Nature

Record snow melt drenches Yosemite in waterfalls

05/31/2011
By Alison Hawkes

Now’s the time to see record snow melt in Yosemite National Park after a winter season drenched in precipitation. Yosemite Falls, the nation’s tallest, is throwing down enough water to fill a gasoline tanker truck every two seconds. Mid June will be the time of peak melt, coinciding with peak visitor season. Go and...
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Tags: yosemite
Posted in Living, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Closure of some California parks illegal, says feds

05/31/2011
By Alison Hawkes

California plans to close one-quarter of its parks has met another stumbling block. The National Park Service says it would be a breach of contract (a.k.a illegal) to close 16 of them because they receive federal land conservation funds that requires them to remain open to the public. The parks mentioned include Castle Rock...
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Tags: , parks, recreation
Posted in Living, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Of Mice and Birds at the Farallones

Aulon Arch Sugarloaf

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has extended to June 10 the deadline for accepting public comments on a controversial proposal to eradicate nonnative house mice on the Southeast Farallon Islands. The agency hosted a public meeting on Thursday, May 12, as the first step in drafting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the...
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Tags: ashy storm-petrels, brodifacoum, burrowing owls, farallon islands, mice, mouse eradication, rodenticide, wildcare
Posted in Contaminants, Nature, Policy | No Comments »

Shark fin ban passes California Assembly

05/25/2011
By Alison Hawkes

The California Assembly passed a ban on the sale and distribution of shark fins, sending the controversial bill to the Senate. The measure, which has pitted conservationists against the Asian community, would make shark fin soup illegal. While advocates of the bill note the harm that’s come to shark populations as a result of...
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Tags: shark fin soup, shark fins, sharks
Posted in Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Marin is full of rattlesnakes this season

05/25/2011
By Alison Hawkes

An explosion in Marin’s rodent population has brought rattlesnakes out in full force this season. Summer marks the beginning of rattlesnake season and they’re hitting the trails like any outward bound urbanite. The Marin parks department has issued a warning: watch where you step!
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Tags: hiking, , snake
Posted in Living, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

A bedazzled Bay Area night sky in pictures

05/23/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

Nature photographers should check out this photo essay of Bay Area shooter Steven Christenson’s nighttime photos taken in Fremont. He discusses technique and is co-founder of the Bay Area Night Photography group. Pretty amazing. QUEST on KQED Public Media.
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Tags: , fremont, night photography, steven christenson
Posted in Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Discussion of CA state park closures and high speed rail

05/23/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

This morning on KQED’s Forum two topics close to WOW readers’ hearts are under discussion. First the impact of the California state park closures, followed by a look at the state’s embattled high-speed rail plans. Listen to the latter live right here: http://www.kqed.org/radio/listen/
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Tags: california high-speed rail, forum, , state park closure
Posted in Living, Nature, Policy, The Daily Catch, Transportation | No Comments »

Scientists may have found method for earthquake prediction

05/23/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

By observing chemical changes in the upper atmosphere, scientists say they may be able to predict large earthquakes days before they occur. Researchers have detected a rise in various gas concentrations in 24 different earthquakes of a magnitude greater than 7. But other scientists argue the source of the increased concentration is highly debatable...
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Tags: , earthquake prediction, gas, radon
Posted in Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Don’t build neighborhood on SF Bay salt flats, Redwood City voters say in new poll

Don’t build neighborhood on SF Bay salt flats, Redwood City voters say in new poll

Redwood City residents oppose a plan to build a massive development on a stretch of salt ponds beside the San Francisco Bay by a 2-1 ratio, according to new poll released last Tuesday.
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Tags: dmb associates, , redwood city saltworks, , save the bay
Posted in Contaminants, Living, Nature, Policy | No Comments »

Some call it “the bug from hell”

05/20/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

The voracious, crop-destroying invasive stink bug is turning up in California. Named for the smell they exude when crushed, the Asian bugs have decimated fruit production in some areas of the east coast where they were first found in 1998. California growers are looking anxiously to the east for methods to eradicate the pest...
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Tags: , fruit growers, invasive species, stink bug
Posted in Living, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

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Field Notes Blog

French radiation organization says exposure risks are no longer negligible

Just as farmers markets are swinging into full bloom, there’s very disturbing news about radiation from Japan reaching new levels in Europe. And if...
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Super graph on normal and abnormal radiation exposures

Did you know that sleeping next to someone blitzes you with 0.05 millionth of a sievert of radiation per night? That eating a banana...
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UC Berkeley study: Using fear backfires on climate change

It’s been a point of maddening frustration for scientists and environmentalists that as the predictions on global warming grow more dire, the public seems...
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