Monday, August 31, 2009
NOAA Study Shows Nitrous Oxide Now Top Ozone-Depleting Emission
FROM: NOAA
Nitrous oxide has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century, NOAA scientists say in a new study.
For the first time, this study has evaluated nitrous oxide emissions from human activities in terms of their potential impact on Earth’s ozone layer. As chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been phased out by international agreement, ebb in the atmosphere, nitrous oxide will remain a significant ozone-destroyer, the study found. Today, nitrous oxide emissions from human activities are more than twice as high as the next leading ozone-depleting gas.
Nitrous oxide is emitted from natural sources and as a byproduct of agricultural fertilization and other industrial processes. Calculating the effect on the ozone layer now and in the future, NOAA researchers found that emissions of nitrous oxide from human activities erode the ozone layer and will continue to do so for many decades.
The study, authored by A.R. Ravishankara, J.S. Daniel and Robert W. Portmann of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) chemical sciences division, appears online today in the journal Science. ESRL tracks the thickness of the ozone layer, as well as the burden of ozone-depleting compounds in the atmosphere. It maintains a large portion of the world air sampling and measurement network. NOAA scientists also conduct fundamental studies of the atmosphere and atmospheric processes to improve understanding of ozone depletion and of the potential for recovery the ozone layer.
“The dramatic reduction in CFCs over the last 20 years is an environmental success story. But manmade nitrous oxide is now the elephant in the room among ozone-depleting substances,” said Ravishankara, lead author of the study and director of the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division in Boulder, Colo.
The ozone layer serves to shield plants, animals and people from excessive ultraviolet light from the sun. Thinning of the ozone layer allows more ultraviolet light to reach the Earth’s surface where it can damage crops and aquatic life and harm human health.
Though the role of nitrous oxide in ozone depletion has been known for several decades, the new study is the first to explicitly calculate that role using the same measures that have been applied to CFCs, halons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing ozone-depleting substances.
With CFCs and certain other ozone-depleting gases coming in check as a result of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the international treaty that phased out ozone-destroying compounds, manmade nitrous oxide is becoming an increasingly larger fraction of the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. Nitrous oxide is not regulated by the Montreal Protocol.
Nitrous oxide is also a greenhouse gas, so reducing its emission from manmade sources would be good for both the ozone layer and climate, the scientists said.
In addition to soil fertilization, nitrous oxide is emitted from livestock manure, sewage treatment, combustion and certain other industrial processes. Dentists use it as a sedative (so-called “laughing gas”). In nature, bacteria in soil and the oceans break down nitrogen-containing compounds, releasing nitrous oxide. About one-third of global nitrous oxide emissions are from human activities. Nitrous oxide, like CFCs, is stable when emitted at ground level, but breaks down when it reaches the stratosphere to form other gases, called nitrogen oxides, that trigger ozone-destroying reactions.
Nitrous oxide has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century, NOAA scientists say in a new study.
For the first time, this study has evaluated nitrous oxide emissions from human activities in terms of their potential impact on Earth’s ozone layer. As chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been phased out by international agreement, ebb in the atmosphere, nitrous oxide will remain a significant ozone-destroyer, the study found. Today, nitrous oxide emissions from human activities are more than twice as high as the next leading ozone-depleting gas.
Nitrous oxide is emitted from natural sources and as a byproduct of agricultural fertilization and other industrial processes. Calculating the effect on the ozone layer now and in the future, NOAA researchers found that emissions of nitrous oxide from human activities erode the ozone layer and will continue to do so for many decades.
The study, authored by A.R. Ravishankara, J.S. Daniel and Robert W. Portmann of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) chemical sciences division, appears online today in the journal Science. ESRL tracks the thickness of the ozone layer, as well as the burden of ozone-depleting compounds in the atmosphere. It maintains a large portion of the world air sampling and measurement network. NOAA scientists also conduct fundamental studies of the atmosphere and atmospheric processes to improve understanding of ozone depletion and of the potential for recovery the ozone layer.
“The dramatic reduction in CFCs over the last 20 years is an environmental success story. But manmade nitrous oxide is now the elephant in the room among ozone-depleting substances,” said Ravishankara, lead author of the study and director of the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division in Boulder, Colo.
The ozone layer serves to shield plants, animals and people from excessive ultraviolet light from the sun. Thinning of the ozone layer allows more ultraviolet light to reach the Earth’s surface where it can damage crops and aquatic life and harm human health.
Though the role of nitrous oxide in ozone depletion has been known for several decades, the new study is the first to explicitly calculate that role using the same measures that have been applied to CFCs, halons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing ozone-depleting substances.
With CFCs and certain other ozone-depleting gases coming in check as a result of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the international treaty that phased out ozone-destroying compounds, manmade nitrous oxide is becoming an increasingly larger fraction of the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. Nitrous oxide is not regulated by the Montreal Protocol.
Nitrous oxide is also a greenhouse gas, so reducing its emission from manmade sources would be good for both the ozone layer and climate, the scientists said.
In addition to soil fertilization, nitrous oxide is emitted from livestock manure, sewage treatment, combustion and certain other industrial processes. Dentists use it as a sedative (so-called “laughing gas”). In nature, bacteria in soil and the oceans break down nitrogen-containing compounds, releasing nitrous oxide. About one-third of global nitrous oxide emissions are from human activities. Nitrous oxide, like CFCs, is stable when emitted at ground level, but breaks down when it reaches the stratosphere to form other gases, called nitrogen oxides, that trigger ozone-destroying reactions.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
California renewable energy goals: The devil is in the implementation
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Environmentalists, unions and utilities seem to accept the governor's goal of getting a third of electricity from renewable sources. They just differ on how to get there.
By Marc Lifsher
Reporting from Sacramento - At the State Capitol, boosting the use of solar power, wind generators and other renewable energy sources is seen as a boon for both the environment and the economy in electricity-hungry California.
But with two weeks left in the legislative session, Democrats are hustling to fulfill a commitment they made to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass a law to require all utilities to get a third of their power from "green" sources by 2020.
Meeting that pledge isn't easy, and a fight is brewing about just how fast the state can go green and how to accomplish it.
The dispute centers on the utilities' slow pace in meeting the existing goal of 20% for 2010 -- spelled out by a law passed in 2006 -- and on how to craft a longer-range plan that hits Schwarzenegger's more ambitious target.
On one side of the sharp debate are environmentalists, labor unions, Democratic legislators and consumer advocates. Electric utilities and business lobbies are on the other, while the governor appears to have a foot in each camp.
The main argument is over how much of the new green power must be generated within California's borders. Another point of contention is which is more expensive: in-state renewable energy or wind and solar power from facilities elsewhere in the West.
The complex, many-sided negotiations could have a big effect in the decade ahead on consumers' electric bills, the quality of the air they breathe and the effect of global warming on their communities.
Schwarzenegger, who has garnered an international reputation for making California a leader in the fight against global warming, stressed that an increasing investment in renewable energy "will help us fight climate change while driving our state's green economy."
The discussion about requirements for 2020 is marred by the fact that the state's utilities are woefully behind in meeting a legal deadline of obtaining 20% of their power from renewable resources by 2010.
As of 2008, Southern California Edison Co. posted 15.5%, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 11.9% and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. only 6.1%, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.
The three companies aren't expected to hit 20% until at least 2013.
The utilities say they've been hampered by delays in getting transmission lines licensed and built in California so they can bring wind, solar and geothermal power from remote desert and mountain areas to population centers along the coast.
Nevertheless, they say that they will have enough power under contract to reach the 33% goal by 2020 -- if lawmakers and regulators give them rules that provide plenty of flexibility.
For example, last month PG&E announced plans to buy solar power from a generator in Boulder City, Nev. And this month, Edison said it would partner with an Arizona company to build two large solar plants in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
This year's battle in Sacramento involves two related bills, SB 14 by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and AB 64 by Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank). The Simitian bill is on the floor of the Assembly, and the Krekorian measure is on the floor of the Senate.
Unlike the current 20% renewable energy law for 2010, the two proposed bills with goals for 2020 have enforcement provisions, including financial penalties for failing to meet renewable energy procurement levels.
They also broaden the requirements to include publicly owned utilities, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Simitian, who is pushing for the 33% requirement, said he wants to "find a sweet spot" that he says would keep electricity rates reasonable, protect the environment and not saddle businesses with uneconomical or burdensome regulations.
"This is very heavy lifting," he conceded.
A big sticking point in the debate is how much renewable power the state's utilities are allowed to buy or generate out of state. The current law has no limit. MORE==>>
Environmentalists, unions and utilities seem to accept the governor's goal of getting a third of electricity from renewable sources. They just differ on how to get there.
By Marc Lifsher
Reporting from Sacramento - At the State Capitol, boosting the use of solar power, wind generators and other renewable energy sources is seen as a boon for both the environment and the economy in electricity-hungry California.
But with two weeks left in the legislative session, Democrats are hustling to fulfill a commitment they made to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass a law to require all utilities to get a third of their power from "green" sources by 2020.
Meeting that pledge isn't easy, and a fight is brewing about just how fast the state can go green and how to accomplish it.
The dispute centers on the utilities' slow pace in meeting the existing goal of 20% for 2010 -- spelled out by a law passed in 2006 -- and on how to craft a longer-range plan that hits Schwarzenegger's more ambitious target.
On one side of the sharp debate are environmentalists, labor unions, Democratic legislators and consumer advocates. Electric utilities and business lobbies are on the other, while the governor appears to have a foot in each camp.
The main argument is over how much of the new green power must be generated within California's borders. Another point of contention is which is more expensive: in-state renewable energy or wind and solar power from facilities elsewhere in the West.
The complex, many-sided negotiations could have a big effect in the decade ahead on consumers' electric bills, the quality of the air they breathe and the effect of global warming on their communities.
Schwarzenegger, who has garnered an international reputation for making California a leader in the fight against global warming, stressed that an increasing investment in renewable energy "will help us fight climate change while driving our state's green economy."
The discussion about requirements for 2020 is marred by the fact that the state's utilities are woefully behind in meeting a legal deadline of obtaining 20% of their power from renewable resources by 2010.
As of 2008, Southern California Edison Co. posted 15.5%, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 11.9% and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. only 6.1%, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.
The three companies aren't expected to hit 20% until at least 2013.
