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☆ With Great Salt Lake at rock bottom, lawmakers aim for rescue
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Water volume on the Great Salt Lake has dropped by more than two-thirds since pioneers once settled the Salt Lake Valley. Much of the lake surface is now exposed. Photographs of empty marinas and the cracking crust of the lake’s surface often illustrate the lake’s decline. The rivers and streams that feed The Great Salt Lake are overallocated, which means farmers and other water users collectively have rights to more water than what typically flows through each year. Spencer Cox last November closed the Great Salt Lake basin to appropriations for new water uses, effectively capping the line of water users wanting to use what flows into the lake.

More than 40 million egg-laying hens have been culled in the U.S. alone, causing the price of eggs nationwide to skyrocket, Lorenzoni said. Months earlier, the “bird flu” outbreak drove the cost of turkey meat to record highs. Poultry can become infected through direct exposure to wild birds but more likely from fecal matter that contaminates the ground around farms or yards. Many migrating birds are not sickened by bird flu, which means it’s not well understood just how widespread it is in the wild, Lorenzoni added. The sun can, for instance, naturally disinfect surfaces while gloomier days help viral particles survive on surfaces contaminated by infected bird poop, Lorenzoni said.

☆ California is emerging from a 'parade of storms' with recovery efforts across a ravaged state
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

California's snowpack is on pace for a remarkable season after nearly three weeks of atmospheric river storms pummeled California with heavy precipitation. California has had nine atmospheric river storms since Christmas, Anderson said. "We're finally getting through the parade of storms," Anderson said. Meantime, a mudslide closed part of State Route 13 in the Oakland area, the state Transportation Department said. It expected it could take as long as three weeks to clear the road and up to six months for repairs.

☆ California has been hammered with rain. It may not be enough to reverse its drought.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

California counts on a system of about 1,400 human-made surface reservoirs and thousands upon thousands of miles of levees to manage surface water. During the recent storms, extreme drought has buffered some impacts of intense rainfall with plenty of space in the state’s largest reservoirs, which have withered under drought. Before the series of atmospheric rivers, it was storing less than 1 million acre-feet of water. In the Central Valley, Californians extract about 2 million acre-feet more than what returns to the ground, on average, every year, Lund said. California legislators in 2014 passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires local agencies to reach groundwater sustainability by 2042.

☆ U.S. greenhouse emissions show signs of slowing — but not quickly enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased by about 1.3% in 2022, rebounding for a second straight year after pandemic disruptions to high-emitting industries like shipping and travel. Before the pandemic, emissions were on a slightly downward track. “Greenhouse gas emissions are still not back up to 2019 levels. “Additional policy action will absolutely be necessary to achieving those targets.”The U.S. is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% from 2005 levels by 2030. The Environmental Protection Agency publishes official, detailed greenhouse gas inventories about 15 months after year’s end.

☆ A new test for autism hopes to help doctors diagnose before symptoms show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Researchers have discovered myriad risk factors associated with autism, including infections during pregnancy, air pollution and maternal stress. “We can detect the clear rhythm of autism with just about one centimeter of hair,” Arora said. Autism diagnosis timingArora and his team hope their technology could help young children, even newborns, receive early interventions for autism sooner than they can now. “We want to enable early intervention.”There is not yet a biological test for autism spectrum disorder. Perhaps eventually, that information could open up new pathways for the development of drugs or therapies for autism, he said.

Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday as a powerful storm expected to bring heavy rain, snow and flooding began its potentially dangerous onslaught. Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for several cities in Northern California, including Richmond in the Bay Area and Watsonville in Santa Cruz County. Several communities experiencing some of the biggest downpours were still cleaning up from flooding caused by a storm over the weekend. While the precipitation appears out-of-character for the drought-stricken state, California would normally expect to see this type of rainfall during an average winter, experts said. April 1 is a typical high point for snowpack in California, where snow melt feeds reservoirs in May and June.

Flood watches are in effect for 12 million people in Central and Northern California. The cyclone will send a pair of warm and cold fronts over Northern California, which is already rain-soaked. “When you have more water vapor in the air because the air is warmer — you can transport more water vapor quickly,” Ralph said. Although some smaller reservoirs in Northern California have filled up, larger reservoirs still have the capacity to absorb more. “I think we will have largely alleviated the short-term drought in Northern California," Swain said.

☆ Why can't some people smell months after catching Covid? Their immune response could be the answer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers took biopsies deep inside the nasal cavities of patients struggling to regain their smell months after coming down with Covid. Millions of people around the world lost their smell for at least six months after contracting Covid. Goldstein and Jafari also said the study’s findings could provide clues to how cases of long Covid are affecting other body systems, too. “There’s not a lot of studies that have obtained biopsies of organs affected by long Covid,” Goldstein said. “Are there immune cell mechanisms … involved in other long Covid problems?”

