SpaceX launch in South Texas caused fire, blasted concrete chunks and stainless steel thousands of feet away
The Space X launch on the southern tip of Texas last week caused large concrete chunks and stainless steel sheets to shoot thousands of feet away and started a fire in the Boca Chica State Park, according to a federal agency investigating the test flight.
Oil drilling in Gulf safer, but concerns linger, report says
A new National Academy of Science study says that 13 years after a massive BP oil spill fouled the Gulf of Mexico, regulators and industry have reduced some risks in deep water exploration in the gulf but some troublesome safety issues persist.
There are millions of more red snapper off the Texas coast than previously estimated. Hereโs why
The $12 million Great Red Snapper Count estimated that the Gulf holds about 110 million adult red snapper -- those at least 2 years old. More than 60% of the red snapper were in areas that previously had not been checked, according to the study by 20 scientists from 14 universities and NOAA. The report estimated that about 48 million adult red snapper swim off Florida, 29 million off Louisiana, 23 million off Texas and 10 million off Mississippi and Alabama. He noted that the red snapper count received twice as much funding as all of the studies he oversees at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Congress voted for the study in 2016, as red snapper recreational seasons got shorter and shorter while anglers kept seeing more and bigger fish.
Video: Texas fishing boat gets โincredibleโ encounter with huge pod of killer whales off Galveston coast
Not only did they see a huge pod of orca whales swimming in the Texas gulf, but some of those orcas swam right up to the boat to check them out. AdHardeman said the encounter lasted about 30 minutes until the group of orcas got bored and swam back to join their pod. Orcas do live in the Texas Gulf but are rarely sighted. Hardeman started his career 17 years ago in Alaska and has been working on offshore fishing boats in the Texas gulf for about 10 years. Hardeman said heโs happy he can share the video of his orca encounter so others can enjoy it too.
Mini parade of rescued young sea turtles released into Gulf
โ A small parade of rescued young sea turtles has headed into the Gulf of Mexico from Louisiana โ a bright note in a tough season for sea turtles. Sea turtles get cold-stunned and lethargic when the water around them chills down so fast they canโt swim to warmer waters. Those released this week at Grand Isle were Kemp's ridley sea turtles, like most of those injured in New England, where volunteers rescued 775 turtles, said Kate Sampson, regional sea turtle stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Texas turtles were likely in relatively good shape because the cold came on so quickly, she said. AdSo many green and Kempโs ridley sea turtles were found off Texas in February that the South Padre Island Convention Center was used as an emergency sea turtle hospital.
Interior postpones March oil leases onshore and offshore
The Interior Department said Friday, Feb. 12, 2021 that it is postponing onshore and offshore oil lease sales planned for next month in line with President Joe Biden's executive order on climate change. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)NEW ORLEANS โ The Interior Department said Friday that it is postponing onshore and offshore oil lease sales planned for next month in line with President Joe Biden's executive order on climate change. The onshore sales were postponed to confirm the adequacy of underlying environmental analyses, said Interior spokesperson Melissa Schwartz. AdLow interest and small attendance at offshore lease sales covering different parts of the Gulf of Mexico prompted President Barack Obama's administration to combine them. โCanceling this huge offshore Gulf oil auction helps protect our climate and life on Earth," said Kristen Monsell of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Biden halts oil and gas leases, permits on US land and water
In the closing months of the Trump administration, energy companies stockpiled enough drilling permits for western public lands to keep pumping oil for years. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trump's final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years. But Bidenโs move could be the first step in an eventual goal to ban all leases and permits to drill on federal land. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. But there are other ways an ambitious Biden administration could make it harder for permit holders to extract oil and gas.
Oil companies snag Gulf of Mexico waters for offshore drilling in last bid before Biden transition
The industry saw Wednesdayโs auction as potentially the last opportunity to lease federal waters for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for the next four years. In the last opportunity for oil companies to bid on federal Gulf of Mexico waters under a Trump administration, the federal government on Wednesday leased more than a half-million acres to companies for offshore oil drilling and production. Oil companies have struggled this year as the pandemic, combined with less faith from Wall Street investors, have left them strapped for cash. A handful of Texas energy companies, including a subsidiary of Murphy Oil, which recently said it would relocate its headquarters to Houston from Arkansas, made smaller offers. โThis lease sale is pouring fuel on the flames of climate change,โ said Emma Pabst, a global warming solutions advocate with Environment Texas.
Tropical Storm Iota forms, could follow Eta's deadly path
Hurricane experts were closely watching the Caribbean, where Tropical Storm Iota formed Friday afternoon. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall to northern Nicaragua and Honduras. The storm was located about 350 miles (560 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph). Iota is a record-setting 30th named storm of this yearโs extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Earlier, firefighters in Tampa had to rescue around a dozen people who got stuck in storm surge flooding on a boulevard adjacent to the bay.
Tropical Storm Eta races off Carolinas after soaking Florida
One death in Florida was linked to the storm, along with some scattered flooding and forecasters said the tropical storm was on a path offshore of South Carolina that would eventually take it further out to sea. That came amid a combination of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico being carried up by a cold front that had pushed Eta across Florida earlier. Earlier Thursday, Eta was in the Gulf of Mexico when it slogged ashore near Cedar Key, Florida. Before that first brush with Florida, Eta first hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane and killed at least 120 people in Central America and Mexico, with scores more missing. A 29th named system, Tropical Storm Theta, was centered late Thursday about 440 miles (705 kilometers) south of the Azores and moving east.
At least 1 dead as Hurricane Zeta hammers Gulf Coast
Hurricane Zeta passed through Wednesday leaving much of the city and metro area without power. Even as Zeta battered the south, the upcoming election was still on the mind of some residents. โGuys, we received the brunt of Zeta, and Zeta gave us a good punch,โ McInnis told WDSU-TV. More than 875,000 customers were without electricity in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including about 350,000 in metro New Orleans. Winds could be โespecially severeโ in the southern Appalachian Mountains, where flash flooding is possible, the hurricane center said.