The utilities say they've been hampered by delays in getting transmission lines licensed and built in California so they can bring wind, solar and geothermal power from remote desert and mountain areas to population centers along the coast.
Nevertheless, they say that they will have enough power under contract to reach the 33% goal by 2020 -- if lawmakers and regulators give them rules that provide plenty of flexibility.
For example, last month PG&E announced plans to buy solar power from a generator in Boulder City, Nev. And this month, Edison said it would partner with an Arizona company to build two large solar plants in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
This year's battle in Sacramento involves two related bills, SB 14 by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and AB 64 by Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank). The Simitian bill is on the floor of the Assembly, and the Krekorian measure is on the floor of the Senate.
Unlike the current 20% renewable energy law for 2010, the two proposed bills with goals for 2020 have enforcement provisions, including financial penalties for failing to meet renewable energy procurement levels.
They also broaden the requirements to include publicly owned utilities, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Simitian, who is pushing for the 33% requirement, said he wants to "find a sweet spot" that he says would keep electricity rates reasonable, protect the environment and not saddle businesses with uneconomical or burdensome regulations.
"This is very heavy lifting," he conceded.
A big sticking point in the debate is how much renewable power the state's utilities are allowed to buy or generate out of state. The current law has no limit. MORE==>>
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Smog-producing leaf blowers can be exchanged for cleaner models
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Give us your tired, your old, your smog-producing leaf blowers, yearning... to be replaced by more environmentally friendly blowers.
Registration is ongoing at locations around the region in an annual exchange for professional gardeners and landscapers to trade in older, highly polluting backpack leaf blowers for quieter, low-emission units. The exchange is organized by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Up to 1,500 new leaf blowers -- which the agency says will reduce smog-forming pollutants by 21 tons each year -- will be sold for less than half their retail price at the events, held at 11 locations around the Southland. The old blowers will be fed -- and given new life -- to the Beast Recycler.
Give us your tired, your old, your smog-producing leaf blowers, yearning... to be replaced by more environmentally friendly blowers.
Registration is ongoing at locations around the region in an annual exchange for professional gardeners and landscapers to trade in older, highly polluting backpack leaf blowers for quieter, low-emission units. The exchange is organized by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Up to 1,500 new leaf blowers -- which the agency says will reduce smog-forming pollutants by 21 tons each year -- will be sold for less than half their retail price at the events, held at 11 locations around the Southland. The old blowers will be fed -- and given new life -- to the Beast Recycler.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of August 25th, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
LA Sees Dramatic Drop In Water, Power Consumption
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― There has been a dramatic drop in Los Angeles-area water consumption in response to calls for conservation.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday praised residents, businesses and government agencies for cutting water use last month by an overall 17 percent compared to July 2008.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday praised residents, businesses and government agencies for cutting water use last month by an overall 17 percent compared to July 2008.
The city Department of Water and Power, which has 680,000 water customers and 1.4 million electric customers, says single-family homes cut water use nearly 21 percent, businesses cut usage nearly 22 percent and government properties reduced usage more than 34 percent.
Huge reductions in electricity usage are also being reported. The DWP saved a record 318 gigawatt-hours for the fiscal year ending June 30, an amount that equals removal of 53,000 households from the grid and avoids 178,700 metric tons of greenhouses gases.
Southern California is in its third year of water shortages.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday praised residents, businesses and government agencies for cutting water use last month by an overall 17 percent compared to July 2008.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday praised residents, businesses and government agencies for cutting water use last month by an overall 17 percent compared to July 2008.
The city Department of Water and Power, which has 680,000 water customers and 1.4 million electric customers, says single-family homes cut water use nearly 21 percent, businesses cut usage nearly 22 percent and government properties reduced usage more than 34 percent.
Huge reductions in electricity usage are also being reported. The DWP saved a record 318 gigawatt-hours for the fiscal year ending June 30, an amount that equals removal of 53,000 households from the grid and avoids 178,700 metric tons of greenhouses gases.
Southern California is in its third year of water shortages.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Report: Future U.S. heat waves will be worse
FROM: USA Today
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
The nation is headed for strong heat waves in coming decades that will hit cities and farmers and threaten wildlife with extinction, a new global warming report warns.
The report, "More Extreme Heat Waves: Global Warming's Wake Up Call," sponsored by medical, environmental and civil rights organizations, comes as a legislative fight over a climate change bill gets ready to resume next month in Congress. Its remedies are based on recent findings of global warming effects by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which coordinates climate research across federal agencies.
"The report highlights the current vulnerabilities from heat waves growing," says climate scientist Amanda Staudt of the National Wildlife Federation, a report sponsor. Average temperatures are expected to grow 4 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit nationwide over the next century, according to the federal climate research group.
The severity will vary with industrial emissions of greenhouse gases, but "heat waves will continue to get worse in the coming decades," the report warns. It lists the 30 major cities most at risk.
In June, the climate research program published a report that found average temperatures in the USA have increased more than 2 degrees in the past five decades, largely as the result of emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are produced by burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which drives up temperatures in the air and oceans.
"Heat waves worsen not only direct effects like heat stroke but also heart disease, asthma and other respiratory problems," says Peter Wilk of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Washington, D.C., a report sponsor. The 1995 Chicago heat wave killed more than 500 people, and the 2003 European heat wave killed more than 35,000, he adds.
"People in cities, the poor and often people of color, are the most vulnerable," says Benjamin Jealous, head of the NAACP, another report sponsor. "They are most likely to live in high-rise apartments, lack air conditioning and other resources. Climate change is a civil rights issue."
Says environmental hazards expert Michael McGeehin of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was not part of the report: "This report does a nice job of laying out the risks and steps we can take in the face of changing climate. Every heat death is preventable."
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
The nation is headed for strong heat waves in coming decades that will hit cities and farmers and threaten wildlife with extinction, a new global warming report warns.
The report, "More Extreme Heat Waves: Global Warming's Wake Up Call," sponsored by medical, environmental and civil rights organizations, comes as a legislative fight over a climate change bill gets ready to resume next month in Congress. Its remedies are based on recent findings of global warming effects by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which coordinates climate research across federal agencies.
"The report highlights the current vulnerabilities from heat waves growing," says climate scientist Amanda Staudt of the National Wildlife Federation, a report sponsor. Average temperatures are expected to grow 4 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit nationwide over the next century, according to the federal climate research group.
The severity will vary with industrial emissions of greenhouse gases, but "heat waves will continue to get worse in the coming decades," the report warns. It lists the 30 major cities most at risk.
In June, the climate research program published a report that found average temperatures in the USA have increased more than 2 degrees in the past five decades, largely as the result of emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are produced by burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which drives up temperatures in the air and oceans.
"Heat waves worsen not only direct effects like heat stroke but also heart disease, asthma and other respiratory problems," says Peter Wilk of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Washington, D.C., a report sponsor. The 1995 Chicago heat wave killed more than 500 people, and the 2003 European heat wave killed more than 35,000, he adds.
"People in cities, the poor and often people of color, are the most vulnerable," says Benjamin Jealous, head of the NAACP, another report sponsor. "They are most likely to live in high-rise apartments, lack air conditioning and other resources. Climate change is a civil rights issue."
Says environmental hazards expert Michael McGeehin of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was not part of the report: "This report does a nice job of laying out the risks and steps we can take in the face of changing climate. Every heat death is preventable."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
NOAA Asks Mariners to Safeguard Pacific Data Buoys
FROM: NOAA
NOAA’s National Weather Service is asking the marine community to help safeguard its offshore buoys — which provide meteorologists with critical data for weather and tsunami forecasts — following a series of incidents where buoys were damaged or cut from their moorings.
Since November 2008, three weather buoys around the Hawaiian Islands have been damaged, and several tsunami buoys around the Pacific Rim stopped transmitting data after severe weather or commercial ships broke the mooring lines. Two weather buoys suffered serious damage and stopped sending data. A third weather buoy continues to transmit data, but has drifted thousands of miles to the west because of a cut mooring line. NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard have repaired many of the buoys, and the remainder will be serviced as soon as ship schedules permit.
“The damage could put communities at risk from severe weather and has been costly in terms of repairs and lost data,” said Jim Weyman, meteorologist-in-charge of the Honolulu Weather Forecast Office and director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. “We ask the fishing, shipping and boating communities to help prevent additional losses which are an avoidable expense for taxpayers.”
These data buoys are a vital part of the National Weather Service’s observation systems, providing wind speed and direction, wave height, pressure changes and other key data about marine conditions. Forecasters combine buoy data with information from satellites, radar and weather balloons to issue storm warnings and high surf advisories.
Mariners can help protect these buoys by:
... Never boarding or tying up to a buoy;
... Never fishing around or under a buoy;
... Giving the buoy a wide berth to avoid entangling the mooring or other equipment suspended from the buoy – 500 yards for vessels which are trailing gear and at least 20 yards for all others
Fishermen and other boaters can also help by reporting any of these activities or the sighting of damaged or drifting buoys to the U.S. Coast Guard at 808-535-3333. NOAA buoys are easy to identify. All are painted bright colors and imprinted with "NOAA" and the station number.
Operated and maintained by NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, the buoys are continually monitored by an automated quality assurance program which immediately notifies technicians when data is lost.
NOAA’s National Weather Service is asking the marine community to help safeguard its offshore buoys — which provide meteorologists with critical data for weather and tsunami forecasts — following a series of incidents where buoys were damaged or cut from their moorings.
Since November 2008, three weather buoys around the Hawaiian Islands have been damaged, and several tsunami buoys around the Pacific Rim stopped transmitting data after severe weather or commercial ships broke the mooring lines. Two weather buoys suffered serious damage and stopped sending data. A third weather buoy continues to transmit data, but has drifted thousands of miles to the west because of a cut mooring line. NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard have repaired many of the buoys, and the remainder will be serviced as soon as ship schedules permit.
“The damage could put communities at risk from severe weather and has been costly in terms of repairs and lost data,” said Jim Weyman, meteorologist-in-charge of the Honolulu Weather Forecast Office and director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. “We ask the fishing, shipping and boating communities to help prevent additional losses which are an avoidable expense for taxpayers.”
These data buoys are a vital part of the National Weather Service’s observation systems, providing wind speed and direction, wave height, pressure changes and other key data about marine conditions. Forecasters combine buoy data with information from satellites, radar and weather balloons to issue storm warnings and high surf advisories.
