To measure reach of California drought, researchers scale the mighty sequoia – ‘We have very little understanding of how severe of a drought it takes to kill a giant sequoia tree’

By Ezra David Romero17 August 2015 (NPR) – The giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada are one of America’s treasures, but for the first time in Sequoia National Park’s history, the trees are showing visible signs of exhaustion due to the drought. On a hike last summer, a scientist noticed that the needles of the […]

California drought causing land in the Central Valley to subside faster than ever – Increased pumping drives groundwater levels to record lows – ‘We are pumping at historic levels’

19 August 2015 (JPL) – As Californians continue pumping groundwater in response to the historic drought, the California Department of Water Resources today released a new NASA report showing land in the San Joaquin Valley is sinking faster than ever before, nearly 2 inches (5 centimeters) per month in some locations. The report, Progress Report: […]

Washington state asks for volunteer help to fight forest fires, for the first time in state history

By Drew Mikkelsen21 August 2015 OMAK, Washington (KING 5 News) – With wildfires straining resources, Washington officials say that for the first time in state history they’re coordinating help from residents who have and can operate equipment like backhoes and bulldozers to dig fire lines. The Department of Natural Resources says its command posts have […]

Feeling the heat: Earth in July was hottest month on record

By Seth Borenstein20 August 2015 WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet’s warmest month on record, smashing old marks, U.S. weather officials said. And it’s almost a dead certain lock that this year will beat last year as the warmest year on record, they said. July’s average temperature was 61.86 […]

Climate change deniers present graphic description of what Earth must look like for them to believe

WASHINGTON, 19 August 2015 (The Onion) – Evoking cataclysmic scenes of extreme weather and widespread drought and famine, the nation’s climate change deniers held a press conference Wednesday to describe exactly what the Earth must look like before they will begin to believe in human-induced global warming. The group of skeptics, who said that the […]

NASA satellite captures thick plumes of smoke from wildfires

18 August 2015 (ABC) – As wildfires continue to burn dozens of homes and force thousands of evacuations around the Pacific Northwest, NASA has released images illustrating the massive plumes of smoke and charred Earth that can be seen from space. Wildfires have burned around 7 million acres, according to NASA, which is 2 million […]

Three killed, four injured fighting ‘Hell Storm’ wildfire near Twisp, Washington – ‘The conditions throughout the area remain extremely dangerous’

By Rob Kauder19 August 2015 SPOKANE, Washington (KXLY) – Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said Wednesday evening three firefighters have been killed and three to four more have been injured while battling raging wildfires. Rogers called the dire situation these firefighters faced near Twisp a “Hell Storm,” with the fire racing across the ground, being […]

Wildfire statistics for the U.S. West, 19 August 2015

19 August 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Famous Northwest weatherman Cliff Mass recently posted about wildfires in Washington State (A Real Surprise: FEWER Acres Than Normal Have Burned over the Northwest This Year). Professor Mass shows some great graphs from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center of the Bureau of Land Management: Fuels and Fire Danger [pdf]. […]

July was likely Earth’s hottest month in what’s destined to be Earth’s hottest year on record

By Jason Samenow 17 August 2015 (Washington Post) – For planet Earth, no other month was likely as hot as this past July in records that date back to the late 1800s. And the global is well on its way to having its hottest year on record. Both NASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) […]

River that runs through downtown San Jose, California dries up; fish and wildlife suffer – ‘Every stream is slowly going dry’

By Sean Breslin10 August 2015 (weather.com) – One of America’s 10 largest cities is swiftly losing its river, and the loss is having major effects on the ecosystem around it. The San Jose Mercury News said eight miles of the 14-mile long Guadalupe River that runs through San Jose, California, has now dried up, another […]

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