How heat became a national U.S. problem – “The fact is, there’s not going to be enough refuge for everybody”

By Oliver Milman 14 August 2018 PHILADELPHIA (The Guardian) – On yet another day of roasting heat in Phoenix, elderly and homeless people scurry between shards of shade in search of respite at the Marcos De Niza Senior Center. Along with several dozen other institutions in the city, it has been set up as a […]

Wildfire smoke causing hazardous air quality in U.S. West

Dr. Jeff Masters 8 August 2018 (Weather Underground) – Smoke from the raging fires in California has brought dangerously high levels of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5, particles less than 2.5 microns or 0.0001 inch in diameter) to portions of California, Oregon, and Nevada since late July, and wildfire smoke now covers more than half of […]

Mother orca still carrying her dead calf, 16 days later – “I am absolutely shocked and heartbroken”

By Lynda V. Mapes 8 August 2018 (The Seattle Times) – Tahlequah, the mother orca also known as J35, was spotted Wednesday afternoon, still carrying her dead infant calf for the 16th straight day.“I am absolutely shocked and heartbroken,’’ said Deborah Giles, research scientist for University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology and research director […]

Record drought in northwestern British Columbia sparks nearly 500 wildfires – Fire crews from New Zealand and Australia brought in – “The drought codes are the highest they’ve ever been at this time of year”

5 August 2018 (The Weather Network) – With the number of fires burning across the province rapidly approaching the 500 mark, officials in British Columbia are recruiting help from out of the province – and even out of the country – as they do battle with 2018’s intense wildfire season. The more than 2,200 crew […]

Fraser River is now so warm it may kill migrating sockeye salmon – “They’re adapted to warmer temperatures but not the kind of temperatures they’re being exposed to now”

By Lisa Johnson 3 August 2018 (CBC News) – Sockeye salmon are on a mission up B.C.’s Fraser River right now, swimming “a marathon a day” to reach the gravel beds where they’ll lay eggs for the next generation. But the waters of the Fraser — historically one of the world’s great salmon rivers — […]

Canada court rules for salmon farms over territorial rights of First Nations

Vancouver, BC, 2 August 2018 (Sea Shepherd) – Today Justice Maisonville ruled that only Alexandra Morton can continue sampling close to salmon farms, but only in a boat that is 2.6m long, which is a vessel so tiny it is unsafe to operate in the marine waters of the BC coast. As a result, Marine […]

A mother orca’s dead calf and the grief felt around the world

By Lynda V. Mapes 2 August 2018 (The Seattle Times) – Is it her grief … or ours? As she carried her dead calf for the ninth straight day, Tahlequah the mother orca whale has captured the world’s attention. People have responded to her plight with poems. Paintings. Songs. Cascades of phone calls, emails and […]

Elegy for Tahlequah’s Calf

By Paul Nelson    30 July 2018 (Cascadia Magazine) – (For David McCloskey)Tahlequah is daughter of Princess Angelinebrother of Moby, sister to Kiki, motherto Notch. Her second offspring was notborn but born still and still un-named &un-numbered. For five days Tahlequahpushed her still-born calf around theSalish Sea, perhaps a hope that she’dnot be a parent to […]

Orcas now taking turns floating dead calf in apparent mourning ritual – “What you’re seeing is the depth of importance of this calf and the grief of the mother and the family”

1 August 2018 (CBC) – Members of a pod of endangered killer whales now appear to be taking turns floating the body of a newborn calf that died more than week ago.As It Happens reported on Friday about J-35, a mother orca from B.C.’s endangered killer whale population that has been balancing her dead calf […]

Smoke from Siberia wildfires reaches Western Washington and New England – More than 1200 square miles of forest is on fire – “The taiga is burning”

By Cliff Mass 30 July 2018 (Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog) – The smoke is back over western Washington and it is about to get worse, as California wildfire smoke pushes northward over our area. This morning’s sunrise clearly showed a smoke layer, with the reddish glow so familiar from last summer’s sunrises and […]

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