Friday, July 31, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of July 28th, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Mammatus Clouds
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Beach pollution still nationwide problem
FROM: USA Today
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Raw sewage and other pollution continued to foul American beaches in 2008.
For the fourth year in a row, more than 20,000 beach closing days were reported in the USA, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, D.C.
"Storm water and sewage runoff are the biggest sources for the contamination," says Nancy Stoner, NRDC's water program co-director. The report monitored beaches along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts, along with those in the Great Lakes states.
"The waters along the Great Lakes coastline appear to be the dirtiest, while the waters along the Southeast and DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) coasts are relatively cleaner," the NRDC wrote in the report.
The states with the worst beach water quality were Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
The states with the cleanest beaches were Delaware, New Hampshire and Virginia.
The biggest factor that causes polluted beaches is rain, says Stoner. It carries pollutants from dirty storm water and overflowing sewage into streams and rivers, which eventually make their way to the ocean.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, many Great Lakes states had a wetter-than-average summer in 2008, while all of the Mid-Atlantic states were unusually dry. "When the rains return," Stoner says, "so will pollution, forcing beaches to issue more closings and advisory days."
Beach water pollution, such as human or animal waste, makes swimmers vulnerable to a wide range of waterborne illnesses, including stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, ear/nose/throat problems, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments, neurological disorders and other serious health problems.
A tip from Stoner for your beach vacation this summer: "Don't swim after a heavy rainfall. Wait at least 24 hours."
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Raw sewage and other pollution continued to foul American beaches in 2008.
For the fourth year in a row, more than 20,000 beach closing days were reported in the USA, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, D.C.
"Storm water and sewage runoff are the biggest sources for the contamination," says Nancy Stoner, NRDC's water program co-director. The report monitored beaches along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts, along with those in the Great Lakes states.
"The waters along the Great Lakes coastline appear to be the dirtiest, while the waters along the Southeast and DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) coasts are relatively cleaner," the NRDC wrote in the report.
The states with the worst beach water quality were Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
The states with the cleanest beaches were Delaware, New Hampshire and Virginia.
The biggest factor that causes polluted beaches is rain, says Stoner. It carries pollutants from dirty storm water and overflowing sewage into streams and rivers, which eventually make their way to the ocean.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, many Great Lakes states had a wetter-than-average summer in 2008, while all of the Mid-Atlantic states were unusually dry. "When the rains return," Stoner says, "so will pollution, forcing beaches to issue more closings and advisory days."
Beach water pollution, such as human or animal waste, makes swimmers vulnerable to a wide range of waterborne illnesses, including stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, ear/nose/throat problems, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments, neurological disorders and other serious health problems.
A tip from Stoner for your beach vacation this summer: "Don't swim after a heavy rainfall. Wait at least 24 hours."
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Cumulonimbus Clouds
Monday, July 27, 2009
Altocumulus clouds
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Student scientists do fieldwork from high above California
FROM: Los Angeles Times
A new collaboration between NASA and the University of North Dakota lets them take to the air in a DC-8 to get readings on air pollution, ocean toxin dangers and crops' water loss.
By Shara Yurkiewicz
Just 1,000 feet above the ground, people, cars and trees were still visible from the small plane. The air was turbulent here, shaking the passengers as they took their careful measurements.
"Open," called a student operating a probe that protruded outside the window. The 2-liter canister attached to the probe filled up with air within seconds, and another student wrote down the exact position where the sample was taken.
During the six-hour flight up and down the California coast, the students filled 168 canisters at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 35,000 feet. They collected images from land and sea.
The goals of the flight: to learn more about air pollution above the state's Central Valley, toxin dangers in the sea and water loss from crops on land.
On the flight Wednesday from NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, the crew of 47 -- undergraduate and graduate students, middle and high school teachers, and scientists -- boarded the NASA-owned DC-8 "flying laboratory" to gather environmental data as part of the student airborne research program, a new six-week joint collaboration between NASA and the University of North Dakota.
The students, with backgrounds in the physical, chemical and biological sciences and engineering, came from universities across the country. At UC Irvine, they learned about airborne science and the instruments they would be using. In Palmdale, they helped plan the research mission.
What they have gathered for analysis and possible publication will be used by other researchers studying environmental science.
"There's such a wealth of data here to be shared. The science community is generally protective of its data, but here it is different," said graduate student assistant Melissa Yang, who is wrapping up her doctorate in atmospheric chemistry at UCI and will work in airborne science at NASA in Virginia in September.
Designed to gather environmental data, the plane can hold as many as 25 instruments, though on Wednesday it carried just two: a multi-spectral remote sensing imager to study land and water surfaces and a whole-air sampler to gather air specimens. (A second flight took place Friday.)
First, the plane zigzagged over California's Central Valley to collect air samples over large dairy operations. A year ago, Donald Blake, a professor of chemistry at UCI who is in charge of the air-collecting portion of the mission, found surprisingly strong emissions of ethanol over the area.
The team is here to check this out further, and to test for other chemicals. Ethanol can contribute to production of the air pollutant ozone.The plane next ascended to 13,000 feet, and the remote-sensing imager looked at the amount of water that plant leaves were losing in almond groves and cotton fields. The findings could help farmers know when and how much to water their crops.Satellites obtain similar data, but it is lower resolution and less frequent.
"Nobody's figured out a cheap enough way to provide data when a farmer needs it affordably," said Susan Ustin, program collaborator and UC Davis professor of environmental and resource sciences.
The small plane then headed west, toward Monterey Bay, so the team could try to detect blooms of algae at the surface of the water. The microbes composing these blooms make daily trips to the water surface, where they produce neurotoxins that are dangerous to fish and humans.From 35,000 feet in the air, the remote imager measured 50 bands of reflective sunlight and thermal energy. Knowing that algal blooms cause a specific pattern of energy to be absorbed and reflected, the students could then detect where the blooms were located.
The team was at the mercy of clouds, which often hung over the bay, making it impossible to image the water below. Wednesday's flight was delayed for several hours to give the clouds a chance to dissipate.During the next few weeks, the students will analyze and present their findings at UCI. This is the first year for the program, and NASA hopes to repeat it annually, said Shaun Smith, NASA education flight projects specialist.
"We want to encourage students to pursue careers in science and technology," said faculty participant Henry Fuelberg, a professor of meteorology at Florida State University. "We also want to bring in young people for new ideas. We hope to inspire another generation of students."
A new collaboration between NASA and the University of North Dakota lets them take to the air in a DC-8 to get readings on air pollution, ocean toxin dangers and crops' water loss.
By Shara Yurkiewicz
Just 1,000 feet above the ground, people, cars and trees were still visible from the small plane. The air was turbulent here, shaking the passengers as they took their careful measurements.
