By Chad T. Hanson and Dominick A. Dellasala23 July 2015 (The New York Times) – In the fall of 2013, shortly after fire swept across 257,000 acres of forest and shrub lands near Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada, Republicans in the House of Representatives approved a bill that would have suspended environmental laws […]
21 July 2015 (KidsCount.org) – The KIDS COUNT Data Book [pdf] is an annual publication that assesses child well-being nationally and across the 50 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Using an index of 16 indicators, the report ranks states on overall child well-being and in economic well-being, education, […]
By Lindsey Bever 20 July 2015 (Washington Post) – Amid California’s historic drought, an even rarer weekend downpour that calmed wildfires also washed away a 30-foot bridge that carries commuters to Arizona. An elevated area on Interstate 10 collapsed early Sunday evening near Southeastern California’s Desert Center, leaving a pickup truck trapped underneath. Firefighters launched […]
BRENTWOOD, 18 July 2015 (CBS SF) – Ed Pereira never thought that trying to save water at his Brentwood home would be so trying. Last month, he decided to take out his front lawn and put in drought-tolerant landscaping. But Ed says his homeowners association isn’t making it easy. The HOA [homeowners’ association] rejected his […]
By Eli Saslow20 July 2015 PORTERVILLE, California (Washington Post) – Their two peach trees had turned brittle in the heat, their neighborhood pond had vanished into cracked dirt and now their stainless-steel faucet was spitting out hot air. “That’s it. We’re dry,” Miguel Gamboa said during the second week of July, and so he went […]
By Andrew Freedman19 July 2015 (Mashable) – Moisture from a decaying tropical storm and milder-than-average ocean temperatures sent humidity levels in drought-stricken California soaring this weekend. It also sparked multiple rounds of thunderstorms in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area. Tropical moisture from what was once Hurricane Dolores prompted flood watches to be […]
By Marisa Gerber, Sarah Parvini, and Javier Panzar18 July 2015 (Los Angeles Times) – Taya Hart grabbed her purse and jumped out of the van. She ran away from the freeway, uphill, her heart beating fast. Her body shook. Taya, 16, called her mother. “I love you, Mom,” she said. “But there’s a huge fire.” […]
OAKLAND, CA, 14 July 2015 (Global Footprint Network) – Today marks the date the United States has busted its annual ecological budget, utilizing more resources and services than U.S. ecosystems can regenerate within the full year, according to a new report released by Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in North […]
By John R. Platt9 July 2015 (Takepart.com) – California’s towering redwood trees are dying of thirst. “They require enormous amounts of water,” said Anthony Ambrose, a tree biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying redwoods and giant sequoias for nearly two decades. “For the big, old trees, they can use more […]
By Sheila Pell11 July 2015 (San Diego Reader) – A ban on U.S. Pacific sardine fishing that took effect July 1 will mean more food for starving sea lions, pelicans, and other creatures. But there’s no shutting down the other forces rattling the food chain. Weird weather conditions are being linked to mass casualties and […]
