Large dead zone forming in the Gulf. Ocean experts had predicted a large "dead zone" area in the Gulf of Mexico this year, and according to the results from a Texas A&M University researcher just back from studying the region, those predictions appear to be right on target.
Steve DiMarco, professor of oceanography and one of the world's leading experts on the dead zone, says he and a Texas A&M team surveyed areas off the Texas-Louisiana coast last week and found large areas of oxygen-depleted water -- an area covering roughly 3,100 square miles, or about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. "We found hypoxia (oxygen-depleted water) just about everywhere we looked," DiMarco reports.
"The most intense area is where you would expect it -- off the Louisiana coast south of Atchafalaya Bay and Grande Isle, La. But we also found significant amounts off High Island and near Galveston. "There is no doubt there is a lot of hypoxia in the Gulf this year. " As Fracking in Texas Increases, So Do Water Supply Fears. “We just can’t sustain it,” Hugh Fitzsimons, a Dimmit County bison rancher who serves on the board of his local groundwater district, said last month as he drove his pickup down a dusty road. From 2009 to 2012, water production from one well on his ranch fell by two-thirds, a problem Mr. Fitzsimons linked to nearby wells pumping water for fracking operations. A study commissioned by his groundwater district found that in a five-county area that includes Dimmit, fracking reduces the amount of water in the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer by the equivalent of one-third of the aquifer’s recharge.
Recharge means the amount of water an aquifer regains from precipitation and other factors. The amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing — roughly 4 million to 6 million gallons per oil or gas well — has stirred concerns around Texas as the drought wears on and the drilling boom continues. Wind Power Without the Blades: Big Pics.
New gym turns workouts into watts. A new gym developed in the UK is not only good for your health but also for the environment, generating electricity when people use the equipment on site.
The Great Outdoor Gym Company say the residents using the fitness center -- located in a park in Hull, northwest England -- have so far generated 40,000 watt-hours (40 kilowatts) of power. "We want to get people off their [sofas] and get a bit active ... more and more people are getting obese, also diabetes, heart disease, not just in Hull, but in the country," says Hull councilor, Terry Geraghty. The prototype cost $100,000 to install and has attracted the interest of local authorities around the world, says the company.
"I think it's an excellent way to educate people about the concept of sustainability changing people's behavior without putting the 's' word in your face," says Ling Ge, a research scientist at the UK's Imperial College London. Free gym where only charge is electric Read: Arab Youth turn heat up at U.N. climate conference.