Orbiting Carbon Observatory’s launch failure traced to balky rocket shroud
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a new satellite dedicated to mapping Earth's carbon dioxide levels, crashed into the ocean near Antarctica just after launch Tuesday when a shroud designed to protect the spacecraft accidentally doomed its mission.
The glitch occurred just minutes after the $273.4 million spacecraft blasted off at 4:55 a.m. ET atop a Taurus XL rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
"Our whole team at a very personal level is disappointed in the events of this morning," John Brunschwyler, the Taurus project manager for the Dulles, Va.-based rocket manufacturer Orbital Sciences, said in a somber post-launch briefing. "It's very hard."
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tropical Forests Recover From Clear-Cutting
Feb. 18, 2009 -- Deforestation is generally considered to be bad news, especially in the tropics. But there may be some hope: In many places, trees are growing back, according to new research, and some of the new forests are nearly as diverse as the old ones were.
The work adds to a growing sense that tropical forests are more resilient than scientists previously thought and that second-growth forests are far from worthless.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
The work adds to a growing sense that tropical forests are more resilient than scientists previously thought and that second-growth forests are far from worthless.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Global warming changing birds' habits
Study: Many North American species spending winters farther north
WASHINGTON - When it comes to global warming, the canary in the coal mine isn't a canary at all. It's a purple finch.
As the temperature across the U.S. has gotten warmer, the purple finch has been spending its winters more than 400 miles farther north than it used to.
And it's not alone.
An Audubon Society study released Tuesday found that more than half of 305 birds species in North America, a hodgepodge that includes robins, gulls, chickadees and owls, are spending the winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
WASHINGTON - When it comes to global warming, the canary in the coal mine isn't a canary at all. It's a purple finch.
As the temperature across the U.S. has gotten warmer, the purple finch has been spending its winters more than 400 miles farther north than it used to.
And it's not alone.
An Audubon Society study released Tuesday found that more than half of 305 birds species in North America, a hodgepodge that includes robins, gulls, chickadees and owls, are spending the winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Silent Quakes Build Stress Along Mega Fault Line
Feb. 2, 2009 -- A bizarre form of earthquake, which happens over the course of two to three weeks but makes barely a rumble, are lending important clues to the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific northwest, one of the most dangerous fault zones on Earth.
For the last decade, slow-slip earthquakes have been measured in fault zones all over the world, baffling scientists. Though the 'quakes' release as much energy as a normal earthquake between magnitude 6.0 and 6.5, they produce almost no shaking.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
For the last decade, slow-slip earthquakes have been measured in fault zones all over the world, baffling scientists. Though the 'quakes' release as much energy as a normal earthquake between magnitude 6.0 and 6.5, they produce almost no shaking.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Gore urges 'decisive action' on global warming
Former VP tells lawmakers the economic crisis is an 'opportunity'
WASHINGTON - Arguing that recent climate signals are cause for greater alarm, former Vice President Al Gore testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday that lawmakers must "take decisive action this year" to curb carbon emissions.
Gore urged lawmakers not to be sidetracked by the current financial crisis, adding that a bill capping greenhouse gas emissions is needed this year if the United States is to play a leading role in negotiations for a new international climate treaty.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
WASHINGTON - Arguing that recent climate signals are cause for greater alarm, former Vice President Al Gore testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday that lawmakers must "take decisive action this year" to curb carbon emissions.
Gore urged lawmakers not to be sidetracked by the current financial crisis, adding that a bill capping greenhouse gas emissions is needed this year if the United States is to play a leading role in negotiations for a new international climate treaty.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Expect 1,000-year climate impacts, experts say
Study: Stopping emissions won't prevent decreased rainfall, higher seas
WASHINGTON - Even if the world can cap carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming, expect to see droughts and sea level rise that span centuries, not just decades, according to a new study sponsored by the U.S. government.
"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that's not true," lead author Susan Solomon told reporters.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona
WASHINGTON - Even if the world can cap carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming, expect to see droughts and sea level rise that span centuries, not just decades, according to a new study sponsored by the U.S. government.
"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that's not true," lead author Susan Solomon told reporters.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Natural Disasters Doomed Early Civilization
Nature turned against one of America's early civilizations 3,600 years ago, when researchers say earthquakes and floods, followed by blowing sand, drove away residents of an area that is now in Peru.
