By Steve Lundeberg 2 July 2019 CORVALLIS, Oregon (Oregon State University) – The most extensive and systematic insect monitoring program ever undertaken in North America shows that butterfly abundance in Ohio declined yearly by 2%, resulting in an overall 33% drop for the 21 years of the program. Though the study was limited to one […]
By Bob Henson 9 July 2019 (Weather Underground) – Topping a remarkable record that was set just a month earlier, the year-long period ending in June was the wettest 12-month span in U.S. records that go back to 1895. For the 48 contiguous U.S. states, precipitation averaged 37.86” over the period from July 2018 to […]
By Scott Waldman 8 July 2019 (Science) – A March news release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) touted a new study that could be useful for infrastructure planning along the California coastline. At least that’s how President Donald Trump’s administration conveyed it. The news release hardly stood out. It focused on the methodology of […]
By Francy Nava 6 July 2019 (Imazon) – Recent land cover mapping in Amazonia has identified a considerable number of water mirrors in rural properties, indicating the presence of small dams supporting agricultural activities. In Sorriso-MT, for example, Arvor, et al., (2018) identified a five-fold increase in the number of dams (86 to 522) in […]
By Dr. Jeff Masters 5 July 2019 (Weather Underground) – The temperature in Alaska’s largest city of Anchorage soared to an astonishing 90°F on Thursday, July 4, smashing the city’s previous all-time heat record by a remarkable 5°F. Anchorage’s average high temperature for July 4 is 65°F; records for Anchorage date back to 1952. All-time […]
By Damian Carrington 2 July 2019 (The Guardian) – The record-breaking heatwave that struck France and other European nations in June was made at least five – and possibly 100 – times more likely by climate change, scientists have calculated. Such heatwaves are also about 4C hotter than a century ago, the researchers say. Furthermore, the […]
By Damian Carrington 1 July 2019 (The Guardian) – The vast expanse of sea ice around Antarctica has suffered a “precipitous” fall since 2014, satellite data shows, and fell at a faster rate than seen in the Arctic. The plunge in the average annual extent means Antarctica lost as much sea ice in four years […]
By Kathryn Hansen 3 July 2019 (NASA) – It is the “rain” in the term “rainforest” that makes possible the diverse ecosystem teeming with plants and animals. That doesn’t mean a rainforest is always wet: tropical rainforests are known for having distinct wet and dry seasons. But new research shows that the summer dry season in the […]
By Sudarshan Varadhan 2 July 2019 CHENNAI (Reuters) – In the small village of Bangarampettai, 20 miles from India’s manufacturing capital Chennai, about 150 people last month “captured” a water tanker, breaking its windscreen and deflating its tires before handing it over to a nearby police station. People living on the outskirts of this southern […]
By John Bacon 4 July 2019 (USA TODAY) – Alaska’s biggest city won’t be marking the nation’s 243rd birthday with fireworks displays as Anchorage struggles with dry conditions, wildfires and what could become the hottest day on record. The city’s all-time high temperature record of 85 degrees dates back 50 years. It could fall today, with a […]
