Global warming saps the Colorado River – Flow could fall 55 percent by 2100

By John Fleck19 February 2017 (inkstain) –  A warming climate is already reducing the flow in the Colorado River, and the future risk is large, with a worst case of the river’s flow being cut in half by the end of the century, according to a new study from a pair of the region’s leading […]

Thousands ordered to evacuate below California’s Oroville Dam – Failure of emergency spillway expected within the hour, causing “uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville”

By Anna M. Phillips, Matt Hamilton, Paige St. John, and Chris Megerian12 February 2017 (Los Angeles Times) – Residents of Oroville and nearby towns were ordered to immediately evacuate on Sunday afternoon after a “hazardous situation” developed involving an emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam. The National Weather Service said the auxiliary spillway at the […]

Africa migrants face torture, blackmail, and rape amid chaos in Yemen

By Maad al-Zikry, Maggie Michael, and Ahmed al-Haj28 January 2017 ADEN, Yemen (Associated Press) –  After reaching Yemen’s shores in a packed migrant boat, the young Ethiopian coffee farmer was plunged into a living hell. The smugglers wanted thousands of dollars in ransom from the migrants, and they used him as an example of what […]

Study predicts global footprint of extreme fires will expand

7 February 2017 (University of Tasmania) – Increasingly dangerous fire weather is forecast for Australia and the Mediterranean as the global footprint of extreme fires expands, according to the latest research. University of Tasmania Professor of Environmental Change Biology David Bowman led an international collaboration – including researchers from the University of Idaho and South […]

Storms filled 37 percent of California snow-water deficit

27 January 2017 (JPL) – The “atmospheric river” weather patterns that pummeled California with storms from late December to late January may have recouped 37 percent of the state’s five-year snow-water deficit, according to new University of Colorado Boulder-led research using NASA satellite data. Researchers at the university’s Center for Water Earth Science and Technology […]

Depleted fish stocks and huge dead zone signal tipping point in the Bay of Bengal

By Amitav Ghosh and Aaron Savio Lobo31 January 2017 (The Guardian) – The Bay of Bengal’s basin contains some of the most populous regions of the earth. No less than a quarter of the world’s population is concentrated in the eight countries that border the bay1. Approximately 200 million people live along the Bay of […]

More than 100 wildfires rage across Chile – Fires have destroyed nearly one million acres

DICHATO, Chile, 31 January 2017 (Associated Press) – Strong winds are continuing to stoke the flames of raging wildfires in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 800 families in the coastal town of Dichato. Firefighters and residents fought the fast-spreading blazes on the ground Tuesday, while a Russian supertanker plane and a Brazilian Hercules […]

Worst wildfires on record in Chile have killed 11 people – “The greatest forest disaster in our history”

By Jorge Poblete27 January 2017 (Los Angeles Times) – Chile’s worst ever wildfires threatened the city of Concepcion and the nation’s wine industry Friday, a day after flames destroyed a town about 200 miles south of the nation’s capital. President Michelle Bachelet’s office said the fires had killed 11 people, forced the evacuation of more […]

Three months after Hurricane Matthew, 1.5 million Haitians face hunger

  18 January 2017 (United Nations) – While the number of Haitians facing hunger in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew has declined steadily in the three months since the deadly storm ripped through the tiny island nation, more than 1.5 million people nevertheless remain food insecure, the United Nations said today. The UN World […]

Forest die-offs alter global climate “like El Niño’

By Christopher Intagliata22 November 2016 (Scientific American) – Climate change may be partly to blame for the massive die-off of pine trees in the western U.S. But it works the other way, too: forest die-offs can alter the global climate. “I like thinking of this as a parallel to something like El Nino.” Abigail Swann, […]

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