Mariners can help protect these buoys by:
... Never boarding or tying up to a buoy;
... Never fishing around or under a buoy;
... Giving the buoy a wide berth to avoid entangling the mooring or other equipment suspended from the buoy – 500 yards for vessels which are trailing gear and at least 20 yards for all others
Fishermen and other boaters can also help by reporting any of these activities or the sighting of damaged or drifting buoys to the U.S. Coast Guard at 808-535-3333. NOAA buoys are easy to identify. All are painted bright colors and imprinted with "NOAA" and the station number.
Operated and maintained by NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, the buoys are continually monitored by an automated quality assurance program which immediately notifies technicians when data is lost.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Altocumulus clouds
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Cumulonimbus/Cirrus/Stratocumulus Clouds
Friday, August 21, 2009
World's ocean temperatures warmest recorded
FROM: USA Today
By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON — The world's oceans this summer are the warmest on record.
The National Climatic Data Center, the government agency that keeps weather records, says the average global ocean temperature in July was 62.6 degrees. It is the hottest since record-keeping began in 1880. The previous record was set in 1998.
Meteorologists blame a combination of a natural El Nino weather pattern on top of worsening manmade global warming. The warmer water could add to the melting of sea ice and possibly strengthen some hurricanes.
The Gulf of Mexico, where warm water fuels hurricanes, has temperatures dancing around 90 degrees. Most of the water in the Northern Hemisphere has been considerably warmer than normal. The Mediterranean is about three degrees warmer than normal. Higher temperatures rule in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
It's most noticeable near the Arctic, where water temperatures are as much as 10 degrees above average.
Breaking heat records in water is more ominous as a sign of global warming than breaking temperature marks on land. That's because water takes longer to heat up and does not cool off as easily, said climate scientist Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria in British Columbia.
"This is another yet really important indicator of the change that's occurring," Weaver said.
By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON — The world's oceans this summer are the warmest on record.
The National Climatic Data Center, the government agency that keeps weather records, says the average global ocean temperature in July was 62.6 degrees. It is the hottest since record-keeping began in 1880. The previous record was set in 1998.
Meteorologists blame a combination of a natural El Nino weather pattern on top of worsening manmade global warming. The warmer water could add to the melting of sea ice and possibly strengthen some hurricanes.
The Gulf of Mexico, where warm water fuels hurricanes, has temperatures dancing around 90 degrees. Most of the water in the Northern Hemisphere has been considerably warmer than normal. The Mediterranean is about three degrees warmer than normal. Higher temperatures rule in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
It's most noticeable near the Arctic, where water temperatures are as much as 10 degrees above average.
Breaking heat records in water is more ominous as a sign of global warming than breaking temperature marks on land. That's because water takes longer to heat up and does not cool off as easily, said climate scientist Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria in British Columbia.
"This is another yet really important indicator of the change that's occurring," Weaver said.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of August 18th, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
When it comes to our lawns, brown is golden
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Beautiful native plants are a water-wise antidote to Southern Californians' obsession with green grass.
By Emily Green
You know it's the silly season when a member of the Los Angeles City Council weighs in on the importance of green lawns during a drought, as the 12th District's Greig Smith did several weeks ago. Yet the council member's motion, which sought to reduce watering times but increase days of the week when watering could be done, exemplifies the frustration of homeowners across Southern California. "For more than a decade, we have had a policy of greening, not browning Los Angeles," Smith said.
It's poignant, this bid to find a water-savvy way to keep Los Angeles green. It cuts straight to the heart of the problem with the way we garden. It's color. We, in common with Smith, have been taught that green is good and brown is bad.
In fact, the opposite is true. In the high heat of summer, brown is good, and green, at least unlikely shows of it, is bad.
Add to that: Tan is good; yellow is good; orange, maroon, gray, aquamarine are all good too, for those are the colors of the buckwheats, sages, manzanitas and deer and canyon grasses of our native chaparral. Those are the colors of our native flora as its spring greens give way to the infinitely more subtle plant palette of California in summertime.
As we in Southern California grapple with the twin threats of global warming and a shrinking water supply, we have perhaps one last chance to understand the message of the tawny colors rising in the hills just beyond our sprinkler zones and drip lines. They tell us two things: First, that native plants have the good sense to become dormant from August through October, when heat is high and water is scarce. Second, we'd be well advised to plant gardens that follow suit.
Those smarter, more beautiful gardens could contain lawn, provided that we selected the right grass cultivars, watered less and allowed the plants to complete their natural cycles. That would include allowing lawns to become brown in summer.
Left to their own devices, the green lawns that we prize year-round would only be fleeting expressions of spring. As new-season grass grows, and spring becomes summer, that grass marshals its energy to push up seed-heads. This is true whether the plant is wheat, prairie grass or our own utterly beautiful California muhly grass.
That golden progress toward renewal is so synonymous with this country that it gave rise to "America the Beautiful" -- amber waves of grain and all that. Even in England, a land with the kind of rainfall that produced lawn culture in the first place, the rolling fields of Thomas Hardy's Dorset are blond, not green, in August. Anyone who strolls the Royal Parks of London in midsummer will be struck by how right the bathers lolling around the Serpentine look in that field of sunburned grass.
But asserting a preference for watery greens in the high heat of summer illustrates a distinctly American break from the ideal. Historically, what has been good enough for our anthem-writers and the queen of England has not been good enough for Southern Californians. We water ever more frantically to suspend our gardens in a forced approximation of perpetual spring.
And yet beyond green there are plants that made California the horticultural envy of the world, as explorers began sending our poppy seeds, coral bells and yarrows back to the Old World for domestication.
Yet while English and Dutch horticulturists tamed our state flower and our lilacs, many of the best of our native plants, specimens profoundly hooked into our dry climate, could not be moved.
So pity those who can't grow white sage, Salvia apiana, whose silver foliage is elegant year-round, but which in summer tosses up 3-, 4-, 5-foot-long flowered spires. As the flowers fade, the stalks become shot with mauve, purple and maroon, drying on the those wildly expressive limbs. Not once in the year is white sage green, and not once in the year is it anything short of spectacular.
Much has been written about why we've jumped on the treadmill of green and lawns, my personal favorite being Virginia Scott Jenkins' "The Lawn: a History of an American Obsession."
But the fact is, we didn't appreciate the environmental cost of that look when we first became addicted. Now we do, and our water agencies are moving from cajolery to bribes, with cash-for-grass programs in an effort to sell us on a new, more water-efficient ideal.
In that effort, they and we couldn't be luckier. California has one of the most diverse and resilient floras in the world. Just outside of our pruned and planted property lines, the wild hills tell us what's not only sustainable, but beautiful. And it's brown.
Beautiful native plants are a water-wise antidote to Southern Californians' obsession with green grass.
By Emily Green
You know it's the silly season when a member of the Los Angeles City Council weighs in on the importance of green lawns during a drought, as the 12th District's Greig Smith did several weeks ago. Yet the council member's motion, which sought to reduce watering times but increase days of the week when watering could be done, exemplifies the frustration of homeowners across Southern California. "For more than a decade, we have had a policy of greening, not browning Los Angeles," Smith said.
It's poignant, this bid to find a water-savvy way to keep Los Angeles green. It cuts straight to the heart of the problem with the way we garden. It's color. We, in common with Smith, have been taught that green is good and brown is bad.
In fact, the opposite is true. In the high heat of summer, brown is good, and green, at least unlikely shows of it, is bad.
Add to that: Tan is good; yellow is good; orange, maroon, gray, aquamarine are all good too, for those are the colors of the buckwheats, sages, manzanitas and deer and canyon grasses of our native chaparral. Those are the colors of our native flora as its spring greens give way to the infinitely more subtle plant palette of California in summertime.
As we in Southern California grapple with the twin threats of global warming and a shrinking water supply, we have perhaps one last chance to understand the message of the tawny colors rising in the hills just beyond our sprinkler zones and drip lines. They tell us two things: First, that native plants have the good sense to become dormant from August through October, when heat is high and water is scarce. Second, we'd be well advised to plant gardens that follow suit.
Those smarter, more beautiful gardens could contain lawn, provided that we selected the right grass cultivars, watered less and allowed the plants to complete their natural cycles. That would include allowing lawns to become brown in summer.
Left to their own devices, the green lawns that we prize year-round would only be fleeting expressions of spring. As new-season grass grows, and spring becomes summer, that grass marshals its energy to push up seed-heads. This is true whether the plant is wheat, prairie grass or our own utterly beautiful California muhly grass.
That golden progress toward renewal is so synonymous with this country that it gave rise to "America the Beautiful" -- amber waves of grain and all that. Even in England, a land with the kind of rainfall that produced lawn culture in the first place, the rolling fields of Thomas Hardy's Dorset are blond, not green, in August. Anyone who strolls the Royal Parks of London in midsummer will be struck by how right the bathers lolling around the Serpentine look in that field of sunburned grass.
But asserting a preference for watery greens in the high heat of summer illustrates a distinctly American break from the ideal. Historically, what has been good enough for our anthem-writers and the queen of England has not been good enough for Southern Californians. We water ever more frantically to suspend our gardens in a forced approximation of perpetual spring.
And yet beyond green there are plants that made California the horticultural envy of the world, as explorers began sending our poppy seeds, coral bells and yarrows back to the Old World for domestication.
Yet while English and Dutch horticulturists tamed our state flower and our lilacs, many of the best of our native plants, specimens profoundly hooked into our dry climate, could not be moved.
So pity those who can't grow white sage, Salvia apiana, whose silver foliage is elegant year-round, but which in summer tosses up 3-, 4-, 5-foot-long flowered spires. As the flowers fade, the stalks become shot with mauve, purple and maroon, drying on the those wildly expressive limbs. Not once in the year is white sage green, and not once in the year is it anything short of spectacular.
Much has been written about why we've jumped on the treadmill of green and lawns, my personal favorite being Virginia Scott Jenkins' "The Lawn: a History of an American Obsession."
But the fact is, we didn't appreciate the environmental cost of that look when we first became addicted. Now we do, and our water agencies are moving from cajolery to bribes, with cash-for-grass programs in an effort to sell us on a new, more water-efficient ideal.