"Open," called a student operating a probe that protruded outside the window. The 2-liter canister attached to the probe filled up with air within seconds, and another student wrote down the exact position where the sample was taken.
During the six-hour flight up and down the California coast, the students filled 168 canisters at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 35,000 feet. They collected images from land and sea.
The goals of the flight: to learn more about air pollution above the state's Central Valley, toxin dangers in the sea and water loss from crops on land.
On the flight Wednesday from NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, the crew of 47 -- undergraduate and graduate students, middle and high school teachers, and scientists -- boarded the NASA-owned DC-8 "flying laboratory" to gather environmental data as part of the student airborne research program, a new six-week joint collaboration between NASA and the University of North Dakota.
The students, with backgrounds in the physical, chemical and biological sciences and engineering, came from universities across the country. At UC Irvine, they learned about airborne science and the instruments they would be using. In Palmdale, they helped plan the research mission.
What they have gathered for analysis and possible publication will be used by other researchers studying environmental science.
"There's such a wealth of data here to be shared. The science community is generally protective of its data, but here it is different," said graduate student assistant Melissa Yang, who is wrapping up her doctorate in atmospheric chemistry at UCI and will work in airborne science at NASA in Virginia in September.
Designed to gather environmental data, the plane can hold as many as 25 instruments, though on Wednesday it carried just two: a multi-spectral remote sensing imager to study land and water surfaces and a whole-air sampler to gather air specimens. (A second flight took place Friday.)
First, the plane zigzagged over California's Central Valley to collect air samples over large dairy operations. A year ago, Donald Blake, a professor of chemistry at UCI who is in charge of the air-collecting portion of the mission, found surprisingly strong emissions of ethanol over the area.
The team is here to check this out further, and to test for other chemicals. Ethanol can contribute to production of the air pollutant ozone.The plane next ascended to 13,000 feet, and the remote-sensing imager looked at the amount of water that plant leaves were losing in almond groves and cotton fields. The findings could help farmers know when and how much to water their crops.Satellites obtain similar data, but it is lower resolution and less frequent.
"Nobody's figured out a cheap enough way to provide data when a farmer needs it affordably," said Susan Ustin, program collaborator and UC Davis professor of environmental and resource sciences.
The small plane then headed west, toward Monterey Bay, so the team could try to detect blooms of algae at the surface of the water. The microbes composing these blooms make daily trips to the water surface, where they produce neurotoxins that are dangerous to fish and humans.From 35,000 feet in the air, the remote imager measured 50 bands of reflective sunlight and thermal energy. Knowing that algal blooms cause a specific pattern of energy to be absorbed and reflected, the students could then detect where the blooms were located.
The team was at the mercy of clouds, which often hung over the bay, making it impossible to image the water below. Wednesday's flight was delayed for several hours to give the clouds a chance to dissipate.During the next few weeks, the students will analyze and present their findings at UCI. This is the first year for the program, and NASA hopes to repeat it annually, said Shaun Smith, NASA education flight projects specialist.
"We want to encourage students to pursue careers in science and technology," said faculty participant Henry Fuelberg, a professor of meteorology at Florida State University. "We also want to bring in young people for new ideas. We hope to inspire another generation of students."
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Study offers 5 options to reshape Long Beach's breakwater
FROM: Los Angeles Times
City leaders hope to persuade the Army Corps of Engineers to reconfigure the World War II-era structure. The result, they hope, will be cleaner water, bigger waves and more tourists.
By Louis Sahagun
Just off downtown Long Beach, where freighters queue up to unload much of the nation's imported goods, a long wall of rock rises from the waves, encrusted with mussels and crawling with crabs.
This is the Long Beach breakwater, a 2.2-mile vestige of World War II designed to shield the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet from stormy seas and enemy torpedoes.
Today, nearly two decades after the Navy and its ships pulled out of the area, critics contend that the stony barricade is the reason the city's now surf-less beaches are among the least popular and most polluted in the region.
Long Beach officials Thursday released the results of a study designed to attract congressional support for a controversial proposal to reconfigure the breakwater to create bigger waves, cleaner water and beaches, and more surf tourism.
The city could gain $52 million a year in local spending -- and $7 million annually in taxes and fees, the study found.
Details of the $100,000 study, conducted by the engineering firm Moffat & Nichol, will be presented to the Long Beach City Council on Monday.
Many civic leaders hope the findings will spur the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and operates the breakwater, to analyze the feasibility of dismantling part of the barrier.
Officials said the project will be carried out only if it can overcome daunting challenges. Major concerns include how altering the breakwater would affect navigation into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the offshore loading of weaponry onto Navy ships.
Then there are the area's oil islands, one of which was destroyed by heaving seas during a storm in 1983.
"Resolving those issues," said Russell Boudreau, principal coastal engineer for Moffat & Nichol, "will be far more challenging than moving breakwater rocks around."
Supporters of the proposal said the change would revive the city's historic seaside allure.
U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) said it was her "hope and goal" to see the project completed within a decade.
"All the pieces are coming together," she said. "We are excited about the prospect of returning waves to Long Beach, but also committed to ensuring that any such project protects homes and the economic vitality of the largest port complex in the United States.
"If it is determined that we can do those two things and return the waves," she said, "then let the waters roll. We're ready."
Ed Hendricks, 84, vice chairman of Long Beach Surfrider, an environmental group, agreed.
"But in the meantime, we have a big dead sea out there behind the breakwater that's so dirty I wouldn't stick a toe in it," he said.
Legend has it that surfing began in California in 1911 when two men returned from Hawaii with surfboards and began riding the waves in Long Beach. The city hosted the first National Surfing and Paddleboard Championships in 1938. Three years later work began on the breakwater.
After it was completed in 1949, the waves vanished and the crowds moved on to cleaner waters in Huntington Beach and Seal Beach.
Now, some owners of the older homes that hug the strand in the communities of Naples, Bluff Park and Belmont Shore worry that its removal would invite flooding and rogue waves.
"The people who want to take it down have noble goals: restoration of waves clean enough to swim in and the kind of frolicking and big seaside hotels that existed here in the 1930s," said Laurie Manny, a real estate agent in Long Beach. "On the other side are homeowners who imagine 20-foot waves barreling in during an El Niño year and nothing out there to stop them."
Complete removal of the breakwater is not recommended in the study. Instead, it offers five options, including three that would reconfigure the breakwater. They range in cost from about $10 million to $310 million.
Michael Schaat, director of the Cabrillo Beach Aquarium, expressed concerns about the potential effect on life forms from starfish to lobsters that reside on the ledges and between the cracks of the rocks.
"It's a biologically rich area," he said, "above and beneath the surface."
