EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Margin Of Error -With A Warming Columbia River Basin No Time Left To Dawdle Over Recovering ESA-Listed, Naturally-Producing Salmon, Steelhead
June 17th, 2021
Smolt-To-Adult returns. SARs. The BENCHMARK of Columbia/Snake River basin salmon and steelhead recovery. And in recent years the SARs benchmark – tagged, tracked fish-- is screaming bad news for Snake River salmon and steelhead. Bringing these fish back from the brink as the regional climate warms requires urgency.
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Report: Abundance Of Pacific Ocean Salmon In 2020 Lowest In 40 years Despite Record Hatchery Releases
June 17th, 2021
The global abundance of salmon in the Pacific Ocean in 2020 based on commercial catch was the lowest since 1982 and in North America the catch was the lowest since 1977, despite a record number of hatchery releases the year before, according to a report released in May 2021 by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission of Vancouver B.C.
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Canada Launches $647 Million Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative Aiming At Halting Population Declines
June 17th, 2021
The Canadian government last week announced a $647 million strategy to save Pacific salmon, aiming to stop the declines now while helping rebuild populations over the longer term.
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Joint NASA, NOAA Study Finds Earth’s ‘Energy Imbalance’ Has Doubled, Heating Up Planet; ‘The Trends We Found Were Quite Alarming’
June 17th, 2021
Earth's climate is determined by a delicate balance between how much of the Sun's radiative energy is absorbed in the atmosphere and at the surface and how much thermal infrared radiation Earth emits to space. A positive energy imbalance means the Earth system is gaining energy, causing the planet to heat up. Now, NOAA and NASA researchers have found that Earth’s energy imbalance approximately doubled during the 14-year period from 2005 to 2019.
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New Process To Save Northern California’s ESA Salmon? ‘SHARP’ Prioritizes Habitat Work, Restore Healthier Areas
June 3rd, 2021
Scientists and local restoration communities are now seeking new ways to implement habitat restoration so that Northern California rivers and streams can support healthy salmon and steelhead populations again. Hence, SHaRP, Salmonid Habitat Restoration Priorities.
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Washington’s Draft Long-Term Water Supply/Demand Report: By 2040 Look For Substantial Decrease In Columbia River Mainstem Flows July, August
June 3rd, 2021
Is the availability of water to meet all instream (flows for fish) and out-of-stream demands vulnerable to expected changes in climate and population growth in eastern Washington?
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EPA Relaunches Climate Change Indicators Showing Rising Temperatures, Less Snowpack, Heat Waves, Wildfires, Droughts, Flooding, Glacier Loss
May 13th, 2021
After being put on hold during the four years of the Trump Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency is relaunching its Climate Change Indicators in the United States website for the public.
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Expect The Wildfires To Get Worse: Urban Areas Will See Degrading Air Quality
May 6th, 2021
From the Pacific Northwest to the Rocky Mountains, summers in the West are marked by wildfires and smoke. New research from the University of Utah ties the worsening trend of extreme poor air quality events in Western regions to wildfire activity, with growing trends of smoke impacting air quality clear into September.
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NOAA To Release Updated U.S. Climate Data That Will Establish New Climate ‘Normals’
April 9th, 2021
NOAA will soon release a much-anticipated update of U.S. climate data for placing recent weather conditions—such as heat waves and flooding rain—into historical context.