Image of the Day: Satellite view of smoke from wildfires in the U.S. Northwest, 23 August 2015

LANCE/MODIS satellite view of wildfires in the U.S. Northwest, 23 August 2015   LANCE/MODIS satellite view of wildfires in the U.S. Northwest, 22 August 2015. LANCE Rapid Response MODIS images Technorati Tags: wildfire,forest fire,NASA,global warming,climate change,pollution,drought,California

Siberia in flames – Around Lake Baikal, ‘it feels like doomsday’

23 August 2015 (The Siberian Times) – These unnerving images show the scale of destruction from wildfires close to Lake Baikal, the jewel of Siberia. The sky is aglow over the Republic of Buryatia from the uncontrolled burning, the latest outbreaks of fires that have been destroying forests around the world’s oldest and deepest lake […]

How humans evolved into super predators – ‘Our impacts are as extreme as our behaviour and the planet bears the burden of our predatory dominance’

20 August 2015 (UVic) – You need not look far to find the world’s “super predator,” a term used by UVic scientists to describe how human dominance has bred an unrelenting predacious global culture that threatens nature’s balance. Research published in the Aug. 21 edition of the journal Science by a team led by Dr. […]

Carbon footprint of Burning Man: 27,000 tons of CO2 per year

By Katie Herzog 21 August 2015 (Grist) – Get ready, folks! The most magical time of year is almost upon us. That’s right: Burning Man. Lest you mistake me for a tech billionaire with a penchant for fuzzy boots, hula hoops, group showers, and dudes named Dusty Unicorn — au contraire. The reason I love […]

Photo gallery: Banksy’s new grotesque art theme park

By Allyssia Alleyne20 August 2015 Weston-Super-Mare, England (CNN) — The seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare in south-west England is chilled and gloomy when we arrive. Surrounding it: an upside down slide fashioned from a battered old truck, an old-school carousel, a ferris wheel. Inside, Cinderella’s coach has crashed, surrounded by clicking paparazzi. Here it is: the […]

To measure reach of California drought, researchers scale the mighty sequoia – ‘We have very little understanding of how severe of a drought it takes to kill a giant sequoia tree’

By Ezra David Romero17 August 2015 (NPR) – The giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada are one of America’s treasures, but for the first time in Sequoia National Park’s history, the trees are showing visible signs of exhaustion due to the drought. On a hike last summer, a scientist noticed that the needles of the […]

California drought causing land in the Central Valley to subside faster than ever – Increased pumping drives groundwater levels to record lows – ‘We are pumping at historic levels’

19 August 2015 (JPL) – As Californians continue pumping groundwater in response to the historic drought, the California Department of Water Resources today released a new NASA report showing land in the San Joaquin Valley is sinking faster than ever before, nearly 2 inches (5 centimeters) per month in some locations. The report, Progress Report: […]

Washington state asks for volunteer help to fight forest fires, for the first time in state history

By Drew Mikkelsen21 August 2015 OMAK, Washington (KING 5 News) – With wildfires straining resources, Washington officials say that for the first time in state history they’re coordinating help from residents who have and can operate equipment like backhoes and bulldozers to dig fire lines. The Department of Natural Resources says its command posts have […]

Feeling the heat: Earth in July was hottest month on record

By Seth Borenstein20 August 2015 WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet’s warmest month on record, smashing old marks, U.S. weather officials said. And it’s almost a dead certain lock that this year will beat last year as the warmest year on record, they said. July’s average temperature was 61.86 […]

Drought drives water shortage to critical stage in São Paulo, Brazil

By Claire Rigby 19 August 2015 São Paulo, Brazil (Los Angeles Times) – Officials in São Paulo state have announced that the water shortage in the city of the same name is now “critical,” with multimillion-dollar emergency construction projects so far failing to ease the situation. The announcement was the first time the state government […]

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