On Thursday morning, harbor seals rolled in tidal water. American black oystercatchers probed rocky crevices with their red-orange bills. Crabs scuttled into hiding. From a vessel bobbing in the shadows of 400-foot-tall terminal cranes, fishermen were catching barracuda and calico bass.
Tom Modica, the city's project manager for the breakwater study, acknowledged that it would be difficult to balance the concerns of stakeholders.
"There is a long process ahead of us before any construction could begin," he said. "But this study starts the debate."
City leaders hope to persuade the Army Corps of Engineers to reconfigure the World War II-era structure. The result, they hope, will be cleaner water, bigger waves and more tourists.
By Louis Sahagun
Just off downtown Long Beach, where freighters queue up to unload much of the nation's imported goods, a long wall of rock rises from the waves, encrusted with mussels and crawling with crabs.
This is the Long Beach breakwater, a 2.2-mile vestige of World War II designed to shield the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet from stormy seas and enemy torpedoes.
Today, nearly two decades after the Navy and its ships pulled out of the area, critics contend that the stony barricade is the reason the city's now surf-less beaches are among the least popular and most polluted in the region.
Long Beach officials Thursday released the results of a study designed to attract congressional support for a controversial proposal to reconfigure the breakwater to create bigger waves, cleaner water and beaches, and more surf tourism.
The city could gain $52 million a year in local spending -- and $7 million annually in taxes and fees, the study found.
Details of the $100,000 study, conducted by the engineering firm Moffat & Nichol, will be presented to the Long Beach City Council on Monday.
Many civic leaders hope the findings will spur the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and operates the breakwater, to analyze the feasibility of dismantling part of the barrier.
Officials said the project will be carried out only if it can overcome daunting challenges. Major concerns include how altering the breakwater would affect navigation into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the offshore loading of weaponry onto Navy ships.
Then there are the area's oil islands, one of which was destroyed by heaving seas during a storm in 1983.
"Resolving those issues," said Russell Boudreau, principal coastal engineer for Moffat & Nichol, "will be far more challenging than moving breakwater rocks around."
Supporters of the proposal said the change would revive the city's historic seaside allure.
U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) said it was her "hope and goal" to see the project completed within a decade.
"All the pieces are coming together," she said. "We are excited about the prospect of returning waves to Long Beach, but also committed to ensuring that any such project protects homes and the economic vitality of the largest port complex in the United States.
"If it is determined that we can do those two things and return the waves," she said, "then let the waters roll. We're ready."
Ed Hendricks, 84, vice chairman of Long Beach Surfrider, an environmental group, agreed.
"But in the meantime, we have a big dead sea out there behind the breakwater that's so dirty I wouldn't stick a toe in it," he said.
Legend has it that surfing began in California in 1911 when two men returned from Hawaii with surfboards and began riding the waves in Long Beach. The city hosted the first National Surfing and Paddleboard Championships in 1938. Three years later work began on the breakwater.
After it was completed in 1949, the waves vanished and the crowds moved on to cleaner waters in Huntington Beach and Seal Beach.
Now, some owners of the older homes that hug the strand in the communities of Naples, Bluff Park and Belmont Shore worry that its removal would invite flooding and rogue waves.
"The people who want to take it down have noble goals: restoration of waves clean enough to swim in and the kind of frolicking and big seaside hotels that existed here in the 1930s," said Laurie Manny, a real estate agent in Long Beach. "On the other side are homeowners who imagine 20-foot waves barreling in during an El Niño year and nothing out there to stop them."
Complete removal of the breakwater is not recommended in the study. Instead, it offers five options, including three that would reconfigure the breakwater. They range in cost from about $10 million to $310 million.
Michael Schaat, director of the Cabrillo Beach Aquarium, expressed concerns about the potential effect on life forms from starfish to lobsters that reside on the ledges and between the cracks of the rocks.
"It's a biologically rich area," he said, "above and beneath the surface."
On Thursday morning, harbor seals rolled in tidal water. American black oystercatchers probed rocky crevices with their red-orange bills. Crabs scuttled into hiding. From a vessel bobbing in the shadows of 400-foot-tall terminal cranes, fishermen were catching barracuda and calico bass.
Tom Modica, the city's project manager for the breakwater study, acknowledged that it would be difficult to balance the concerns of stakeholders.
"There is a long process ahead of us before any construction could begin," he said. "But this study starts the debate."
Friday, July 24, 2009
Climate change could put the heat on California crops
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Fruit and nut orchards in the Central Valley rely on winter chilling hours, but those are in decline, according to a UC Davis study.
By Margot Roosevelt
The Lockes have tilled the rich soil along the Mokelumne River since 1850. Now Chris Locke, 57, looks forward to passing down his orchards of 40,000 walnut trees to his four sons.But the threat of global warming has him worried. "I talk to my boys about climate change," he said.
When he was young, frigid fogs rolled off the delta into Lockeford, the town named for his forebears. "We would go a week without seeing the sun. But we don't seem to get that weather anymore."
If San Joaquin Valley farmers such as Locke are fearful, so are the agricultural scientists who support California's $10-billion annual fruit and nut crop, the largest in the nation. A new study from UC Davis, to be published today, found that the number of winter chilling hours, essential to the flowering of orchards, has declined as much as 30% since 1950 in large swaths of the Central Valley, where most of the tree crops are grown.
Only 4% of the Central Valley is now suitable for apples, cherries and pears, all high-chill fruits that could once be grown in half the valley, according to the study. By the end of the century, it says, "areas where safe winter chill exists for growing walnuts, pistachios, peaches, apricots, plums and cherries are likely to almost completely disappear."
Winter chill hours could decrease 60% from 1950 levels by mid-century and by as much as 80% by the end of the century, according to the study.
"Climate change is not just about sea-level rise and polar bears," said UC Davis researcher Eike Luedeling, lead author of the study. "It is about our food security. Climate change may make conditions less favorable to grow the crops we need to feed ourselves."
The study comes amid a spate of reports predicting a decline in agriculture in California -- which produces half of the nation's domestic fruits, nuts and vegetables -- as climate change affects water supplies and growing seasons.
The UC Davis study, which is to appear in the journal PLoS One, builds on a 2007 paper by UC Berkeley scientists Dennis Baldocchi and Simon Wong that predicted dramatic drops in winter chilling hours. But it expands on that research using a variety of climate models, and maps the expected changes in detail.
"These maps directly communicate the devastating effects of climate change on tree crops in California," said co- author Minghua Zhang, a UC Davis professor of environmental and resource science.
Baldocchi endorsed the UC Davis study, remarking, "The irony is, just as the populace is getting more in tune with eating better, eating local, our wonderful fruit industry may be negatively affected."
