader
A minor earthquake occurred at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday near Williamsburg, according to the University of Kentucky's KentuckyGeological Survey Web site. "It shook the house for about five seconds or so," said Jimmy Perkins, who lives in Williamsburg.
Earlier this month, Gov. Steve Beshear's office announced a statewide earthquake drill for Kentucky school students.
At least three other minor earthquakes have occurred in Kentucky since 2005, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In April, an earthquake that registered 5.2 on the Richter scale was centered in Illinois and was felt in Kentucky.
"Earthquakes are unpredictable," Lori King, the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management's Earthquake Program Coordinator, said in a release. "At best, scientists make predictions based upon historical activity, but with so much uncertainty, the possibility of a major earthquake affecting Kentucky cannot be taken for granted."
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/sehnw0127a.php#summary
At well-studied plate boundaries like the San Andreas fault system in California, often scientists can determine the name of the specific fault that is responsible for an earthquake. In contrast, east of the Rocky Mountains this is rarely the case. The region is laced with known faults but numerous smaller or deeply buried faults remain undetected. In most areas east of the Rockies, the best guide to earthquake hazards is the earthquakes themselves.
Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
King coal returning to Muhlenberg County
By KEITH LAWRENCE - Messenger-Inquirer
GREENVILLE, Ky. -- Coal was king in Muhlenberg County for generations. Sons followed their fathers and grandfathers into the mines and knew they could count on steady jobs.
But the tide is turning. Ohio-based KenAmerican Resources, a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp., announced last week that it will reopen its Paradise Mine at the end of the month.The company says it will eventually create 250 to 300 jobs in what was once America's largest coal producing county.
But that began to change in the 1980s. In 1977, state figures list 3,663 miners in Muhlenberg County. By 2008, that had dwindled to 977.
"It's going to have a tremendous impact on the county and the entire region," Muhlenberg Judge-Executive Rick Newman said of the new mine. "They're telling me we could have 300 jobs out there by the end of summer. That'll have a tremendous impact on not only our employment but our coal severance tax money. Miners make anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 a year," Newman said. "Those are good jobs."
"This work should restore the Paradise Mine to the No. 1 position in productivity in the Illinois Basin, (a) record KenAmerican demonstrated from its inception in the mid-1990s until about three years ago," General Manager Mark D. Nelson said in a news release.
Coal could also get a major boost if Peabody Energy Co. and ConocoPhillips' Kentucky NewGas plant, a multibillion dollar project, is built. The companies say the plant, which would turn coal into a substitute for natural gas, would create more than 500 "long-term, high-paying jobs" and include at least one new mine in the county.
Kentucky's coal industry began in Muhlenberg County in 1820, when William D. McLean began digging "black rocks" out of a bank on his Green River farm near Paradise. Only 328 tons were mined that year, but an industry was born.
Friday, Jan. 30, 2009 Scientists seek 'sinks' that soak up earth's excess CO2By Robert S. Boyd - McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON —For years, scientists have been trying to solve what they call the "Mystery of the Missing Sinks." No, they're not talking about misplaced kitchenware.
"Carbon dioxide 'sources' increase the local concentrations of this gas. Carbon dioxide 'sinks' reduce the concentrations," said David Crisp, principal investigator for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory. "Humans dump about 9 million tons of carbon daily into the atmosphere, but only half stays there." The rest is returned to Earth, but where much of it ends up is uncertain. "We don't know where the other half is going," said Crisp.
To solve the mystery, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are sending up complementary scientific satellites. The Japanese Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite was boosted into orbit last Friday. NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory is scheduled for launch on Feb. 23. The two spaceships will circle the Earth on overlapping paths, more than400 miles high, analyzing plumes of CO2 rising and falling through the air.
"We want to understand why, how and where these sinks are and what's going to happen in the future," said Anna Michalak, an Orbiting Carbon Observatory team member from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. 'There's no consensus whether these sinks will increase or decrease." For example, as the world warms, Arctic tundra is thawing and releasing more CO2. At the same time, forests are expanding farther north, storing more CO2.
