1790: The first shore-based boat designed specifically for use as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne in northern England.

Christened the Original, she was a 30-foot-long, double-ended, 10-oar longboat built by Henry Greathead of South Shields. She carried 7 hundredweight (784 pounds or 356 kilograms) of cork for added buoyancy and was designed to be self-righting.

Although smaller craft had been pressed into service as lifeboats in the past, Original was the first boat built specifically for sea rescue. She was stationed at the mouth of the Tyne and launched from a shore station. In a career spanning 40 years, she was responsible for saving hundreds of lives.

By 1839, there were 30 lifeboat shore stations operating in the British Isles.

Original was built as the result of an incident in 1789, when a crew was lost after its ship ran aground in stormy seas off the mouth of the river. Although the eight men were in sight of the shore, no one could be persuaded to attempt a rescue that was viewed as suicidal.

Local businessmen upset by the tragedy offered a prize to anyone who could design a true rescue boat. A local parish clerk named William Wouldhave was the winner, and Greathead built Original using Wouldhave’s design.

The first lifeboat association, Britain’s National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (later renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution), was organized in 1824. By 1860, the RNLI could claim to have saved more than 12,000 lives at sea.

Shipboard lifeboats — carried on davits aboard larger ships and generally associated with this type of craft — did not appear until later in the 19th century.

(Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency, RNLI)

Ocean currents emerge as climate change hot-spots

As they warm, they shift

By Richard Chirgwin • Get more from this author

Posted in Environment, 30th January 2012 17:22 GMT


A global study that assesses the temperature change in ocean currents has made two findings – one surprising, the other less so. The unsurprising outcome is that as the Earth’s temperature rises, so does the temps in a collection of major ocean currents; the surprise is that those currents are warming faster than the globe as a whole.

According to the study, published this week in Nature Climate Change, a pattern of warming in the ocean’s long-distance currents has now been identified near Australia, Japan, Africa, and North America.





Moreover, the warming is also sending the currents “polewards”, meaning that species migrations already observed in Australia (in which many species are moving southwards at as much as a degree per year) are almost certain to happen on a global scale.

The study, "Enhanced warming over the global subtropical western boundary currents", aims to identify whether, and to what degree, changes in ocean currents may occur due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing.

The currents are important because on their thousands-of-kilometer journeys redistributing heat from equatorial regions to the mid-latitudes, they also release both heat and moisture into the atmosphere.

The currents could be thought of as heat pumps on a global scale, collecting heat nearer to the equator, and dropping it off – along with both moisture and the energy to, among other things, drive storms – further away.

According to the study, the currents are hot-spots in the climate-change picture, warming considerably faster than the average warming of the ocean. Over all the data sets, which comprise the Gulf Stream, Kurshio Current, East Australian Current, Brazil Current, and Aguhlas Current, the average warming over a century has been around 1.2°C, while the global mean rise in temperatures is 0.62°C for the same period.

One of the paper’s authors, CSIRO’s Dr. Wenju Cai, told the ABC’s The World Today that the change is significant because it’s an observation on a global scale. He told the program that while warming of the East Australian Current had already been documented, this study demonstrates that it’s not just happening “in an isolated part of the Tasman Sea.”

Because the change is global, and because the various currents have warmed pretty much in step, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Michael McPhaden said the synchronized change in ocean circulation is “most likely [caused by] anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing."

The scale of the change, at two to three times global temperature rises, is one thing that surprised McPhaden, because “we did not think there was such a tight connection between ocean circulation on these small scales near the western boundaries.”

To try and account for natural climate variability, the researchers present a second analysis in which the change in the currents is presented in two periods: from 1900 to 1949, and from 1949 to 2008.

The picture is far less uniform, the study finds, in the first 50 years, with some currents (the Kuriosho, Gulf Stream, and Anguhlas) rising noticeably, while the East Australian and Brazil currents did not. This, they say, might reflect the lower impact of greenhouse-gas forcing in the earlier period, such that some fluctuations were smaller than natural variability. ®

A hat-tip to The World Today, which first carried the story in Australia, and thanks to Dr. Wenju Cai for providing a copy of the paper so that The Register was able to expand upon the original report. ®

Update: Since this story went live, Dr Cai has provided further information via e-mail to The Register regarding the source data used in the study.

