By Angela Fritz 2 July 2015 (Washington Post) – Hot and dry conditions in Alaska have been toppling records over the past few months — many of which have been held for decades. And now, with two million acres burned already, 2015 appears well on its way to becoming the worst fire season on record […]
By Jon Erdman and Nick Wiltgen4 July 2015 (The Weather Channel) – While it may not be quite as hot as last weekend in some areas, there appears to be no end in sight to this torrid heat wave in the West. June and even a few all-time record highs have already been shattered in […]
By Chris Mooney 25 June 2015 (Washington Post) – If Greenland goes, it is becoming clear that it won’t go quietly. Scientists have already documented entire meltwater lakes vanishing in a matter of hours atop the vast Greenland ice sheet, as huge crevasses open beneath them. And now, they’ve cast light on the mechanisms behind […]
3 July 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Will world agriculture be able to support a human population of 12 billion people in the year 2100? The answer largely turns on how much land is available for growing crops. Unfortunately, the world’s arable land area is declining at an enormous rate. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification […]
By Tim Radford16 June 2015 LONDON (Climate News Network) – Scientists in California have identified a cold-blooded killer as global warming brings new hazards for ectotherms − creatures that cannot regulate their own body heat. The suggestion may seem counter-intuitive, as vipers, lizards, fish and frogs all depend on ambient warmth to keep their metabolisms […]
By Leila Carvalho26 June 2015 (The Conversation) – Exceptional drought, extreme temperatures, unprecedented drops in reservoir levels, and threatening water shortages for millions of people have dominated headlines in California in recent years. Unfortunately, Californians are not the only people being stressed with the “water crisis.” Citizens of one of the most densely populated areas […]
By Glenn Farley26 June 2015 NEAR BLEWETT PASS, Washington (KING 5 News) – From the crest of the Cascade Mountains running east to the sagebrush and desert country along the Columbia River, a map shows years of damage from the Western Spruce Budworm, which is killing trees by the thousands. The state’s worst patch of […]
By Nathaniel Rich13 May 2015 (Vice) – Allison Gong is a marine biologist, so she knows perfectly well that a sea star has no blood, brain, or central nervous system. Still, she can’t help thinking of the stars in her lab as pets. “Because of my weird personality,” she told me, “I form an emotional […]
30 June 2015 (The Weather Channel) – A torrid heat wave is easing a bit, but will kick into high gear yet again later this week into the July 4th holiday weekend, and possibly beyond. June record highs have been broken in at least 31 cities in the Northwest, five of which appear to have […]
SAN FRANCISCO, 29 June 2015 (CBS SF) – California’s severe drought is taking a serious toll on San Francisco’s aging sewer system. Some of the city’s 1,000 miles of sewer pipes are more than 100 years old, among the first installed after the Gold Rush. The waste was getting dumped into the streets, the streets […]
