Water/environ/climate news & my occasional thoughts/calcs, from CarsonCity (Wá∙šiw land), NV. Retired USGS & now p/t @CW3EScripps scientist. Bona fides? PhD.UCLA F.AGU F.AAAS M.NAE; www.mdettinger.com
USGS's @hydrohammond has developed a new online streamflow-drought prediction tool. River DroughtCast provides machine-learning predictions of streamflow droughts up to 90 days in advance at ~3K gages across CONUS, with uncertainty information for each. Check it out! water.usgs.gov/vizlab/strea...
River DroughtCastStreamflow drought status and forecasts for the conterminous United Stateswater.usgs.govIn a “poke-in-the-eye of a lawsuit”, NV Energy is accusing Tract corp of circumventing the Public Utility Commission of Nevada's regulatory process thru a private-arbitration demand as it presses on with two data-center projects requiring “enormous amount of electricity”.
The Nevada IndependentOPINION by John L. Smith: Did a Northern Nevada data center developer go behind state regulators’ backs? An NV Energy lawsuit opens a new front of opposition in the data center wars. thenevadaindependent.com/article/opin...
“The climate emergency kills,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday in the midst of devastating wildfires. “…What we have to do is reduce its causes, anticipate its effects, &, consequently, better prepare our country to protect people’s lives.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Climate change kills’: Pedro Sánchez speaks plain truth to Spain’s deniersPM has long history of speaking out on realities of global heating but political opponents remain unnmovedwww.theguardian.comWildfire in 2000 destroyed 3% of Calif homes it reached. Since then, that rate has risen to 18%. Efforts to clear veg around homes & fortify exteriors outpaced by more extreme wildfires & bldg in fire-prone areas. www.latimes.com/environment/... agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
The percentage of homes surviving California wildfires is dropping, despite efforts to harden themAt the turn of the century, wildfires destroyed only about 3% of the California homes they came into contact with. By 2020, the rate had risen to 18%, a new study found.www.latimes.comCA DWR is (quick turnaround!) recruiting a Water Resources Engineer for the Snow Surveys & Water Supply Forecast Unit, to develop & improve forecast models & analyses, collect & analyze field data from remote locations, & communicate forecasts to agencies & public. calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/...
Engineer WRLooking to make a difference? Join our strong and mighty workforce. We offer benefits and growth opportunities and impact the lives of millions of Californians.calcareers.ca.govUS government (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency) is warning of a significant increase in cyber attacks on water and wastewater systems, targeting water systems of all sizes. Warning follows cyberattack this week on >30 municipal water systems in Minnesota www.cisa.gov/news-events/...
CISA Urges Water and Wastewater Systems Sector to Protect OT Against Activity Targeting PLCs | CISAwww.cisa.govNarratives re: declining-birthrates often neglect dejuvenation, a progressive reduxn of demographic, economic, cultural & political role of the youngs. Dejuventation diminishes role of younger people in labor markets, innovation & debates re: long-term priorities. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
When the future loses its voiceAcross many high-income societies, anxiety about demographic decline has become commonplace. Fertility rates have fallen below replacement level, populations are aging rapidly, and governments worry a...www.science.orgIt’s well documented that climate change is killing people, and U of Chicago Climate Impact Lab projects, by 2050, ~10x more heat-related deaths in poor nations than in rich ones. New report finds differences in access to energy for A/C will add to this terrible disparity. eos.org/research-and...
A Changing Climate Will Lead to More AC in Wealthier Countries, and More Deaths in Poor Ones, New Report Suggests - EosA new report finds that the regions most affected by extreme heat are also the regions least likely to have increased levels of electricity to power the air conditioning that might provide relief.eos.orgToday is Global Ecological Overshoot Day...the day of year when total human demand on ecological resources & services has exceeded what the Earth can regenerate in the whole year! (NB: We in the US burned thru environment's productivity for this yr back on March 14.) overshoot.footprintnetwork.org
Earth Overshoot Day home - #MoveTheDateOvershoot occurs when humanity's demand on nature exceeds Earth's biocapacity. In 2025, Earth Overshoot Day falls on July 24th.overshoot.footprintnetwork.orgBylines NetworkEarth Overshoot Day: how many Earths do we need? Earth Overshoot Day is the exact date when humanity's total demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what the Earth can regenerate in that same year, and in 2026, it falls on 30 July northeastbylines.co.uk/news/environ...
This year’s US ag-research grant programs to reconstitute (some of) last yr’s gutting of research efforts to improve ag-yields globally are of course smaller but less obviously are also shifting focus away from Africa (to the Americas). grist.org/food-and-agr...
Inside the ‘America First’ makeover of a global hunger programIn remaking USAID’s Feed the Future Innovation Labs, Trump is abandoning an agricultural research effort built to benefit the world.grist.orgUsing a global database of impact measures, new study calculates avg impact severity by country & found it is higher in the Global South despite >2x as many reports from Global North. Weak governance & limited mgmt capacity are main drivers of high severity. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Samples from four San Francisco rain gardens during 15 storms, 2022-2024, were analyzed for 21 contaminants. The sampled gardens removed more than 90% of the chemicals. San Francisco PUC has built or is in the process of building 575 urban rain gardens. www.kneedeeptimes.org/sfei-study-r...
Study Shows Rain Gardens Are Powerful Filters of Bay Pollutants – KneeDeep TimesScientists found rain gardens dramatically reduce toxic chemicals in stormwater while providing biodiversity and cooling.www.kneedeeptimes.orgNew evaluation of the progress (and future) of Western US snow droughts driven by fossil fuel emissions…four times more likely already & projected to rise to once every three yrs in the future. ½ insideclimatenews.org/news/2207202...
Global Warming Unmakes Winter in the US West - Inside Climate NewsA new climate attribution study shows that heating from greenhouse gases could drive extreme snow droughts in the region every third year by 2050.insideclimatenews.orgNational Academies’ Manual on Scientific Evidence chapter on Climate Science (2025) cites IPCC’s finding of little doubt fossil fuel emissions contrib to climate chg. Trump charges “political fraud” & orders Federal Suspension & Debarment officials to review. insideclimatenews.org/news/2007202...
Trump Lashes Out at National Academies of Sciences Over Climate Guide For Judges - Inside Climate NewsTrump claimed without evidence that the manual was “fraudulent, biased, and misleading.”insideclimatenews.orgNevada's 2027 Legislature will consider a broad “Omnibus Water Bill” next yr. The bill would increase funding for Nevada's Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program, making it more sustainable. The bill also would require establishment of county groundwater boards. nevadacurrent.com/2026/06/26/w...
Workgroup crafting broad legislative proposal on state water policy • Nevada CurrentNevada experienced record low snowpacks across northern Nevada this winter, while summer heat and low precipitation continues to exacerbate drought in eastern Nevada. Those factors make protecting Nev...nevadacurrent.com