Before regular ocean temperature monitoring was put in place, wind speeds – which are fed by energy from the ocean – are the key proxy for ocean temperature. Hence, regarding data towards the 1900 start date of the projection, Dr Cai wrote, “Much of the early changes are inferred from winds, for which we have more observations.”

While “reconstructed data certainly have limitations,” he wrote, winds “are a major driver of climate change.”

Importantly, he noted that the outputs of this study agree with predictions from other sources: “Climate models project a synchronized warming under various emission scenarios”.

This suggests a secondary, but still important, result of this study: it serves to help validate other climate models.

Data comes from a variety of sources, Dr Cai said: “Since 1950, we have started to [get] good data, though the coverage is sparse, and the amount increases dramatically since 1979 (the satellite era).

“Since 2003, we have built a network of 3,000 floats around the globe, which measure SST [sea surface temperature] every 10 days.

“However, for over 60 years, CSIRO has continuous monthly measurements of ocean temperature of Maria Island in Tasmania, which show a warming rate of up to 3°C

So, Just How Safe Is Your Ship?
[center][/center]



IN the wake of the Costa Concordia catastrophe on Jan. 13 that killed at least 17 people and raised troubling questions about the ship’s captain, many tourists are wondering: How safe am I on a cruise?


Well, the chance of dying in a cruise accident is small. From 2005 to 2010, about 100 million passengers took cruises, and there were 16 deaths attributed to marine accidents, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

But the Concordia, which ran aground off the Tuscan coast of Italy a few hours after departure, has the cruise industry on the defensive. “All of our members recognize the seriousness of these events,” said Christine Duffy, president of the Cruise Lines International Association, in a press briefing last month.

Still, no regulatory changes have actually been made, though there has been plenty of discussion about the growing size of ships and the 24-hour window after boarding in which ships must run safety drills.

At the time of the deadly wreck, just off the coast of Isola del Giglio, about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members were aboard the Costa Concordia, a massive vessel owned by a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation.

Some travel industry experts say the sheer size of the Concordia and other cruise ships may pose greater evacuation challenges because of the large number of passengers, but cruise officials point out that regulations have kept pace with the size of the ships. Evacuation routes and safety equipment, including the size and number of lifeboats, are “scaled in accordance with the increased size of the vessel,” said Capt. William Wright, a senior vice president at Royal Caribbean International, at the briefing convened by the Cruise Lines International Association.

There is no indication that size was a factor in the Concordia accident, but the 24-hour window for safety drills is being scrutinized. Some critics argue that the window should be tightened so that passengers will be better prepared in case an emergency strikes early on, as it did on the Concordia. Unlike airplane safety announcements, which take place before takeoff, cruise drills aren’t required before the ship leaves the dock. The Concordia passengers who had boarded before Civitavecchia had already been through the drill, but nearly 700 passengers who joined the ship there had not. The next drill had been scheduled for the following day.

While the Carnival Corporation said it will do “a comprehensive audit and review” of safety procedures, at least one other cruise line, Prestige Cruise Holdings, the parent company of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas, has announced that it will hold drills on the day of departure. Previously, those drills were occasionally held the next morning.

The Concordia tragedy has focused attention on safety and operating standards, but there are other concerns that passengers should keep in mind.

VIRUSES

Cruise passengers are more likely to get a stomach bug than face shipwreck. Last year, there were 14 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses on 10 ships, affecting hundreds of passengers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illnesses included the highly contagious norovirus.

Cruise companies increase cleaning and disinfecting procedures if there is an outbreak, including scouring “high-touch” areas of ships, like banisters and elevator buttons. But such measures can’t prevent a sick passenger from infecting others. According to the C.D.C., the best defense against catching a stomach bug is simple: keep washing your hands, avoid shaking hands during outbreaks and use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

CRIME

Crime on cruise ships has become such an issue that in 2010 Congress passed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act. The law mandates reporting of kidnappings, sexual assaults and other crimes and requires vessels to be equipped with cabin peepholes and video surveillance systems, among other security measures. Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation closed 16 investigations involving crime on cruise ships, 13 of which were sexual assaults, according to data posted online by the Coast Guard. But that doesn’t represent the total number of incidents reported to the F.B.I., including any still-open or pending prosecutions.