In that effort, they and we couldn't be luckier. California has one of the most diverse and resilient floras in the world. Just outside of our pruned and planted property lines, the wild hills tell us what's not only sustainable, but beautiful. And it's brown.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Hot bed
FROM: San Diego Union-Tribune
As temperatures rise, so does the health risk in some U.S. cities
By Robert Krier
When heat turns deadly, the isolated, the elderly, the poor, the infirm and people surrounded by urban asphalt are often hit hardest. How do health officials protect them when a severe hot spell hits?
The first step is knowing where they live.
Colleen Reid, lead author of a paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives in June, has mapped out the country's zones with the most vulnerable populations. She and co-authors from Harvard and the University of Michigan found that of the 13 U.S. census tracts with the highest heat vulnerability, nine are in California – many in regions usually viewed as having a temperate climate.
A region's propensity for triple-digits temperatures was not a component in determining in the most vulnerable areas. None of the highest-risk areas are in the desert.
“We did not assess heat in our analysis, because many studies have found that it is the relative changes in temperature that matter more,” said Reid, whose work was funded by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. “Heat waves that kill occur at lower heat index scores in Chicago than in Phoenix.
“Our map ... identifies locations where there are larger groups of individuals and environmental factors that make the populations living in that area more vulnerable to a heat wave.”
The authors zeroed in on four main factors to determine how at-risk an area is to deaths during a heat wave:
1) social (including education and poverty levels, and ethnicity) and environmental (lack of green space)
2) higher social isolation
3) lack of air conditioning
4) high proportion of elderly or people with diabetes
They assigned scores between 1 and 6 for each factor, then totaled the number for the four factors. The higher the number, the more prone the area.
One of the 13 most vulnerable census tracts is in the Los Angeles area; none is in San Diego.
Local dangers But while San Diego may have America's finest, mildest weather, it isn't immune to the dangers of intense hot spells. In fact, the county's population is more vulnerable than most people in the nation's other major metropolitan areas, the authors found.
San Diego County's “cumulative vulnerability score” is 15.23, above the national average of 14. Of 140 metropolitan areas (broader than the individual census tracts) examined by the authors, San Diego County ranked as the 15th most vulnerable.
San Francisco had the worst vulnerability score. New York City was second, and Los Angeles was third. Eight of the 20 most vulnerable metropolitan areas are in California, but there were some cities in the Midwest that were not studied because of a lack of data, Reid said.
“The exact (ranking) number isn't so important,” she said. “It's the relative number that matters. If you're just ahead of a city, that doesn't mean the number of deaths will line up perfectly.”
San Diego's normally cooler climate may work against it when heat waves do strike. The city has a higher risk score than L.A. for factor 3: lack of air conditioning.
“We believe the reason for the higher vulnerability scores in areas that don't normally get hot has to do with our analysis of air-conditioning data,” said Reid, who is pursuing a doctorate at the University of California Berkeley. “In places that get hot often, most people have AC, whereas in cooler places, they do not.
“In California, the areas with higher vulnerability are along the coasts, whereas in the Central Valley, there are areas with less vulnerability.”
One way to lessen the impact of a lack of air conditioning is for a community to establish a network of “cooling centers” – air-conditioned buildings that the public knows are available for escaping the heat.
San Diego County was one of the first regions to take that approach. The county set up its “Cool Zone” program nine years ago after a spike in electricity rates.
“People were saying there were seniors out there who weren't using their air conditioning because of the cost,” said Denise Neleson, spokeswoman for the County's Aging & Independence Services Department. “You get a mobile home out there not using air conditioning, it can be like a bomb.”
Today, more than 130 public buildings and private businesses in the county are designated as cool zones. In some areas, bus passes to the cool zones are provided. The program runs through
the summer.
San Diego also showed higher-than-average vulnerabilities in factors 1 (social and environmental) and 4 (high proportion of elderly or people with diabetes).
A shortage of green space can make an urban area hotter. Addressing the issue can be a challenge in difficult economic times – especially when drought prompts water-use restrictions.
Community groups and citizens should encourage cities to increase vegetation in low-income communities, Reid said. Even though many plants adapted to dry conditions may not produce much shade, the temperature from surfaces with any kind of vegetation is often lower than the temperature from asphalt, she said.
The very old have a high mortality during heat waves, and San Diego County has several communities with high populations of elderly. Anza-Borrego (42 percent) and Julian (27 percent) have the county's highest percentage of people over 60, according to Aging and Independence Services.
But downtown San Diego has a higher heat vulnerability score, as did all downtown areas around the nation. San Diego's downtown has by far the largest percentage of elderly who are living alone: 40 percent. The county average is 22 percent.
That second heat-vulnerability factor – isolation – is constantly battled by health workers, Neleson said. A study of the 1995 heat wave in Chicago that killed more than 500 found that many of the victims died alone. Another study of heat-related deaths in Italy found married people were less likely to die than the divorced, widowed or those never married.
“Isolation is the issue,” Neleson said, not only with heat stress but with depression, abuse and other afflictions of the elderly. Applying maps
Previous studies have shown most heat-related deaths are preventable, the researchers noted.
Reid hopes the heat vulnerability maps are used to refine heat-warning systems and target resources to reduce deaths. But communities need to create and verify their own maps, taking into account environmental and demographic factors specific to the areas, she said.
Despite reports from climate scientists that heat waves began increasing toward the end of the 20th century and the near-consensus that global warming will cause more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense spells in the future, it's not a foregone conclusion that heat-related deaths will increase, Reid said.
“It depends on the actions that are taken or not taken to change these vulnerabilities,” Reid said.
“Hopefully, studies such as this will encourage actions to lessen vulnerabilities, such as by increasing green space or by creating action plans during heat waves.”
As temperatures rise, so does the health risk in some U.S. cities
By Robert Krier
When heat turns deadly, the isolated, the elderly, the poor, the infirm and people surrounded by urban asphalt are often hit hardest. How do health officials protect them when a severe hot spell hits?
The first step is knowing where they live.
Colleen Reid, lead author of a paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives in June, has mapped out the country's zones with the most vulnerable populations. She and co-authors from Harvard and the University of Michigan found that of the 13 U.S. census tracts with the highest heat vulnerability, nine are in California – many in regions usually viewed as having a temperate climate.
A region's propensity for triple-digits temperatures was not a component in determining in the most vulnerable areas. None of the highest-risk areas are in the desert.
“We did not assess heat in our analysis, because many studies have found that it is the relative changes in temperature that matter more,” said Reid, whose work was funded by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. “Heat waves that kill occur at lower heat index scores in Chicago than in Phoenix.
“Our map ... identifies locations where there are larger groups of individuals and environmental factors that make the populations living in that area more vulnerable to a heat wave.”
The authors zeroed in on four main factors to determine how at-risk an area is to deaths during a heat wave:
1) social (including education and poverty levels, and ethnicity) and environmental (lack of green space)
2) higher social isolation
3) lack of air conditioning
4) high proportion of elderly or people with diabetes
They assigned scores between 1 and 6 for each factor, then totaled the number for the four factors. The higher the number, the more prone the area.
One of the 13 most vulnerable census tracts is in the Los Angeles area; none is in San Diego.
Local dangers But while San Diego may have America's finest, mildest weather, it isn't immune to the dangers of intense hot spells. In fact, the county's population is more vulnerable than most people in the nation's other major metropolitan areas, the authors found.
San Diego County's “cumulative vulnerability score” is 15.23, above the national average of 14. Of 140 metropolitan areas (broader than the individual census tracts) examined by the authors, San Diego County ranked as the 15th most vulnerable.
San Francisco had the worst vulnerability score. New York City was second, and Los Angeles was third. Eight of the 20 most vulnerable metropolitan areas are in California, but there were some cities in the Midwest that were not studied because of a lack of data, Reid said.
“The exact (ranking) number isn't so important,” she said. “It's the relative number that matters. If you're just ahead of a city, that doesn't mean the number of deaths will line up perfectly.”
San Diego's normally cooler climate may work against it when heat waves do strike. The city has a higher risk score than L.A. for factor 3: lack of air conditioning.
“We believe the reason for the higher vulnerability scores in areas that don't normally get hot has to do with our analysis of air-conditioning data,” said Reid, who is pursuing a doctorate at the University of California Berkeley. “In places that get hot often, most people have AC, whereas in cooler places, they do not.
“In California, the areas with higher vulnerability are along the coasts, whereas in the Central Valley, there are areas with less vulnerability.”
One way to lessen the impact of a lack of air conditioning is for a community to establish a network of “cooling centers” – air-conditioned buildings that the public knows are available for escaping the heat.
San Diego County was one of the first regions to take that approach. The county set up its “Cool Zone” program nine years ago after a spike in electricity rates.
“People were saying there were seniors out there who weren't using their air conditioning because of the cost,” said Denise Neleson, spokeswoman for the County's Aging & Independence Services Department. “You get a mobile home out there not using air conditioning, it can be like a bomb.”
Today, more than 130 public buildings and private businesses in the county are designated as cool zones. In some areas, bus passes to the cool zones are provided. The program runs through
the summer.
San Diego also showed higher-than-average vulnerabilities in factors 1 (social and environmental) and 4 (high proportion of elderly or people with diabetes).
A shortage of green space can make an urban area hotter. Addressing the issue can be a challenge in difficult economic times – especially when drought prompts water-use restrictions.
Community groups and citizens should encourage cities to increase vegetation in low-income communities, Reid said. Even though many plants adapted to dry conditions may not produce much shade, the temperature from surfaces with any kind of vegetation is often lower than the temperature from asphalt, she said.
The very old have a high mortality during heat waves, and San Diego County has several communities with high populations of elderly. Anza-Borrego (42 percent) and Julian (27 percent) have the county's highest percentage of people over 60, according to Aging and Independence Services.
But downtown San Diego has a higher heat vulnerability score, as did all downtown areas around the nation. San Diego's downtown has by far the largest percentage of elderly who are living alone: 40 percent. The county average is 22 percent.
That second heat-vulnerability factor – isolation – is constantly battled by health workers, Neleson said. A study of the 1995 heat wave in Chicago that killed more than 500 found that many of the victims died alone. Another study of heat-related deaths in Italy found married people were less likely to die than the divorced, widowed or those never married.
“Isolation is the issue,” Neleson said, not only with heat stress but with depression, abuse and other afflictions of the elderly. Applying maps
Previous studies have shown most heat-related deaths are preventable, the researchers noted.
