Nature

Mountain lion shot in Redwood City backyard

03/30/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

Yesterday morning authorities shot and killed a mountain lion found in a suburban Redwood City backyard. The cat did not appear to be sick or injured, although its nearest habitat was more than two miles away. Officials said they opted not to tranquilize the lion for fear they might miss or that it would...
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Posted in Nature, Policy, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Environmentalists split over wildlife and solar

03/29/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

Mother Jones reporter Kiera Butler searches for desert tortoises in the Mojave Desert where huge solar projects are planned for construction later this year. She asks the question, “Could solar-energy projects destroy the very ecosystems they’re meant to save from climate change?”
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Posted in Climate Change & Energy, Nature, Policy, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Rare Steller sea lion sighting at Elkhorn Slough

03/29/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

Capt. Yohn Gideon spotted a massive sea lion lounging amid a group of the comparatively small California sea lions near Moss Landing and knew it must be the threatened Steller sea lion. Only about 500 of the beasts live along the California coast. Check out the great photos.
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Tags: moss landing, steller sea lion, threatened, yohn gideon
Posted in Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Harnessing the energy of osmosis

03/28/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

When the fresh water from a river spills into the salty sea, the temperature rises, creating a little bit of energy. A group of Stanford researchers says it has found such an efficient method for capturing this energy, it could supply 13 percent of the world’s energy needs. If that sounds like a stretch,...
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Tags: energy, fresh water, osmosis, osmotic power, salt water, sea water, Stanford
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Noyo River 1,500-year-old redwoods saved

03/28/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

After a fevered fundraising campaign, Save the Redwood League narrowly met a deadline to purchase a 426-acre swath of old-growth redwood forest along Noyo River in Mendocino, ending a 30-year fight to protect them from logging companies. Many of the trees are more than 1,500 years old.
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Tags: mendocino, noyo river, old-growth forest, redwood, save the redwood league
Posted in Green Business, Nature, The Daily Catch | 1 Comment »

Highway 1 takes a beating from March rain

03/28/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

The recent rains have been particularly unkind to the Great Highway. Collapsing sections of the seaside road and mudslides have caused closures from Monterey to Sonoma counties. Last week soil washed away from beneath a section of highway near Muir Beach, while $2.5 million in emergency repairs are underway near Big Sur. [Read more...
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Tags: big sur, closure, collapse, highway 1, mudslide, muir beach, , the great highway
Posted in Living, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

Joshua Tree National Park is losing its Joshua trees

03/25/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

A new study predicts that southern California’s iconic Joshua Trees will lose 90 percent of their range by 2100 thanks to climate change. Ecologists from the US Geological Survey say the southernmost trees will not withstand the new high temperatures and that because the tree only expands its range around 6 feet a year,...
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Tags: , , joshua tree, joshua tree national park, rising temperature, us geological survey
Posted in Climate Change & Energy, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

You’re not imagining it, March has been unusually wet in the Bay Area

03/25/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

If you enjoy stats, here’s a nice little rundown of rainfall around the Bay and just how much wetter than normal it has been this month. Take yesterday, Oakland soaked up 1.65 inches of rain compared to a normal 0.08 inches. Rumor has it there could be sun next week. [Read more - San...
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Tags: bay area weather, high rainfall, , wet march
Posted in Living, Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

An Ice Age baby mammoth discovered near Castroville

03/25/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

The remains of a young mammoth dating between 10,000 and 25,000 years ago have been found in an farmer’s field in Monterey County. Archeologists have discovered fragments of bones and tusk and are looking for signs that the elephant-like creature was hunted down by Native Americans.
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Tags: archeologists, baby mammoth, castroville, ice age, juvenile, monterey county
Posted in Nature, The Daily Catch | No Comments »

You think Japan was unprepared for an earthquake, take a look at California

03/25/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

Newsweek magazine’s feature story about the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant hazards facing California, titled “How to Save California,” does not actually discuss solutions, but does give a good overview of the problems and the state’s lack of preparedness for a catastrophe like Japan’s. The open glimmer of good news is an earthquake...
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Tags: california earthquake, , , preparedness,
Posted in Nature, Policy, 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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