Short-term comfort rarely comes without long-term costs. By the end of the summer, we suspect California will be paying the price for its hasty retreat from sound water policies. Until this summer, when the entire state was gripped by devastating drought, conservation was the motto. But now, after one – just one – relatively wet […]
A new map created with measurements from an airborne instrument developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, reveals the devastating effect of California’s ongoing drought on Sierra Nevada conifer forests. The map will be used to help the U.S. Forest Service assess and respond to the impacts of increased tree mortality caused by the […]
Droughts in California are mainly controlled by wind, not by the amount of evaporated moisture in the air, new research has found. The findings were published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, on June 30. The research increases the understanding of how the water cycle is related to extreme events […]
Lawmakers are targeting striped bass in a farmer-backed effort to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s salmon while trimming a 1992 environmental law. In what amounts to a multi-pronged move, the House on Tuesday night approved a bill by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, that ends the 1992 law’s goal of doubling the number of striped bass […]
Five years of drought and its coattail-riding companion, the bark beetle, literally sucked the sap out of trees, allowed the beetle to zombie-ize the trees into The Standing Dead and have wreaked devastation upon the southern Sierra forests from the El Dorado to the Sequoia. Dead trees. Lots of dead trees. About 66 million of […]
Those orange tree patches pictured aren’t harbingers of winter. They are dying or dead trees in California, most likely the result of pine beetle forest damage. It’s hot now in much of the golden state, and as temperatures continue to rise, something else is happening: Trees are dying in unprecedented numbers. A recent U.S. Forest Service aerial detection […]
OPINION: Don’t make conserving water a thing of the past
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento BeeShort-term comfort rarely comes without long-term costs. By the end of the summer, we suspect California will be paying the price for its hasty retreat from sound water policies. Until this summer, when the entire state was gripped by devastating drought, conservation was the motto. But now, after one – just one – relatively wet […]
NASA Maps California Drought Effects on Sierra Trees
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Sierra Sun TimesA new map created with measurements from an airborne instrument developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, reveals the devastating effect of California’s ongoing drought on Sierra Nevada conifer forests. The map will be used to help the U.S. Forest Service assess and respond to the impacts of increased tree mortality caused by the […]
California Droughts Caused Mainly by Changes in Wind, not Moisture
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Science DailyDroughts in California are mainly controlled by wind, not by the amount of evaporated moisture in the air, new research has found. The findings were published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, on June 30. The research increases the understanding of how the water cycle is related to extreme events […]
House Passes Bill to Save Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Salmon
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento BeeLawmakers are targeting striped bass in a farmer-backed effort to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s salmon while trimming a 1992 environmental law. In what amounts to a multi-pronged move, the House on Tuesday night approved a bill by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, that ends the 1992 law’s goal of doubling the number of striped bass […]
Dead Trees Everywhere Means Sierra, Foothills Bracing for Worst
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Modesto Beeby Jeff JardineFive years of drought and its coattail-riding companion, the bark beetle, literally sucked the sap out of trees, allowed the beetle to zombie-ize the trees into The Standing Dead and have wreaked devastation upon the southern Sierra forests from the El Dorado to the Sequoia. Dead trees. Lots of dead trees. About 66 million of […]
66 Million Dead Trees In California Increases Wildfire Risk
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Care2by Tex DworkinThose orange tree patches pictured aren’t harbingers of winter. They are dying or dead trees in California, most likely the result of pine beetle forest damage. It’s hot now in much of the golden state, and as temperatures continue to rise, something else is happening: Trees are dying in unprecedented numbers. A recent U.S. Forest Service aerial detection […]