Reid hopes the heat vulnerability maps are used to refine heat-warning systems and target resources to reduce deaths. But communities need to create and verify their own maps, taking into account environmental and demographic factors specific to the areas, she said.
Despite reports from climate scientists that heat waves began increasing toward the end of the 20th century and the near-consensus that global warming will cause more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense spells in the future, it's not a foregone conclusion that heat-related deaths will increase, Reid said.
“It depends on the actions that are taken or not taken to change these vulnerabilities,” Reid said.
“Hopefully, studies such as this will encourage actions to lessen vulnerabilities, such as by increasing green space or by creating action plans during heat waves.”
Monday, August 17, 2009
NOAA: Warmest Global Ocean Surface Temperatures on Record for July
FROM: NOAA
The planet’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous high mark established in 1998 according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 ranked fifth-warmest since world-wide records began in 1880.
Global Climate Statistics
- The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the fifth warmest on record, at 1.03 degrees F (0.57 degree C) above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 degrees C).
- The global ocean surface temperature for July 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). This broke the previous July record set in 1998. The July ocean surface temperature departure of 1.06 degrees F from the long-term average equals last month’s value, which was also a record.
- The global land surface temperature for July 2009 was 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C) above the 20th century average of 57.8 degrees F (14.3 degree C), and tied with 2003 as the ninth-warmest July on record.
Notable Developments and Events
- El Niño persisted across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during July 2009. Related sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies increased for the sixth consecutive month.
- Large portions of many continents had substantially warmer-than-average temperatures during July 2009. The greatest departures from the long-term average were evident in Europe, northern Africa, and much of western North America. Broadly, across these regions, temperatures were about 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) above average.
- Cooler-than-average conditions prevailed across southern South America, central Canada, the eastern United States, and parts of western and eastern Asia. The most notably cool conditions occurred across the eastern U.S., central Canada, and southern South America where region-wide temperatures were nearly 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) below average.
- Arctic sea ice covered an average of 3.4 million square miles during July. This is 12.7 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the third lowest July sea ice extent on record, behind 2007 and 2006. Antarctic sea ice extent in July was 1.5 percent above the 1979-2000 average. July Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 6.1 percent per decade since 1979, while July Antarctic sea ice extent has increased by 0.8 percent per decade over the same period.
The planet’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous high mark established in 1998 according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 ranked fifth-warmest since world-wide records began in 1880.
Global Climate Statistics
- The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the fifth warmest on record, at 1.03 degrees F (0.57 degree C) above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 degrees C).
- The global ocean surface temperature for July 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). This broke the previous July record set in 1998. The July ocean surface temperature departure of 1.06 degrees F from the long-term average equals last month’s value, which was also a record.
- The global land surface temperature for July 2009 was 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C) above the 20th century average of 57.8 degrees F (14.3 degree C), and tied with 2003 as the ninth-warmest July on record.
Notable Developments and Events
- El Niño persisted across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during July 2009. Related sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies increased for the sixth consecutive month.
- Large portions of many continents had substantially warmer-than-average temperatures during July 2009. The greatest departures from the long-term average were evident in Europe, northern Africa, and much of western North America. Broadly, across these regions, temperatures were about 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) above average.
- Cooler-than-average conditions prevailed across southern South America, central Canada, the eastern United States, and parts of western and eastern Asia. The most notably cool conditions occurred across the eastern U.S., central Canada, and southern South America where region-wide temperatures were nearly 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) below average.
- Arctic sea ice covered an average of 3.4 million square miles during July. This is 12.7 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the third lowest July sea ice extent on record, behind 2007 and 2006. Antarctic sea ice extent in July was 1.5 percent above the 1979-2000 average. July Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 6.1 percent per decade since 1979, while July Antarctic sea ice extent has increased by 0.8 percent per decade over the same period.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
DWP's water conservation rules
FROM: Los Angeles Times
DWP's water conservation rules
On June 1, the city put in place stricter limits on water use. Among them:
* Automatic sprinklers are limited to Mondays and Thursdays before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m.
* Sprinklers must not run more than 15 minutes per watering station.
* Hand watering is allowed any day before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m., but only with an automatic shut-off nozzle.
* Cars may be hose-washed only if a shut-off nozzle is used.
* Water may not be used to wash hard surfaces, such as sidewalks, driveways or parking areas, except for health and safety purposes.
* Runoff into streets and gutters is prohibited.
Source: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
DWP's water conservation rules
On June 1, the city put in place stricter limits on water use. Among them:
* Automatic sprinklers are limited to Mondays and Thursdays before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m.
* Sprinklers must not run more than 15 minutes per watering station.
* Hand watering is allowed any day before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m., but only with an automatic shut-off nozzle.
* Cars may be hose-washed only if a shut-off nozzle is used.
* Water may not be used to wash hard surfaces, such as sidewalks, driveways or parking areas, except for health and safety purposes.
* Runoff into streets and gutters is prohibited.
Source: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Smoke from La Brea Fire near Santa Maria making for a colorful sunrise in the desert
Friday, August 14, 2009
Hermosa Beach at Sunset
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of August 11th, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Rising ocean acidity: 'The other carbon problem'
FROM: USA Today
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
What happens if there's no more "shell" in shellfish?
Known by some scientists as "the other carbon problem," the increased amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (caused by the burning of fossil fuels) also have been absorbed into the world's oceans during the past 200 years, the documentary says. The oceans cover 70% of the planet's surface.
The additional carbon not only warms the oceans, but it's also radically transforming their chemistry, says Lisa Suatoni of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which produced the film. As the carbon reacts with the seawater, it's rapidly making the water more acidic.
How rapidly? "Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since the Industrial Revolution," Suatoni says. She says oceanic carbon dioxide may double again by the end of the century.
"This may challenge life on a scale that hasn't happened for tens of millions of years," narrator Sigourney Weaver says in the film.
The increased acidity corrodes seashells, and thousands of species build shells around them to live. "It removes the building block for producing shells," says Steve Palumbi of Stanford University. "A lot of organisms may not be able to survive."
But is the fear of ocean acidification overblown? Perhaps, say the authors of a study published in May in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The authors of the study, led by Rebecca Gooding of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, dispute the belief that ocean acidification harms all marine life forms and urged that caution should be taken when examining "overgeneralized predictions."
In addition to a battery of top ocean acidification scientists, including leading expert Ken Caldiera of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Acid Test infuses some regular-guy perspective from commercial fisherman Bruce Steele. He warns that ocean acidity puts many prime shellfish species at risk — such as oysters, lobsters and Dungeness crabs — all of which he and his fellow shellfishermen depend on for their livelihood.
"Either we change what we're doing on land or it will have profound effects on fisheries as we know it," he says.
The film also touches on the threats to the world's coral reefs, which can be damaged by ocean acidification as well as rising water temperatures.
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
What happens if there's no more "shell" in shellfish?
Known by some scientists as "the other carbon problem," the increased amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (caused by the burning of fossil fuels) also have been absorbed into the world's oceans during the past 200 years, the documentary says. The oceans cover 70% of the planet's surface.
The additional carbon not only warms the oceans, but it's also radically transforming their chemistry, says Lisa Suatoni of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which produced the film. As the carbon reacts with the seawater, it's rapidly making the water more acidic.
How rapidly? "Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since the Industrial Revolution," Suatoni says. She says oceanic carbon dioxide may double again by the end of the century.
"This may challenge life on a scale that hasn't happened for tens of millions of years," narrator Sigourney Weaver says in the film.
The increased acidity corrodes seashells, and thousands of species build shells around them to live. "It removes the building block for producing shells," says Steve Palumbi of Stanford University. "A lot of organisms may not be able to survive."
But is the fear of ocean acidification overblown? Perhaps, say the authors of a study published in May in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The authors of the study, led by Rebecca Gooding of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, dispute the belief that ocean acidification harms all marine life forms and urged that caution should be taken when examining "overgeneralized predictions."
In addition to a battery of top ocean acidification scientists, including leading expert Ken Caldiera of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Acid Test infuses some regular-guy perspective from commercial fisherman Bruce Steele. He warns that ocean acidity puts many prime shellfish species at risk — such as oysters, lobsters and Dungeness crabs — all of which he and his fellow shellfishermen depend on for their livelihood.
"Either we change what we're doing on land or it will have profound effects on fisheries as we know it," he says.
The film also touches on the threats to the world's coral reefs, which can be damaged by ocean acidification as well as rising water temperatures.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Joint Federal and State Investigation Stops Illegal Fishing in Channel Islands Sanctuary
FROM: NOAA
The owners and operators of the commercial fishing vessel Risa Lynn will pay a $10,000 civil penalty as a settlement for illegally fishing in a marine protected area off the Santa Barbara coastline in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
Over a two-week period in March 2008, federal and state investigators detected the Risa Lynn setting fishing gear in the Footprint Marine Reserve, south of Anacapa and Santa Cruz islands. The reserve is one of several federally designated no-take fishing zones for commercial or recreational fishermen.
"This was a well coordinated enforcement effort between the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, California State Department of Fish and Game, and U.S. Coast Guard,” said William J. Douros, west coast regional director for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuary. “This operation clearly demonstrates our collaborative approach in protecting California’s vital marine resources."
"This case is a primary example of what can be achieved through cooperative law enforcement efforts to protect our nation's natural marine resources," said Don Masters, special agent in charge of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement southwest division. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is the primary agency responsible for marine enforcement within national marine sanctuaries.
The fishermen fined in the case are Shane and Jason Robinson of Santa Barbara and Joseph Campopiano of Morro Bay, Calif.
“The Channel Islands marine reserves are designated a protected area to benefit everyone," said Chris Mobley, superintendent of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. “All of us must play by the rules so that we can continue to protect our marine heritage for future generations.”
The Footprint Marine Reserve is part of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Marine Protected Areas Network and also part of the Essential Fish Habitat Closed Area under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The fish habitat program protects more than 130,000 square miles of marine waters off the West Coast from long term damage to seafloor habitat by banning the use of certain types of fishing gear. The goal of the program is to protect essential habitat areas for groundfish stocks, and was developed with support and advice from both environmental and fishing industry groups.
Managed by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary was designated in 1980 to protect marine resources surrounding San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Barbara islands. The sanctuary spans approximately 1,470 square miles, extending from island shorelines to six miles offshore, and encompasses a rich diversity of marine life, habitats and historical and cultural resources.