While it’s easy to let your guard down on a cruise, travelers shouldn’t assume they’re safe just because they’re onboard, said Charles R. Lipcon, author of “Unsafe on the High Seas” and a maritime lawyer who handles cases involving personal injury, cruise-line sexual assault and wrongful death claims. Sure, a cruise may feel like a floating party — and no one has to drive home — but drinking too much can compromise your judgment.

“I like to tell people, don’t leave your common sense at the dock,” Mr. Lipcon said. “That’s typically what people do, and overdrink and get themselves into a risky situation.”

FIRE

Even though modern cruise vessels are designed with smoke detectors and sprinkler systems, fire is a risk. Last year, a fire aboard a Hurtigruten cruise ship off the coast of Norway killed two people, injured nine others and forced the evacuation of nearly half of the 262 people aboard. CruiseShipFires.com, a Web site dedicated to documenting blazes, explosions and other accidents on pleasure vessels, has photographs of similar events, including an engine fire on the Carnival Splendor in 2010. No passengers were injured, but the fire stripped the ship of its power, knocking out its operating systems and leaving its 3,300 passengers without air-conditioning, hot food or water.

Most of those fires started in the engine room in the lower part of the ship, said Janet Huggard, editor of CruiseShipFires.com and its sibling site, CruiseBruise.com, devoted to publicizing crime, injuries and other incidents on ships. She recommends avoiding cabins below deck. “Higher is better in almost all cases for evacuation purposes,” she said.

FALLING OVERBOARD

Although falling overboard is rare, it does occur. Last year at least 22 people went overboard on cruise ships and passenger ferries, according to Cruisejunkie.com, which lists cases reported by the media on its Web site, including passengers who jumped. One of the requirements under the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act is that ships must be equipped with rails not less than 42 inches above the deck, and with alarms and other technology to help signal and locate passengers who go overboard.

As a general rule, pay attention to safety announcements and make sure you try on your life jacket and know where your muster or lifeboat station is located. If you are traveling with friends or family, have a contingency plan so you know how to find one another in the event of an evacuation. “It is unlikely that something will happen,” said Ross A. Klein, who has written books on the cruise industry and operates Cruisejunkie.com, “but it is better to have a plan if something does happen than to be drawn into a hysteria when an emergency situation presents itself.”

Hi Donal.I read somewhere, that at least one large ship a week sinks. Don't know if that is correct.
Going on a cruise is on my to do list. I wouldn't go on one of the large boats but something smaller ,four to five hundred passengers.
Mind you those tall ships scare me,so much on top and so little on the bottom. How can they get the COG downl so low, safely? Car ferries ,I don't trust them either. I think there have been too many scary stories.


Pj

Australian rescuers are assisting the authorities in Papua New Guinea after a ferry with around 350 people on board sank off the country's north coast.

An airplane from Australia, three helicopters and eight ships were scouring the search area after the MV Rabaul Queen went down while travelling from Kimbe on the island of New Britain to coastal town of Lae on the main island, Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The MSA said more than 200 people have been rescued, leaving more than 100 missing and many feared dead. The ferry sank 80 km east of Lae and 16 km from shore, the statement said.


Captain Nurur Rahman of Papua New Guinea's National Maritime Safety Authority said a number of survivors have been taken from the water by local boats.

Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, described it as a "major tragedy".

Italian coast guard to address Dublin event
[b][/b]

LORNA SIGGINS, Marine Correspondent

ITALY’S NOW famous coast guard will outline its handling of the Costa Concordia cruise ship sinking at an international conference in Dublin this spring.

At least 17 died and a dozen are still missing after the cruise ship ran aground last month 150m off the island of Giglio with 4,200 people on board.

The Italian coast guard has been invited to give the keynote address at the Search and Rescue 2012 conference in Dublin next month, which will attract coast guard representatives from across Europe and north America.

Ireland is hosting the conference for the first time as it is heading up the EU coast guard leaders’ network. The Irish Coast Guard’s Sikorsky helicopter fleet will give search-and-rescue demonstrations at an associated event in Weston Airport.

Irish Coast Guard director Chris Reynolds is chairing the EU network, and has been asked to prepare the ground for a permanent secretariat, which will be run by EU coast guard officers.

