Graph of the Day: Groundwater Storage Loss in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basins, October 2003 – March 2009

In the 66-month period analyzed, the water stored in the combined Sacramento and San Joaquin Basin decreased by more than 31 cubic kilometers, or nearly the volume of Lake Mead. Nearly two-thirds of this came from changes in groundwater storage, primarily from the Central Valley. NASA Data Reveal Major Groundwater Loss in California’s Heartland Technorati […]

Asian carp reach Lake Michigan

By SUSAN SAULNYPublished: January 19, 2010 CHICAGO — Genetic material from the Asian carp, a voracious invasive species long feared to be nearing the Great Lakes, has been identified for the first time at a harbor within Lake Michigan, near the Illinois-Indiana border, ecologists and federal officials said Tuesday. A second DNA match was found […]

'Super snake' fears on the rise in Florida

5 African rock pythons, which in their homeland are known to eat goats, are seen during a 3-day search in Miami-Dade County. Officials worry that the rock python could breed with the Burmese python. By Andy Reid, January 15, 2010 Reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Fears of a new “super snake” emerging in the […]

Asian carp breach electric barrier, close in on Lake Michigan

By CARYN ROUSSEAUThe Associated PressWednesday, January 13, 2010; 8:24 AM CHICAGO — DNA from the invasive Asian carp has been found closer to Lake Michigan than ever before, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday, renewing fears that the fish have breached an electrical barrier meant to keep them from reaching the Great Lakes […]

Graph of the Day: Unemployed Over 26 Weeks, 1969-2009

From Calculated Risk: The underlying details of the employment report are mostly weak. A couple of exceptions are the manufacturing diffusion index has increased significantly over the last couple of months (see below), and temporary help hiring has been strong (see previous post). Otherwise this report was grim: Average weekly earnings declined. Average weekly hours […]

Migratory birds bear brunt of climate-changed weather

January 12, 2010 by Terry Devitt (PhysOrg.com) — As global climate change fuels more frequent and intense hurricanes and droughts, migratory birds, especially those whose populations are already in decline, will bear the brunt of such climate-fueled weather, suggest a pair of new studies. Writing in the December online issue of the journal Global Change […]

California butterfly populations declining rapidly; ‘There is nowhere to go except heaven’

(University of California – Davis) California butterflies are reeling from a one-two punch of climate change and land development, says an unprecedented analysis led by UC Davis butterfly expert Arthur Shapiro.The new analysis, scheduled to publish online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, gives insights on how a major […]

Debris from melting glaciers chokes Mount Rainier rivers

The fallout from Mount Rainier’s shrinking glaciers is beginning to roll downhill, and nowhere is the impact more striking than on the volcano’s west side. By Sandi Doughton, Seattle Times science reporter National Park Service geologist Paul Kennard walks over a portion of Tahoma Creek where glacial sediment has spilled into forest. Mount Rainier’s glaciers […]

Pine beetles transform B.C. forests into net carbon emitters

Last year, B.C.’s forests were praised in the climate-change fight. But the pine beetle has forced the province to rethink its forest policy By Justine Hunter Victoria — From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Jan. 08, 2010 7:54PM EST Last updated on Saturday, Jan. 09, 2010 4:31PM EST In a single season, an […]

Polar bears in southern Beaufort Sea spending more time on land and open water

  ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, January 2010 — A long-term study showing the changes in habitat associations of polar bears in response to sea ice conditions in the southern Beaufort Sea has implications for polar bear management in Alaska. Karyn Rode, a polar bear biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, Alaska and one […]

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