Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded. Saving BUB, Beautiful Unique Biodiversity, as in this Amazonian ant-mimic treehopper, is another reason to preserve carbon storing forests. Credit Andreas Kay at flickr A Key Preserver of Carbon Storage in Rainforests – are tapirs, which help disperse the seeds of the largest […]
With California in its fifth year of severe drought and many western states experiencing another year of unusually dry conditions, plants are stressed. Agricultural crops, grasses and garden plants alike can get sick and die when factors such as drought and excess sun force them to work harder to survive. Now, plants can better tolerate drought and […]
Central California is under a pollution alert for air more normally seen streaming from a pig smoker than in the sky. Multiple fires throughout the state are carbonizing vast amounts of forest, where the vegetation is dry as a wick from hot temperatures, scant precipitation, and years of persistent drought. Now, one of the largest […]
When Erin Brockovich went after PG&E for poisoning groundwater in the desert town of Hinkley, California — a campaign that later became a film starring Julia Roberts — the toxic chemical was a heavy metal called hexavalent chromium. Also known as chromium 6, the chemical is listed under California’s Prop 65 as causing cancer, developmental harm […]
We may someday have to stop calling our drought a temporary phenomenon and just label it the new normal. Climate change could lock the state into a dry pattern lasting centuries or even a millennia if history repeats itself, according to a new study out of UCLA. Researchers correlated findings from Sierra Nevada soil samples […]
It is now possible to imagine a future in which highly treated wastewater will be plumbed directly into California homes as a new drinking water supply. On September 8, the State Water Resources Control Board released a long-awaited report on the feasibility of so-called “direct potable reuse.” This means recycling urban sewage flows in a process […]
Climate Change This Week: Megadroughts, Virtual Clean Power Plants, and More!
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Huffington Postby Mary Ellen HarteToday, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded. Saving BUB, Beautiful Unique Biodiversity, as in this Amazonian ant-mimic treehopper, is another reason to preserve carbon storing forests. Credit Andreas Kay at flickr A Key Preserver of Carbon Storage in Rainforests – are tapirs, which help disperse the seeds of the largest […]
Microbes Help Plants Survive in Severe Drought
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /R & D MagazineWith California in its fifth year of severe drought and many western states experiencing another year of unusually dry conditions, plants are stressed. Agricultural crops, grasses and garden plants alike can get sick and die when factors such as drought and excess sun force them to work harder to survive. Now, plants can better tolerate drought and […]
California’s Soberanes Wildfire Is the Most Expensive in U.S. History
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /City Labby John MetcalfeCentral California is under a pollution alert for air more normally seen streaming from a pig smoker than in the sky. Multiple fires throughout the state are carbonizing vast amounts of forest, where the vegetation is dry as a wick from hot temperatures, scant precipitation, and years of persistent drought. Now, one of the largest […]
Drinking Water of Some Californians Exceeds Limit for ‘Erin Brockovich’ Chemical
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /KQED (San Francisco)by Lindsey HoshawWhen Erin Brockovich went after PG&E for poisoning groundwater in the desert town of Hinkley, California — a campaign that later became a film starring Julia Roberts — the toxic chemical was a heavy metal called hexavalent chromium. Also known as chromium 6, the chemical is listed under California’s Prop 65 as causing cancer, developmental harm […]
UCLA Researchers Warn Centuries of Drought Could Return to California
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /San Francisco Chronicleby Bill DisbrowWe may someday have to stop calling our drought a temporary phenomenon and just label it the new normal. Climate change could lock the state into a dry pattern lasting centuries or even a millennia if history repeats itself, according to a new study out of UCLA. Researchers correlated findings from Sierra Nevada soil samples […]
BLOG: Wastewater: A New Frontier for Water Recycling
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt WeiserIt is now possible to imagine a future in which highly treated wastewater will be plumbed directly into California homes as a new drinking water supply. On September 8, the State Water Resources Control Board released a long-awaited report on the feasibility of so-called “direct potable reuse.” This means recycling urban sewage flows in a process […]