Spider silk is well known for some spectacular properties. It is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar yet flexible enough to be spun into a wide variety of shapes.
New research shows that the material is not only strong but also smart.
“Spider silk has a particular way of softening and then being stiff that is really essential for it to function properly,” said engineer Markus J. Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who co-authored the new study, which appears in Nature Feb. 2.
A spider web provides its occupant with a home and a way to catch prey. It needs to stand up to pesky attackers and sometimes withstand hurricane-force winds. Using computer models of spider silk and experiments on the webs of common European garden spiders (Araneus diadematus), Buehler and his team found a web’s unique skills come from its ability to react differently to different stress levels.
A light wind, for instance, softens the web, allowing it to lengthen but retain its overall structure. If a larger force is applied at a specific location, such as when a particular thread is poked, the silk becomes rigid and breaks.
Furthermore, only the most extended silk threads get severed. Having small portions of the web come apart not only helps retain the overall structural integrity but actually makes the web stronger. The researchers found that removing up to a tenth of the threads at different locations allowed the structure to carry 3 to 10 percent more weight. This shows the web’s advantage over materials such as steel, which would simply break apart under such conditions.
The work provides insight into spiders’ success with catching prey, said biologist Todd A. Blackledge of the University of Akron in Ohio, who was not involved in the study. “It’s really important for the silk to stretch under impact, cradling the insect so it doesn’t bounce out,” he said.
Engineers could also apply the secrets of spider silk to other challenges, Buehler suggested. Its ability to sustain small damage without compromising the entire structure could be useful in designing virtual networks, such as the Internet, where a local node gets sacrificed during an attack to keep the whole system from going down. Understanding how its microscopic protein structure gives rise to its macroscopic properties might help in stringing together carbon nanotubes, which may one day be used to produce objects ranging from combat gear to space elevators.

Quote:

donaboland1
Spider silk is well known for some spectacular properties. It is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar yet flexible enough to be spun into a wide variety of shapes.
New research shows that the material is not only strong but also smart.
“Spider silk has a particular way of softening and then being stiff that is really essential for it to function properly,” said engineer Markus J. Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who co-authored the new study, which appears in Nature Feb. 2.
A spider web provides its occupant with a home and a way to catch prey. It needs to stand up to pesky attackers and sometimes withstand hurricane-force winds. Using computer models of spider silk and experiments on the webs of common European garden spiders (Araneus diadematus), Buehler and his team found a web’s unique skills come from its ability to react differently to different stress levels.
A light wind, for instance, softens the web, allowing it to lengthen but retain its overall structure. If a larger force is applied at a specific location, such as when a particular thread is poked, the silk becomes rigid and breaks.
Furthermore, only the most extended silk threads get severed. Having small portions of the web come apart not only helps retain the overall structural integrity but actually makes the web stronger. The researchers found that removing up to a tenth of the threads at different locations allowed the structure to carry 3 to 10 percent more weight. This shows the web’s advantage over materials such as steel, which would simply break apart under such conditions.
The work provides insight into spiders’ success with catching prey, said biologist Todd A. Blackledge of the University of Akron in Ohio, who was not involved in the study. “It’s really important for the silk to stretch under impact, cradling the insect so it doesn’t bounce out,” he said.
Engineers could also apply the secrets of spider silk to other challenges, Buehler suggested. Its ability to sustain small damage without compromising the entire structure could be useful in designing virtual networks, such as the Internet, where a local node gets sacrificed during an attack to keep the whole system from going down. Understanding how its microscopic protein structure gives rise to its macroscopic properties might help in stringing together carbon nanotubes, which may one day be used to produce objects ranging from combat gear to space elevators.

And now they have injected the 'web gene' into goats and can produce silk from the their milk.

The History of Acrow Props

Upon arrival in London in 1935 William de Vigier used his last £50 in setting up a small workshop in the East End of London, under Bow arches. The steel props he made where at first a little too revolutionary for a trade which had, since time immemorial, relied upon wooden pole scaffolding. Sawn to fit for each use and discarded afterwards.

At first he was ignored by the building trade but the uptake of his props by a small number of firms including that of Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons began the props meteoric rise. By 1939 over 40,000 props where in daily use across Britain.

The name “Acrow” is derived from the name of the solicitor who helped to set up de Vigier’s company. A Mr A Crowe, de Vigier choose to adapt his name on the grounds that it was easy to pronounce and would be near the beginning of any alphabetical listing.

The name has since mostly stuck, though common derivatives and alternatives include: Acro Props; Building Props; Steel Props; Adjustable Props; Acro Jacks; Temporary Props and Post Shores.