U.S. scientists have achieved “ignition” — a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to create — a critical milestone for nuclear fusion and a step forward in the pursuit of a nearly limitless source of clean energy, Energy Department officials said Tuesday. The process imploded a tiny capsule inside the hohlraum that is filled with deuterium and tritium, creating a fusion reaction. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory"We have taken the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source," said Jill Hruby, the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration. The Inflation Reduction Act provided millions in new funding for fusion projects and the White House this year convened the first fusion summit and developed a 10-year plan to commercialize fusion technology. A technician reviews an optic inside the preamplifier support structure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., in 2012.

☆ 'Firmageddon': Researchers find 1.1 million acres of dead trees in Oregon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“We’re seeing forms of stress in all of our species of trees,” said Christine Buhl, a forest entomologist with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Trained observers peer outside both sides of the plane, looking for noticeable damage to trees. “You definitely have to have a stomach of steel.”This year, the aerial observation program flew over about 69 million acres of Washington and Oregon forest in about 246 hours. Oregon’s average temperatures have risen about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, according to a 2021 state climate assessment delivered to the state’s Legislature. “It was the combination of the high temperatures in the afternoon with the sun boring down,” said Chris Still, a professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

☆ Salt Lake City’s efforts to fight pollution face a new challenge: Toxic dust
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The EPA in 2021 proposed re-listing the Salt Lake City area as in “attainment” for small particle pollution it had been failing to sufficiently control. But wildfires and dust storms off Great Salt Lake are erasing the progress that has been made. “I’ve received a number of emails from concerned citizens reconsidering living in Salt Lake City,” said Janice Brahney, an assistant professor at Utah State University’s watershed sciences department. Meanwhile, researchers found the highest levels of dust — and metals — in suburbs outside urban Salt Lake City. Researchers suspect suburban communities north of Salt Lake City could be receiving the majority of the dust that blows off the lake.

☆ Falling sperm count observed around the world, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Those are the headline findings of a new analysis of sperm count studies published Tuesday in the journal Human Reproduction Update. But Anawalt said the inherent limitations of this type of analysis — which combined results from more than 200 sperm count studies — could steer toward misleading conclusions. The decline had gotten steeper.”Despite the negative trend, the average sperm count for men in 2018 remained higher than levels the World Health Organization considers normal. It’s also possible that the type of men involved in sperm count studies is different from those who weren’t. “There’s other things in ejaculate that aren’t sperm — round cells and debris.”Moreover, sperm count is only one factor in determining fertility.

☆ Polar bears, pushed on land by climate change, get their own radar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

As climate change diminishes sea ice from coastal communities in the Arctic and the subarctic, researchers expect polar bears to range further into the towns and camps in this remote part of the world. Geoff York and KT Miller install a mobile radar tower in Churchill, Manitoba, which hosts the SpotterRF radar to detect polar bears. When the sea ice along the bay melts, the bears migrate to make their home on land and wait for the ice to return. “It makes it ideal to test new technologies.”Although every season is different, climate change is lengthening the amount of time bears are away from sea ice here. But as climate change limits sea ice habitat, it’s expected to push more hungry bears toward communities that haven’t dealt with these creatures before.

☆ Grizzlies could roam wildest reaches of Washington state again, but first a mountain of red tape
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Threatened grizzly bears could roam again in the wildest reaches of Washington state. The National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday they have restarted the on-again, off-again process to reintroduce grizzlies to North Cascades National Park. Grizzlies haven’t been spotted with certainty in the North Cascades since 1996, the National Park Service said in a news release. People killed them,” said Jason Ransom, who leads the wildlife program at North Cascades National Park. The National Park Service has scheduled several virtual meetings to discuss the proposal.

Climate activists across Europe and the United States blocked entrances to airports Thursday to protest emissions from the aviation industry and call for a ban on private jets. Activists with three groups — Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion and Guardian Rebellion — descended on the airport terminals as part of organized actions in at least 13 countries. In the U.S., activists gathered at King County International Airport in Seattle and blocked entrances to a private jet terminal at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The activists targeted private jets because they represent the contributions of the ultrarich — and their lifestyles — to global greenhouse gas emissions. “The planet is on fire and people are still flying private jets.

☆ At one of Earth's most remote research stations, Covid is still a problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

An outbreak of Covid at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica has disrupted life for researchers and support staffers at the southern end of the world. The research station has a population of 885, the statement said, meaning more than 8% of those have tested positive for the coronavirus so far. The outbreak is a reminder that Covid is still a threat to close-knit workplaces and that the virus is still roiling scientific research in remote sites. Because McMurdo is such a remote location, stringent measures were implemented during past field seasons to keep Covid from circulating. “As COVID cases and population at McMurdo Station continue to increase, individuals may be assigned to rooms with COVID positive roommates.”The email encouraged physical distancing and the use of masks.

