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Climate Change Making Stronger El Ninos, Study Finds

/in , , /by /ABC Newsby Seth Borenstein

Climate change is making stronger El Ninos, which change weather worldwide and heat up an already warming planet, a new study finds.

Scientists examined 33 El Ninos — natural warming of equatorial Pacific that triggers weather extremes across the globe — since 1901. They found since the 1970s, El Ninos have been forming farther to the west in warmer waters, leading to stronger El Ninos in some cases.

A powerful El Nino can trigger drought in some places, like Australia and India. And it can cause flooding in other areas like California. The Pacific gets more hurricanes during an El Nino and the Atlantic gets fewer.

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Central Valley Water Board Plan to Reduce Nitrate Contamination in Groundwater Gets Approval

/in , , /by /California Water News Dailyby California Water News Daily

Help is on the way, both immediate and long-term, for the nitrate and salt contamination of groundwater basins and surface water in the Central Valley. Although the long-term resolution may be a multi-year process, stakeholders have developed a plan to address one of the region’s most challenging water quality problems.

After more than 13 years in development by stakeholders and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) a plan was approved earlier this week by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to address the buildup of salt and nitrates in Central Valley groundwater basins and surface water.

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Millions of People Are Running Out of Water – How Desalination Plants Are Trying To Fix That

/in , /by /CNBCby Adam Isaak

Today, one out of three people don’t have access to safe drinking water. One reason is that 96.5% of that water is found in our oceans. It’s saturated with salt, and undrinkable. Most of the freshwater is locked away in glaciers or deep underground. Less than 1% of it is available to us. Desalination is an important tool in the fight against water scarcity. Its reliability is becoming critical.

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California’s Delta Smelt Are Dying: How This Affects The State’s Water

/in , , /by /ABC 10by Tyler Horst

The Delta smelt is such a small and translucent fish that it often disappears from view when it swims in the turbid waters of its home in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

However, it’s also been disappearing from the Delta entirely.

“The Delta smelt has gone from being one of the more abundant fish in the Delta to being just on the verge of extinction today,” Peter Moyle, an Emeritus Professor of Fish Biology at UC Davis, said.

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To Fund Water Plan, Colorado Lawmakers Want To Gamble On Sports Betting

/in , , /by /KRCCby Luke Runyon

Music is blaring and grills are firing up at a parking lot awash in navy blue and orange outside Empower Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

Todd Endicott of Lafayette stands outside an ambulance turned Broncos fan-mobile. He outfitted this orange and blue rig for tailgates. It’s plastered in life-size stickers of players, and the football team’s logos, vintage and new.

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Lake Mendocino Gets More Water Under New Dam Operating Rules

/in , /by /Argus Courier

Lake Mendocino made it through a typically long, hot summer with an abundance of water and now, thanks to an ongoing experiment with high-tech weather forecasting, the reservoir can retain more water through the winter, benefiting people, fish and farmers along the Russian River.

A dollop of spring rain pumped up the 3-square-mile reservoir near Ukiah, and water managers are now hailing the initial success of an experimental program intended to maximize storage in the second largest source of water for more than 655,000 people in three North Bay counties.

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Winter 2019-20 Will Likely Be Warmer Than Average in Southern U.S. & Colder Than Average in Parts of Northern Tier

/in , /by /The Weather Channel by Linda Lam

A warmer winter is in store for much of the southern U.S., while the northern tier of the country shivers, our new winter outlook shows. In addition, NOAA’s winter outlook indicates that parts of the flood-weary Northern Plains and Midwest may see a wetter-than-average December through February.

Winter temperatures will likely be near to warmer than average for much of the southern U.S., but parts of the northern tier won’t be so lucky. Temperatures there are projected to be near to slightly below average.

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The Water Crisis Cities Don’t See Coming

/in , , /by /Axiosby Kim Hart

Aging water treatment systems, failing pipes and a slew of unregulated contaminants threaten to undermine water quality in U.S. cities of all sizes.

Why it matters: There’s arguably nothing more important to human survival than access to clean drinking water.

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The Ecosystems Of Innovation

/in , /by /PV Magazine by Christian Roselund

There are few myths as enduring in American culture as the Great Man Theory, the idea that history is shaped primarily by exceptional individuals who rise, creating themselves like the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra out of primordial chaos, independent of social circumstances, family, collaborators, education, mentorship or overall context.

And there are few places where this fantasy is as prevalent as the worlds of technology and energy. If we haven’t actively participated in perpetuating the cult of Steve Jobs, the legend of Nikolai Tesla, and of course Elon Musk idolatry, then we’ve at least witnessed these.

 

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Trees That Survived California Drought May Hold Clue To Climate Resilience

/in , , /by /KQEDby Lauren Sommer

When California’s historic five-year drought finally relented a few years ago the tally of dead trees in the Sierra Nevada was higher than almost anyone expected: 129 million. Most are still standing, the dry patches dotting the mountainsides.

But some trees did survive the test of heat and drought. Now, scientists are racing to collect them, and other species around the globe, in the hope that these “climate survivors” have a natural advantage that will allow them to better cope with a warming world.

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