Some experts assume that the state's agribusiness can adapt by breeding new varieties with lower chilling needs and by expanding the use of "rest breaking" chemicals that compensate for part of the trees' lost chilling hours.
"Adapting is part of the game in agriculture," said Jim Culbertson, head of the California Cherry Advisory Board, a marketing agency.
Scientists caution that adaptation could be expensive and difficult. "Orchards remain in production for decades," Zhang said. "Growers must consider whether there will be sufficient winter chill to support the same tree varieties throughout their lifetime."
Breeding new varieties requires genetic diversity, which is limited in some crops such as pistachios. In addition, low-chilling varieties of many fruits are vulnerable to frost, and rest-break chemicals raise safety issues, lead author Luedeling said.
To project winter chill, researchers used hourly and daily temperature records at 205 weather stations since 1950. They factored that data into 18 greenhouse gas emission scenarios for the 21st century, developed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of the world's top climate scientists.
Traditionally, California farmers plant their crops by calculating the number of hours in which temperatures are expected to fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The UC Davis researchers used that metric, as well as another model that measures a broader swath of temperatures. That second model shows a slower decrease in winter chill -- up to 60% from 1950 levels by the end of the century.
Some experts put little faith in predictions. "These chill models are so unsophisticated," said Steve Southwick, a former UC Davis fruit science professor who now works for OG Packing, a major cherry and walnut distributor. "The way a tree behaves doesn't much match what the models say, and the level of research on fruit trees is meager."
Luedeling is concerned by what he sees as "not much preparation for these changes" in the agricultural community. "There's not much breeding effort," he said. "The main walnut breeder at UC Davis is retiring and after that, funding will be short."Meanwhile, Locke, the San Joaquin Valley farmer, figures his orchards' chill hours have gradually sunk from about 1,500 a few decades ago, to about 1,000 to 1,200 today. He has made up for the drop by planting trees closer together and using new varieties, but he worries he may have to switch to other crops.
Few of his farmer friends have focused on global warming, Locke said. "A lot are conservative and don't believe we are experiencing climate change. But we need to anticipate the future. I'm worried about the whole planet, not just our little ranch here."
Fruit and nut orchards in the Central Valley rely on winter chilling hours, but those are in decline, according to a UC Davis study.
By Margot Roosevelt
The Lockes have tilled the rich soil along the Mokelumne River since 1850. Now Chris Locke, 57, looks forward to passing down his orchards of 40,000 walnut trees to his four sons.But the threat of global warming has him worried. "I talk to my boys about climate change," he said.
When he was young, frigid fogs rolled off the delta into Lockeford, the town named for his forebears. "We would go a week without seeing the sun. But we don't seem to get that weather anymore."
If San Joaquin Valley farmers such as Locke are fearful, so are the agricultural scientists who support California's $10-billion annual fruit and nut crop, the largest in the nation. A new study from UC Davis, to be published today, found that the number of winter chilling hours, essential to the flowering of orchards, has declined as much as 30% since 1950 in large swaths of the Central Valley, where most of the tree crops are grown.
Only 4% of the Central Valley is now suitable for apples, cherries and pears, all high-chill fruits that could once be grown in half the valley, according to the study. By the end of the century, it says, "areas where safe winter chill exists for growing walnuts, pistachios, peaches, apricots, plums and cherries are likely to almost completely disappear."
Winter chill hours could decrease 60% from 1950 levels by mid-century and by as much as 80% by the end of the century, according to the study.
"Climate change is not just about sea-level rise and polar bears," said UC Davis researcher Eike Luedeling, lead author of the study. "It is about our food security. Climate change may make conditions less favorable to grow the crops we need to feed ourselves."
The study comes amid a spate of reports predicting a decline in agriculture in California -- which produces half of the nation's domestic fruits, nuts and vegetables -- as climate change affects water supplies and growing seasons.
The UC Davis study, which is to appear in the journal PLoS One, builds on a 2007 paper by UC Berkeley scientists Dennis Baldocchi and Simon Wong that predicted dramatic drops in winter chilling hours. But it expands on that research using a variety of climate models, and maps the expected changes in detail.
"These maps directly communicate the devastating effects of climate change on tree crops in California," said co- author Minghua Zhang, a UC Davis professor of environmental and resource science.
Baldocchi endorsed the UC Davis study, remarking, "The irony is, just as the populace is getting more in tune with eating better, eating local, our wonderful fruit industry may be negatively affected."
Some experts assume that the state's agribusiness can adapt by breeding new varieties with lower chilling needs and by expanding the use of "rest breaking" chemicals that compensate for part of the trees' lost chilling hours.
"Adapting is part of the game in agriculture," said Jim Culbertson, head of the California Cherry Advisory Board, a marketing agency.
Scientists caution that adaptation could be expensive and difficult. "Orchards remain in production for decades," Zhang said. "Growers must consider whether there will be sufficient winter chill to support the same tree varieties throughout their lifetime."
Breeding new varieties requires genetic diversity, which is limited in some crops such as pistachios. In addition, low-chilling varieties of many fruits are vulnerable to frost, and rest-break chemicals raise safety issues, lead author Luedeling said.
To project winter chill, researchers used hourly and daily temperature records at 205 weather stations since 1950. They factored that data into 18 greenhouse gas emission scenarios for the 21st century, developed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of the world's top climate scientists.
Traditionally, California farmers plant their crops by calculating the number of hours in which temperatures are expected to fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The UC Davis researchers used that metric, as well as another model that measures a broader swath of temperatures. That second model shows a slower decrease in winter chill -- up to 60% from 1950 levels by the end of the century.
Some experts put little faith in predictions. "These chill models are so unsophisticated," said Steve Southwick, a former UC Davis fruit science professor who now works for OG Packing, a major cherry and walnut distributor. "The way a tree behaves doesn't much match what the models say, and the level of research on fruit trees is meager."
Luedeling is concerned by what he sees as "not much preparation for these changes" in the agricultural community. "There's not much breeding effort," he said. "The main walnut breeder at UC Davis is retiring and after that, funding will be short."Meanwhile, Locke, the San Joaquin Valley farmer, figures his orchards' chill hours have gradually sunk from about 1,500 a few decades ago, to about 1,000 to 1,200 today. He has made up for the drop by planting trees closer together and using new varieties, but he worries he may have to switch to other crops.
Few of his farmer friends have focused on global warming, Locke said. "A lot are conservative and don't believe we are experiencing climate change. But we need to anticipate the future. I'm worried about the whole planet, not just our little ranch here."
