Nairobi, 10 May 2010 – Natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth. This is one principal conclusion of a major new assessment of the […]
BP continues to work on solving the problem of ice-like methane hydrate crystals that accumulated inside of the dome intended to capture the leaking oil. A process known as a “junk shot”, in which debris is injected into the blow out preventer, is being examined. The drilling of the relief wells continues. The latest trajectory […]
The experimental containment dome was successfully positioned over the leaking riser pipe last night, but then had to be removed after a large volume of ice-like methane hydrate crystals accumulated inside of the structure. These crystal hydrates blocked the flow of oil and threatened to lift the dome off the sea floor. The 4-story containment […]
The unified command reports that more than 8,500 responders are working on the incident, and approximately 1.89 million gallons of oily liquid have been recovered. Overflight and shoreline surveys have found emulsified oil within the Breton National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service closed the Refuge today to allow personnel conducting cleanup operations […]
By Joe RommMay 8, 2010 Where did all the snow go? I mean, it was here just a minute ago, uber-fodder for the anti-science crowd (see Was the “Blizzard of 2009″ a “global warming type” of record snowfall — or an opportunity for the media to blow the extreme weather story (again)? and Massive moisture-driven […]
As the nation’s leading scientific resource for oil spills, NOAA has been on the scene of the Deepwater Horizon spill from the start, providing coordinated scientific weather and biological response services to federal, state and local organizations. Deepwater Horizon Incident, Gulf of Mexico Technorati Tags: oil production,oil spill,pollution,North America,Gulf of Mexico,wetland,habitat loss,ecosystem disruption
By AMY MERRICK Illinois lawmakers were in disarray Thursday as they groped for stopgap measures to address a $13 billion deficit equaling nearly half of the state’s general-fund revenue. The state faces one of the nation’s worst budget crises, spilled over in part from the broader national economic crunch, and its current bond ratings lag […]
Weather today continued to allow both NOAA overflights and dispersant operations. Overflight observation flights were concentrated around the Chandeleur Islands. During these overflights, trained observers recorded locations of oil, affected wildlife, and other relevant observations. Overflights will continue tomorrow with a goal to observe the northern and eastern boundaries of the slick. Two in-situ burns […]
This figure shows the percentage of the land area of the lower 48 states where a much greater than normal portion of total annual precipitation has come from extreme single-day precipitation events. The bars represent individual years, while the line is a smoothed nine-year moving average. In recent years, a larger percentage of precipitation has […]
ScienceDaily (May 5, 2010) — Reasonable worst-case scenarios for global warming could lead to deadly temperatures for humans in coming centuries, according to research findings from Purdue University and the University of New South Wales, Australia. Researchers for the first time have calculated the highest tolerable “wet-bulb” temperature and found that this temperature could be […]
