Signs From Earth

More Tar Sands Coverage

The Seattle Times offers several stories on Canada's burgeoning tar sands business. With pictures, graphics, videos.

Canada's oil-sands boom creates vast riches and a dirty footprint: The huge oil reserves of Canada, where the stuff can literally be dug out of the ground, provide the U.S. with a nearby alternative to importing crude from distant, unstable countries. But Alberta oil-sands production has one major shortcoming: It results in far more greenhouse gases than traditional drilling. Ángel González, Seattle Times business reporter.

This follows on recent coverage from The Chicago Tribune.

Sierra Fires More Frequent, Severe

Tom Knudson of the Sacramento Bee, who has reported for years on ecological issues in the Sierra Nevada range, describes the longer and more intense forest fires seen in the region now, and cites recent research (links below) documenting the trend:

Sierra Nevada climate changes feed monster, forest-devouring fires

"...Wildfire has marched across the West for centuries. But no longer are major conflagrations fueled simply by heavy brush and timber. Now climate change is stoking the flames higher and hotter, too.

"That view, common among firefighters, is reflected in new studies that tie changing patterns of heat and moisture in the western United States to an unprecedented rash of costly and destructive wildfires.

Colorado River Drought Continues

Drought deepens strain on a dwindling Colorado

Flows falling: California first in line as Utah, other states fight for water.

By Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune: "The drought gripping Utah, Southern California and the rest of the Southwest this century shows no sign of ending. Scientists see it as a permanent condition that, despite year-to-year weather variations, will deepen as temperatures rise, snows dwindle, soils bake and fires burn.

Another Go at "Clean Coal"

Clean coal' plant rises amid ill winds: Indiana site faces rising costs, future greenhouse curbs

AP - "In the heart of southwestern Indiana's coal country, Duke Energy Corp. crews are building what the company's chief executive calls the power plant of the future -- a $2.35 billion complex where coal will be turned into a gas, stripped of pollutants, then burned to generate electricity.

Bangladesh's Slow Ebb

Bangladesh's climate refugees search for higher ground

HOAIKONG, Bangladesh, Nov 28 (AFP) Nov 28, 2008: "In the mountainous village of Hoaikong in southeastern Bangladesh, villagers are used to welcoming new residents on a weekly basis.

"The once-sparsely populated jungle, home to only a handful of tribal families, houses some 2,000 people who have sought higher ground as the island where they once lived becomes increasingly submerged by the sea.

If You Take it, Eat It

Costs of Food Waste Pile Up: Chefs, Grocers Track Trash to Save Cash

Washington Post via AP: "...Roughly 30 percent of food in the United States goes to waste, costing some $48 billion annually, according to a Stockholm International Water Institute study. A 2004 University of Arizona study estimated that 40 to 50 percent of food in the United States is wasted...."

Virginia Tech has been attempting to reduce campus cafeteria food waste by eliminating trays.

"...Getting rid of trays has cut food waste by 38 percent at the cafeterias, said Denny Cochrane, manager of Virginia Tech's sustainability program. Before the program began, students often grabbed whatever looked good at the buffet, only to find at the table that their eyes were bigger than their stomachs, he said...."

Mystery of the Disappearing Acorns

Acorn Watchers Wonder What Happened to Crop

Washington Post: "The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head.

"Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill.

Commerce Eyes the Arctic Ocean

Shippers, oil companies gauge benefits of less Arctic ice:
Changing climate's flip side is the new opportunity

"With global warming melting the Arctic's eons-old ice at an alarming rate, shipping and oil companies are looking ahead at how to exploit the new open waters.

"For the past 30 years, the summer Arctic ice pack has been shrinking. In 2007, the melt reached record levels. This past summer, the ice shrank to the second-smallest area on record.

"And while much of the discussions so far have been focused on dealing with global warming and on preserving habitat and protecting polar bears and walruses, another change is looming. "When will commercial interests be able to develop the once-impregnable region?..."

Key Challenge: Keeping CO2 Buried

Going underground

Nature Reports Climate Change: "Carbon capture and storage may be one way to achieve deep reductions in emissions, but ensuring the gas stays buried will be crucial to proving its viability. Mark Schrope reports on a promising new method for monitoring carbon dioxide deep underground..."

Also see: Carbon is Forever

Converting CO2 to Cash

Carbon Dioxide Turns Useful

A new breed of start-ups are finding ways to convert CO2 into high value materials, simultaneously cutting carbon emissions and providing manufacturers with green raw materials, Sarah Fister Gale investigates

"While most of the world is looking for ways to reduce their carbon emissions, a few innovative companies are instead looking for ways to take advantage of this vast and otherwise wasted resource.

"From plastic bottles and paper to concrete, vinyl sidings and fuel, researchers are transforming carbon dioxide from a destructive planetary force into a stream of valuable renewable products.

"Although most of these companies are in the early stages of development, they are quickly gaining attention and venture capital funding from intrigued environmentalists, investors and companies that would like to turn their waste CO2 into something of value..."