Late in 2015, we published a series of stories about a large-scale harmful algal bloom year off the West Coast that resulted in numerous marine animal deaths and closures of recreational and commercial fisheries in California, Oregon, and Washington. At the time, scientists hypothesized that the severe, widespread toxic bloom was connected to unusually persistent … Read more
Aerial tree mortality surveys show patterns of tree death during extreme drought. Why do some trees die in a drought and others don’t? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts? Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues examined those questions in a study published in … Read more
California is pledging to defend its actions to tackle climate change and fund clean energy. But it should also be positioning itself as a leader on clean water, writes Sara Aminzadeh of California Coastkeeper Alliance. OUR NEW PRESIDENT said he was “committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies” such as the Climate Action Plan and the … Read more
Ultimately, “Is the drought over?” is the wrong question. We should ask, “Are we managing water in a sustainable manner for the long haul”? The answer to that is still “no.” Given the massive series of storms bringing rain and snow to California over the past month, people are asking, “Is the California drought finally … Read more
New technique predicts frequency of heavy precipitation with global warming. On Dec. 11, 2014, a freight train of a storm steamed through much of California, deluging the San Francisco Bay Area with three inches of rain in just one hour. The storm was fueled by what meteorologists refer to as the “Pineapple Express” — an … Read more