The owners and operators of the commercial fishing vessel Risa Lynn will pay a $10,000 civil penalty as a settlement for illegally fishing in a marine protected area off the Santa Barbara coastline in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
Over a two-week period in March 2008, federal and state investigators detected the Risa Lynn setting fishing gear in the Footprint Marine Reserve, south of Anacapa and Santa Cruz islands. The reserve is one of several federally designated no-take fishing zones for commercial or recreational fishermen.
"This was a well coordinated enforcement effort between the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, California State Department of Fish and Game, and U.S. Coast Guard,” said William J. Douros, west coast regional director for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuary. “This operation clearly demonstrates our collaborative approach in protecting California’s vital marine resources."
"This case is a primary example of what can be achieved through cooperative law enforcement efforts to protect our nation's natural marine resources," said Don Masters, special agent in charge of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement southwest division. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is the primary agency responsible for marine enforcement within national marine sanctuaries.
The fishermen fined in the case are Shane and Jason Robinson of Santa Barbara and Joseph Campopiano of Morro Bay, Calif.
“The Channel Islands marine reserves are designated a protected area to benefit everyone," said Chris Mobley, superintendent of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. “All of us must play by the rules so that we can continue to protect our marine heritage for future generations.”
The Footprint Marine Reserve is part of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Marine Protected Areas Network and also part of the Essential Fish Habitat Closed Area under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The fish habitat program protects more than 130,000 square miles of marine waters off the West Coast from long term damage to seafloor habitat by banning the use of certain types of fishing gear. The goal of the program is to protect essential habitat areas for groundfish stocks, and was developed with support and advice from both environmental and fishing industry groups.
Managed by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary was designated in 1980 to protect marine resources surrounding San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Barbara islands. The sanctuary spans approximately 1,470 square miles, extending from island shorelines to six miles offshore, and encompasses a rich diversity of marine life, habitats and historical and cultural resources.
Monday, August 10, 2009
NOAA: July Temperature Below-Average for the U.S.
FROM: NOAA
The July 2009 temperature for the contiguous United States was below the long-term average, based on records going back to 1895, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
The average July temperature of 73.5 degrees F was 0.8 degrees F below the 20th century average. Precipitation across the contiguous United States in July averaged 2.90 inches, which is 0.14 inches above the 1901-2000 average.
U.S. Temperature Highlights
- An abnormally strong, persistent upper-level pattern produced more than 400 record low minimum temperatures and 1,300 record low maximum temperatures (lowest high temperature) across the nine-state area that make up the Central region.
- Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania experienced their coolest July on record. Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Michigan each had their second coolest July on record, while Minnesota and Tennessee had their third coolest July on record.
- Death Valley, Calif., set a new monthly average maximum temperature at 121.3 degrees F. Temperatures in Death Valley reached 120 degrees F or higher for 22 days, beating the old record of 19 days.
- Several western locations recorded their all-time warmest July. Seattle-Tacoma Airport had an average July temperature of 69.5 degrees F, which was 4.2 degrees F above average. Seattle’s high temperature of 103 degrees F on July 29 is an all-time record. Alaska posted its second warmest July, Arizona had its third warmest, while New Mexico and Washington had their ninth warmest.
- Based on NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index, the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 13.3 percent below average in July. Much of this can be attributed to cooler-than-average conditions in the heavily-populated Northeast.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
- Precipitation was near normal for the contiguous U.S. as a whole. The Northeast saw its ninth-wettest July on record. Above-normal averages in the Northeast, Central and South were counter-balanced by below-normal averages in the Southeast, Southwest, the Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa regions.
- Massachusetts and Rhode Island each recorded their second-wettest July on record, and Louisiana its third. Several states were much-above-normal, including Maine (fifth-wettest), and Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut (each sixth-wettest).
- Moderate-to-exceptional drought covered 14 percent of the contiguous U.S., based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. This is one percentage point more than the end of June. Drought conditions worsened in southern Texas and northern Wisconsin, but remained largely unchanged in the West and along the western Canadian border.
- About 19 percent of the contiguous U.S. had moderate-to-extreme wet conditions at the end of July according to the Palmer Index, which measures both drought intensity and wet spell intensity.
Another Key Highlight
- July wildfire activity was below average, although the year-to-date number of wildfires remains above the 2000-2009 average. Last month, 8,515 new wildfires were reported and a total of about 1.7 million acres were burned, primarily in the West and Alaska, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.
The July 2009 temperature for the contiguous United States was below the long-term average, based on records going back to 1895, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
The average July temperature of 73.5 degrees F was 0.8 degrees F below the 20th century average. Precipitation across the contiguous United States in July averaged 2.90 inches, which is 0.14 inches above the 1901-2000 average.
U.S. Temperature Highlights
- An abnormally strong, persistent upper-level pattern produced more than 400 record low minimum temperatures and 1,300 record low maximum temperatures (lowest high temperature) across the nine-state area that make up the Central region.
- Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania experienced their coolest July on record. Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Michigan each had their second coolest July on record, while Minnesota and Tennessee had their third coolest July on record.
- Death Valley, Calif., set a new monthly average maximum temperature at 121.3 degrees F. Temperatures in Death Valley reached 120 degrees F or higher for 22 days, beating the old record of 19 days.
- Several western locations recorded their all-time warmest July. Seattle-Tacoma Airport had an average July temperature of 69.5 degrees F, which was 4.2 degrees F above average. Seattle’s high temperature of 103 degrees F on July 29 is an all-time record. Alaska posted its second warmest July, Arizona had its third warmest, while New Mexico and Washington had their ninth warmest.
- Based on NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index, the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 13.3 percent below average in July. Much of this can be attributed to cooler-than-average conditions in the heavily-populated Northeast.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
- Precipitation was near normal for the contiguous U.S. as a whole. The Northeast saw its ninth-wettest July on record. Above-normal averages in the Northeast, Central and South were counter-balanced by below-normal averages in the Southeast, Southwest, the Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa regions.
- Massachusetts and Rhode Island each recorded their second-wettest July on record, and Louisiana its third. Several states were much-above-normal, including Maine (fifth-wettest), and Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut (each sixth-wettest).
- Moderate-to-exceptional drought covered 14 percent of the contiguous U.S., based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. This is one percentage point more than the end of June. Drought conditions worsened in southern Texas and northern Wisconsin, but remained largely unchanged in the West and along the western Canadian border.
- About 19 percent of the contiguous U.S. had moderate-to-extreme wet conditions at the end of July according to the Palmer Index, which measures both drought intensity and wet spell intensity.
Another Key Highlight
- July wildfire activity was below average, although the year-to-date number of wildfires remains above the 2000-2009 average. Last month, 8,515 new wildfires were reported and a total of about 1.7 million acres were burned, primarily in the West and Alaska, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Plan urged to save national parks from global warming effects
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Climate change could result in the catastrophic loss of wildlife, a report says. The National Park Service is called on to create a system to manage animals and plants.
By Margot Roosevelt
The federal government must take decisive action to avoid "a potentially catastrophic loss of animal and plant life" in national parks, according to a new report that details the effects of global warming on the nation's most treasured public lands.
The 53-page report from the National Parks Conservation Assn., a Washington-based advocacy group, details concerns related to climate change in the parks, including the bleaching of coral reefs in Florida and the disappearance of high-altitude ponds that nurture yellow-legged frogs in California.
The group called on the National Park Service to come up with a detailed plan and funding to adapt to temperature-related ecosystem changes.
"Right now, no national plan exists to manage wildlife throughout their habitat, which often is a patchwork of lands managed by multiple federal agencies, states, tribes, municipalities and private landholders," wrote Thomas C. Kiernan, president of the conservation group.
A major climate bill passed by the House in June would allocate more than $500 million a year to natural resources adaptation under a proposed carbon-trading program. The Senate is drafting a companion bill, but the outcome of the legislation remains uncertain.
The survey by the conservation group reinforces recent testimony by President Obama's nominee for park service director, Jon Jarvis. "Climate change challenges the very foundation of the national park system and our ability to leave America's natural and cultural heritage unimpaired for future generations," Jarvis told a House subcommittee.
He suggested that "national park units can serve as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, a place where we can monitor and document ecosystem change without many of the stressors that are found on other public lands."
The report recommends adaptation strategies including the creation of wildlife corridors stretching from one park to another so that species can move unencumbered into cooler areas. It also recommends more effective limits on environmental hazards.
Climate change could result in the catastrophic loss of wildlife, a report says. The National Park Service is called on to create a system to manage animals and plants.
By Margot Roosevelt
The federal government must take decisive action to avoid "a potentially catastrophic loss of animal and plant life" in national parks, according to a new report that details the effects of global warming on the nation's most treasured public lands.
The 53-page report from the National Parks Conservation Assn., a Washington-based advocacy group, details concerns related to climate change in the parks, including the bleaching of coral reefs in Florida and the disappearance of high-altitude ponds that nurture yellow-legged frogs in California.
The group called on the National Park Service to come up with a detailed plan and funding to adapt to temperature-related ecosystem changes.
"Right now, no national plan exists to manage wildlife throughout their habitat, which often is a patchwork of lands managed by multiple federal agencies, states, tribes, municipalities and private landholders," wrote Thomas C. Kiernan, president of the conservation group.
A major climate bill passed by the House in June would allocate more than $500 million a year to natural resources adaptation under a proposed carbon-trading program. The Senate is drafting a companion bill, but the outcome of the legislation remains uncertain.
The survey by the conservation group reinforces recent testimony by President Obama's nominee for park service director, Jon Jarvis. "Climate change challenges the very foundation of the national park system and our ability to leave America's natural and cultural heritage unimpaired for future generations," Jarvis told a House subcommittee.
He suggested that "national park units can serve as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, a place where we can monitor and document ecosystem change without many of the stressors that are found on other public lands."
The report recommends adaptation strategies including the creation of wildlife corridors stretching from one park to another so that species can move unencumbered into cooler areas. It also recommends more effective limits on environmental hazards.
Friday, August 07, 2009
EPA proposes rule to help control smog
FROM: Los Angeles Times
The regulation, to be the focus of a hearing in L.A., would increase monitoring of nitrogen dioxide.
By Margot Roosevelt
In an effort to clean the air along the nation's choked highways, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a major regulation to control nitrogen dioxide, a key factor in respiratory illness.
