Interesting Environmental News From Last Week

 June 30
– Bloomberg
(Krystal Chia and
Alfred Cang):

“China is pausing industrial activity from coal mining and steel making to even some port operations to clear air pollution ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary celebration later this week. Some, such as coal mining, will be closed for as long as a week in the country’s key producing hubs. Others like steel are being put on hold for just one day. Port operations are also being suspended, with trucks delaying loading fuel until Thursday afternoon in some refiners.”

June 30 

– Bloomberg 

(Eric Roston and 

Leslie Kaufman): 

“It looked like a mistake several days ago when weather models began forecasting temperatures of approximately 115° Fahrenheit heat in Portland, Oregon. Then it happened. The National Weather Service has now recorded 116°F (46.7°C) at the Portland International Airport. The heat in the Pacific Northwest is unprecedented but the dynamics involved are straightforward. Summertime heat warms air above the ground or ocean, which then rushes up into the atmosphere to create a dome air that blocks new systems from moving in… ‘Usually, the correct-enough intuition to meteorologists is to say, ‘yeah, something's wrong’ or ‘there's some bug in the code,’’ says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA… This time, however, there was no mistake… Swain, who trained as both a meteorologist and a climate scientist, calls the Pacific Northwest heat dome ‘mind-blowing.’ Hot spells generally stand out because they max out a single metric, such as a record daytime high, duration, high nighttime temperatures. Not so with the heatwave across the Western U.S. ‘In this case, all of those things are literally off the charts,’ he says. ‘There really aren’t any records that this heatwave isn’t breaking.’”

June 28 

– Bloomberg 

(Amanda Little): 

“Water has been generating conflicts and controversies in the U.S. for centuries, but the American West could be heading toward the most severe water shortages and skirmishes in the nation’s history. The latest clash broke out this month along California’s border with Oregon in the Klamath River basin, where drought is decimating wild salmon populations. To minimize the kill, federal officials cut off water to nearby fields growing potatoes and alfalfa, leading to grave concern from farmers and protests from anti-government activists. Meanwhile, all the other Klamath River stakeholders — indigenous tribes with ancient claims, utility managers for growing cities in Southern Oregon and Northern California, dams running hydroelectric plants, golf courses and homeowners — are clamoring for their piece of the river.”

July 1 

– Wall Street Journal 

(Danny Dougherty and 

Peter Santilli): 

“The Southwest is suffering through one of its worst droughts on record amid a critical reduction in the amount of water from snowpack runoff. Roughly 9.8% of the U.S. is currently in what climate experts refer to as exceptional drought, the most severe designation, which is characterized by widespread crop and pasture losses and shortages in reservoirs, streams and wells amounting to water emergencies. About 44% of the nation is experiencing some level of drought, with a further 13% currently affected by drier-than-normal conditions… The current drought is on pace to be one of the worst ever. One of the hardest-hit states is California, home to about 70,000 farms and ranches with a combined output of about $50 billion a year. The dairy industry accounts for the largest chunk of the state’s agricultural revenue, followed by almonds and grapes.”

June 29 

– Bloomberg 

(Michael Hirtzer, 

Marcy Nicholson and 

Kim Chipman): 

“The world is counting on farmers in North America for big harvests of everything from corn to canola this year. Due to weird weather patterns, growers will likely come up short. The U.S. and Canada are seeing unusual variability in climate, with some crops withering from severe heat and drought while others see flooding. Meanwhile, demand is surging as economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic, so much so that every grain counts. The culprit is an abnormal, high pressure system that’s likely to remain in place during a key period of the growing season when plants are blooming and developing.”