You are now in California and the U.S. Home Headline Media Coverage category.

State Water Board May Extend Restrictions to Russian River Water

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Area

A current regulation that curtails water rights in the Russian River watershed set to expire in July may be extended due to the continuing drought, according to the state agency charged with balancing all water needs of the state.

State Water Resources Control Board officials announced Friday the board released a draft emergency regulation to extend the regulation and clarify some of its requirements.

The Russian River runs from Mendocino County south into Sonoma County. It is the second-largest river in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, behind the Sacramento River.

Full Story

State Updates Climate Priorities

/in , , /by /Bakersfield.comby John Cox

State government released an updated set of strategies Monday for meeting the increasingly urgent challenges of climate change.

The six-point plan published online at climateresilience.ca.gov calls for doing more to protect vulnerable communities, strengthen public health and safety, reinforce the economy, speed up natural climate solutions, stick to the best available climate science and create partnerships to maximize resources.

The website’s debut followed a report Monday by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned governments have fallen behind in their efforts to limit temperature increases to 2.7 degrees on average.

Full Story

UN Warns Earth ‘Firmly on Track Toward an Unlivable World’

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Frank Jordans and Seth Borenstein

Temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed, the world’s top body of climate scientists said Monday, warning of the consequences of inaction but also noting hopeful signs of progress.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed “a litany of broken climate promises” by governments and corporations, accusing them of stoking global warming by clinging to harmful fossil fuels.

“It is a file of shame, cataloguing the empty pledges that put us firmly on track toward an unlivable world,” he said.

Full Story

‘It Is Just Magnificent!’ | Bald Eagles Return to San Diego County

/in , , /by /CBS8by Shawn Styles

In the mid 70’s there were only 30 nesting pairs of Bald Eagles because of DDT.

Since then, it was banned, and the population has rebounded and now Bald Eagles are nesting here in San Diego.

Ernie Cowan is a photographer, author, and naturalist and has been watching the nest for three years.

“Wow! Look at that profile, he is really posing,” said Cowan.

Full Story

Californians Urged to Save Water as State Faces Dismal Snowpack in Sierra Nevada

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

California is going into spring with a minuscule amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada, leaving the state in a third year of extreme drought and with depleted reservoirs to draw on during what’s likely to be another hot, parched summer.

The mountain snowpack, as measured by snow sensors across the Sierras, now stands at just 38% of the long-term average.

Full Story

Climate Change Could Cost U.S. Budget $2 Trillion a Year by the End of the Century, White House Says

/in , , /by /Reutersby Timothy Gardner

Flood, fire, and drought fueled by climate change could take a massive bite out of the U.S. federal budget per year by the end of the century, the White House said in its first ever such assessment on Sunday.

The Office of Management and Budget assessment, tasked by President Joe Biden last May, found the upper range of climate change’s hit to the budget by the end of the century could total 7.1% annual revenue loss, equal to $2 trillion a year in today’s dollars.

Full Story

Mini Desalination Plants Could Refresh the Parched West

/in , , /by /Popular Scienceby Thor Benson

California and the rest of the American West are facing the worst drought in over 1,200 years. This drought is devastating the agricultural industry and creating conditions that lead to massive wildfires. According to the IPCC, climate change makes it likely that droughts will only continue to get worse. To maintain an adequate supply of fresh water, the region needs to develop technological solutions to dwindling water levels.

Full Story

Opinion: I’m a Scientist in California. Drought is Worse Than We Thought.

/in , , /by /The New York Times by Dr. Andrew Schwartz

This past week, I joined teams of other scientists gathering the most important measurements of the Sierra Nevada snowpack from over 265 sites throughout the state. Typically, this measurement marks the transition from snow accumulation season to the melt season and contains the most snow of any measurement throughout the year. The 2022 results, however, confirmed what those of us monitoring the state’s drought had feared: California’s snowpack is now at 39 percent of its average, or 23 percent lower than at the same point last year.

Full Story

Climate Change Creating More Devastating Rainfall Events in Wildfire Burn Scars

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Service by Matthew Renda

Devastatingly large wildfires followed by intense precipitation events will grow in frequency as the effects of climate change become more widespread and entrenched, a study published Friday has found.

The American West has long been susceptible to landslides and flooding that afflict areas recently scorched by wildfires. The fire destroys vegetation that stabilizes slopes and prevents large-scale erosion while exposing more of hillsides and riverbanks to the ravaging effects of intense rain.

Full Story

Opinion: California Water War Peace Treaty? Not Quite

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

The holy grail of those involved in California’s decades-long political and legal battle over how the state’s water supply should be allocated has been some sort of master agreement.

There have been countless efforts at negotiating such a peace treaty and some premature declarations of success. However, California’s water wars have continued with skirmishes in the water bureaucracy, in the Legislature, in Congress, in the courts and even in the White House.

Full Story