[alloyaccess.net]

M(W&W)F

Nasa solves the mystery of Earth's 'missing energy' - it's all going into the sea, says space agency


• Claim that energy is 'going missing' is wrong
• Energy is warming up sea at half a watt per 10 sq feet
• Study of 10 years of satellite data

An international team of satellite experts and oceanographers have solved one of Nasa's most baffling mysteries - where the energy from the sun was going.
Two years ago, scientists at Colorado's National Centre for Atmospheric Research released a report claiming that satellite measurements of earth's heat didn't match up to ocean warming.
Now, Nasa has found the 'missing energy' - slowly warming up the sea.
Researchers had wondered, was something wrong with the way researchers tracked energy as it was absorbed from the sun and emitted back into space?

An international team of atmospheric scientists and oceanographers including Graeme Stephens of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California set out to investigate the mystery.

They used 10 years of data -- spanning 2001 to 2010 -- from Nasa's orbiting Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Experiment (CERES) instruments to measure changes in the net radiation balance at the top of Earth's atmosphere.
The CERES data were then combined with estimates of the heat content of Earth's ocean from three independent ocean sensors.

Their analysis, summarized in a Nasa-led study published in the journal Nature Geosciences, found that the satellite and ocean measurements are, in fact, in agreement once observational uncertainties are factored in.

'One of the things we wanted to do was a more rigorous analysis of the uncertainties,' Loeb said.
'When we did that, we found the conclusion of missing energy in the system isn't really supported by the data.'

'Our data show that Earth has been accumulating heat in the ocean at a rate of half a watt per square meter (10.8 square feet), with no sign of a decline,' Loeb said. 'This extra energy will eventually find its way back into the atmosphere and increase temperatures on Earth.'

Scientists generally agree that 90 percent of the excess heat associated with increases in greenhouse gas concentrations gets stored in Earth's ocean.
If released back into the atmosphere, a half-watt per square meter accumulation of heat could increase global temperatures by 0.3 or more degrees centigrade (0.54 degree Fahrenheit).

Loeb said the findings demonstrate the importance of using multiple measuring systems over time, and illustrate the need for continuous improvement in the way Earth's energy flows are measured.

What's with these" Did You Know Posts ?"

Personally I read these newsgroups for Waterways related, however loosely,
items. I have no objection per se to the posts but I do have other feeds
for this type of trivia which I can dip into if and when I want to without
having to have it force fed to me.

If they have some nautical connotations fair enough.

Paul Mc Cann

On 6 February 2012 08:36, IWAI forum donaboland1 wrote:

> Posted at: [www.iwai.ie]
> donaboland1 wrote:
>
> Nasa solves the mystery of Earth's 'missing energy' - it's all going into
> the sea, says space agency
>
>
> ? Claim that energy is 'going missing' is wrong
> ? Energy is warming up sea at half a watt per 10 sq feet
> ? Study of 10 years of satellite data
>
> An international team of satellite experts and oceanographers have solved
> one of Nasa's most baffling mysteries - where the energy from the sun was
> going.
> Two years ago, scientists at Colorado's National Centre for Atmospheric
> Research released a report claiming that satellite measurements of earth's
> heat didn't match up to ocean warming.
> Now, Nasa has found the 'missing energy' - slowly warming up the sea.
> Researchers had wondered, was something wrong with the way researchers
> tracked energy as it was absorbed from the sun and emitted back into space?
>
> An international team of atmospheric scientists and oceanographers
> including Graeme Stephens of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
> California set out to investigate the mystery.
>
> They used 10 years of data -- spanning 2001 to 2010 -- from Nasa's
> orbiting Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Experiment (CERES)
> instruments to measure changes in the net radiation balance at the top of
> Earth's atmosphere.
> The CERES data were then combined with estimates of the heat content of
> Earth's ocean from three independent ocean sensors.
>
> Their analysis, summarized in a Nasa-led study published in the journal
> Nature Geosciences, found that the satellite and ocean measurements are, in
> fact, in agreement once observational uncertainties are factored in.
>
> 'One of the things we wanted to do was a more rigorous analysis of the
> uncertainties,' Loeb said.
> 'When we did that, we found the conclusion of missing energy in the system
> isn't really supported by the data.'
>
> 'Our data show that Earth has been accumulating heat in the ocean at a
> rate of half a watt per square meter (10.8 square feet), with no sign of a
> decline,' Loeb said. 'This extra energy will eventually find its way back
> into the atmosphere and increase temperatures on Earth.'
>
> Scientists generally agree that 90 percent of the excess heat associated
> with increases in greenhouse gas concentrations gets stored in Earth's
> ocean.
> If released back into the atmosphere, a half-watt per square meter
> accumulation of heat could increase global temperatures by 0.3 or more
> degrees centigrade (0.54 degree Fahrenheit).
>
> Loeb said the findings demonstrate the importance of using multiple
> measuring systems over time, and illustrate the need for continuous
> improvement in the way Earth's energy flows are measured.
>
>
>
>

