Climate Change

Image: Fracking site. (Credit: Jim Parkin/Shutterstock)

salon.com - April 16th, 2014 - Lindsay Abrams

Fracking sites at Pennsylvania’s natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale are releasing way more methane than we thought — somewhere on the order of 100 to 1,000 times EPA estimates, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences. Flying about seven well pads in a plane equipped to measure greenhouse gas emissions, researchers found that, on average, the sites emitted 34 grams of methane per second. The EPA’s estimate: between 0.04 and 0.30 grams of methane per second.

The problem, the researchers were surprised to discover, begins before the controversial process of fracking even gets started.

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A sampling of maps from the new government website

greenbiz.com - by Christina DeConcini and C. Forbes Tompkins

As communities across America continue to experience increasing climate impacts in the form of rising seas, heat waves and extreme weather, local and federal leaders are starting to roll up their sleeves.

Last week, the White House unveiled the Climate Data Initiative, a project aimed at arming local leaders across the country with information they need to plan for climate impacts while building more resilience. The initiative provides a key tool for helping those at the frontlines of climate change — America’s local communities.

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NOAA - IBTrACS

Photo: Associated Press

huffingtonpost.com - by Barbra Streisand - March 17, 2014

Imagine if we could quickly reduce the threat of climate change and grow healthier crops at the same time, without the sacrifice the coal and oil industry tells us are inevitable! Turns out we can, and the solution is literally right under our feet.

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CLICK HERE - U.N. Report - Trade and Environment Review 2013
Wake up before it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate

CLICK HERE - Nature - Soil Carbon Storage

submitted by Margery Schab

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huffingtonpost.com - by Kate Sheppard - March 6, 2014

WASHINGTON -- From roads and bridges to power plants and gas pipelines, American infrastructure is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to a pair of government reports released Thursday.

The reports are technical documents supporting the National Climate Assessment, a major review compiled by 13 government agencies that the U.S. Global Change Research Program is expected to release in April. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory put together the reports, which warn that climate-fueled storms, flooding and droughts could cause "cascading system failures" unless there are changes made to minimize those effects.

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