"We can only account for about half of the carbon that doesn't remain in the atmosphere," said Eric Ianson, Orbiting Carbon Observatory project manager. About a quarter of the recycled CO2 is drawn into the ocean, and land vegetation [+ soil] absorbs another quarter.
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009 NASA rocket failure blow to Earth watching networkBy SETH BORENSTEIN - AP Science Writer WASHINGTON -- A new satellite to track the chief culprit in global warming crashed into the ocean near Antarctica after launch Tuesday, dealing a major setback to NASA's already weak network for monitoring Earth and its environment from above.
UPDATE December 8 2009- NASA
Replacement satellite could play role in climate treaty
NASA still has not received approval for a replacement carbon-observing satellite that could provide baseline data for monitoring compliance with a new climate treaty being negotiated this week in Copenhagen.
The new satellite would replace the Orbiting Carbon Observatory doomed by a rocket mishap during launch in February.
The space agency sought input from a broad range of scientists in a study of the value of a new OCO mission, compared to upgraded sensors and different observation methods. NASA ultimately decided a clone of the original OCO mission, using a nearly identical instrument, spacecraft and launch vehicle, would be the best option.
Sources close to the mission say the internal discussion has "changed from if to when" an OCO replacement would be approved and funded. But officials are still waiting on formal authorization to proceed with the reflight.
"I really can't confirm anything for sure, and I'm not sure when such confirmation would be possible, although one might look for some indication when the president's budget is released in early February," said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science division at NASA headquarters.
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
Farmers fight climate bill despite long-term threat
New law could mean higher costs for agriculture in short term
Renee Schoof and David Goldstein - McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Farm state senators and others soon will get a taste of what their colleagues from Missouri already have piled high on their desks: thousands of letters from farmers urging them to vote against the climate and energy bill.Agriculture is likely to have a central place in the debate on the bill later this year about the short-term costs of acting to curb climate change -- and the costs of failing to address the long-term risks.
Farm lobby groups and senators who agree with them argue that imposing limits on the nation's emissions of heat-trapping gases from coal, oil and natural gas would raise the cost of farming necessities such as fuel, electricity and natural gas-based fertilizer. A government report, however, warns of a dire outlook for farms if rising emissions drive more rapid climate shifts in the decades ahead.
The Senate bill includes provisions that would hold down energy costs for consumers, and some senators are working to add sections that would help farmers. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the bill would create opportunities for farmers to sell renewable energy and to earn money by selling credits for reducing emissions. He also said the bill contained provisions that would prevent fertilizer price increases before 2025, even though fuel prices would rise.
"Most farmers are just sort of skeptical," said Oswald, the farmer and Missouri Farmers Union board chairman. "You're out every day working to overcome adversity from the government, adversity from Mother Nature, adversity from the market. You learn not to put all your eggs in one basket. That's where we are now with climate change. Farmers aren't willing to sign off on all of it."
Some projected impacts of climate change on US agriculture:
Analysis of crop responses suggests that even moderate increases in temperature will decrease yields of corn, wheat, sorghum, bean, rice, cotton and peanut crops
Plant winter hardiness zones -- each of which represents a 10-degree Fahrenheit change in minimum temperature -- in the Midwest are likely to shift by a half- to a full zone about every 30 years
"Higher temperatures will mean a longer growing season for crops that do well in the heat, such as melon, okra and sweet potato, but a shorter growing season for crops more suited to cooler conditions, such as potato, lettuce, broccoli and spinach.“
-Fruits that require long winter chilling periods, such as apples, will experience declines
-Higher temperatures also cause plants to use more water to keep cool . . . . But fruits, vegetables and grains can suffer even under well-watered conditions if temperatures exceed the maximum level for pollen viability
-Climate change is expected to result in less frequent but more intense rainfall. One consequence is expected to be delayed spring planting. In the Midwest, heavy downpours are now twice as frequent as they were a century ago.
