Monthly Archives: May 2009

An article that should not be ignored

Posted on by
Reply

Han Yong and Wang Jing The Science Times Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Originally published in the Beijing based Science Times on May 11, 2009 and republished via Probe International…

Since 2003, an important article has been banned in China. It was even read by the Prime Minister who commented on it. Ultimately, the tragic May 12, 2008 earthquake proved the significance of the article.

In 2003 by Li Youcai retired senior engineer from the Sichuan Seismological Bureau, and CIO Shuheng, senior engineer at the Sichuan Geological and Mineral Bureau wrote an article entitled “Discussion on Several Issues.” Their article argued that no hydro dams should be built in the Dujiangyan and Zipingpu area given the possibility of powerful earthquakes in the region.

Read article here at Probe. Includes editors notes and additional links…

Visit Probe International

Sea-level rise may pose greatest threat to Northeast US, Canada

Posted on by
Reply

Source: National Science Foundation

“If the Greenland melt continues to accelerate, we could see significant impacts this century on the northeast U.S. coast from the resulting sea level rise,” says scientist Aixue Hu, the paper’s lead author. Hu is at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. “Major northeastern cities are directly in the path of the greatest rise.”

A study in Nature Geoscience in March warned that warmer water temperatures could shift ocean currents in a way that would raise sea levels off the Northeast by about eight inches more than the average global sea level rise that is expected with global warming.

But it did not include the additional impact of Greenland ice, which at moderate to high melt rates would further accelerate changes in ocean circulation and drive an additional 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches) of water toward northeastern North America on top of the average global rise.

The new research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and by NCAR’s sponsor, the National Science Foundation (NSF). It was conducted by scientists at NCAR, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Florida State University.

To assess the impact of Greenland ice melt on ocean circulation, Hu and his coauthors used the Community Climate System Model, an NCAR-based computer model that simulates global climate.

Read article…

Visit ScienceCodex Online

Astronauts Spot Mysterious Ice Circles in World’s Deepest Lake

Posted on by
Reply

Betsy Mason reports for Wired…

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station noticed two mysterious dark circles in the ice of Lake Baikal in April. Though the cause is more likely aqueous than alien, some aspects of the odd blemishes defy explanation.


Read article… (with fantastic pictures from NASA)

Visit Wired Online

Ethiopian-American Lawyer on Conflicts Along the Nile

Posted on by
Reply

Jim Luce (www.jimluce.com) writes and speaks to Fasil Amdetsion for the Huffington Post…

With water’s myriad uses and limited nature, coupled with the fact that it is the quintessential “trans-boundary” resource, it is difficult for nations to agree upon its distribution and use.

It is unsurprising, Fasil notes, that the English word “rival” is derived from the Latin word rivalis, a term denoting persons who live on opposite banks of a river used for irrigation.

Fasil thinks the Nile basin will be the most likely site of a future “water war” because the Nile embodies “all the challenges that transnational management of fresh water could possibly present.” The Nile would seem to be a water war waiting to happen.

Read article…

Visit The Huffington Post Online

Ex water chief: China won't divert world's highest river to thirsty north

Posted on by
Reply

BEIJING, May 25. Xinhua.

With an average altitude of 4,500 meters, the Yarlung Zangbo River is the highest in the world. It originates in glacial regions of the northern Himalayas, runs 2,057 kilometers through Tibet in western China, passes into India and finally meets the Indian Ocean in the Bay of Bengal.

Wang rejected including the Yarlung Zangbo River in the western route of China’s south-to-north water diversion project, designed to shift water from the water-rich south of the country, mainly the Yangtze, the country’s longest river, to the dry north including Beijing.

“It is unnecessary, infeasible and unscientific to include the Yarlung Zangbo River in the western route of the massive project,” Wang told an audience of 100 officials and scholars from 10 countries, including former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell.

Read article…

Visit Xinhuanet Online