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Archive for August 22nd, 2015
Smoke blankets parts of Washington state as firefighters guard town from flames
Posted by Reuters: Alex Dobuzinskis on August 22nd, 2015
Reuters: Firefighters battling a group of fierce wildfires in central Washington state labored on Saturday to expand containment lines outside a lakeside resort town, as large blazes scorched dry land in other parts of the U.S. West.
The continuing fight against a complex of fires near the town of Chelan came a day after President Barack Obama signed a federal declaration of emergency for Washington state to coordinate relief efforts in 11 counties and several Indian reservations hard hit by wildfires....
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California Dam Lets Water Shared by Farms Flow to Salmon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2015
Associated Press: With water scarce in Northern California’s Klamath Basin, a federal agency is again releasing water into the Klamath River to prevent a repeat of the 2002 fish kill that left tens of thousands of adult salmon dead. That move could lead to a renewed fight about the Klamath River, which has long been subject to intense political battles over the sharing of scarce water between farms and fish. Three tribes depend on the river’s salmon for subsistence and ceremonial needs, and a fourth is looking forward...
Drought gives new meaning to wildlife
Posted by Associated Press: Fenit Nirappil on August 22nd, 2015
Associated Press: The scarcity of food in the wild has been blamed for unusual animal activity during California’s drought, including a recent bear attack, mountain lion sightings and an uptick in orphaned animals.
But the devastating four-year drought that has dried up streams and vegetation isn’t the sole cause, state officials and experts say. Instead, they say the drought is exacerbating long-term trends and natural animal behaviors in a state that is becoming increasingly developed.
Pools and lush gardens...
Climate Change Shrinking Uganda’s Lakes and Fish
Posted by Inter Press Service: Wambi Michael on August 22nd, 2015
Inter Press Service: Climate change is reducing the size of several species of fish on lakes in Uganda and its neighbouring East African countries, with a negative impact on the livelihoods of millions people who depend on fishing for food and income. Studies conducted on inland lakes in Uganda, including Lake Victoria which is shared by three East African countries, indicate that indigenous fish species have shrunk in size due to an increase in temperatures in the water bodies. "What we are seeing in Lake Victoria...
Kansas earthquake decline coincides with injection rate reduction
Posted by Wichita Eagle: Stan Finger on August 22nd, 2015
Wichita Eagle: Earthquakes in Kansas have decreased since the Kansas Corporation Commission ordered oil companies in two southern counties to reduce the amount of saltwater they inject back into the ground, a state official said Friday.
But it’s too soon to tell whether the decrease is a direct result of the KCC mandate, said Rex Buchanan, interim director of the Kansas Geological Survey.
“The jury is still out” on the cause, Buchanan said. “Earthquake activity is going to fluctuate naturally.”
Having...
What we’ve lost in the Methow Valley wildfires
Posted by High Country News: None Given on August 22nd, 2015
High Country News: I am haunted by a scene from about a week ago of young U.S. Forest Service firefighters taking a break at The Mazama Store, which I consider the best “hang” in the Methow Valley, just across the Cascades in central Washington state. They were such babies, so long and lean and fit, seemingly drowning in their impossibly large firefighting garb. In addition to soot and grime, they wore the look of thorough exhaustion that you see on the faces of new parents. And yet, with doors swung open on their...
Climate change: Municipalities unprepared for ‘weather whiplash,’ warns meteorologist
Posted by CBC: None Given on August 22nd, 2015
CBC: Boreal forest being driven to tipping point by climate change, study finds Climate change is killing off bumblebees: study Climate change 'disaster waiting to happen,' Toronto summit told Can Pope Francis's 'street cred' shift the climate change debate?
A top Canadian meteorologist warns that municipalities aren't prepared to deal with the impacts of an increasingly volatile climate that can bring devastating floods one season and a drought the next.
In the last five years, Canadian cities...
Why climate change pushing Earth boreal forests tipping point
Posted by Monitor: None Given on August 22nd, 2015
Monitor: International policy makers should set their sights on the protection of boreal forests, international forestry experts argued this week in an article published Thursday in the journal Science. The article was part of a special issue on forests released before the World Forestry Congress is held in September.
“Boreal forests have the potential to hit a tipping point this century,” said Anatoly Shvidenko, a researcher scholar with the Ecosystems Services and Management Program at Austria's International...
As California goes, so goes country: Welcome to our hotter future
Posted by TomDispatch: None Given on August 22nd, 2015
TomDispatch: Long ago, I lived in a cheap flat in San Francisco and worked as the lone straight man in a gay construction company. Strangely enough, the drought now strangling California brings back memories of those days. It was the 1970s. Our company specialized in restoring the Victorian “gingerbread” to the facades of the city’s townhouses, and I got pretty good at installing cornices, gable brackets, and window hoods, working high above the street.
What I remember most, though, is the way my co-workers...