The new EPA rule will be the subject of a public hearing today in Los Angeles, a region where the air is among the unhealthiest in the nation. Imposed under court order, it is the first to address the dangerous gas in 35 years.
"We're updating these standards to build on the latest scientific data and meet changing health protection needs," EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said in announcing the proposal last month.
More than a third of Californians reported that they or an immediate family member suffer from asthma or respiratory problems, according to a recent survey by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. In San Bernardino and Riverside, crisscrossed by traffic from the ports, the proportion reached 44%.
Nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, spews from power plant smokestacks and from the tailpipes of automobiles and trucks, along with ozone and particulates, two other substances that attack the lungs. It is particularly concentrated along highways. The new EPA rule would require stronger monitoring near roadways, a key provision for many of the mainly poor and minority communities that hug the freeways in Los Angeles and other big cities.
The new regulation would retain current annual limits of 53 parts per billion, considerably higher than California's state standard of 30 ppb. But for the first time, it would establish a one-hour federal standard of between 80 and 100 ppb, stricter than California's current hourly limit of 180 ppb. That would prevent NO2 levels from spiking during shorter periods such as rush hour.
At a Washington hearing this week, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, opposed the proposed standard as excessive. Public health organizations said it should be tougher. The American Lung Assn. and others advocated an annual limit as strict as California's, and an hourly limit of no more than 50 parts per billion, about half of what EPA proposes.
"The news has been dominated in recent weeks by healthcare reform," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an advocacy group. "Dirty air is the forgotten topic when it comes to healthcare reform. It will cost a lot less to keep people out of the emergency rooms. And one way to do this is to reduce dangerous nitrogen dioxide pollution."
The regulation, to be the focus of a hearing in L.A., would increase monitoring of nitrogen dioxide.
By Margot Roosevelt
In an effort to clean the air along the nation's choked highways, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a major regulation to control nitrogen dioxide, a key factor in respiratory illness.
The new EPA rule will be the subject of a public hearing today in Los Angeles, a region where the air is among the unhealthiest in the nation. Imposed under court order, it is the first to address the dangerous gas in 35 years.
"We're updating these standards to build on the latest scientific data and meet changing health protection needs," EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said in announcing the proposal last month.
More than a third of Californians reported that they or an immediate family member suffer from asthma or respiratory problems, according to a recent survey by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. In San Bernardino and Riverside, crisscrossed by traffic from the ports, the proportion reached 44%.
Nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, spews from power plant smokestacks and from the tailpipes of automobiles and trucks, along with ozone and particulates, two other substances that attack the lungs. It is particularly concentrated along highways. The new EPA rule would require stronger monitoring near roadways, a key provision for many of the mainly poor and minority communities that hug the freeways in Los Angeles and other big cities.
The new regulation would retain current annual limits of 53 parts per billion, considerably higher than California's state standard of 30 ppb. But for the first time, it would establish a one-hour federal standard of between 80 and 100 ppb, stricter than California's current hourly limit of 180 ppb. That would prevent NO2 levels from spiking during shorter periods such as rush hour.
At a Washington hearing this week, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, opposed the proposed standard as excessive. Public health organizations said it should be tougher. The American Lung Assn. and others advocated an annual limit as strict as California's, and an hourly limit of no more than 50 parts per billion, about half of what EPA proposes.
"The news has been dominated in recent weeks by healthcare reform," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an advocacy group. "Dirty air is the forgotten topic when it comes to healthcare reform. It will cost a lot less to keep people out of the emergency rooms. And one way to do this is to reduce dangerous nitrogen dioxide pollution."
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of August 4th, 2009
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
State prepares to deal with heat waves, flooding, wildlife die-offs and other expected results of climate change.
FROM: Los Angeles Times
The first statewide plan in the country calls for adaptation and education. Public comment is sought.
By Margot Roosevelt
Along with California's efforts to crack down on its own greenhouse gas emissions, state officials have begun preparing for the worst: heat waves, a rising sea level, flooding, wildlife die-offs and other expected consequences from what scientists predict will be a dramatic temperature increase by the end of this century.
California's Natural Resources Agency on Monday issued the nation's first statewide plan to "adapt" to climate change.
It offers strategies to cope with threats in seven sectors from firefighting to public health and water conservation. Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman called the plan an effort to acknowledge the problem and suggested that Californians "recognize their role in solving that problem and alter their behavior so that the change lasts."
The draft is "a good step in the right direction," said Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group.
"It highlights the importance of local adaptation planning, protecting vulnerable communities and the importance of public education."
But she cautioned: "These are all just words on paper without funding to carry them out.
"The federal government should help states to prepare for climate change. Spending some money now will save billions later, and these strategies save lives."
David Festa of the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund voiced the hope that the report would "add urgency to our state's desperate water supply situation," noting that the Legislature will consider five new water-related bills when it reconvenes on Aug. 17.
In 2006, California adopted the nation's first comprehensive law to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists have found to be heating the planet.
Last year, state officials laid out a detailed plan to slash the state's emissions to 1990 levels in the next 11 years. And they began to adopt regulations, including the nation's first rule to mandate low-carbon fuel.
The public may submit comments to the draft over the next 45 days (e-mail address is adaptation@resource.ca.gov.) Public hearings will be held in Sacramento on Aug. 13 and in Los Angeles on a later date.
The first statewide plan in the country calls for adaptation and education. Public comment is sought.
By Margot Roosevelt
Along with California's efforts to crack down on its own greenhouse gas emissions, state officials have begun preparing for the worst: heat waves, a rising sea level, flooding, wildlife die-offs and other expected consequences from what scientists predict will be a dramatic temperature increase by the end of this century.
California's Natural Resources Agency on Monday issued the nation's first statewide plan to "adapt" to climate change.
It offers strategies to cope with threats in seven sectors from firefighting to public health and water conservation. Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman called the plan an effort to acknowledge the problem and suggested that Californians "recognize their role in solving that problem and alter their behavior so that the change lasts."
The draft is "a good step in the right direction," said Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group.
"It highlights the importance of local adaptation planning, protecting vulnerable communities and the importance of public education."
But she cautioned: "These are all just words on paper without funding to carry them out.
"The federal government should help states to prepare for climate change. Spending some money now will save billions later, and these strategies save lives."
David Festa of the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund voiced the hope that the report would "add urgency to our state's desperate water supply situation," noting that the Legislature will consider five new water-related bills when it reconvenes on Aug. 17.
In 2006, California adopted the nation's first comprehensive law to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists have found to be heating the planet.
Last year, state officials laid out a detailed plan to slash the state's emissions to 1990 levels in the next 11 years. And they began to adopt regulations, including the nation's first rule to mandate low-carbon fuel.
The public may submit comments to the draft over the next 45 days (e-mail address is adaptation@resource.ca.gov.) Public hearings will be held in Sacramento on Aug. 13 and in Los Angeles on a later date.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Report: California must adapt to changing climate
FROM: San Diego Union-Tribune
By SAMANTHA YOUNG, The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Even if the world is successful in cutting carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change, a new state report recommends.
It encourages local communities to rethink future development in low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone areas and conserve already strapped water supplies.
"We still have to adapt, no matter what we do, because of the nature of the greenhouse gases," said Tony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate change and energy at the California Natural Resources Agency, who helped prepare the report. "Those gases are still going to be in the atmosphere for the next 100 years."
The 159-page draft report to be released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency provides the state's first comprehensive plan to work with local governments, universities and residents to deal with a changing climate. A final plan is expected to be released in the fall after the public weighs in.
The report was compiled after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed agencies in November to devise a state climate strategy. It comes three years after the Republican governor signed California's landmark global warming law requiring the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Most countries have focused on cutting greenhouse gases in the future, but researchers say those efforts will take decades to have an effect while the planet continues to warm. States have only recently begun to look at what steps they must take to minimize the damage expected from sea level rise, storm surges, droughts and water shortages because of the climate changes.
Stephen Schneider, a professor of environmental studies at Stanford University, said California has recognized it must work "both sides of the coin," by cutting emissions and advising residents on how to adapt to climate change.
"It's unbalanced to only focus on the longer-term reductions," Schneider said. "You also have to think about the systems that are going to be hurt from the climate change that we can't avoid."
Over the last century in California, the sea level has risen by 7 inches, average temperatures have increased, spring snowmelt occurs earlier in the year, and there are hotter days and fewer cold nights.
The report warns that rising temperatures over the next few decades will lead to more heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods.
"We have to deal with those unavoidable impacts," said Suzanne Moser, a research associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz. "We can't pretend they are not going to happen, and we have to prepare for that."
To minimize the potential damage from climate change, the report recommends that cities and counties offer incentives to encourage property owners in high-risk areas to relocate and limit future development in places that might be affected by flooding, coastal erosion and sea level rise.
State agencies also should not plan, permit, develop or build any structure that might require protection in the future.
"Californians will need to make tough decisions about which critical assets we want to protect, which ones can be relocated, which ones will have to be removed, and what is economically reasonable," the report states.
The report suggests the state partner with local governments and private landowners to create large reserves that protect wildlife threatened by warmer weather. Similarly, wetlands and fish corridors should be established to protect salmon and other fragile fish.
Farmers should be encouraged to be more efficient when watering their crops and investments should be made to improve crop resistance to hotter temperatures.
At the state's universities, where climate research is already under way, scientists should coordinate with the state to identify research gaps and provide policymakers with the most up-to-date information on how climate changes might affect the state, the report states.
Michael Hanemann, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, said government and universities have a role to play by informing the public about climate change, but cities and counties will have to do the hard work.
For example, cities are in charge of many of land-use decisions that determine future development. California's finite water supplies are delivered by hundreds of local water agencies scattered throughout the state. Hanemann likens the climate challenge to that of government's efforts to fight obesity.
"The Department of Health can put out guidelines, but you and I control our eating patterns," he said
By SAMANTHA YOUNG, The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Even if the world is successful in cutting carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change, a new state report recommends.
It encourages local communities to rethink future development in low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone areas and conserve already strapped water supplies.
"We still have to adapt, no matter what we do, because of the nature of the greenhouse gases," said Tony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate change and energy at the California Natural Resources Agency, who helped prepare the report. "Those gases are still going to be in the atmosphere for the next 100 years."
