Month: December 2008

FALSE SOLUTIONS: Climate Change and Geoengineering

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“If people are going to pursue geoengineering, they have to realize that it won’t be quick, cheap or easy; indeed, suggestions that it might be are utter nonsense, and possibly irresponsible.”

“How can global warming be combated?

“‘We must reduce carbon emissions,’ Turco said.”
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217190429.htm

No Quick Or Easy Technological Fix For Climate Change, Researchers Say

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2008)-Global warming, some have argued, can be reversed with a large-scale “geoengineering” fix, such as having a giant blimp spray liquefied sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere or building tens of millions of chemical filter systems in the atmosphere to filter out carbon dioxide.

But Richard Turco, a professor in the UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and a member and founding director of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment, sees no evidence that such technological alterations of the climate system would be as quick or easy as their proponents claim and says many of them wouldn’t work at all.

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Arctic Sea Ice & the Snowy Owl

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Arctic Sea Ice & the Snowy Owl

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“Six of the adult females that we followed in a satellite study
spent most of last winter far out on the Arctic sea ice.”

“It was very surprising, said Therrien, how far the individual
birds migrated from where they were banded on their nesting grounds
on Bylot Island, north of Baffin Island.

“The satellite data showed just how dramatic the owl movements
are. They flew huge distances. One owl went to Ellesmere Island,
another flew straight to North Dakota and a third ended up on
the eastern point of Newfoundland,” he said.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081210143416.htm

Snowy Owl–A Marine Species?

ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2008)-Wildlife satellite studies could
lead to a radical re-thinking about how the snowy owl fits into
the Northern ecosystem.

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Environmentalists Want Tenn. Ash-Spill Action

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Environmentalists Want Tenn. Ash-Spill Action
Stiffer warnings of health risks to residents urged
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities need to more strongly warn residents that muck left from a major coal-ash spill in eastern Tennessee could pose health risks, a Southern environmental group said Saturday.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said Friday that the mixture of coal fly ash and water coating a neighborhood near the Kingston Fossil Plant didn’t pose an immediate risk to residents unless they ingested it.

But Stephen Smith, executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said officials should more strongly encourage residents to avoid the sludge that surrounds their homes.

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