WDFW Issues Justification For Steelhead Farming Permit In Puget Sound, Comments Expressed Concerns
February 6th, 2020
When the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife approved in late January a new permit allowing Cooke Aquaculture to begin growing rainbow trout/steelhead in its Puget Sound net pens, there were a number of groups and tribes that had already lined up in opposition to the permit. And one group may seek legal action to stop it.
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EPA Gets 30-Day Extension For Responding To Appeals Court Ruling Ordering Temperature Limits For Columbia/Snake Rivers
January 30th, 2020
The federal Environmental Protection Agency received a 30 day extension from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to develop Columbia and Snake river temperature limits, known as Total Maximum Daily Load, but the EPA is still not saying what it will do at the end of the 30 days.
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Research: Arctic Sea Ice Cannot Quickly Bounce Back If Climate Change Causes Melting
January 23rd, 2020
Arctic sea ice cannot "quickly bounce back" if climate change causes it to melt, new research suggests.
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West Coast Mass Die-Off Of Seabirds 2015-16 Largest In Recorded History; Scientists Say ‘The Blob’ Increased Competition For Food Among Fish, Birds
January 16th, 2020
It was unprecedented when nearly one million common murres died at sea and washed ashore from California to Alaska in 2015 and 2016. Scientists from the University of Washington, the U.S. Geological Survey and others blame an unexpected squeeze on the ecosystem's food supply, brought on by a severe and long-lasting marine heat wave known as "the blob."
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Oregon Department Of Fish And Wildlife Develops Draft ‘Climate And Ocean Change Policy’ For Consideration
January 16th, 2020
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is being briefed Friday, Jan. 17, on an agency-developed Climate and Ocean Change Policy. The public will also have a chance to comment on the policy during the all-day meeting in Salem.
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New Study Shows 2019 Warmest Year On Record For Oceans; Increased Warming Leading To More Marine Heat Waves
January 16th, 2020
A new analysis shows that in 2019 the world's oceans were warmer than in any other time in recorded human history, especially between the surface and a depth of 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet). The analysis also shows that the past five years have shown the highest global ocean temperatures and that recent ocean warming is 450 percent greater over the past 30 years than in the 30 year period beginning in 1955.
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Comments On EPA’s Draft Cold Water Refuge Plan For Columbia River; Insufficient For Future Warming, Lacks Urgency
December 19th, 2019
The value of protecting cold water refuges during adult salmon and steelhead migrations is especially important with rising water temperatures in the Columbia River basin caused by climate change, but the draft Cold Water Refuge Plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not expansive enough to protect those fish, many listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and it lacks a sense of urgency.
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California Study: Salmon Losing Life-History Diversity In Managed Rivers, Less Able To Cope With Climate Change
December 18th, 2019
The manipulation of rivers in California is jeopardizing the resilience of native chinook salmon. It compresses their migration timing to the point that they crowd their habitats. They may miss the best window for entering the ocean and growing into adults, new research shows.
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Study The First To Show Impacts Of Climate Change On Bird Migration On Continental Scale
December 17th, 2019
Life cycles for birds, insects and trees are shifting in this current era of a rapidly changing climate. How migration patterns, in particular, are changing and whether birds can track climate change is an open question.