Reply Quote

Funny enough, I was starting to think the same thing, at the same time. Did you know that? Having reread them all, perhaps not having read them all thoroughly the first time round, the truth is they mostly are connected to waterways, although at times the association is nebulous. The only one so far I haven't been able to connect is the spidfers web one, can't see how that connection is made..

If you owned a barge, you would know the connection with spiders....and their webs...

Les 41M

River Trent canoe rescue after boat owner slips on ice
[center][/center

]Ken Jackson thought he was going to die
A narrowboat owner who slipped into the River Trent has said he owes his life to a canoeist who pulled him out.
Richard Ramsdale, a coach for Canoe England, was paddling near Colwick Marina by chance because the stretch of water he planned to use had frozen.
He found 74-year-old Ken Jackson "clinging on for dear life" after he slipped off his boat's narrow and icy ledge while fixing a chimney on Monday.
East Midlands Ambulance Service said he could have drowned or had hypothermia.
Mr Jackson said: "I was just shouting, screaming 'help, help' and hanging on to the rope.
"I was panicking. I thought I was going to go down under."
'Bit of a commotion'
Mr Jackson, who has owned a boat for more than 40 years, was starting to lose consciousness when Mr Ramsdale paddled past.
Richard Ramsdale paddled past by chance
"I don't normally train on this side of the river," said Mr Ramsdale.
"I heard a bit of a commotion and then found Ken clinging on for dear life at the back of his boat."
Mr Jackson said he had fallen in the water a few times before but not in such cold conditions.
He added: "I was just going numb, and numb and numb, and I was ready to go under."
After pulling him out of the water, Mr Ramsdale helped Mr Jackson warm up inside the boat and handed him dry clothes.
East Midlands Ambulance Service attended but Mr Jackson did not need to go to hospital.
"He saved my life," said Mr Jackson.

The pros and cons of fracking for natural gas
[b][/b]



WILLIAM REVILLE

THE RECENT combination of hydraulic fracturing (commonly called “fracking”) with horizontal drilling has transformed previously unproductive organic-rich shales into the largest natural gas fields in the world. Fracking is a term now commonly heard in Ireland since the oil/gas exploration firm Tamboran Resources recently estimated that the shale bedrock under Co Leitrim harbours up to $55 billion (€41.5b) worth of natural gas, releasable by fracking. However, fracking is opposed on environmental grounds by a protest group called “No Fracking in Ireland”.

Shale gas is the best known of a number of unconventional sources of natural gas. Shale is a common fine-grained sedimentary rock that can harbour gas when organic matter in the shale is broken down at high temperatures to produce “thermogenic” methane. But shale has such a low matrix permeability that commercial quantities of gas can only be released by creating extensive artificial fractures by fracking. Horizontal drilling is frequently used with shale gas wells. First you drill down vertically from the surface, perhaps about 2,000m, to reach the shale layer. Then the drilling direction is changed by up to 90 degrees and proceeds horizontally for another 2,000m. This creates maximum borehole surface area in contact with the shale.

The combination of fracking and horizontal drilling has seen shale gas production in the US grow from 1 per cent of overall gas production to 20 per cent in 2009, with expectations that it will grow to 50 per cent by 2035. According to the International Energy Agency, the new economic extraction of shale gas increases the projected production of natural gas from 125 years to 250 years.

Basic fracking has been used in wells since the 1940s. When the vertical well shaft hits the rock-bearing reservoir, chemically treated water is pumped down under high pressure to stimulate release of the gas/oil. Such fracking typically consumes 20,000 to 80,000 gallons of water per well. However, the new fracking used on shale calls for up to four million gallons of fluid per well. The high pressure fluid cracks the shale and penetrates into the cracks extending them further. To keep the fractures open when the pressure is later relaxed, a solid proppant, commonly sieved sand, is added to the fluid. The propped fractures allow the trapped gas and oil to flow to the well. The injection fluid is also heavily dosed with chemicals to aid its flow – 15,000 to 60,000 gallons of chemicals per well. Tamboran promises not to use chemical additives in any fracking in Ireland.

