We’re nowhere near prepared for the ecological disaster that Harvey is becoming – “Repeatedly over the past 15 years, the Texas legislature refused to pass any plan to adapt to climate change”

By Charles P. Pierce 30 August 2017 (Esquire) – It is the Christian thing to do in the middle of tragedies like the one currently unfolding along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf coast not to politicize human suffering and, certainly, the stories of people rescuing their fellow citizens from this calamity deserve to be told and they […]

Monsoon flooding brings Mumbai to a standstill after 11 inches of rainfall

By Rajendra Jadhav and Swati Bhat 29 August 2017 MUMBAI (Reuters) – Heavy monsoon rains brought India’s financial capital to a halt on Tuesday, with authorities struggling to evacuate people with the scheduled high tide adding to the chaos. Incessant rain flooded several parts of Mumbai and paralyzed train services used by millions of commuters […]

Collapse at salmon farm in Puget Sound renews debate about fish farming

By Phuong Le 28 August 2017 SEATTLE (Associated Press) – A marine net pen holding 305,000 farmed Atlantic salmon collapsed recently, releasing thousands of fish into Puget Sound and renewing concerns that a new proposed salmon farm could harm wild salmon stock and cause other environmental damage. The release at Cooke Aquaculture’s facility comes as […]

First tanker crosses Arctic sea route without ice breaker

By Matt McGrath 24 August 2017 (BBC News) – A commercial LNG tanker has sailed across the colder, northern route from Europe to Asia without the protection of an ice-breaker for the first time.The specially-built ship completed the crossing in just six-and-a-half days setting a new record, according to the tanker’s Russian owners.The 300-metre-long Sovcomflot […]

Fighting to breathe in the face of Canada’s wildfire emergency

By Mika McKinnon 11 August 2017 KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (New Scientist) – It’s stiflingly hot and I’m trapped inside a dome of smoke. I know I’m in a river valley nestled within mountain ranges, but the visibility is cut so low that I can’t see any of the dramatic peaks that dominate landscapes across British […]

19 wildfires have merged to create the largest wildfire ever recorded in British Columbia – Single blaze is estimated to be more than 467,000 hectares

By Mike Laanela and Brady Strachan Aug 22, 2017 (CBC News) – Hundreds of firefighters and dozens of aircraft are working to contain the largest wildfire ever recorded in British Columbia’s history. Nineteen wildfires have merged in the province’s Interior, creating a single blaze that’s estimated to be more than 467,000 hectares [1.15 million acres] […]

Coal mining health study is halted by Trump’s Interior Department – “Stopping this study is a ploy to stop science in its tracks and keep the public in the dark about health risks as a favor to the mining industry”

By Lisa Friedman And Brad Plumer 21 August 2017WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – The Interior Department has ordered a halt to a scientific study begun under President Obama of the public health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which was conducting the study, said in a statement […]

Scott Pruitt is dismantling EPA in secret for the same reason the GOP health care bill was secret

By David Roberts 14 August 2017 (Vox) – The New York Times had a big story on Friday about EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s propensity to operate in secret. It offers a detailed and damning review of the evidence, but it stops short of drawing the broader conclusion: namely, that the approach of serving industry under […]

Record breaking aerosol index values from Canada forest fires – “These are remarkably high values”

By Colin Seftor 15 August 2017 (NASA) – I plan to post more about smoke from the fires burning both in Canada and Russia. But I did want to post this particular item. Over the last couple of days, OMPS has recorded the largest aerosol index values ever seen since TOMS measurements started in 1978 […]

Global warming projected to increase harmful algal blooms in U.S. freshwaters significantly – “The impact of climate change goes way beyond warmer air temperatures, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers”

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, 15 August 2017 (Tufts Now) – Harmful algal blooms known to pose risks to human and environmental health in large freshwater reservoirs and lakes are projected to increase because of climate change, according to a team of researchers led by a Tufts University scientist. The team developed a modeling framework that predicts that the […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial