yosemitenews.info - Yosemite National Park News, Information and Discussion - General Discussion

A Problem Bruin in Los Angeles

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:51:06 -0800

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/black-bear-is-tranquilzed-in-la-crescenta-neighbhorhood.html
Black bear is tranquilized in La Crescenta neighbhorhood

A black bear that has been roaming neighborhoods in La Crescenta was tranquilized this afternoon by authorities who cornered the animal in the backyard of a home.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:24:56 -0800

Quote
mrcondron
The principle of carbon dioxide flaring is the same as the one that allows the use of water in an alcohol cat stove.

Maybe in a parallel universe with different chemistry. That would be an alcohol dog stove.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

eeek — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:39:10 -0800

Quote
mrcondron
The principle of carbon dioxide flaring is the same as the one that allows the use of water in an alcohol cat stove.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

mrcondron — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:36:04 -0800

The principle of carbon dioxide flaring is the same as the one that allows the use of water in an alcohol cat stove.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:55:34 -0800

Quote
eeek

Quote
Frank Furter

Quote
eeek

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Frank Furter

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The carbon dioxide is “flared,” or burned off (the effects of which are not harmful to the air, Warner of the air pollution control district said). What is left is high-quality methane that matches the purity of natural gas.

I don't understand the chemistry for burning carbon dioxide.

But isn't it a great trick?

The real story here would be the burning of carbon dioxide-- a solution to global CO₂ accumulation--- not a story about recovering cow flatus.

It's too bad the reporter never took a chem class. But this is the first time I've heard of farm generated methane being put into the utility's system.

I read the story carefully for that very reason. I hope they are able to remove sufficient amounts of oxigen or other oxidizing componds to prevent an explosive mixture. I was puzzled why the biomethane has restricted uses.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

eeek — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:38:45 -0800

Quote
Frank Furter

Quote
eeek

Quote
Frank Furter

Quote

The carbon dioxide is “flared,” or burned off (the effects of which are not harmful to the air, Warner of the air pollution control district said). What is left is high-quality methane that matches the purity of natural gas.

I don't understand the chemistry for burning carbon dioxide.

But isn't it a great trick?

The real story here would be the burning of carbon dioxide-- a solution to global CO₂ accumulation--- not a story about recovering cow flatus.

It's too bad the reporter never took a chem class. But this is the first time I've heard of farm generated methane being put into the utility's system.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:36:35 -0800

Quote
eeek

Quote
Frank Furter

Quote

The carbon dioxide is “flared,” or burned off (the effects of which are not harmful to the air, Warner of the air pollution control district said). What is left is high-quality methane that matches the purity of natural gas.

I don't understand the chemistry for burning carbon dioxide.

But isn't it a great trick?

The real story here would be the burning of carbon dioxide-- a solution to global CO₂ accumulation--- not a story about recovering cow flatus.

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

eeek — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:20:01 -0800

Quote
Frank Furter

Quote

The carbon dioxide is “flared,” or burned off (the effects of which are not harmful to the air, Warner of the air pollution control district said). What is left is high-quality methane that matches the purity of natural gas.

I don't understand the chemistry for burning carbon dioxide.

But isn't it a great trick?

Re: Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:19:19 -0800

Quote

The carbon dioxide is “flared,” or burned off (the effects of which are not harmful to the air, Warner of the air pollution control district said). What is left is high-quality methane that matches the purity of natural gas.

I don't understand the chemistry for burning carbon dioxide.

Manure Power: Dairies harness methane to create renewable energy

eeek — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:05:10 -0800

So not only does Albers make a profit as a dairy farmer, he also brings in income for creating and selling renewable energy. Furthermore, he’s helping to lessen the affects of global warming by reducing his dairy farm’s greenhouse gas emissions.

http://bakersfieldexpress.org/2009/11/11/manure-power-dairies-harness-methane-to-create-renewable-energy/

Re: Cave Study Links Climate Change To California Droughts

mrcondron — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:36:22 -0800

I agree. It's the rate of change on this perhaps normal heating cycle that is worrisome.

Re: What to do if a coyote stalks

mrcondron — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:33:34 -0800

Yeah, we haven't heard the last word on the death of the young woman but hopefully a reasonable explanation will come out.

