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U.S. West Coast is rapidly eroding, with pace to accelerate
The stormy conditions of the 2009-10 El Nino winter eroded beaches from San Diego to Seattle to often unprecedented levels; the higher sea levels expected due to global warming, and potentially even stronger winter storms, will likely to contribute to increased rates of beach and bluff erosion along much of the U.S. West Coast
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Understanding deadly tornadoes
Scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are analyzing radar data from 27 April 2011 — the day that saw of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history — then merging the information with detailed storm surveys and other data; they hope to learn more about how the storms formed, what made the storms so powerful and what might be done to make tornado warnings more effective
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Creating genetic replacement for oil
Scientists previously established that oil and coal have their roots in the organisms that lived on the planet over 500 million years ago, but researchers only are sure of one organism that directly contributed to these natural resources — that organism is the algae Botryococcus braunii; this algae is very slow growing, so it is not necessarily a good source for biofuels; scientists offer an alternative
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World's first cardboard vacuum cleaner unveiled
A U.K. vacuum cleaner manufacturer will market a high performance vacuum cleaner constructed out of recycled and recyclable materials; the device was designed by an industrial design student; the corrugated cardboard panels that form the body of the machine are easily replaced if damaged and cost just a tenth of the price of an equivalent plastic panel
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Montana floods exacerbate Exxon oil spill
Flooding in Montana has exacerbated the effects of an oil spill and made clean up more difficult for Exxon Mobil; it is estimated that roughly 750 top 1,000 barrels of crude oil have leaked into the Yellowstone River near Billings, Montana; the pipeline has been shut down, but flooding in the area has made it difficult for clean-up crews to find the source of the leak
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Japanese discovery could undermine China's rare earth dominance
A new discovery by Japanese researchers could break China’s stranglehold over rare Earth metals; Japanese geologists say they have found large deposits of rare Earth minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean; it is estimated that the mud of the Pacific Ocean contains 100 billion tons of these minerals
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Microalgae : Texas' next big cash crop
There are an estimated 200,000 to 800,000 species of microalgae — microscopic algae that thrive in freshwater and marine systems; scientists say microalgae offers a huge, untapped source of fuel, food, feed, pharmaceuticals, and even pollution-busters; it is set to be Texas’ next big cash crop
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Flights increase rain and snow near airports
Areas near commercial airports experience a measurable increase in rain and snow when aircraft take off and land under certain atmospheric conditions; when planes fly through certain mid-level clouds, they force nearby air rapidly to expand and cool; this causes water droplets to freeze to ice and then turn to snow as they fall toward the ground, often leaving behind odd-shaped gaps in the clouds
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Farm animal disease to increase with climate change
Researchers looked at changes in the behavior of bluetongue — a viral disease of cattle and sheep — from the 1960s to the present day, as well as what could happen to the transmission of the virus forty years into the future; they found, for the first time, that an outbreak of a disease could be explained by changes to the climate
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Disappearing La Niña blamed for U.S. disastrous weather since January
La Niña and El Niño are opposite extremes of a great Pacific oscillation; every two to seven years, surface waters across the equatorial Pacific warm up (El Niño) and then they cool down again (La Niña); each condition has its own distinct effects on weather; La Niña was strong in December, but disappeared in January, leaving nothing to constrain the jet stream; the jet stream took advantage of the new freedom — with disastrous results for the weather
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Official dispels government green procurement regulation myths
The U.S. government owns or manages one in five acres in the United States, and is the largest domestic user of electricity; it is also one of the largest consumers of resources in the United States, purchasing on average $535 billion worth of goods each year; In 2009 President Obama issued an executive order requiring that all government agencies establish and implement plans to increase their environmental performance; speaking at the 2011 Security Industry Association’s (SIA) Government Summit to an audience of security professionals, a government official sought to clarify myths surrounding the government’s new green procurement regulations and assured government service providers that the rules would not drastically affect a company’s existing practices
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China deploys drought relief team to country's north
China’s northernmost provinces are still suffering from a prolonged drought that has been the country’s worst in fifty years; in the northern provinces and the autonomous regions of inner Mongolia more than 11.67 million people and 3.62 million livestock have been affected by the drought; nearly six million acres of the region’s crops have also been hit hard by the drought; the government has declared it a level-four emergency, the highest level, and is launching a full out emergency response plan to aid the beleaguered region
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Record rise in sea level in two millennia
An international research team of scientists has shown that the rate of sea-level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years and that there is a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level
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New tool predicts drought
Knowing when to instigate water saving measures in dry times will be easier from now on, following a breakthrough in drought prediction: an Australian researcher has developed a way to predict droughts six months before they begin
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Strong 1Q growth for U.S. solar power, more expected
The United States showed strong first quarter growth in solar panel capacity, increasing installations by 66 percent; the increase in solar capacity is due largely to falling panel prices and developers taking advantage of government incentives that were set to expire in 2010; analysts expect solar panel growth to increase throughout the year
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More headlines
The long view
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
By Doug Irving
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”