Meter Reading: Losing Galveston’s West End to Erosion, Nat Gas Boom Complicates Pipelines, and More

Photo credit JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

US President George W. Bush in Marine One flies over a damaged residential area near Galveston, Texas, while touring Hurricane Ike damage with Texas Governor Rick Perry September 16, 2008.

Growth in natural gas supply brings benefits and risks to pipelines – “Low natural gas prices and the growth in its supply has brought a benefit and a risk for pipeline companies, according to a recent Moody’s investor report.” — Fuel Fix

Rising Gulf, coastal erosion complicate development planning in Galveston – “Studies by Texas scientists suggest infrastructure on the West End will eventually be lost to rising tides and erosion, and some propose that new development should move to the island’s east. Builders question the validity of those scientific findings and, with their livelihoods at stake, believe building should continue.” — Texas Climate News

Research links extreme summer heat events to global warming – “NASA scientists have found that Earth’s land areas are much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century.” — EarthSky

Ascarate’s old River Queen found in New Mexico — “Water levels at Elephant Butte Lake have dropped in recent years because of persistent drought and scarce rainfall in New Mexico. A few days ago, Morris, an El Paso dentist, was cruising Elephant Butte, the largest lake in New Mexico, with a childhood friend. He spotted rotting remains of a boat — it again was the River Queen.” — El Paso Times