What to do if stalked by a coyote? Stop acting like a turkey.

Re: Cave Study Links Climate Change To California Droughts

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:25:44 -0800

Bolling–Allerod—A period of warm climate beginning abruptly approximately 14 700 years ago, following the end of the Pleistocene, and extending to approximately 12 700 years ago.
This warm period ended with a return to cold conditions during the Younger Dryas. Traditionally, this period is divided into the Bolling (warm), Older Dryas (cold), and Allerod (warm) intervals, but recent, more detailed climatic records indicate that the entire Bolling–Allerod period was generally warm with several abrupt coolings.
Broeker, W. S., 1992: Defining the boundaries of the late-glacial isotope episodes. Quat. Res., 38, No.1, 135– 138.

-----------

The issue is not the absolute temperature change but the rapidity of temperature change. These events occured over many hundreds or thousands of years, not 100-150 years recently demonstrated.

Re: Cave Study Links Climate Change To California Droughts

snorkus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:13:04 -0800

Wait. Ice caps were thawing 20,000 years ago?
What big business was around to blame it on?
What kind of carbon footprint did the cavepeople have?
That can't be part of a natural cycle, can it?

What to do if a coyote stalks

Frank Furter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:46:27 -0800

What to do if a coyote stalks
http://www.sacbee.com/846/story/2318842.html
MILWAUKEE -- I was stalked by a coyote once.
It was May 2003. Energized by recent warmth and rain, the Vernon County landscape was greening and growing all around.
I was seated, camouflaged and still, in a dense tangle on the lip of a coulee. Facing downhill toward some roosted turkeys, I scratched a slate call in a yelping accompaniment to the rising sun.
Spring turkey hunting places a premium on stealth and stillness. I would make a few notes, then sit and listen, hoping for a feathered reply.
The twig snapped to the east and slightly behind me.......

(This article not a precisely accurate story but interesting summary. I am wishing for more info on this coyote attack event in Canada.)

Cave Study Links Climate Change To California Droughts

eeek — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:48:26 -0800

ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2009) — California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor Isabel Montañez.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171741.htm

Yellowstone: Peripatetic Bison May be Adopted by Turner

Frank Furter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:13:09 -0800

(He owns 50,000??)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5irBtIjkjxJhVb4pXIiZCQt8ZanTgD9BSVSOO0
Yellowstone bison could go to Turner's Mont. ranch

BILLINGS, Mont. — Dozens of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park would be relocated to a Montana ranch owned by billionaire Ted Turner, under a recommendation made by state and federal officials Tuesday.
The animals were spared from a slaughter program intended to protect Montana's cattle industry from a disease carried by many bison. The plan was to use those animals — considered disease-free — to repopulate public and tribal lands across the West with free-roaming bison.
But after other offers to take the animals fell through or were judged insufficient, state and federal officials said Tuesday that Turner's private ranch was the best option.
A smaller group of eight to 14 bison would go to Guernsey State Park in Wyoming.
Turner already owns about 50,000 bison, most of them domesticated, and his restaurant chain Ted's Montana Grill serves buffalo burgers.....

Court Decision on Eagle Mountain to Protect Joshua Tree National Park

eeek — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:07:02 -0800

Today, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous court decision overturning the land exchange necessary for the development of what would be the world's largest garbage dump on the boundary of Joshua Tree National Park.

http://www.npca.org/media_center/press_releases/2009/111009_eaglemountainlandfill.html

North America Embraces Conservation

eeek — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:11:18 -0800

Despite the frustration of stalled talks leading up to Copenhagen, negotiations in North America are moving forward. Last week, Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, announced at the 9th World Wilderness Congress a trilateral partnership to address wilderness conservation -- the first formal agreement by nations to cooperate on a continent-wide conservation matter.

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/2009/11/north-america-embraces-conservation.html

Salinas mountaineer dies in the Himalayas

eeek — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:04:40 -0800

Salinas resident John Campbell found refuge in the mountains. His love and admiration of nature took him to some of the highest peaks in the world, including Kanchenjunga, the third tallest in the Himalayas at an elevation of 28,169 feet. He died there of high-altitude sickness two weeks ago.

http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20091110/NEWS01/911100304/1002/NEWS01

Re: Glacier: Stimulus Funds Planned for Going-to-Sun Road

Dearborn — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:26:17 -0800

One scary road; build it well!

