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It’s Close but 2020 Likely to End Up Hottest Year On Record

/in , /by /AP Newsby Seth Borenstein

Just how warm Earth stays this December will determine if 2020 goes down as the hottest year on record. And it’s looking a lot like it will.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculated Monday that last month globally was the second hottest November on record, behind only 2015. Yet NASA and a European climate monitoring group said it was the hottest November on record. NASA has coverage over the poles that NOAA does not — and both the Arctic and Antarctic were very warm in November, NOAA climate scientist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo said to explain the difference.

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Plastic Pipes are Polluting Drinking Water Systems After Wildfires – It’s a Risk in Urban Fires, Too

/in , /by /The Conversationby Andrew J. Whelton, Amisha Shah, Kristofer P. Isaacson

When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking water standard.

Our testing has now confirmed a source of these chemicals, and it’s clear that wildfires aren’t the only blazes that put drinking water systems at risk.

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Feds to Delay Seeking Legal Protection for Monarch Butterfly

/in , /by /AP Newsby John Flesher

Federal officials on Tuesday declared the monarch butterfly “a candidate” for threatened or endangered status, but said no action would be taken for several years because of the many other species waiting for that designation.

Environmentalists said delaying that long could spell disaster for the beloved black-and-orange butterfly, once a common sight in backyard gardens, meadows and other landscapes now seeing its population dwindling.

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‘We Need Water to Survive’: Hopi Tribe Pushes for Solutions in Long Struggle for Water

/in , /by /Arizona Centralby Ian James

Some Hopi families don’t have running water. Many others have water tainted with arsenic. Steps toward fixes are finally taking shape.

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Opinion: Poseidon Would Bring Jobs and Water to Orange County

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times by Gloria Alvarado

We’ve seen this story before: What do you do when someone doesn’t have science on their side? You make up a conspiracy story. And better yet, you try to piggyback on a politically charged conspiracy theory with no ties to reality.

And that’s exactly what Gary Brown attempts to do in his opinion piece regarding the Poseidon project, “Governor’s talk on environment falls short when it comes to the Poseidon project,” Dec. 3.

He claims that desalination is somehow tied to a bigger conspiracy involving Gov. Gavin Newsom and shady backroom politics. Well, hang on to your tinfoil hat. There’s no government conspiracy here — it’s actual science.

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Opinion: Colorado’s Intensifying Drought Conditions Call for Urgent Collaboration

/in , /by /The Colorado Sunby John Stulp and Russell George

Without a doubt, 2020 has been hot and dry in Colorado. The entire state and its nearly 5.8 million residents are living in drought conditions as evidenced by the record-breaking fire season, low river flows and shrinking water supplies. The entire Colorado River Basin within Colorado is experiencing “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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UN Warns New Water Futures May Spark Bubble for Vital Resource

/in , /by /Bloombergby Megan Durisin

The United Nations said Wall Street’s new water futures risk an essential public good being treated like gold and oil, leaving the market vulnerable to a speculative bubble. CME Group Inc.’s new contract — which debuted this week — could lure interest from hedge funds and banks alongside farmers, factories and utilities looking to lock in prices, said Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

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Feds Defend Permanent Water Contracts to Benefit Agriculture

/in , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Nicholas Iovino

Defending the decision to give farm irrigation districts permanent access to low-cost, federally pumped water in California, a Justice Department lawyer urged a federal judge Thursday to flush a Native American tribe’s lawsuit against the endless entitlements. The Hoopa Valley Tribe sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in August, claiming the Trump administration’s conversion of 14 time-limited contracts for Central Valley Project water into permanent deals violated a host of federal laws.

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BuRec Looks to Possible End of Paradox Desalination Project

/in , /by /The Daily Sentinelby Dennis Webb

A highly effective but problematic Colorado River desalination project in western Montrose County’s Paradox Valley could come to an end due to the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s difficulty finding an acceptable means of continuing it. The agency on Friday released a final environmental impact statement that included analysis of three new approaches for removing salty groundwater from the valley to keep it from eventually reaching the Dolores River and ultimately the Colorado River.

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Does Klamath Dam Removal Even Need an Extra $45 Million?

/in , /by /Herald Newsby Alex Schwartz

After the signatories to the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement officially recommitted to removing four dams on the Klamath River last month, local politicians brought up concerns with Oregon, California and PacifiCorp committing more funds to the project.

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