Sunday, Nov 02nd
Last update08:06:05 AM GMT
Environmental Glance
Conditions that spawn severe thunderstorms – including tornado-makers – across the US are expected to appear more frequently by the end of the century, according to new research.
Until now, studies of the potential impact of global warming on severe and tornadic thunderstorms generally have concluded that a key element needed – a sudden change in wind speed or direction with altitude known as vertical wind shear – would weaken on average as the climate warmed.
Russia has been asked to free a Greenpeace ship and its crew detained during a protest at an arctic oil-drilling platform, the World Wildlife Fund said Monday.
The organization said more than 40 environmental groups signed a letter to President Vladimir Putin requesting the release of the Arctic Sunrise and the 30 people reported aboard, RIA Novosti reported.
Scientists will this week issue their starkest warning yet about the mounting dangers of global warming. In a report to be handed to political leaders in Stockholm on Monday, they will say that the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation have now led to a warming of the entire globe, including land surfaces, oceans and the atmosphere.
Extreme weather events, including heatwaves and storms, have increased in many regions while ice sheets are dwindling at an alarming rate. In addition, sea levels are rising while the oceans are being acidified – a development that could see the planet's coral reefs disappearing before the end of the century.
A new report released today by Earthworks provides an important window into a disturbing national pattern regarding the oversight of fracking-enabled oil and gas development: regulators, charged with protecting the public, are actively avoiding evidence that fracking is harming the public.
The report focuses on Karnes County, TX, in an attempt to illuminate a growing national pattern of absentee regulators.
Environmental damage from the Colorado floods includes 5,250 gallons of oil spilled into the South Platte River from a damaged tank, officials said Wednesday.
Booms were being used in an effort to contain the spill near Milliken, The Denver Post reported. Anadarko Petroleum reported the spill Wednesday afternoon to the state Department of Natural Resources.
“Another tank overturned and a fracking chemical warehouse flooded…” As alarmed citizens report the damage to each other out West, is anybody listening?
For years, concerned residents, activists and scientists from Texas, Pennsylvania and other fracked states have sounded the warning bell against fracking in floodplains. The 30-foot wall of water displacing Colorado residents right now is worsened by the fires which took out trees which would have otherwise lessened this extreme flood.
The statement comes from 12 members of the recently established Earth League, which describes itself as “a voluntary alliance of leading scientists and institutions dealing with planetary processes and sustainability issues.”
They say that if humans continue with business as usual, using fossil fuels and pumping out excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, the world will be on track for a planet that is four degrees Celsius warmer by the end of this century, or even earlier.
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