Duck Rescue Drains Resources

Frank Furter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:21:56 -0800

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/09/Firefighters-criticized-for-duck-rescue/UPI-22731257803087/

Firefighters criticized for duck rescue
CHALFORD HILL, England, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A British lobbying group has criticized a fire department for spending six hours on the rescue of a pet duck trapped in a pond's overflow pipe.....

Glacier: Stimulus Funds Planned for Going-to-Sun Road

Frank Furter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:13:42 -0800

Stimulus Funds to Provide for Additional Sun Road Work in 2010

http://www.nps.gov/glac/parknews/news09-77.htm

WEST GLACIER, MONT. – “The Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) Rehabilitation Project is extremely fortunate to benefit from $27.6 million in stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA),” announced Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright. In addition to the 2010 work already funded through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) between Big Bend and Logan Pass, ARRA stimulus funds will also provide the Sun Road project with funds (also administered through the FWHA) for a another phase of work to start in summer 2010.....

Yellowstone: Bison Badgering Bothers Groups

Frank Furter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:03:32 -0800

http://www.helenair.com/news/national/article_d527b6f9-8f9c-559e-9be3-fbb0ff5a1128.html

Groups file lawsuit over Yellowstone-area bison

A coalition of environmental and American Indian groups sued two federal agencies Monday to stop the mass slaughter of bison that migrate outside Yellowstone National Park in search of food.

During the last decade, federal agencies working with the state of Montana captured and shipped to slaughter more than 3,300 bison to prevent the spread of an animal disease to cattle.....

Re: Carbon Dioxide

Frank Furter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:02:37 -0800

Is that a Harbor Seal lying on the log in the middle of the photo?

Re: Carbon Dioxide

Vince — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:47:14 -0800

Well Ric, imagine that.

Carbon Dioxide Kills Trees.

But only on Mammoth

Here's why.

Tree roots require oxygen as do you. So no camping at Horseshoe Lake.

Three people on Mammoth tried to rope off a CO2 outburst from Mammtoh in 2006, all dead.

Guess what. Volcanoes give off a multitude of poisonous gasses, including CO2. They just do that. So let's legislate them out.

Guess what. Volcanoes won't care and they will do what they do.

What is your point? Dead trees at Horseshoe Lake is nothing more than nature at work. You nor I can do anything about it. Can't hug those trees, they're dead, dead, and even after that, dead.

Carbon Dioxide

eeek — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:10:49 -0800

It did this:

http://yosemitephotos.net/main.php/v/misc/sh-dscn3911.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

Re: NASA Funds Cable Climbing Experiments

Frank Furter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:02:54 -0800

I like best in the Wikipedia article the carbon nanotube illustration:

Looks like space exploration could involve climbing up a chicken wire tube:

Death Valley Wilderness & Backcountry Stewardship Plan

eeek — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:13 -0800

The National Park Service is initiating a combined Wilderness and Backcountry Stewardship Plan for Death Valley National Park. The purpose of this Wilderness and Backcountry Stewardship Plan is to guide the National Park Service and to make decisions regarding the future use and protection of the park's vast wilderness and backcountry lands. This planning process addresses all Congressionally designated wilderness lands within Death Valley National Park. It also includes non-wilderness backcountry concerns, such as: backcountry road corridors and campsites, backcountry cabins near roads, and non-wilderness backcountry lands. It does not include the Furnace Creek, Scotty's Castle, Stovepipe Wells, and Panamint Springs developed areas or visitor attractions accessed directly from paved roads (e.g. Zabriskie Point), or short, graded gravel roads (e.g. Mosaic Canyon), developed campgrounds, paved roads, private inholdings or other non-NPS lands. It also will not include the Saline Valley hot springs and the non-wilderness lands surrounding them as this area will be addressed in the future in a site-specific plan as per direction of the Park's approved General Management Plan.

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkId=297&projectId=23311

The Psychology of Climate Change Communication

eeek — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:54:18 -0800

A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public

http://cred.columbia.edu/guide/