The 159-page draft report to be released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency provides the state's first comprehensive plan to work with local governments, universities and residents to deal with a changing climate. A final plan is expected to be released in the fall after the public weighs in.
The report was compiled after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed agencies in November to devise a state climate strategy. It comes three years after the Republican governor signed California's landmark global warming law requiring the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Most countries have focused on cutting greenhouse gases in the future, but researchers say those efforts will take decades to have an effect while the planet continues to warm. States have only recently begun to look at what steps they must take to minimize the damage expected from sea level rise, storm surges, droughts and water shortages because of the climate changes.
Stephen Schneider, a professor of environmental studies at Stanford University, said California has recognized it must work "both sides of the coin," by cutting emissions and advising residents on how to adapt to climate change.
"It's unbalanced to only focus on the longer-term reductions," Schneider said. "You also have to think about the systems that are going to be hurt from the climate change that we can't avoid."
Over the last century in California, the sea level has risen by 7 inches, average temperatures have increased, spring snowmelt occurs earlier in the year, and there are hotter days and fewer cold nights.
The report warns that rising temperatures over the next few decades will lead to more heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods.
"We have to deal with those unavoidable impacts," said Suzanne Moser, a research associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz. "We can't pretend they are not going to happen, and we have to prepare for that."
To minimize the potential damage from climate change, the report recommends that cities and counties offer incentives to encourage property owners in high-risk areas to relocate and limit future development in places that might be affected by flooding, coastal erosion and sea level rise.
State agencies also should not plan, permit, develop or build any structure that might require protection in the future.
"Californians will need to make tough decisions about which critical assets we want to protect, which ones can be relocated, which ones will have to be removed, and what is economically reasonable," the report states.
The report suggests the state partner with local governments and private landowners to create large reserves that protect wildlife threatened by warmer weather. Similarly, wetlands and fish corridors should be established to protect salmon and other fragile fish.
Farmers should be encouraged to be more efficient when watering their crops and investments should be made to improve crop resistance to hotter temperatures.
At the state's universities, where climate research is already under way, scientists should coordinate with the state to identify research gaps and provide policymakers with the most up-to-date information on how climate changes might affect the state, the report states.
Michael Hanemann, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, said government and universities have a role to play by informing the public about climate change, but cities and counties will have to do the hard work.
For example, cities are in charge of many of land-use decisions that determine future development. California's finite water supplies are delivered by hundreds of local water agencies scattered throughout the state. Hanemann likens the climate challenge to that of government's efforts to fight obesity.
"The Department of Health can put out guidelines, but you and I control our eating patterns," he said
Monday, August 03, 2009
'Safe' ozone levels unhealthy for some, small study finds
FROM: USA Today
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Ozone levels considered safe under current standards can have a negative effect on lung function in healthy people, say U.S. researchers.
The National Ambient Air Quality Standard allows for ozone concentrations of up to 75 parts per billion over an eight-hour period. But a new study "found that 6.6 hours exposure to mean ozone concentrations as low as 70 parts per billion have a significant negative effect on lung function," Edward Schelegle, of the University of California, Davis, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.
He and his colleagues studied lung function in 31 healthy nonsmokers who were exposed to ozone concentrations of 60, 70, 80 and 87 parts per billion, or filtered air, while doing moderate exercise. They found that significant decreases in lung function and respiratory symptoms occurred at ozone concentrations of 70 parts per billion or more, beginning after 5.6 hours of exposure.
The study appears in the August 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"These data tell us that even at levels currently below the air quality standard, healthy people may experience decreased lung function after just a few hours of moderate to light exercise, such as bicycling or walking," Schelegle said.
"While these changes were fully reversible within several hours, these findings highlight the need to study susceptible individuals, such as asthmatics, at similar ozone concentrations and durations of exposure," he said. "These studies are needed to better understand the acute rise in hospitalizations that often occur in conjunction with high-ozone periods."
In addition, the researchers urged more study to better understand the mechanisms that determine individual ozone responsiveness in both healthy and susceptible people.
"Understanding how these mechanisms change with repeated daily exposure is critical, especially as ambient ozone levels are often elevated several days in a row," Schelegle said.
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Ozone levels considered safe under current standards can have a negative effect on lung function in healthy people, say U.S. researchers.
The National Ambient Air Quality Standard allows for ozone concentrations of up to 75 parts per billion over an eight-hour period. But a new study "found that 6.6 hours exposure to mean ozone concentrations as low as 70 parts per billion have a significant negative effect on lung function," Edward Schelegle, of the University of California, Davis, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.
He and his colleagues studied lung function in 31 healthy nonsmokers who were exposed to ozone concentrations of 60, 70, 80 and 87 parts per billion, or filtered air, while doing moderate exercise. They found that significant decreases in lung function and respiratory symptoms occurred at ozone concentrations of 70 parts per billion or more, beginning after 5.6 hours of exposure.
The study appears in the August 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"These data tell us that even at levels currently below the air quality standard, healthy people may experience decreased lung function after just a few hours of moderate to light exercise, such as bicycling or walking," Schelegle said.
"While these changes were fully reversible within several hours, these findings highlight the need to study susceptible individuals, such as asthmatics, at similar ozone concentrations and durations of exposure," he said. "These studies are needed to better understand the acute rise in hospitalizations that often occur in conjunction with high-ozone periods."
In addition, the researchers urged more study to better understand the mechanisms that determine individual ozone responsiveness in both healthy and susceptible people.
"Understanding how these mechanisms change with repeated daily exposure is critical, especially as ambient ozone levels are often elevated several days in a row," Schelegle said.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Weak economy makes solar panels more affordable to homeowners
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Price cuts by manufacturers, tax credits, California incentives and innovative financing ease the cost of going solar.
By Marla Dickerson
If you're searching for a bright spot in a dismal economic climate, look no farther than your roof. The downturn is helping to make solar panels more affordable.
Manufacturers are cutting prices to move inventory. Uncle Sam is helping too. As part of the economic stimulus package, the federal government this year boosted tax credits to homeowners who switch to solar power. Together with state incentives, those subsidies could slash the cost of some systems in California by 50% or more. Some homeowners are banding together into buying groups for even bigger savings.
If you don't have a lot of extra cash lying around, innovative financing can help you spread your payments out as long as 20 years. Or you can take advantage of leasing deals to get panels on your home for little or no money down.
June was a record month for state rebate applications by California homeowners. Some of them are opting for the steady returns that come from lowering their energy bills rather than betting on volatile stocks or real estate.
So shake off the recession gloom and let the sun shine in. Here's how to go solar without going broke.
The basics
A well-designed solar-power system can reduce your annual electricity expense to zero over the 25- to 30-year life of the panels. Spending $20,000 or more on a system today amounts to pre-paying your power bill for the next three decades.
Is that a smart decision?
If your aim is to help the planet, the answer is a resounding yes.
If you're looking to save money, it depends.
Not all homes are good candidates. Generally, the higher your current electric bill and the sunnier your roof, the more solar makes sense. Still, payback can easily take a decade or more. You'll need to crunch some numbers.
Reputable solar installers will be glad to help you figure the payback period, lifetime savings and rate of return, free of charge. If you want a ballpark estimate without the sales pressure, check out the calculators section on the state's Go Solar California website. A particularly good one is the state's own Clean Power Estimator.
Once you've made the decision to go solar, your final cost will depend on four main factors.
• System size -- Solar modules typically are priced by the DC or direct current watt. A typical-size system in Southern California ranges between 4 kilowatts (4,000 watts) and 5 kilowatts (5,000 watts).
• Panel prices -- They're falling. That's a good thing.• California rebate -- The state subsidy is declining. That's not such a good thing.
• Federal Investment Tax Credit -- A once-modest incentive just turned into a really big deal this year.Let's take a closer look at those last three.
A buyer's market
Demand for solar-power systems in much of the world has slowed along with the global economy. Meanwhile, solar-cell factories planned when the market was booming are coming on line. The result: too many panels and too few buyers. To move them, companies are cutting module prices. ==MORE>>
Price cuts by manufacturers, tax credits, California incentives and innovative financing ease the cost of going solar.
By Marla Dickerson
If you're searching for a bright spot in a dismal economic climate, look no farther than your roof. The downturn is helping to make solar panels more affordable.
Manufacturers are cutting prices to move inventory. Uncle Sam is helping too. As part of the economic stimulus package, the federal government this year boosted tax credits to homeowners who switch to solar power. Together with state incentives, those subsidies could slash the cost of some systems in California by 50% or more. Some homeowners are banding together into buying groups for even bigger savings.
If you don't have a lot of extra cash lying around, innovative financing can help you spread your payments out as long as 20 years. Or you can take advantage of leasing deals to get panels on your home for little or no money down.
June was a record month for state rebate applications by California homeowners. Some of them are opting for the steady returns that come from lowering their energy bills rather than betting on volatile stocks or real estate.
So shake off the recession gloom and let the sun shine in. Here's how to go solar without going broke.
The basics
A well-designed solar-power system can reduce your annual electricity expense to zero over the 25- to 30-year life of the panels. Spending $20,000 or more on a system today amounts to pre-paying your power bill for the next three decades.
Is that a smart decision?
If your aim is to help the planet, the answer is a resounding yes.
If you're looking to save money, it depends.
Not all homes are good candidates. Generally, the higher your current electric bill and the sunnier your roof, the more solar makes sense. Still, payback can easily take a decade or more. You'll need to crunch some numbers.
Reputable solar installers will be glad to help you figure the payback period, lifetime savings and rate of return, free of charge. If you want a ballpark estimate without the sales pressure, check out the calculators section on the state's Go Solar California website. A particularly good one is the state's own Clean Power Estimator.
Once you've made the decision to go solar, your final cost will depend on four main factors.
• System size -- Solar modules typically are priced by the DC or direct current watt. A typical-size system in Southern California ranges between 4 kilowatts (4,000 watts) and 5 kilowatts (5,000 watts).
• Panel prices -- They're falling. That's a good thing.• California rebate -- The state subsidy is declining. That's not such a good thing.
• Federal Investment Tax Credit -- A once-modest incentive just turned into a really big deal this year.Let's take a closer look at those last three.
A buyer's market
Demand for solar-power systems in much of the world has slowed along with the global economy. Meanwhile, solar-cell factories planned when the market was booming are coming on line. The result: too many panels and too few buyers. To move them, companies are cutting module prices. ==MORE>>
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