☆ Making daylight saving permanent could drastically reduce deer collisions, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

It also adds more ammunition to the charged debate over seasonal time changes and could bolster political arguments for moving the U.S. to permanent daylight saving time. Daylight saving time is when many parts of the world set clocks back by one hour to shift sunlight earlier in the day, meaning sunsets then happen earlier. The U.S. Senate in March approved a bipartisan bill that would make daylight saving time standard for all states except Arizona and Hawaii. States in the northern U.S. would reduce collisions most from permanent daylight saving. “On the whole, we need a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the way daylight saving time impacts our health and environment,” Cunningham said.

☆ Doctors decry 'record profits' for fossil fuel companies as climate change weighs on global health
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The report’s theme reflects a growing frustration and helplessness expressed by medical professionals left to deal with the impacts of climate change as world leaders struggle to address the root cause. The annual report catalogs the health impacts of change worldwide and a separate policy brief outlines impacts in the U.S. Tiny particles released into the air as pollution during fossil fuel use were responsible for 1.2 million deaths in 2020. Climate change is taking a toll on mental health. The report notes growth in renewable energy investment, increasing media coverage of climate change and growing engagement from government leaders on health-centered climate policies.

☆ Widespread drought expected to persist across the West this winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Little relief is expected for farmers, ranchers and reservoirs this winter in the Western U.S., as extreme drought is forecast to continue plaguing the region. That’s according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who predict "widespread extreme drought to persist across much of the West," according to Jon Gottschalck, chief of the operational prediction branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. Nearly 50% of the U.S. is in drought, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System, and more than one-third of the country’s population lives in areas affected by drought. Drought conditions have already drained reservoirs critical for drinking water supply, forced cutbacks on water use in the Colorado River and threatened farmers’ livelihoods. That should help relieve drought conditions in those areas.

Seattle and Portland, Oregon, were first and second, respectively, in the global ranking of places with the poorest air quality, according to IQAir, a Swiss company that measures air pollution. Air quality issues have persisted for about a month because of the prolonged fires burning west of the Cascades. That’s what’s been contributing to the persistent air quality issues we’ve had." Sports and other outdoor activities in the Pacific Northwest have been called off due to the poor air quality. The problem is worst in the West, where rising air pollution levels due to smoke have reversed decades of improvements in overall air quality.

☆ Endangered species protections kick in too late, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The study suggests that the Endangered Species Act, a bedrock tool of conservation, has become bogged down by delays and inaction that are hampering its mission. Decisions on whether species should be listed are supposed to take two years, according to Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Species are slipping through the cracks.”The new study builds upon research that began decades ago in a study that analyzed species listed from 1985 through 1992. Although few species have fully recovered and been delisted, it’s important to remember that the Endangered Species Act has been instrumental in preventing extinction, Greenwald said. “99% of species protected under the Endangered Species Act still survive, which is highly significant,” he said.

Many of the most destructive and potentially deadly impacts of a hurricane — including storm surge, flooding and rainfall — are not accounted for in a storm's category number. "Hurricane Ian is a very large, slow-moving hurricane. "There have been several alternative scales proposed over the years and none have gained enough attention or traction by the National Hurricane Center," Collins said. "It is important to have such evidence before even proposing to the National Hurricane Center that this should be considered as a replacement." Kantha said the National Hurricane Center acts conservatively and carefully with changes, particularly those with legal implications.

☆ ‘I’ve always wanted to be a tree’: Human composting starts to catch on
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The bill took cues from Washington state, where lawmakers in 2019 became the first in the U.S. to legalize human composting and where a nascent industry is growing. Four Washington state funeral facilities are now licensed to perform natural organic reduction, according to Rob Goff, the executive director of the Washington State Funeral Directors Association. California’s law will give regulators with the state’s Cemetery and Funeral Bureau until 2027 to create regulations for a human composting program. The know-how behind human composting began in ranchers’ fields. Human composting could instead help soils sequester carbon and provide nutrients for plant life.

☆ Once unthinkable, Pakistan's record rainfall could now happen once a century
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Climate change made the unprecedented monsoon rainfall that left one-third of Pakistan underwater last month far more likely, according to a team of scientists who analyzed the event. They also looked at the heaviest five-day period of monsoon rainfall in hard-hit Sindh and Balochistan. The study found that climate change had inflated the chances of heavy rainfall for both geographies and time periods. As much as one-third of the rainfall that fell during the most intense period in Sindh and Balochistan could be attributed to climate change, it found. Researchers performed an attribution analysis of the heat wave and found it was made 30 times more likely to have been due to climate change, according to Fahad Saeed, an Islamabad-based researcher at the Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Development.

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