By David Gelles In 2015 Pope Francis offered a sprawling meditation on man’s place on Earth and the spiritual implications of human-caused global warming. Eight years later, he appears to have little patience for such ruminations. In an updated environmental treatise published this week, the pope names and shames the countries and industries he sees […]
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By Dana DrugmandAugust 15, 2023 “Game-changer ruling” has implications for future climate change lawsuits in the US and around the world. A Montana court ruled in favor of 16 young people who put their state government on trial in June in the first constitutional climate trial in U.S. history. In an order issued Monday, Judge Kathy Seeley […]
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The wood products industry is massively undercounting its impact on the climate, a new study has found. Through its production of paper, pulp, pellets and lumber, the industry releases at least 3.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year, according to a study published last week in Nature. That is a large number in its own right: more than […]
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Because concrete and steel used to construct buildings are a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions, there is growing interest in “mass timber” — a supposedly lower-carbon option — to replace them. New ways of gluing pieces of wood together to form strong beams and structural panels provide opportunities to use wood even in tall buildings. But new research finds that using wood in construction is likely to increase emissions for many decades, […]
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California’s Forests Targeted As Feedstock for Global Wood Bioenergy Industry – Civil Society Responds With United Force to Oppose Massive Wood Pellet Export Project The opening of the environmental review of the Golden State Natural Resources wood pellet manufacture and export scheme in California received a robust response from civil society environmental and environmental justice organizations from […]
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Funding Will Help Communities Implement Groundwater Recharge, Flood Management, Water Conservation and Water Supply Reliability Projects May 17, 2023 “California’s changing climate presents unique challenges to our regions across the state,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “These projects meet multiple needs including constructing new water infrastructure, improving water quality, protecting wildlife and preparing for a […]
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“It’s way faster than we thought these circulations could slow down,” said one researcher. “We are talking about the possible long-term extinction of an iconic water mass.” Julia ConleyMar 30, 2023 Scientists from the United States and Australia on Wednesday warned in a new study that the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting rapid […]
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Forest Carbon Coalition and John Muir Project presents Biomass Logging: Bad for Communities, Climate & Forests Please join our esteemed panelists Katherine Egland of Mississippi’s Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization (EEECHO), Dr. Shaye Wolf, of Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and biologist, author, and filmmaker Maya Khosla for an in-depth discussion of biomass logging. Katherine […]
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20 May 2021 Intense storms and flooding triggered three times more displacements than violent conflicts did last year, as the number of people internally displaced worldwide hit the highest level on record. There were at least 55 million internally displaced people (IDPs) by the end of last year, according to figures published by the Norwegian Refugee […]
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Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken denied the request of 18 Republican attorneys general to intervene as defendants in the Juliana case. Judge Aiken indicated that when her ruling comes down on the plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend, the states could attempt to refile their motion, suggesting a ruling in Juliana v. United States – where a favorable decision would put the youth back on the path to trial – may be imminent! After we notify our […]
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A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Forests and Global Change presents the nation’s first assessment of carbon stored in larger trees and mature forests on 11 national forests from the West Coast states to the Appalachian Mountains. This study is a companion to prior work to define, inventory and assess the nation’s older forests published in a […]
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Plot maps from the monthly NOAA/NCEI U.S. Climate Division dataset including means, anomalies, and climatologies. Maps can be created for an average (“composite”) of different years.