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of July 21st, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Altocumulus clouds
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Altocumulus clouds
Monday, July 20, 2009
Alto Lenticular clouds
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Altocumulus/Altostratus clouds
Saturday, July 18, 2009
AM mid to high level clouds
Friday, July 17, 2009
NOAA: Global Ocean Surface Temperature Warmest on Record for June
FROM: NOAA
The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for June, breaking the previous high mark set in 2005, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Additionally, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for June was second-warmest on record. The global records began in 1880.
Global Climate Statistics...
- The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the second warmest on record, behind 2005, 1.12 degrees F (0.62 degree C) above the 20th century average of 59.9 degrees F (15.5 degrees C).
- Separately, the global ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degree C) above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F (16.4 degrees C).
- Each hemisphere broke its June record for warmest ocean surface temperature. In the Northern Hemisphere, the warm anomaly of 1.17 degrees F (0.65 degree C) surpassed the previous record of 1.12 degrees F (0.62 degree C), set in 2005. The Southern Hemisphere’s increase of 0.99 degree F (0.55 degree C) exceeded the old record of 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C), set in 1998.
- The global land surface temperature for June 2009 was 1.26 degrees F (0.70 degree C) above the 20th century average of 55.9 degrees F (13.3 degrees C), and ranked as the sixth-warmest June on record.
Notable Developments and Events...
- El Niño is back after six straight months of increased sea-surface temperature anomalies. June sea surface temperatures in the region were more than 0.9 degree F (0.5 degree C) above average.
- Terrestrial warmth was most notable in Africa. Considerable warmth also occurred in Siberia and in the lands around the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Cooler-than-average land locations included the U.S. Northern Plains, the Canadian Prairie Provinces, and central Asia.
- Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.4 million square miles (11.5 million square kilometers) during June, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This is 5.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent. By contrast, the 2007 record for the least Arctic sea ice extent was 5.5 percent below average. Antarctic sea ice extent in June was 3.9 percent above the 1979-2000 average.
- Heavy rain fell over central Europe, triggering mudslides and floods. Thirteen fatalities were reported. According to reports, this was central Europe's worst natural disaster since the 2002 floods that claimed 17 lives and caused nearly $3 billion in damages.
The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for June, breaking the previous high mark set in 2005, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Additionally, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for June was second-warmest on record. The global records began in 1880.
Global Climate Statistics...
- The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the second warmest on record, behind 2005, 1.12 degrees F (0.62 degree C) above the 20th century average of 59.9 degrees F (15.5 degrees C).
- Separately, the global ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degree C) above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F (16.4 degrees C).
- Each hemisphere broke its June record for warmest ocean surface temperature. In the Northern Hemisphere, the warm anomaly of 1.17 degrees F (0.65 degree C) surpassed the previous record of 1.12 degrees F (0.62 degree C), set in 2005. The Southern Hemisphere’s increase of 0.99 degree F (0.55 degree C) exceeded the old record of 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C), set in 1998.
- The global land surface temperature for June 2009 was 1.26 degrees F (0.70 degree C) above the 20th century average of 55.9 degrees F (13.3 degrees C), and ranked as the sixth-warmest June on record.
Notable Developments and Events...
- El Niño is back after six straight months of increased sea-surface temperature anomalies. June sea surface temperatures in the region were more than 0.9 degree F (0.5 degree C) above average.
- Terrestrial warmth was most notable in Africa. Considerable warmth also occurred in Siberia and in the lands around the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Cooler-than-average land locations included the U.S. Northern Plains, the Canadian Prairie Provinces, and central Asia.
- Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.4 million square miles (11.5 million square kilometers) during June, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This is 5.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent. By contrast, the 2007 record for the least Arctic sea ice extent was 5.5 percent below average. Antarctic sea ice extent in June was 3.9 percent above the 1979-2000 average.
- Heavy rain fell over central Europe, triggering mudslides and floods. Thirteen fatalities were reported. According to reports, this was central Europe's worst natural disaster since the 2002 floods that claimed 17 lives and caused nearly $3 billion in damages.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Drought Monitor as of July 14th, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Towering Cumulonimbus Clouds
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Experts Detect Rise in Seismic Activity on the San Andreas Fault
FROM: KTLA TV
LOS ANGELES -- A spike in underground rumblings on a section of the San Andreas fault has seismologists on edge. It's the same section of the fault that produced a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1857.
Experts aren't sure if the vibrations are an indication of an imminent earthquake. They do say, however, that deep tremors mean underground stress which could raise the risk of a major quake.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, monitored seismic activity on the fault's central section between July 2001 and February 2009 and recorded more than 2,000 tremors. The tremors lasted mere minutes to nearly half an hour.
Unlike earthquakes, tremors occur deeper below the surface and the shaking lasts longer.
During the study period, two strong earthquakes hit - a magnitude-6.5 in 2003 and a magnitude-6.0 in Parkfield a year later. Scientists noticed the frequency of the tremors doubled after the 2003 quake and jumped six-fold after 2004.
Tremor episodes continue today although the frequency of tremors has declined since 2004. Scientists are still concerned because the tremors are taking place at a level twice that of those that occurred before the 2003 quake. The team also recorded unusually strong rumblings days before the 2004 temblor.
Predicting large quakes with precision is the elusive Holy Grail. Scientists have only been able to calculate probabilities for quakes in certain areas by analyzing a time line of ruptures and calculating the amount of stress building on a fault. The latest study may potentially inch us closer to having an actual predictor, scientists said.
Results of the research appear in Friday's issue of the journal Science. The work was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey and National Science Foundation.
LOS ANGELES -- A spike in underground rumblings on a section of the San Andreas fault has seismologists on edge. It's the same section of the fault that produced a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1857.
Experts aren't sure if the vibrations are an indication of an imminent earthquake. They do say, however, that deep tremors mean underground stress which could raise the risk of a major quake.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, monitored seismic activity on the fault's central section between July 2001 and February 2009 and recorded more than 2,000 tremors. The tremors lasted mere minutes to nearly half an hour.
Unlike earthquakes, tremors occur deeper below the surface and the shaking lasts longer.
During the study period, two strong earthquakes hit - a magnitude-6.5 in 2003 and a magnitude-6.0 in Parkfield a year later. Scientists noticed the frequency of the tremors doubled after the 2003 quake and jumped six-fold after 2004.
Tremor episodes continue today although the frequency of tremors has declined since 2004. Scientists are still concerned because the tremors are taking place at a level twice that of those that occurred before the 2003 quake. The team also recorded unusually strong rumblings days before the 2004 temblor.
Predicting large quakes with precision is the elusive Holy Grail. Scientists have only been able to calculate probabilities for quakes in certain areas by analyzing a time line of ruptures and calculating the amount of stress building on a fault. The latest study may potentially inch us closer to having an actual predictor, scientists said.
