News Roundup
‘(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp agreed to buy Celtic Exploration Ltd for C$2.6 billion ($2.64 billion), in a deal to raise its presence in some of Western Canada’s most promising shale oil and gas regions.’
via Exxon to buy Canada’s Celtic Exploration for C$2.6 billion | Reuters.
‘Oct 22 (Reuters) – Dominion Resources Inc’s plans to shut its Kewaunee plant in Wisconsin next year, the first U.S. nuclear plant to fall victim to growing competition from natural gas, triggering expectations more reactors could be forced to shut down.’
via UPDATE 4-US natural gas boom claims first nuclear plant | Reuters.
‘A small British company has produced the first “petrol from air” using a revolutionary technology that promises to solve the energy crisis as well as helping to curb global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.’
But…
‘Although the prototype system is designed to extract carbon dioxide from the air, this part of the process is still too inefficient to allow a commercial-scale operation.’
‘For the first time since the United States entered a deep recession five years ago, 70% of Americans now say they believe global warming is a reality, according to researchers.’
via Americans increasingly believe in global warming, Yale report says – latimes.com.
‘The world’s oceans have become 30% more acidic since the Industrial Revolution began more than two centuries ago. In that time, the seas have absorbed 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide that has built up in the atmosphere, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.’
via Oceans’ rising acidity a threat to shellfish — and humans – latimes.com.
‘Extreme events like drought, heat waves, intense rainfall, flooding and fires have prompted many people to reconsider the connection between the weather and the changing climate. Now, a handful of scientists are among them.’
via Some climate scientists, in a shift, link weather to global warming – latimes.com.
‘Plant workers and anti-nuclear activists formed warring cheering sections in a ballroom at the St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel in Dana Point as a panel of regulators, ratepayer advocates and residents of nearby communities fielded questions and debated the merits of restarting one of the plant’s reactors.’
via Hundreds attend contentious forum on San Onofre’s future – latimes.com.
‘Centuries before the Industrial Revolution or the recognition of global warming, the ancient Roman and Chinese empires were already producing powerful greenhouse gases through their daily toil, according to a new study.’
via Study reveals ancient greenhouse gas emissions – latimes.com.
‘The coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is rapidly disappearing due to a host of factors — all of which are influenced by humans, according to a new study. The report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tracks coral cover over the last 27 years and finds levels have fallen by nearly 50%.’
via Cyclones and starfish conspiring to destroy Great Barrier Reef – latimes.com.
“Yet, as big as the almost certainly irreversible retreat of the sea ice will figure in the future of the planet, it has attracted relatively little attention in the here and now. A study released on Thursday by Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group, found that over the last few months, Representative Paul Ryan’s fitness routine—he’s a big fan of what’s known as the P90X workout plan—has received three times as much television coverage as the ice loss.”
via Hotter than Paul Ryan: Candidates Ignore an Arctic Disaster : The New Yorker.