No More Super-storm Sandys

September 2013

Will Another Super-storm Sandy Come Again Soon?

Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/352923/description/No_more_Superstorm_Sandys_expected_for_a_long_time

     As last year's Hurricane Sandy is investigated more today, new simulations suggest that the atmospheric conditions that allowed the hurricane to follow its unusual path will become less frequent in the future. Typically, North Atlantic hurricanes travel roughly parallel to the East Coast and make landfall approaching from the south. The October 2012 storm that slammed New Jersey was an unusual occurrence because it took a left turn and approached from the east, hitting New Jersey at a right angle. This "nearly perpendicular angle to the shore intensified its destructive storm surge". 

Hurricane Sandy 2012

     "An analysis published in May found that, under current climate conditions, hurricanes like Sandy that hit New Jersey at a right angle occur on average once every 700 years".

     In order to understand how climate change might change atmospheric patterns and alter that frequency, Elizabeth Barnes, an atmospheric scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and her team ran simulations of an extreme warming situation where "carbon dioxide emissions quadruple over the 21st century". In agreement with Barnes is Thomas Knutson, a climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., who says the results are “suggestive” that wind conditions favoring Sandy-like storms will decrease. 

Fracking in Ohio

September 2013

Is Fracking in Ohio Invading the Environment?

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130925103053.htm

        A new study is examining methane and other components in groundwater wells before the start of possible drilling for shale gas that's expected to commence over the next several years in Carroll County, Ohio. Amy Townsend-Small of the University of Cincinnati and a team of UC researchers spent a year doing periodic testing of groundwater wells in  a section of Ohio that sits along the shale-rich Pennsylvania-West Virginia borders - Carroll County. The study was conducted to analyze 25 groundwater wells at different distances from proposed fracking sites in the "rural, Appalachian, Utica Shale region of Carroll County". Due to the area being so rural, many of its inhabitants rely on groundwater wells for their water supply. The samples, which are taken every three to four months, are analyzed for concentrations of methane as well as hydrocarbons (a carcinogenic compound) and salt, "which is pulled up in the fracking water mixture from the shales, which are actually ancient ocean sediments".
        Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process that uses millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals to break up the organic rich shale in order to produce natural gas resources. According to some,  

A drilling rig in Carroll County, Ohio. (Credit: Amy Townsend-Small)

fracking promises a future in "lower energy prices, cleaner energy, and additional jobs amid a frail economy". However, opponents express concerns about this fracking leading to increased methane gas levels (greenhouse gas) and other contamination. But, Townsend-Small explains that "some groundwater wells naturally hold a certain level of methane due to the decomposition of organic matter". Although it is not toxic drinking water, high levels of the methane can result in explosions.

"Pollutants From Plant Killed Fish in China"

September 2013

"Pollutants From Plant Killed Fish in China"

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/asia/thousands-of-fish-killed-by-waste-from-chinese-plant.html?ref=environment&_r=0

Along a 19 mile river in Hubei Province in central China, thousands of dead fish were found floating along the river, and about 110 tons of them have already been cleared. Environmental officials said these fish were killed by pollutants emitted by a local chemical plant. Environmental protection officials also said tests on water taken from the Fu River upstream from the metropolis of Wuhan showed that extremely high levels of ammonia in the water had been caused by pollution from a plant owned by the Hubei Shuanghuan Science and Technology Company. Officials then ordered the company’s plant to stop production while the cause of the leak was investigated.
     According to the local news media reports, the plant produces sodium carbonate and ammonium chloride for fertilizer. Since 2008, it has been cited for environmental violations four times, according to Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Chinese nongovernmental organization that follows and researches air and water pollution.

     China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection says that water pollution was a serious concern in this case based on the factors of industrial spills, farm runoff, and untreated sewage in degrading water quality. The Fu River flows into the Yangtze, China’s longest river and a source of drinking water for millions. Mr. Ma explains that spills into the Yangtze and its tributaries continue to be a problem despite the many investments that  have been made in reducing pollution. 

The Mendenhall Glacier

September 2013

      Alaska Glacier Thaws Revealing Ancient Forest From Beneath

Links: http://m.livescience.com/39819-ancient-forest-thaws.html ,
http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/alaska-glacier-thaws-ancient/2013/09/23/id/527149

   

     Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier is revealing an ancient forest as it thaws. The Mendenhall Glacier, an icy expanse of 36.8 square miles, has withdrawn about 170 feet each year since 2005. In a thousand years, many tree stumps are now being exposed to the sunlight. About five feet of gravel most likely encased the bases of the trees when the glacier first advanced, keeping the stumps upright even as the glacier plowed over and snapped the stumps' trunks and limbs. Cathy Connor, an Alaskan geology professor, states, "There are a lot of them, and being in a growth position is exciting because we can see the outermost part of the tree and count back to see how old the tree was."  

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska 1990

Mendenhall Glacier, 2013