Western wildfires: Firefighters battling blazes in 4 states as weather heats up in West

18 June 2015 (Associated Press) – Wildfires are chewing through parched parts of the West, where temperatures are rising Thursday. Here’s a look at the latest hotspots and what crews are doing to control them. ALASKA Two wildfires are burning outside Anchorage, one that tripled in size and forced the evacuation of campsites on the […]

Salmon-killing parasite is thriving in California drought – Massive die-off of young Chinook salmon could happen anytime now

17 June 2015 (WBUR) – Drought is creating problems in river systems all around the Northwest. Nowhere is this more evident than on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Scientists there say there’s not enough cool water flowing, and a massive die-off of young Chinook salmon could happen anytime now. Releasing more […]

A third of the world’s biggest groundwater basins are in distress – Reserves likely far smaller than previously thought

Irvine, California, 16 June 2015 (UCI) – Two new studies led by UC Irvine using data from NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites show that human consumption is rapidly draining some of its largest groundwater basins, yet there is little to no accurate data about how much water remains in them. The result is […]

Decade of drought: A global tour of seven recent water crises

By Charles Iceland12 June 2015 (The Guardian) – Every inhabited continent, to varying degrees, has areas where there is extremely high water stress. These are areas where more than 80% of the local water supply is withdrawn by businesses, farmers, residents and other consumers every year. These so-called stressed areas are also the ones most […]

Drought, heat, and insects responsible for killing more than 12 million trees in California

By Julie Cohen9 June 2015 (UCSB) – A combination of drought, heat and insects is responsible for the death of more than 12 million trees in California, according to a new study from UC Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Members of the NCEAS working group studying environmental factors contributing to […]

Rich Californians balk at limits: ‘We’re not all equal when it comes to water’

By Rob Kuznia13 June 2015 RANCHO SANTA FE, CALIFORNIA (The Washington Post) – Drought or no drought, Steve Yuhas resents the idea that it is somehow shameful to be a water hog. If you can pay for it, he argues, you should get your water. People “should not be forced to live on property with […]

São Paulo’s water crisis: In the Favela do Moinho, 2,500 residents rely on one impossibly thin blue pipe

By Claire Rigby15 April 2015 São Paulo (The Guardian) – With water levels worryingly low in at least two of São Paulo’s largest reservoirs, insecurity around water has become a fact of life for most paulistanos – as has a newfound interest in self-reliance and thrift: in stored water, rainwater collection and reduced usage. Yet […]

Video: As Lake Mead dries up, engineers dig deep in search for water

10 June 2015 (NBC News) – Harry Smith gets a unique view far underground, where engineers are looking miles beneath the surface of the country’s largest reservoir for water. As Lake Mead Dries Up, Engineers Dig Deep in Search for Water Technorati Tags: California,North America,drought,freshwater depletion,global warming,climate change

The coal boom choking China – ‘Sometimes people come back, but only to visit the graves of their ancestors’

By Emma Graham-Harrison5 June 2015 (The Guardian) – The country is grappling with the direct costs of that coal, in miners’ lives, crippling air pollution, expanding deserts and “environmental refugees”. Desire for change contends with fears that cutting back on familiar technology could dent employment or slow growth, and efforts to cut consumption do not […]

Did the EPA just say fracking is safe? Depends who you ask.

By Sarah Caspari8 June 2015 (Christian Science Monitor) – The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent report on hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, may have given oil and gas companies cause for celebration, but the report’s conditions and exceptions drew enough attention to keep the debate alive. Proponents of fracking rejoiced at the EPA’s announcement […]

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