Up to 75 per cent of the fracking fluid returns up the well bore to the surface when the injection pressure is released. This chemically toxic water is stored in large ponds for later reuse or transport to treatment plants. This initial water return is accompanied by a significant “belch” of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Fracking poses several environmental threats. The water storage ponds must be lined to prevent leakage, but there have been cases of water leaking through torn linings. Also, heavy rainfall can cause ponds to overflow. However, secure containment of pond water is a matter that is surely amenable to simple technical solution.

The “belching” of methane into the atmosphere from worldwide fracking would seriously exacerbate global warming. However, this methane can be trapped with special equipment in a procedure called “green completion”. This could be a regulatory requirement.

Another worry is that underground water blasts may create unexpected pathways for gas or liquid to travel upwards to contaminate surface drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency (US) claims that one well was contaminated with fracking chemicals and was delivering flammable water.

The oil industry counters that it is almost impossible to conceive of gas or liquid climbing the massive depth of rock between shale and ground water. However one possible route for buoyant gas to travel upwards is through faults in the concrete casing that drillers pour around the steel gas pipe they insert into the bore hole. This casing is designed to prevent the upward passage of gas or liquid outside the pipe that would contaminate ground water if allowed to pass.

Fracking will continue worldwide because conventional reservoirs of oil and gas are running out and because of the hope of independence from Middle Eastern oil and gas. But I don’t think we will see fracking in Ireland for a long time, if ever. Conventionally produced gas from the Corrib field is now 10 years behind schedule in coming ashore.

'Little evidence' that fracking leads to water contamination [center][/center]

Steve Connor
Vancouver
Friday 17 February 2012

Fracking, the controversial technique for exploiting underground supplies of shale gas, does not appear to result in the contamination of groundwater supplies, according to an independent investigation carried out in the US.
The study found little evidence to support widespread fears in Britain and the US that fracking – in which shale gas is extracted by deliberating fracturing underground rock with toxic chemicals – can result in groundwater being contaminated. However, the American university scientists who carried out the investigation said they could not give fracking an entirely clean bill of health as the long-term effects of the process are so poorly understood.
They have particular concerns about the possibility of disturbing toxic substances such as arsenic that are naturally present in the environment, which could result in serious groundwater contamination. The authors of the report said they wanted to separate fact from fiction in the intense debate over fracking that has arisen since huge shale-gas reserves have been identified in the US and Britain. The fears were heightened by the film GasLand, which showed methane gas coming out of water taps in areas close to fracking sites.
The report says that natural substances such as methane are often present in water sources before fracking operations began and are "mobilised" by vibrations and pressure pulses due to drilling rather than the fracturing of rock.
"The immediate concern about shale gas development and hydraulic fracturing is that fracturing several thousand feet below the surface would put chemicals into the groundwater that people drank and that would be very bad for health," said Charles Groat, associate director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas in Austin, who led the inquiry. "A major part of our study was to see if there was any verifiable evidence that hydraulic fracturing itself was producing contaminated waters that ended up in groundwater," he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver.
"Our preliminary finding is that we have found no demonstration that that has happened. That doesn't mean that there aren't ways for fracture fluids or produced waters or flowback waters to get into the groundwater supplies."

Some interesting stuff, thanks for posting Donal. Any chance you could include a proper citation when posting these articles? It's always interesting to see the source.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17/02/2012 15:16 by Paul J.

I will try

Donal

'Mobile marine reserves' needed[b][/b]

By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, Vancouver

Mobile marine reserves are needed to protect ocean species, say scientists.
The idea that only fixed areas of ocean can be designated as no-catch zones is out-dated, and does not reflect the very dynamic behaviour of some ocean creatures, they argue.
The marine experts made their call at the AAAS meeting - a major American science festival in Vancouver, Canada.
They say the huge volumes of data from animal tracking studies demand new approaches to conservation in our seas.
"Less than 1% of the ocean is protected at this point, and these marine parks tend to be built around things that sit still like coral reefs and seamounts," explained Prof Larry Crowder from Stanford University.

