Stimulus funds drill wells as California water vanishes

  By GARANCE BURKE, DOS PALOS, Calif. (AP) — The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the […]

Squid invasions signal changes in the Pacific Ocean

Some Fish Stock Decline as Jumbo Squid Migrate to New Waters By MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFFDec. 19, 2009 When large numbers of jumbo squid first showed up in California’s Monterey Bay in 1997, scientists weren’t sure what had brought the cephalopod that far north. An unusually strong El Niño event had warmed the eastern Pacific. But the […]

Groundwater loss in Central Valley since 2003 equal to volume of Lake Mead

Irvine, Calif., December 14, 2009 — New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California’s primary agricultural region – the Central Valley – and its major mountain water source – the Sierra Nevada – have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir. The findings, based on satellite […]

California water allocation hits record-low level

  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California officials said on Tuesday that drought and environmental restrictions have forced them to cut planned water deliveries to irrigation districts and cities statewide to just 5 percent of their contracted allotments. Although the state Water Resources Department typically ends up supplying more water than first projected […]

As sewers fill, waste poisons waterways

By CHARLES DUHIGGPublished: November 22, 2009 It was drizzling lightly in late October when the midnight shift started at the Owls Head Water Pollution Control Plant, where much of Brooklyn’s sewage is treated. A few miles away, people were walking home without umbrellas from late dinners. But at Owls Head, a swimming pool’s worth of […]

Trout may be killed to save California yellow-legged frogs

SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 19, 2009 (ENS) – National Park Service officials in California are about to decide how to kill non-native trout to save critically endangered native yellow-legged frogs. How to eradicate the trout has generated a controversy among environmental groups. The nonprofit organization Save The Frogs, based in Virginia, is urging the National […]

California firefighter warns of increased wildfires due to climate change

  By Myles BurkePublished: 7:27AM GMT 11 Nov 2009 During 2009 California wildfires have burned more than 336,020 acres of land since the beginning of July, destroying hundreds of buildings and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. The Station Fire, north of Los Angeles, was the largest and deadliest of these wildfires this year, […]

Graph of the Day: Vegetation Decline Due To Drought in California's Central Valley

By the end of July 2009, California was well into its third dry year in a row. On average, the state’s reservoirs were running low. In particular, the San Luis reservoir had reached only 18 percent of its capacity by July 28, said the Drought Operations Center for the State of California. The San Luis […]

Graph of the Day: Response of Nitrogen Emissions and Soil Respiration to Increasing Temperature

Laboratory measurements of the response of reactive N gas emissions and soil respiration to changes in soil temperature in (A) dry soil from beneath L. tridentata, (B) dry soil from plant interspaces, and (C) wetted soil from beneath L. tridentata. In arid environments such as deserts, nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient for biological […]

Cave study links climate change to California mega-droughts

(University of California – Davis) California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor Isabel Montañez. The finding, which comes from analyzing stalagmites from Moaning Cavern in the central […]

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