"This maritime farming community had been successful for over 2,000 years, they had no incentive to change, and then all of a sudden, boom, they just got the props knocked out from under them," anthropologist Mike Moseley of the University of Florida said in a statement.
Moseley and colleagues were studying civilization of the Supe Valley along the Peruvian coast, which was established up to 5,800 years
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
"This maritime farming community had been successful for over 2,000 years, they had no incentive to change, and then all of a sudden, boom, they just got the props knocked out from under them," anthropologist Mike Moseley of the University of Florida said in a statement.
Moseley and colleagues were studying civilization of the Supe Valley along the Peruvian coast, which was established up to 5,800 years
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Friday, January 16, 2009
Human Hair: The Next Green Fertilizer?
Jan. 15, 2009 -- Scientists are exploring an Earth-friendly way to use all that hair that piles up on salon floors -- as fertilizer.
A new study adds hair to a growing list of waste products that can boost crop growth. The list already includes cow manure, sewage sludge, and sheep wool.
"We concluded that human hair can release a sufficient amount of nutrients to support crops," said agricultural scientist Valtcho Zeliazkov of Mississippi State University in Verona. "This is a waste material with clear benefits for producers and the environment."
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
A new study adds hair to a growing list of waste products that can boost crop growth. The list already includes cow manure, sewage sludge, and sheep wool.
"We concluded that human hair can release a sufficient amount of nutrients to support crops," said agricultural scientist Valtcho Zeliazkov of Mississippi State University in Verona. "This is a waste material with clear benefits for producers and the environment."
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Earth's Magnetic Field Changes Climate
The Earth's climate has been significantly affected by the planet's magnetic field, according to a Danish study published Monday that is unlikely to challenge the notion that human emissions are largely responsible for global warming.
"Our results show a strong correlation between the strength of the Earth's magnetic field and the amount of precipitation in the tropics," one of the two Danish geophysicists behind the study, Mads Faurschou Knudsen of the geology department at Aarhus University in western Denmark, told the Videnskab journal.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
"Our results show a strong correlation between the strength of the Earth's magnetic field and the amount of precipitation in the tropics," one of the two Danish geophysicists behind the study, Mads Faurschou Knudsen of the geology department at Aarhus University in western Denmark, told the Videnskab journal.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Friday, January 9, 2009
Grand Canyon, Loch Ness Vie for 'Wonder' Status
Jan. 7, 2009 -- The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday.
The 261 nominees from 222 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.
Over a billion people are expected to join in Internet voting that will nominate 77 semifinalists for the top natural wonders, which will share in the glory already enjoyed by the seven man-made wonders chosen 18 months ago.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
The 261 nominees from 222 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.
Over a billion people are expected to join in Internet voting that will nominate 77 semifinalists for the top natural wonders, which will share in the glory already enjoyed by the seven man-made wonders chosen 18 months ago.
Read full story Discovery News
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Timber company drops plan for forest roads
Critics said U.S. Forest Service was willing to open areas to development
HELENA, Mont. - The nation's largest owner of timberland disclosed Monday that it will no longer pursue changes in agreements governing its use of U.S. Forest Service roads — changes that critics complained could transform forests into housing subdivisions.
Critics of the proposed changes had included President-elect Barack Obama and Montana's junior senator.
Changes in the agreements would benefit the public, but "given the lack of receptivity, we have decided not to go forward," Plum Creek Timber Co. Chief Executive Officer Rick Holley wrote in a letter to Missoula County, which opposed altering the agreements.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyeres in Phoenix, Arizona
HELENA, Mont. - The nation's largest owner of timberland disclosed Monday that it will no longer pursue changes in agreements governing its use of U.S. Forest Service roads — changes that critics complained could transform forests into housing subdivisions.
Critics of the proposed changes had included President-elect Barack Obama and Montana's junior senator.
Changes in the agreements would benefit the public, but "given the lack of receptivity, we have decided not to go forward," Plum Creek Timber Co. Chief Executive Officer Rick Holley wrote in a letter to Missoula County, which opposed altering the agreements.
Read full story MSNBC
Posted by Auto Accident Lawyeres in Phoenix, Arizona
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