"But tracking studies show that many, many organisms - fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and sharks - respond to oceanographic features that don't have a fixed point.
"These features are fronts and eddies that may move seasonally, from summer to winter, and from year to year based on oceanographic climate changes like El Nino or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation."
The challenge now, argue Crowder and other marine scientists, is to try to build a system of marine reserves that are as dynamic as the creatures they trying to protect.
Game of tags
The spur for this new thinking is the avalanche of data coming from tagging projects.
All manner of creatures are being tracked over vast distances, using increasingly sophisticated devices.
Many of the innovations that have improved the performance and functionality of mobile phones are being incorporated into the latest generation of tags.
These devices not only record where the animals go, but they also return information about the ocean state.
"We can now put multiple sensors in a single tag and when you boost the battery with something like a solar assist panel, you just get this incredible opportunity to view what an animal is doing in multiple dimensions and for long periods of time," said Dr Kristin Hart, a research ecologist with the US Geological Survey, who showed the meeting some of tiniest tags now in operation.
"Size is important, particularly when you want to answer questions about juveniles or really fast-moving individuals such as tuna - you do not want to encumber the animal with something big and clunky or you will affect its behaviour."
Research has shown how species will respond to upwellings, fronts and eddies in the water, and how creatures will chase the nutrients and the food webs built in these oceanic features. Critically, though, these features may come and go, or shift their position.

Future marine reserves will need to reflect this dynamism, says Prof Crowder.
Implementing Marine Protected Areas has proved something of a struggle for conservationists, and some interests may baulk at the idea of reserves being defined by anything other than co-ordinates on a sea chart.
Prof Crowder is convinced the concept he and his peers are proposing is realistic, however.
"In addition to knowing where the animals are and how they respond to ocean features, we also know a lot more about where the fishermen are. The fishermen have very precise GPS. So I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility to get fishermen to observe where the edge of a mobile reserve is."
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter

[b][/b]Warning issued over fracking
Irishtimes.com : Monday, February 20, 2012, 13:37 CHARLIE TAYLOR
Companies involved in the controversial process of fracking have a bad record in removing toxic waste associated with drilling operations, according to a leading opponent.
Jessica Ernst, a biologist and environmental consultant to the oil and gas industry, warned today that there is currently no safe way to conduct fracking and advised communities in Ireland to oppose attempts to allow the process to go ahead here.
Ms Ernst, who has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the exploration firm Encana for contamination of her property and drinking water from its fracking programme in Alberta, Canada, is in the country to speak at a number of events organised by the umbrella group Good Energies Alliance Ireland.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin yesterday, Ms Ernst said the impact of fracking on the community outweighted any benefits.
"Communities need to look at what they stand to lose rather than at what companies are promising," she said.
Ms Ernst highlighted her own experienced of being 'fracked,' saying that as a result of water pollution, she had been unable to take showers due to her skin burning. She now also has to trek over an hour away to access clean water.
Ms Ernst said that in addition to concerns over water contamination, fracking was also associated with a number of other environmental issues including air and noise pollution.
The Australian-owned oil and gas exploration firm Tamboran Resources has estimated there could be over two trillion cubic feet of natural gas locked in shale beneath the surface of north Leitrim and adjoining counties.
Tamboran has said initial indications from exploration drilling in the northwest show there could hold be enough gas to supply Irish needs for a number of years and create some 3,000 jobs.
Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, has proved controversial over the past few years with widespread claims that the process, which includes pumping down thousands of gallons of chemicals into the wells, has contaminated groundwater supplies in some areas.
The process has been suspended in France, South Africa, North Rhine Westphalia, parts of Australia and in a number of US states pending more detailed investigations.
In January, Clare County Council became the first local authority in Ireland to agree to put in place a ban on fracking in its county development plan.
Ms Ernst said that while Tamboran has stressed that it can conduct fracking here without using chemicals, there would still be environmental issues resulting from drilling such as disposal of waste.
"When you're fracked there's no after-care and tax payers are the ones who are pick up the bill for the environmental and social problems resulting from the process," she warned.
Also speaking at the press conference, Dr Aedin McLoughlin of Good Energy Alliance Ireland said fracking was unsafe and should not be allowed here.
"Agri-food and tourism are the cornerstones of the Irish economy, not the false promises of a dirty industry that doesn't keep its promises and doesn't heed regulations," she said.