Graph of the Day: Global Temperature Anomalies, June-August 2010

Caption by Adam Voiland and Mike CarlowiczOctober 1, 2010 An unparalleled heat wave in eastern Europe, coupled with intense droughts and fires in Russia, put Earth’s temperatures in the headlines this summer. Likewise, an exceptionally warm July in the eastern United States strained power grids, forced nursing home evacuations, and slowed transit systems. But from […]

Wildfires: A symptom of climate change

By Michael FinneranHampton VA (SPX) Sep 29, 2010 This summer, wildfires swept across some 22 regions of Russia, blanketing the country with dense smoke and in some cases destroying entire villages. In the foothills of Boulder, Colo., this month, wildfires exacted a similar toll on a smaller scale. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. […]

Graph of the Day: Total Land Area Affected by Mountain Pine Beetle in BC, 1981-2005

Mountain Pine Beetle in BC (1981-2005) 2, 3 The area of BC forest affected by the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) has more than doubled, from 4 million hectares in 2003 to 8.7 million hectares in 2006, with much of this in the Fraser Basin. The MPB reduces trees’ nutrient and water uptake, resulting in defoliation […]

Winds and fire-department cuts push fires through dozens of Detroit homes

Wind-whipped flames swept through at least three Detroit neighborhoods, destroying dozens of homes, including many that were vacant, officials said. By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press WriterWednesday, September 8, 2010 at 6:49 AM DETROIT — Wind-whipped flames swept through at least three Detroit neighborhoods, destroying dozens of homes, including many that were vacant, officials said. A […]

20 years left: Australia mammals plunge into extinction

By Ben Cubby ENVIRONMENT EDITORSeptember 2, 2010 AT DUSK, the dry savannah of the Kimberley was once alive with the scuttling and foraging of the burrowing bettong, a marsupial whose ”countless numbers” were marvelled at by early surveyors. Along with many species of quolls, bandicoots, possums and marsupial rats, the bettongs had thrived for millions […]

Fires ravage central Russia, killing at least 8

By Maxim Tkachenko, CNNSeptember 3, 2010 11:36 a.m. EDT Moscow, Russia (CNN) — Fires left at least eight people dead and hundreds homeless in three regions of central Russia, government officials said Friday. The regions of Volgograd, Saratov and Samara — all along the Volga River in central Russia — have been hit by forest […]

Forest fires in Madeira threaten future of Europe’s rarest seabird

  By James Corcut Friday, 3 September 2010 Europe’s rarest seabird, the Zino’s Petrel, found only in Madeira, has suffered potentially devastating losses from a forest fire which struck the birds’ breeding area on the Atlantic island. The fire on Madeira’s central mountain massif killed 25 chicks – 65 per cent of this year’s young […]

Higher temperatures cause longer Alaska growing season and loss of boreal forest

By Molly Rettig, Fairbanks News-Miner Monday, August 02, 2010 FAIRBANKS – One hundred years ago, the growing season in Fairbanks was less than three months long. Last year, some local gardeners were still harvesting broccoli and cabbage in mid-September. Fairbanks is 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter and 11 percent drier than it was in the early […]

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 […]

Image of the Day: Fires and Smoke in British Columbia Viewed from Orbit, 13 August 2010

Multiple clusters of fires burned in British Columbia, sending a thick plume of smoke over the Pacific Ocean in mid-August 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on August 13. East of the snowcapped Coast Mountains, numerous fires, many of them clustered into large groups, send smoke […]

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