Results of the research appear in Friday's issue of the journal Science. The work was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey and National Science Foundation.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Cirrus Clouds at Sunrise
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Fire Danger Level Raised In Angeles Forest
FROM: KCBS/KCAL TV
LOS ANGELES (CBS) - Officials are raising the fire danger level in the Angeles National Forest this weekend.
It's going from high to very high starting Sunday.
Officials are raising the danger level because of increased in fire activity in the forest.
Last Sunday, flames erupted in the Little Tujunga section of the forest.
Also, vegetation continues to dry out in the summer heat.
Officials said open wood and charcoal fires will only be allowed inside fire rings at developed campgrounds and picnic areas.
LOS ANGELES (CBS) - Officials are raising the fire danger level in the Angeles National Forest this weekend.
It's going from high to very high starting Sunday.
Officials are raising the danger level because of increased in fire activity in the forest.
Last Sunday, flames erupted in the Little Tujunga section of the forest.
Also, vegetation continues to dry out in the summer heat.
Officials said open wood and charcoal fires will only be allowed inside fire rings at developed campgrounds and picnic areas.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Morning cloud photos
Photo on the left:
Mid level debris clouds from
nearby showers.
Mid level debris clouds from
nearby showers.
Photo on the right:
Virga...
(showers not reaching the ground).
Virga...
(showers not reaching the ground).
Friday, July 10, 2009
El Niño Arrives; Expected to Persist through Winter 2009-10
FROM: NOAA
NOAA scientists today announced the arrival of El Niño, a climate phenomenon with a significant influence on global weather, ocean conditions and marine fisheries. El Niño, the periodic warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific waters, occurs on average every two to five years and typically lasts about 12 months.
NOAA expects this El Niño to continue developing during the next several months, with further strengthening possible. The event is expected to last through winter 2009-10.
“Advanced climate science allows us to alert industries, governments and emergency managers about the weather conditions El Niño may bring so these can be factored into decision-making and ultimately protect life, property and the economy,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
El Niño's impacts depend on a variety of factors, such as intensity and extent of ocean warming, and the time of year. Contrary to popular belief, not all effects are negative. On the positive side, El Niño can help to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity. In the United States, it typically brings beneficial winter precipitation to the arid Southwest, less wintry weather across the North, and a reduced risk of Florida wildfires.
El Niño’s negative impacts have included damaging winter storms in California and increased storminess across the southern United States. Some past El Niños have also produced severe flooding and mudslides in Central and South America, and drought in Indonesia.
An El Niño event may significantly diminish ocean productivity off the west coast by limiting weather patterns that cause upwelling, or nutrient circulation in the ocean. These nutrients are the foundation of a vibrant marine food web and could negatively impact food sources for several types of birds, fish and marine mammals.
In its monthly El Niño diagnostics discussion today, scientists with the NOAA National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center noted weekly eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures were at least 1.0 degree C above average at the end of June. The most recent El Niño occurred in 2006.
El Niño includes weaker trade winds, increased rainfall over the central tropical Pacific, and decreased rainfall in Indonesia. These vast rainfall patterns in the tropics are responsible for many of El Niño’s global effects on weather patterns.
NOAA will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation in the tropical Pacific, and will provide more detailed information on possible Atlantic hurricane impacts in its updated Seasonal Hurricane Outlook scheduled for release on August 6, 2009.
NOAA scientists today announced the arrival of El Niño, a climate phenomenon with a significant influence on global weather, ocean conditions and marine fisheries. El Niño, the periodic warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific waters, occurs on average every two to five years and typically lasts about 12 months.
NOAA expects this El Niño to continue developing during the next several months, with further strengthening possible. The event is expected to last through winter 2009-10.
“Advanced climate science allows us to alert industries, governments and emergency managers about the weather conditions El Niño may bring so these can be factored into decision-making and ultimately protect life, property and the economy,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
El Niño's impacts depend on a variety of factors, such as intensity and extent of ocean warming, and the time of year. Contrary to popular belief, not all effects are negative. On the positive side, El Niño can help to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity. In the United States, it typically brings beneficial winter precipitation to the arid Southwest, less wintry weather across the North, and a reduced risk of Florida wildfires.
El Niño’s negative impacts have included damaging winter storms in California and increased storminess across the southern United States. Some past El Niños have also produced severe flooding and mudslides in Central and South America, and drought in Indonesia.
An El Niño event may significantly diminish ocean productivity off the west coast by limiting weather patterns that cause upwelling, or nutrient circulation in the ocean. These nutrients are the foundation of a vibrant marine food web and could negatively impact food sources for several types of birds, fish and marine mammals.
In its monthly El Niño diagnostics discussion today, scientists with the NOAA National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center noted weekly eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures were at least 1.0 degree C above average at the end of June. The most recent El Niño occurred in 2006.
El Niño includes weaker trade winds, increased rainfall over the central tropical Pacific, and decreased rainfall in Indonesia. These vast rainfall patterns in the tropics are responsible for many of El Niño’s global effects on weather patterns.
NOAA will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation in the tropical Pacific, and will provide more detailed information on possible Atlantic hurricane impacts in its updated Seasonal Hurricane Outlook scheduled for release on August 6, 2009.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of July 7th, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Another Great San Diego Summer Day!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Wakin up gloomy skies in San Clemente
Monday, July 06, 2009
A bright summery day in San Diego
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Bright end to a summer day in Hermosa Beach!
Nice holiday weekend weather at Big Bear Lake!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Happy Birthday America!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
U.S., California programs to reduce ship emissions
FROM: Los Angeles Times
The mandatory use of cleaner fuels will improve the air quality of coastal cities, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says.
By Amy Littlefield
Targeting one of the biggest sources of air pollution, federal and state regulators moved forward Wednesday with plans to slash emissions from big diesel-powered ships entering U.S. coastal areas.
Under rules that took effect Wednesday, the roughly 2,000 ocean-going vessels that enter California ports each year must switch to fuel with lower sulfur content before coming within 24 nautical miles of the state's coast.
The use of cleaner fuel will yield immediate reductions in harmful air pollutants such as diesel particulate matter, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, according to the California Air Resources Board, which issued the regulations.
The state plan will mandate an even cleaner fuel starting in 2012.
California, home to some of the dirtiest air districts in the nation, has traditionally led the U.S. in innovative pollution rules, not only affecting ships but also automobiles and power plants. About 40% of the nation's imported goods move through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, creating massive emissions from trucks and vessels"This new measure will help coastal residents breathe easier and reduce pollution in our oceans and waterways at the same time," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.
Also Wednesday, the federal Environmental Protection Agency proposed long-anticipated standards on the engines and fuel of U.S.-flagged vessels, which would lower fuel sulfur content below 1,000 parts per million -- matching California's 2012 requirement -- within 200 miles of the U.S. coast, starting in 2015.
