Graph of the Day: Fairbanks Frost-Free Season, 1904-2008

Over the past 100 years, the length of the frost-free season in Fairbanks, Alaska, has increased by 50 percent. The trend toward a longer frost-free season is projected to produce benefits in some sectors and detriments in others. Over the past 50 years, Alaska has warmed at more than twice the rate of the rest […]

America’s Ten Dead Cities: From Detroit To New Orleans

By Douglas A. McIntyreAugust 23, 2010 at 8:34 pm A city does not die when its last resident moves away.  Death happens when municipalities lose the industries and vital populations that made them important cities. The economy has evolved so much since the middle of the 20th Century that many cities that were among the […]

Los Angeles launches campaign to roll back ocean regulation for power plants

A bill in the Legislature would delay new regulations that require the DWP to overhaul three coastal power plants to reduce the amount of seawater used for cooling. By Patrick McGreevy and David Zahniser, Los Angeles TimesAugust 25, 2010 The city of Los Angeles has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign to roll back tough new […]

Previously unknown microbe ate BP oil deep-water plume

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment CorrespondentTue Aug 24, 2010 5:25pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Manhattan-sized plume of oil spewed deep into the Gulf of Mexico by BP’s broken Macondo well has been consumed by a newly discovered fast-eating species of microbes, scientists reported on Tuesday.   The micro-organisms were apparently stimulated by the massive oil spill […]

Yellowstone bears go hungry after beetle infestation destroys whitebark pines

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press WriterAugust 22, 2010 (AP) — Yellowstone’s grizzlies are going to be particularly hungry this fall, and that means more dangerous meetings with humans in a year that is already the area’s deadliest on record. Scientists report that a favorite food of many bears, nuts from whitebark pine cones, is scarce. […]

Mysterious biological residue washing ashore in Alabama

By Ben Raines, Press-Register Sunday, August 22, 2010, 5:30 AM     Scientists are intrigued by the heavy sheen and persistent clouds of dingy brown water washing up in pockets from Perdido Pass to Petit Bois Island since July. Waves carrying the brown water ashore leave a conspicuous amber stain on the white sand. A recent snorkeling […]

Disaster at the Top of the World

By THOMAS HOMER-DIXON, Aboard the Louis S. St-LaurentAugust 22, 2010 STANDING on the deck of this floating laboratory for Arctic science, which is part of Canada’s Coast Guard fleet and one of the world’s most powerful icebreakers, I can see vivid evidence of climate change. Channels through the Canadian Arctic archipelago that were choked with […]

Haze from British Columbia fires expected to worsen in Alberta

By JENNA McMURRAY, QMI AgencyAugust 23, 2010 6:47am CALGARY – Though haze that settled over Calgary and much of Alberta last week due to wafting smoke from B.C. forest fires dissolved somewhat on the weekend, there’s more where that came from, according to Alberta Environment. Bob Myrick, manager for air policy, said though the air […]

Gulf of Mexico still in crisis four months after BP explosion

By Kierán Suckling, (520) 275-5960August 20, 2010 NEW ORLEANS— Today marks the end of the fourth month since BP’s negligence and lack of government oversight caused the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig to explode, sending more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. To assess how much damage was done and […]

Graph of the Day: US West Coast Butterfly Range Shifts Northward

As climate warms, many species in the United States are shifting their ranges northward and to higher elevations. The map shows the response of Edith’s checkerspot butterfly populations to a warming climate over the past 136 years in the American West. Over 70 percent of the southernmost populations (shown in yellow) have gone extinct. The […]

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