That rattling sound is the food chain – Desperate hopes for July 1st ban on sardine fishing in Pacific Ocean

By Sheila Pell11 July 2015 (San Diego Reader) – A ban on U.S. Pacific sardine fishing that took effect July 1 will mean more food for starving sea lions, pelicans, and other creatures. But there’s no shutting down the other forces rattling the food chain. Weird weather conditions are being linked to mass casualties and […]

Global warming is shrinking where bumblebees range, research finds – ‘Bumblebee species across Europe and North America are declining at continental scales’

By Nicholas St. Fleur9 July 2015 (The New York Times) – Climate change has narrowed the range where bumblebees are found in North America and Europe in recent decades, according to a study published Thursday. The paper, published in the journal Science, suggests that warming temperatures have caused bumblebee populations to retreat from the southern […]

Forest fires burn at the wettest place in North America

By Monica Blaylock9 July 2015 (Motherboard) – Vancouver Island is home to the wettest place in North America—and right now it’s on fire. Drought has plunged the the Port Alberni-Clayoquot Region, part of Canada’s only rainforest, into one of the worst dry seasons on record. Forest fires are spreading quickly through sun-scorched woods that, in […]

Europe and U.S. Pacific Northwest face record heat

By Michael Carlowicz12 July 2015 (NASA) – For two weeks in late June and early July 2015, western Europe and the Pacific Northwest of North America endured record-setting heat and parched landscapes. Other parts of the world got a taste of the heat, too, as new temperature records were set on three continents. The map […]

How is drought in Washington State affecting local farms? ‘This is the hottest, driest spring ever — as in the least amount of rainfall and highest temperatures for May and June’

By Angela Garbes8 July 2015 (The Stranger) – Everybody in Seattle knows that summer doesn’t typically start until after the Fourth of July. It’s when, after months of rain (the infamous “Juneuary”), the clouds finally part and the temperatures rise. But not this year. Nobody knows this better than local farmers. While people have been […]

Minnesota air quality plunges as smoke plume from Canada fires descends – ‘The smoke we’re smelling used to be trees in western Canada a few days ago’

By Paul Huttner 6 July 2015 (Minnesota Public Radio) – What next, locusts? Monday morning’s downpours (and flash floods in the east metro) got our attention early. Just when you thought it was safe, the core of the dense smoke plume from over 600 wildfires in Alaska and western Canada arrived. The dense white smoke […]

California drought leads to mass tree felling across Los Angeles

By Adam Justice 7 July 2015 City officials in Los Angeles have said they don’t have enough water to irrigate all the trees in the city, so they are cutting down roughly 14,000 of those that are dead or dying from drought. ”It’s difficult to say the specific cause of death. But the drought is […]

Alaska and Canada wildfires, 6 July 2015

Total fires in 2015 Alaska: 640Canada: 4526 Total acres burned in 2015 Alaska: 2,950,572 acresCanada: 5,315,200 acres (2,150,971 ha) Alaska: AICC Situation Report (Predictive Services – Intelligence/Reports) Canada: Current Fire Data Graphs Canada: National Wildland Fire Situation Report Global Daily Active Fire Products  and Interactive Fire Maps Technorati Tags: Alaska,Canada,North America,wildfire,forest fire,drought,heat wave,global warming,climate change

The weather.com Climate Disruption Index: The 25 most vulnerable U.S. cities

By Michele Berger 6 July 2015 (weather.com) – “There are so many different ways that people will feel the impact of climate change,” says David Easterling, Ph.D., of NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information. Sea-level rise and flooding. Extreme heat and drought. Extreme precipitation events. Which events matter and how much depends on which part […]

Photo gallery: Smoke plumes from British Columbia wildfires darken skies over Vancouver and Victoria

By Susan Wyatt5 July 2015 (KING 5 News) – Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia was streaming into Western Washington on Sunday, causing an eerie yellow cast to the skies. More than 50 new wildfires were sparked over this weekend alone. Officials with the Paradise Fire said local 911 dispatchers in the Port Angeles area […]

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