The proposal is part of an international effort to reduce shipping emissions under the Marine Pollution Treaty. The EPA proposal would also mandate improved engine technology to decrease emissions of nitrogen oxides.
National environmental groups applauded the federal proposal.
"These ships are like giant smokestacks on the sea," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. "They cause pollution and public health problems not only for coastal communities but for millions who live inland."
The California rules, which kick in before the federal standards, apply not only to U.S.-flagged ships but to all ships entering state waters. "We need the health benefits in the interim," said Mike Scheible, the air board's deputy executive officer.
An estimated 3,600 premature deaths will be avoided under the state regulations between now and 2015.
The shipping industry has objected to regulation by states, arguing that international bodies should establish maritime rules.
But T.L. Garrett, vice president of the San Francisco-based Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn., an alliance of more than 60 industry organizations, said Wednesday that the group's members were "fully prepared to comply" with the new California rules.
The shipping alliance had filed a lawsuit against the Air Resources Board, saying state attempts to regulate shipping violated federal law.
A federal judge Tuesday upheld the state's ability to set its own rules regarding clean fuel.
Still, the group favors international standards that "will bring uniform and meaningful emission reductions" rather than a "random patchwork of local regulations," John McLaurin, president of PMSA, said in a written statement.
The mandatory use of cleaner fuels will improve the air quality of coastal cities, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says.
By Amy Littlefield
Targeting one of the biggest sources of air pollution, federal and state regulators moved forward Wednesday with plans to slash emissions from big diesel-powered ships entering U.S. coastal areas.
Under rules that took effect Wednesday, the roughly 2,000 ocean-going vessels that enter California ports each year must switch to fuel with lower sulfur content before coming within 24 nautical miles of the state's coast.
The use of cleaner fuel will yield immediate reductions in harmful air pollutants such as diesel particulate matter, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, according to the California Air Resources Board, which issued the regulations.
The state plan will mandate an even cleaner fuel starting in 2012.
California, home to some of the dirtiest air districts in the nation, has traditionally led the U.S. in innovative pollution rules, not only affecting ships but also automobiles and power plants. About 40% of the nation's imported goods move through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, creating massive emissions from trucks and vessels"This new measure will help coastal residents breathe easier and reduce pollution in our oceans and waterways at the same time," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.
Also Wednesday, the federal Environmental Protection Agency proposed long-anticipated standards on the engines and fuel of U.S.-flagged vessels, which would lower fuel sulfur content below 1,000 parts per million -- matching California's 2012 requirement -- within 200 miles of the U.S. coast, starting in 2015.
The proposal is part of an international effort to reduce shipping emissions under the Marine Pollution Treaty. The EPA proposal would also mandate improved engine technology to decrease emissions of nitrogen oxides.
National environmental groups applauded the federal proposal.
"These ships are like giant smokestacks on the sea," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. "They cause pollution and public health problems not only for coastal communities but for millions who live inland."
The California rules, which kick in before the federal standards, apply not only to U.S.-flagged ships but to all ships entering state waters. "We need the health benefits in the interim," said Mike Scheible, the air board's deputy executive officer.
An estimated 3,600 premature deaths will be avoided under the state regulations between now and 2015.
The shipping industry has objected to regulation by states, arguing that international bodies should establish maritime rules.
But T.L. Garrett, vice president of the San Francisco-based Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn., an alliance of more than 60 industry organizations, said Wednesday that the group's members were "fully prepared to comply" with the new California rules.
The shipping alliance had filed a lawsuit against the Air Resources Board, saying state attempts to regulate shipping violated federal law.
A federal judge Tuesday upheld the state's ability to set its own rules regarding clean fuel.
Still, the group favors international standards that "will bring uniform and meaningful emission reductions" rather than a "random patchwork of local regulations," John McLaurin, president of PMSA, said in a written statement.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Announces $167 Million in Recovery Act Funding for 50 Coastal Restoration Projects
FROM: NOAA
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Tuesday 50 habitat restoration projects that will restore damaged wetlands, shellfish beds, coral reefs and reopen fish passages that boost the health and resiliency of our nation’s coastal and Great Lakes communities. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was provided $167 million for marine and coastal habitat restoration.
"These Recovery Act projects will put Americans to work while restoring our coasts and combating climate change,” Locke said. “They reflect our investment in sound science and commitment to help strengthen local economies.”
Healthy coastal habitats are critical to the recovery and sustainability of the U.S. economy. Coastal areas generate more than 28 million jobs in the United States. Commercial and recreational fishing employs 1.5 million people and contributes $111 billion to the nation’s economy.
“NOAA is investing in green jobs for Americans to restore habitat for valuable fish and wildlife and strengthen coastal communities, making them more resilient to storms, sea-level rise and other effects of climate change,” Commerce under secretary of oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said. “In addition to the immediate jobs created by the projects, stronger and healthier coastal communities will boost our nation’s long-term economic health.”
A significant number of these coastal and Great Lakes restoration projects — in 22 states and two territories — are in areas with some of the highest unemployment rates, including the states of California, Oregon, and Michigan. The projects will employ Americans with a range of skills including laborers, nursery workers, design engineers, restoration ecologists, landscape architects, hydrologists, and specialized botanists.
In addition to direct jobs, the projects are estimated to create indirect jobs in industries that supply materials and administrative, clerical, and managerial services.
When complete, the projects will have restored more than 8,900 acres of habitat and removed obsolete and unsafe dams that open more than 700 stream miles where fish migrate and spawn. The projects also will remove more than 850 metric tons of debris, rebuild oyster and other shellfish habitat, and reduce threats to 11,750 acres of coral reefs.
The 50 projects were chosen from a pool of 814 proposals totaling more than $3 billion in requests. The agency worked through a rigorous selection process to identify and prioritize projects meeting the Recovery Act’s criteria.
More than 200 technical reviewers from across NOAA worked in groups to review all the applications and the top 109 were chosen for panel review. Proposals were ranked by overall quality and with consideration given to program priority areas and geography. The determining criteria were that projects meet NOAA’s highest priority mission needs for ecological restoration, be “shovel ready” and generate the largest number of jobs in the shortest period of time, and create lasting value for the American public.
For further information on funded projects nationwide, go to the NOAA Recovery Act Web site. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the recovery Web site, which will include an interactive online map that enables the public to track where and how NOAA recovery funds are spent.
California projects:
- South San Diego Bay Restoration (San Diego, Calif.) – $2.9 million – Restores tidal circulation to former salt ponds, restore 120 acres of intertidal wetlands, as well as removes non-native vegetation and replaces it with native estuarine plants.
