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‘It’s a tinderbomb’ – Pacific Northwest faces major wildfire risk due to low snowpack
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on May 20th, 2015
ClimateWire: Snow-free mountains and a recent drought declaration mean that Washington state is facing an extraordinarily risky wildfire season, according to one of the state's top forest officials.
"Over the years, people have become fond of referring to Western forests as tinderboxes," State Forester Aaron Everett of the Washington Department of Natural Resources said yesterday. "Our forest is not a tinderbox, it's a 'tinderbomb.' It's sprinkled with gasoline and ringed with dynamite."
Washington Gov....
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American West is so dry that the land is rising
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on August 23rd, 2014
ClimateWire: f you live out West, you've likely noticed that things have been pretty dry lately. What you probably haven't noticed is that the ground beneath your feet is also a little bit higher in elevation -- an average of 4 millimeters higher, to be exact. It may be hard to believe, but new research using data from hundreds of different GPS stations shows it to be true: The current drought in the American West is so bad that the loss of water weight has actually caused the land to rise. Moreover, scientists...
Scientists hunt for native plants to fight incendiary invader of the West
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on August 11th, 2014
ClimateWire: SEEKING: A local; late bloomer with a desire to put down deep roots. Must be comfortable with dry spells and an occasional fiery outburst. Ability to outfox strong, hot competition will be crucial.
The desired partner here is not of the human variety. For scientists with the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Bureau of Land Management and anyone else who's contending with America's worsening wildfire problem, the ideal match would be a plant capable of crowding out cheatgrass, one of the West's most...
Deforestation in Indonesia Is Double the Government’s Official Rate
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on June 30th, 2014
ClimateWire: Trees in Indonesia are disappearing at twice the rate reported by the nation's government, according to a new analysis of deforestation rates. The data also suggests that the nation's 2011 regulations to halt deforestation were largely ineffective, the study authors say.
Published yesterday in the journal Nature Climate Change, the study reinforces earlier work and also finds that since much of the nation's easy-to-access lowland forests have already been exploited, developers are increasingly...
Climate change becomes a rapid, unplanned survival experiment for animal species
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on February 7th, 2014
ClimateWire: In the 1993 blockbuster movie "Jurassic Park," a sleazy scientist played by Jeff Goldblum quips that "life finds a way." For real biologists, climate change is like a massive, unplanned experiment, one that may be too fast and strange for some species to survive it.
Some animals are already in the middle of it. As Arctic ice shelves melt, polar bears are ransacking seabird nests to sustain themselves. Migrating geese are exploring valuable but previously unseen real estate, due to melting permafrost....
Goal to cap temperature rise will still leave hundreds of millions thirsty – study
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on September 14th, 2013
ClimateWire: A new study projects that hundreds of millions of people will soon live in regions at an increased risk of water scarcity, even if the average global temperature rise is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, the cap cited in several U.N. agreements.
Published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the paper predicts that an additional 8 percent of the world's current population, or 486 million people, will be forced to cope with new or exacerbated water scarcity even if international agreements...
Risk: Federal report says Sandy recovery spending must account for future climate change
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on August 21st, 2013
ClimateWire: The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, a presidentially appointed group in charge of coordinating rebuilding efforts in the states devastated by last year's storm, yesterday issued a report stressing the need to take climate change into account when investing federal funds in disaster recovery. The 200-page strategy outlines 69 different recommendations and emphasizes the importance of using the latest science to strengthen communities against global warming's impacts. It also acknowledges the...
Researchers see link between deadly spread of diarrhea, more prolonged droughts in Africa
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on April 3rd, 2013
ClimateWire: The mention of diarrhea is likely to elicit a vague squeamishness in the First World, where indoor toilets and clean water for washing are commonplace, but for thousands of children living in drought-plagued sub-Saharan Africa, the subject is one of life and death.
Although the illness is both easily preventable and treatable, World Health Organization data show that close to 920,000 people in the U.N. agency's Africa region died of diarrheal diseases in 2008. Nearly three-quarters of these deaths...
Arctic melting stacked weather deck in favor of Superstorm Sandy
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on March 16th, 2013
ClimateWire: A number of unusual atmospheric phenomena combined to form the massive "Frankenstorm" that was Superstorm Sandy. While many have said global warming fueled the storm's strength, it is unclear exactly how it played a role. But scientists are starting to see evidence that warm weather in the Arctic led to conditions that made the hurricane so incredibly powerful.
An article in the March issue of Oceanography, authored by scientists from Cornell and Rutgers universities, points to 2012's unprecedented...
High 2012 temperatures led to earliest flowering ever in eastern U.S
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on January 17th, 2013
ClimateWire: Record-high temperatures in 2012 led to massive droughts and wildfires, but tiny wildflowers like the dwarf dandelion and the shooting star were also affected by the especially warm spring. Their early blooming has the potential to disrupt the ecosystem, scientists say, but perhaps it could be a sign of plants' resilience.
Last year, scientists from Harvard University, Boston University and the University of Wisconsin documented the earliest flowering season on record in the eastern United States....