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 Australian wildfire death toll unlikely to jumpBy KRISTEN GELINEAU - Associated Press Writer MELBOURNE, Australia -- Police believe they have found the bodies of almost everyone killed in Australia's wildfire disaster and the current death toll of 201 is not likely to risedramatically, a senior commander said Wednesday.
The nightmarish blazes tore across Victoria with 400 fires destroying more than 1,800 homes and scorching about 1,500 square miles (3,900 square kilometers) of farms, forests and towns.
Monday, Feb. 16, 2009Some of the world's deadliest firesThe Associated Press SYDNEY -- Wildfires that swept Australia's southern Victoria state on Feb. 7 were the worst in Australian history and among the deadliest in the world. Here is a list of some of the world's deadliest wildfires:-Feb. 7, 2009 - Victoria, Australia - Confirmed death toll stands at 189.-Feb. 16, 1983 - Victoria and South Australia, Australia - 75 people killed, more than 500,000 acres destroyed (202,000 hectares). -Aug. 19, 1949 - Bordeaux, France - More than 200 killed, 250,000 acres (101,000 hectares) destroyed.-Jan. 13, 1939 - Victoria, Australia - 71 people killed and up to 5 million acres (2 million hectares) burned.-Oct. 13-15, 1918 - Cloquet, Minnesota - Up to 1,000 killed, 250,000 acres (101,000 hectares) destroyed.-Aug. 20-21, 1910 - Idaho, Montana and Washington - At least 160 killed a millions of acres (hectares) burned.-Sept. 1, 1894 - Hinckley, Minnesota - At least 415 killed, 200,000 acres (81,000 hectares) burned.-Oct. 8, 1871 - Pestigo, Wisconsin - Between 1,200 and 2,400 killed and swath of northeast Wisconsin and upper Michigan scorched.-Oct. 7, 1825 - New Brunswick, Canada - 160 people killed.Source: The International Association of Wildland Fire; Victoria police
Why so dangerous in Victoria?
January 25, 2010
The Ozone Hole Is Mending. Now for the ‘But.’
By SINDYA N. BHANOO NY times
It turns out that the hole led to the formation of moist, brighter-than-usual clouds that shielded the Antarctic region from the warming induced by greenhouse gas emissions over the last two decades, scientists write in Wednesday’s issue of Geophysical Research Letters.
The hole in the layer, discovered above Antarctica in the mid-1980s, caused wide alarm because ozone plays a crucial role in protecting life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
The hole was largely attributed to the human use of chlorofluorocarbons, chemical compounds found in refrigerants and aerosol cans that dissipate ozone. Under an international protocol adopted in 1987, many countries phased out the compounds, helping the ozone to start reconstituting itself over the Antarctic.
That the hole in Earth’s ozone layer is slowly mending is considered a big victory for environmental policy makers. But in a new report, scientists say there is a downside: its repair may contribute to global warming.
“The recovery of the hole will reverse that,” said Ken Carslaw, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Leeds and a co-author of the paper. “Essentially, it will accelerate warming in certain parts of the Southern Hemisphere.”The data show that the hole in the ozone layer generated high-speed winds that caused sea salt to be swept up into the atmosphere to form moist clouds. The clouds reflect more of the sun’s powerful rays and help fend off warming in the Antarctic atmosphere, the scientists write. The sea spray influx resulted in an increase in cloud droplet concentration of about 46 percent in some regions of the Southern Hemisphere, Dr. Carslaw said.
But Judith Perlwitz, a University of Colorado professor and a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that although the paper’s data were sound, she questioned the conclusions. Even as the ozone layer recovers, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to expand, she said. She predicted that the rise in temperatures would cause wind speeds to increase over time and have the same cloud-forming effect that the ozone hole now has.
“The question is whether the wind is really going to slow down, and that I doubt,” she said.
