Tag Archives: climate change

Climate change already playing out in West, report says

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Deseret News 12/18/2012
Excerpt:         “SALT LAKE CITY  — A new report says the effects of climate change are already being felt in bug-infested forests of the Intermountain West, in reduced flows of the Colorado River basin and in the amount of snow that falls in the Rocky Mountains.

What is key, the report stresses, is how state and federal governments are responding and what land and natural resource conservation strategies can be embraced or expanded to counter the impacts.      ….”

Read entire article at http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865569065/Climate-change-already-playing-out-in-West-report-says.html?pg=all

US Forest Service report forecasts natural resource management trends, challenges for next 50 years

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Lake County News 12/19/2012
Excerpt:        “A comprehensive U.S. Forest Service report released Tuesday examines the ways expanding populations, increased urbanization, and changing land-use patterns could profoundly impact natural resources, including water supplies, nationwide during the next 50 years.

Significantly, the study shows the potential for significant loss of privately-owned forests to development and fragmentation, which could substantially reduce benefits from forests that the public now enjoys including clean water, wildlife habitat, forest products and others.    …..”

Read entire article athttp://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28601:us-forest-service-report-forecasts-natural-resource-management-trends-challenges-for-next-50-years&catid=1:latest&Itemid=197

U.S. Wildfires: Burn Area Expected To Double By 2050

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Huffington Post 12/17/2012
Excerpt:        “Warmer and drier conditions in coming decades will likely cause the burned area from wildfires in the U.S. to double in size by 2050, according to new research based on satellite observations and computer modeling experiments. The research, which was first presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Dec. 4, provides insight into both recent wildfire trends and the sharp increase in dryness — and therefore wildfire susceptibility — in certain regions of the country.      …”

Read entire article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/us-wildfires-burn-area_n_2315110.html

Groups seek expansion of Wyo. coal mining lawsuit

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San Fransisco Chronicle 11/15/2012
Excerpt:    “CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Environmental groups asked a judge Thursday to expand the scope of a lawsuit they’ve filed against the U.S. Forest Service over plans to mine coal in northeast Wyoming.
U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson heard the groups’ arguments, and the Forest Service’s objections to the request, and said he would rule on the motion in a day or two. He didn’t hint which way he might decide.
The lawsuit is one of several that environmentalists have filed recently to contest Wyoming coal mining on grounds that include climate change.   …”

Read entire article at http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Groups-seek-expansion-of-Wyo-coal-mining-lawsuit-4041484.php

Mountain Meadows Dwindling in Pacific Northwest, U.S. Due to Climate Change, Study Suggests

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Science Daily 11/2/2012
Excerpt:     “ScienceDaily (Nov. 2, 2012) — Some high mountain meadows in the Pacific Northwest are declining rapidly due to climate change, a study suggests, as reduced snowpacks, longer growing seasons and other factors allow trees to invade these unique ecosystems that once were carpeted with grasses, shrubs and wildflowers.      ……”

Read entire article at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121102205141.htm

Study: High stream temperatures, low flow create potential “double trouble”

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Corvallis Gazette-Times 11/1/2012
Excerpt:      “CORVALLIS – A newly published study by researchers at Oregon State University and two federal agencies concludes that high temperatures coupled with lower flows in many Northwest streams is creating increasingly extreme conditions that could negatively affect fish and other organisms.

The study, published in the professional journal Hydrobiologia, was funded and coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey and the research branch of the U.S. Forest Service. It points to climate change as the primary reason for the extreme conditions.  …..”

Read entire article at http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/study-high-stream-temperatures-low-flow-create-potential-double-trouble/article_654ba2db-979c-560a-9919-b03d356aca7f.html

Larger, hotter wildfires the new norm in West

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Missoulian 10/15/2012
Excerpt:       “The trend toward larger, hotter wildfires in this part of the country is rapidly becoming the new normal.

In the four decades between 1960 and 1999, wildfires in the United States scorched more than 7 million acres in a single year just once. Since 2000? Eight times, with 2012 at 8.8 million acres and still climbing.  ….”

Read entire article at http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/larger-hotter-wildfires-the-new-norm-in-west/article_c3fe9cda-16e9-11e2-aa38-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true

Opinion: Global warming takes toll on Colorado forests

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Summit County Voice 10/8/2012
Excerpt:   “It doesn’t take a scientist to understand the connection between climate change and forest fires. Last spring was hot and dry, which resulted in a dry forest that easily burns. This should not surprise us. What is surprising is the pace of climate change and the damage it has already caused to our forests and communities.    …”

Read entire article at http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/10/08/opinion-global-warming-takes-toll-on-colorado-forests/#more-48976

Climate trends to trigger massive change in SW forests

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Summit County Voice 10/1/2012
Excerpt:   “FRISCO — Forests of the southwestern U.S. may be on the verge of dramatic changes in the coming decades, as a warming climate may squeeze many species of their narrow ecological niche.

New research shows that Southwest drought conditions in recent years are as intense as they were during the historic megadroughts of the 1200s and 1500s.

Southwestern forests grow best when total winter precipitation is high combined with a summer and fall that aren’t too hot and dry, but many climate models suggest the region will be warmer and drier. New Mexico just experienced its driest 24-month stretch on record.   ….”

Read entire article at http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/10/01/climate-trends-to-trigger-massive-change-in-sw-forests/#more-48673

Seven Times More Very Large Fires on Forest Service Land than in the 1970s

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Yubanet; 9/20/2012
Excerpt:   “September 20, 2012 – The 2012 wildfire season isn’t over yet, but already this year is shaping up to be the one of the worst on record in the American West. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, with nearly two months still to go in the fire season, the total area already burned this year is 30 percent more than in an average year, and fires have consumed more than 8.6 million acres, an area larger than the state of Maryland.  ….”

Read entire article at http://yubanet.com/regional/Seven-Times-More-Very-Large-Fires-on-Forest-Service-Land-than-in-the-1970s.php#.UFyGNFEQfsY