- California Coastal Fisheries Restoration Partnership – $1.5 million – Employs California Conservation Corps members to complete more than 20 identified coastal restoration activities that benefit threatened and endangered salmon throughout coastal California.
- Elkhorn Slough Restoration (Watsonville, Calif.) – $3.9 million – Restores tidal flow, reduces erosion, and creates long-term protection and erosion control for more than seven acres of wetland directly and 450 acres overall. This project also prevents seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer, which supports more than $100 million annually in agricultural production.
- San Francisco South Salt Pond Restoration (San Francisco, Calif.) – $7.6 million – Opens and restores more than 1,990 acres of three former salt ponds to tidal flow, as well as reinitiating the removal of Spartina alterniflora, an invasive wetland plant on the U.S. West Coast.
- American Canyon Salt Pond Restoration (San Francisco, Calif.) – $8.5 million – Restores wetlands and re-create tidal flow to improve 1,135 acres of habitat for threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and green sturgeon by removing levees around former salt ponds.
- Salmon Creek Restoration (Bodega, Calif.) – $1.5 million – Restores four acres of a streamside corridor and in-stream habitat for endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout by installing rain catchment tanks to improve instream flow, planting native vegetation, and implementing other stream-related restoration activities to benefit fisheries resources.
- Lower Klamath Riparian Restoration and Tribal Plant Nursery (Bodega, Calif.) – $527,000– Restores nine acres of in-stream and streamside river habitat of the lower Klamath River to benefit threatened coho salmon as well as Chinook salmon and steelhead trout.
- Big Springs Shasta River Restoration (Big Springs, Calif.) – $1.6 million – Restores habitat for chinook, steelhead, and threatened coho salmon by planting 20 acres of native vegetation and incorporating new agriculture conservation measures to enhance water quality, including a fence to exclude cattle from 70 acres of the riparian habitat.
- Magnolia Marsh Restoration (Huntington Beach, Calif.) – $3.3 million – Restores more than 41 acres of an urban tidal marsh by expanding rearing habitat for many species of marine and coastal fish.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Tuesday 50 habitat restoration projects that will restore damaged wetlands, shellfish beds, coral reefs and reopen fish passages that boost the health and resiliency of our nation’s coastal and Great Lakes communities. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was provided $167 million for marine and coastal habitat restoration.
"These Recovery Act projects will put Americans to work while restoring our coasts and combating climate change,” Locke said. “They reflect our investment in sound science and commitment to help strengthen local economies.”
Healthy coastal habitats are critical to the recovery and sustainability of the U.S. economy. Coastal areas generate more than 28 million jobs in the United States. Commercial and recreational fishing employs 1.5 million people and contributes $111 billion to the nation’s economy.
“NOAA is investing in green jobs for Americans to restore habitat for valuable fish and wildlife and strengthen coastal communities, making them more resilient to storms, sea-level rise and other effects of climate change,” Commerce under secretary of oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said. “In addition to the immediate jobs created by the projects, stronger and healthier coastal communities will boost our nation’s long-term economic health.”
A significant number of these coastal and Great Lakes restoration projects — in 22 states and two territories — are in areas with some of the highest unemployment rates, including the states of California, Oregon, and Michigan. The projects will employ Americans with a range of skills including laborers, nursery workers, design engineers, restoration ecologists, landscape architects, hydrologists, and specialized botanists.
In addition to direct jobs, the projects are estimated to create indirect jobs in industries that supply materials and administrative, clerical, and managerial services.
When complete, the projects will have restored more than 8,900 acres of habitat and removed obsolete and unsafe dams that open more than 700 stream miles where fish migrate and spawn. The projects also will remove more than 850 metric tons of debris, rebuild oyster and other shellfish habitat, and reduce threats to 11,750 acres of coral reefs.
The 50 projects were chosen from a pool of 814 proposals totaling more than $3 billion in requests. The agency worked through a rigorous selection process to identify and prioritize projects meeting the Recovery Act’s criteria.
More than 200 technical reviewers from across NOAA worked in groups to review all the applications and the top 109 were chosen for panel review. Proposals were ranked by overall quality and with consideration given to program priority areas and geography. The determining criteria were that projects meet NOAA’s highest priority mission needs for ecological restoration, be “shovel ready” and generate the largest number of jobs in the shortest period of time, and create lasting value for the American public.
For further information on funded projects nationwide, go to the NOAA Recovery Act Web site. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the recovery Web site, which will include an interactive online map that enables the public to track where and how NOAA recovery funds are spent.
California projects:
- South San Diego Bay Restoration (San Diego, Calif.) – $2.9 million – Restores tidal circulation to former salt ponds, restore 120 acres of intertidal wetlands, as well as removes non-native vegetation and replaces it with native estuarine plants.
- California Coastal Fisheries Restoration Partnership – $1.5 million – Employs California Conservation Corps members to complete more than 20 identified coastal restoration activities that benefit threatened and endangered salmon throughout coastal California.
- Elkhorn Slough Restoration (Watsonville, Calif.) – $3.9 million – Restores tidal flow, reduces erosion, and creates long-term protection and erosion control for more than seven acres of wetland directly and 450 acres overall. This project also prevents seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer, which supports more than $100 million annually in agricultural production.
- San Francisco South Salt Pond Restoration (San Francisco, Calif.) – $7.6 million – Opens and restores more than 1,990 acres of three former salt ponds to tidal flow, as well as reinitiating the removal of Spartina alterniflora, an invasive wetland plant on the U.S. West Coast.
- American Canyon Salt Pond Restoration (San Francisco, Calif.) – $8.5 million – Restores wetlands and re-create tidal flow to improve 1,135 acres of habitat for threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and green sturgeon by removing levees around former salt ponds.
- Salmon Creek Restoration (Bodega, Calif.) – $1.5 million – Restores four acres of a streamside corridor and in-stream habitat for endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout by installing rain catchment tanks to improve instream flow, planting native vegetation, and implementing other stream-related restoration activities to benefit fisheries resources.
- Lower Klamath Riparian Restoration and Tribal Plant Nursery (Bodega, Calif.) – $527,000– Restores nine acres of in-stream and streamside river habitat of the lower Klamath River to benefit threatened coho salmon as well as Chinook salmon and steelhead trout.
- Big Springs Shasta River Restoration (Big Springs, Calif.) – $1.6 million – Restores habitat for chinook, steelhead, and threatened coho salmon by planting 20 acres of native vegetation and incorporating new agriculture conservation measures to enhance water quality, including a fence to exclude cattle from 70 acres of the riparian habitat.
- Magnolia Marsh Restoration (Huntington Beach, Calif.) – $3.3 million – Restores more than 41 acres of an urban tidal marsh by expanding rearing habitat for many species of marine and coastal fish.
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