Image of the Day: Nighttime satellite view of California’s Rim Fire encroaching on Yosemite National Park

By Holli Riebeek26 August 2013 (NASA) – The winter of 2013 was among the driest on record for California, setting the stage for an active fire season. By August 26, the Rim Fire had made its way into the record books. At just 15 percent contained, the fire is now the 13th largest in California […]

U.S. Forest Service running out of money to fight wildfires – ‘We can’t allow our towns and forests to all burn down’

By Jeff Barnard, with additional writing by Matthew Daly in Washington21 August 2013 GRANTS PASS, Oregon (AP) – Running out of money to fight wildfires at the peak of the season, the U.S. Forest Service is diverting $600 million from timber, recreation, and other areas to fill the gap. The nation’s top wildfire-fighting agency was […]

First fire, then floods besiege forests in U.S. West – ‘It’s like concrete soup coming down’

By Dan Elliott, with contributions from Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M., and Bob Christie in Phoenix27 August 2013 MANITOU SPRINGS, Colorado (AP) – Drenching rain in the wildfire-blackened hills below Colorado’s Pikes Peak sent a torrent of rock and mud into the tourist town of Manitou Springs this month, killing a 53-year-old man and […]

Firefighters to protect Yosemite ‘no matter what it takes’ – ‘This is kind of a little paradise up here for us. To think this would all be gone would be devastating’

From Nick Valencia, Catherine E. Shoichet, and Phil Gast25 August 2013 Yosemite National Park, California (CNN) – Susan Loesch and Curtis Evans just started settling into their second home in California’s Sierra foothills a few months ago. Now, they’re worried it could go up in smoke as a massive wildfire spreads. “This is kind of […]

Yosemite wildfire threatens San Francisco power supply

FRESNO, California, August 24, 2013 (AP) — A wildfire raging out of control has grown to nearly 200 square miles and spread into Yosemite National Park at the height of the summer season for one of California’s most popular tourist destinations. While it has closed some backcountry hiking, it was not threatening the Yosemite Valley, […]

Sunburned in Siberia: Heat wave leads to wildfires

17 August 2013 (AP) – An intense heat wave in Siberia has contributed to an unusual flare up of wildfires across the fragile and carbon-rich landscape. Smoke from the fires is lofting high into the atmosphere, and is drifting toward the Arctic, where soot can hasten the melting of snow and sea ice. The Siberian […]

Record wildfires in the U.S. West raise questions about development – ‘Just let it burn’

By Jim Malewitz, Pew/Stateline 19 August 2013 (USA TODAY) – Will wildfires grow ever bigger, more frequent — and deadlier? Those who live in the rugged West are enduring another summer of scorched-earth devastation. Colorado this year saw the most devastating wildfire in its history, a blaze that killed two people and destroyed 16,000 acres […]

Over $70 million spent on summer wildfires in S. Oregon – ‘It’s definitely looking into historic territory’

17 August 2013 (Associated Press) – The Oregon Department of Forestry has spent more than $70 million fighting major wildfires so far this summer, far more than it generally spends to handle conflagrations on state-protected lands. The two largest wildfires in Southern Oregon — the Big Windy and Douglas Complex fires — are responsible for […]

Video: Wildfire burns homes in Utah and creates ‘funnel cloud’ of smoke

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy 13 August 2013 (NBC News) – Evacuations have been made in Summit County, Utah as a fast-moving fire destroys several homes and creates a unique “funnel cloud” of smoke. Wildfire burns homes and creates ‘funnel cloud’ of smoke Technorati Tags: North America,wildfire,forest fire,global […]

Why the World Bank is taking on climate change – Interview with Rachel Kyte, vice president of sustainable development

By Coral Davenport12 August 2013 (National Journal) – The World Bank, headquartered a block from the White House, was founded after World War II to combat global poverty. But over the past year, fighting climate change has become the bank’s new guiding principal, as economic evidence indicates that global warming will be a driving cause […]

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