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What is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)?The IRA bill is a massive $740 billion piece of legislation, funded primarily through increased corporate income taxes, to address issues like the national deficit, tackling the rising costs of prescription drugs, and shoring up the Internal Revenue Service’s enforcement capacity. It also provides Medicare with the ability to […]
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“Climate change ecology studies the interactions between climate change and natural ecosystems.” New research links the amount of carbon dioxide taken in by land ecosystems, such as forests, to the availability of water, which is in short supply during droughts. Our climate is rapidly warming with rising temperatures affecting the physical environments that support entire […]
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Exciting news! Rangers Josh Crosbie and Keith Gray recently observed a beaver dam at Maxwell Farms Regional Park. Beavers are important “ecosystem engineers” that help create habitat for other species. Beavers are also a “keystone species,” which means they have a disproportionately positive influence on the species and environment around them. Beavers help sequester carbon […]
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After three years of drought, the massive state and federal water projects that serve California’s cities and farms have less water to distribute, forcing water managers to increasingly ration supplies. This year, squeezed extra tight by the prolonged drought conditions, both the state and federal […]
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New research links the amount of carbon dioxide taken in by land ecosystems, such as forests, to the availability of water, which is in short supply during droughts. Our climate is rapidly warming with rising temperatures affecting the physical environments that support entire ecosystems. Humans and animal species both face daunting challenges for survival because of climate change. During […]
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There are nearly 33 million acres of forested land in the State of California. Since the early days of European- American settlement, the wholesale destruction of our native, “old-growth” forests, and the overall depletion of the productive capacity of our forests, both public and private, have been the subject of debate and concern. Many may […]
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Warming temperatures threaten an entire run of Chinook salmon, which California officials blame on drought, climate change and a Trump-era water policy. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Facing another summer of catastrophic fish kills, California lawmakers and fisheries managers on Tuesday blamed a Trump-era water policy and climate change for the sizzling water temperatures threatening to erase an entire run of Chinook salmon. “We’re witnessing the collapse of this iconic species right in front of our eyes,” said state Senator Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Santa Rosa. […]
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By: SN&R Staff August 5, 2021 By Dan Bacher In an extreme drought year where nearly all juvenile Sacramento River winter run Chinook salmon are expected to die before spawning due to alleged water mismanagement by the state and federal governments, the return of a record run of adult spring run Chinook salmon on Butte Creek this […]
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By The Times Editorial BoardJuly 26, 2021 The news reports about the California salmon wipeout got a good chunk of the story right: Record-breaking heat waves made Northern California rivers too warm to sustain migrating chinook salmon, and virtually all of the salmon in the Sacramento River this summer have died, or will die, before reproducing. Any eggs that were […]
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Subject: Scoping Study 2022 should update GHG inventory methods to include all significant sources of statewide emissions, including emissions from international aviation, international water borne navigation and interstate aviation. Esteemed ARB Staff, Board Members, and Members of the Public, These comments are submitted on behalf of California River Watch . We appreciate the opportunity to […]
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June 28, 2021 Written by Communications Intern Sage Bachman As California enters another severe drought, residents are once again being asked to use water more judiciously so as to make it last longer. While it is indeed crucial for all of us to reduce our water usage, is also critical to investigate how California’s limited sources […]
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The highly engineered rivers that sustain California cities and farms upset streamside woodlands’ relationship with groundwater, a new study finds, jeopardizing their future in a changing climate.
California’s perennially drought-parched Central Valley bears little resemblance to the vibrant landscape of the pre-Gold Rush days, when wild rivers sustained lush woodlands and floodplains teeming with life.
Trees at the center of these biodiversity hotspots evolved in an arid landscape sculpted by finely tuned exchanges […]
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New research shows that the amount of heat the planet traps has roughly doubled since 2005, contributing to more rapidly warming oceans, air and land By Tik RootJune 16, 2021 The amount of heat Earth traps has roughly doubled since 2005, contributing to more rapidly warming oceans, air and land, according to new research from NASA […]
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The two leading science groups studying ecosystems and climate urged protection of carbon-rich habitats and warned against solutions to warming that lower species diversity. By Georgina GustinJune 11, 2021 Slowing global warming and stemming the loss of biodiversity have been viewed as independent challenges for years. But a new landmark report concludes that climate […]
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“The 9th Circuit failed to correct the legal errors in the panel decision,” said the lead attorney in the case, who added that the case is now up to the nation’s highest court. For the second time in as many years, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected a landmark climate lawsuit brought by a group of young people—who say they will now take their case to the United […]
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“President-elect Biden said his administration wouldn’t just tinker around the edges, but instead would lock in progress no future president can roll back. Our recommendations are a roadmap for doing exactly that.” by Julia Conley, staff writer The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday called on President-election Joe Biden to make good on his pledge […]
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In order to roll back catastrophic carbon emissions, humans must “start developing the technologies for large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere,” … Humanity may have passed the “point of no return” in the climate crisis—even if everyone on the planet stopped emitting all greenhouse gases at this very moment, according to a study published Thursday.
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Scientists at an Antarctic research station recently recorded a one-day air temperature of just under 70 degrees, a balmy afternoon in a region of the world unaccustomed to them. In fact, as far as researchers can tell, it has never been that warm in Antarctica before. The record was set against an increasingly scary global backdrop of rising temperatures and seas; more powerful storms, droughts and floods; a reduced Arctic ice cap, and accelerated melting and movement of glaciers around the globe — including Antarctica. […]
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