California needs much more to beat effect of three dry years By Mark Grossi, mgrossi@fresnobee.comand John Holland, jholland@modbee.com The Sierra Nevada snowpack has improved. Waterfalls are starting to thunder in Yosemite Valley. A spring storm adds to the bounty. It’s time to celebrate the end of the state’s three-year drought. Right? Wrong. The El Niño-powered […]
By Barbara Barte OsbornBee Correspondent, The Sacramento BeePublished: Tuesday, Mar. 30, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 2BLast Modified: Tuesday, Mar. 30, 2010 – 12:28 am The Lake Tahoe-area bears are up early, and they’re ravenous. “They feel the warmth and come out of their dens, but there’s no natural food for them yet,” said […]
By Mark Grossi / The Fresno BeePosted at 10:07 PM on Sunday, Mar. 28, 2010 Scientists have found evidence in Sequoia National Park of a centuries-long dry spell — and clues about how the Sierra Nevada could be changing. The researchers studied tree rings on dead giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. They found […]
By Michaael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — Controversial cuts in water deliveries to central California farms to protect endangered fish appear to be “scientifically justified” but still in need of further study, scientists have concluded in a report to be issued Friday. In a politically sensitive study, the National Research Council determined two federal […]
By LOUIS BERGERON In the first study ever done on the local health effects of the domes of carbon dioxide that develop above cities, Stanford researcher Mark Jacobson found that the domes increase the local death rate. The result provides a scientific basis for regulating CO2 emissions at the local level and points out a […]
Invasion of pest prompts plant quarantineVITICULTUREMarch 12, 2010|By Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer A huge swath of Wine Country, including vineyards where some of the world’s best grapes are grown, was quarantined this week after an invasive moth was discovered. The European grapevine moth has already destroyed at least one vineyard’s harvest and damaged other […]
By Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 03.12.10 Sea lions are having a hard time finding food this spring, and pups are feeling the squeeze. Marine mammal experts report that dozens of sick and hungry sea lion pups have washed up on California shores this winter, many not making it even with the help they […]
By INGFEI CHENPublished: March 4, 2010 For 14 years, since they first reported that a disturbing proportion of deaths among rescued California sea lions were caused by metastatic cancer, researchers have been trying to pinpoint the source of the illness. In 1996, Dr. Frances Gulland, the director of veterinary science at the Marine Mammal Center […]
By Dan Whitcomb (Additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Walsh)LOS ANGELESFri Feb 26, 2010 4:33pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Drought-stricken farmers and cities across California were granted a measure of relief on Friday when federal and state officials said they expected to supply significantly more water this year than last. The announcements […]
By John Platt Hundreds of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) have been found sick or dead off the coasts of California in the past month, the victims of a mysterious ailment that has scientists baffled. When found alive, the birds appear hungry and disoriented. But necropsies performed on dead pelicans found that they had been eating, […]
