News Roundup
‘The nation’s scientific establishment issued a stark warning to the American public on Thursday: Not only is global warming real, but the effects are already becoming serious and the need has become “pressing” for a strong national policy to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases.’
via Scientists Cite ‘Pressing’ Need to Limit Greenhouse Gases – NYTimes.com.
‘”There must be a large leak,” Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility also known as Tepco, told a news conference Thursday.
“The fuel pellets likely melted and fell, and in the process may have damaged … the pressure vessel itself and created a hole,” he added.’
via Fukushima reactor water leak risks delaying crisis plan | Reuters.
‘TOKYO—The amount of water leaking from one of the reactors at the earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex is much greater than previously thought, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday, a finding that points to severe damage to the reactor and could force a change in plans for stabilizing the unit.’
‘The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued the summary of its first report on the potential role of renewable forms of energy, from dams to wind turbines and solar panels, in cutting emissions of greenhouse gases in coming decades.’
via Climate Panel Charts Options for Renewable Energy – NYTimes.com.
‘(Reuters) – The Huadian Corp will go ahead with controversial plans to dam the Nu River in southwest China as it strives to raise its total hydro capacity by 10 gigawatts before the end of 2015, the official China Daily reported on Tuesday.’
via China’s Huadian to build Nu River hydro plant by 2015: report | Reuters.
‘The Arctic ice study by the International Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, titled Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA), says that the feedback loops scientists have been warning about already are accelerating glacial melting in the Arctic, which accounted for 40% of sea-level rise chronicled annually from 2003 through 2008.’
‘Shifts in the climate over the past three decades have been linked to a 5.5% decline in global wheat production, a study has suggested.’
‘Scientists have long predicted that — eventually — temperatures and altered rainfall caused by global climate change will take a toll on four of the most important crops in the world: rice, wheat soy and corn.’
‘Now, as world grain prices hover near record highs, a new study finds that the effects are already starting to be felt.’
via World’s Farmers Feel The Effects Of A Hotter Planet : NPR.
‘For the first time since the magnitude 9 earthquake and the tsunami struck Japan nearly two months ago, workers on Thursday entered a damaged reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.’
via Japan nuclear crisis: Japan nuclear workers enter damaged Fukushima reactor – latimes.com.