Santa Cruz County Sustainability Digest

The world is heating up at an unprecedented pace, new climate data shows, and leaders gathered for the COP28 conference in Dubai must get us out of “deep trouble,” UN chief António Guterres said.

2023 has broken climate records, accompanied by extreme weather which has left a trail of devastation, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

An analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy found that with expected technology advances, the Salton Sea region’s total lithium resources could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough to support over 375 million batteries for electric vehicles—more than the total number currently on U.S. roads.

Livestock are responsible for half of all methane emissions in California. The White House is giving $21.4 million to California Dairies and $22.8 million to Dairy Farmers of America to help change this.

Fulcrum Bioenergy, a California-based firm that seeks to turn plastics into jet fuel, has defaulted on $289 million in bond funding and put a major project on hold. This comes as several U.S. Senators wrote to the IRS urging that similar companies not receive federal tax credits.

More than three years after a wildfire devastated Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the massive redwood trees continue to recover. But some wildlife species, particularly salmon, steelhead and some types of birds, could take many years to bounce back.

State and local leaders gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate a new plan that will increase access to the outdoors for all Californians, regardless of who they are or where they live.

Center for Food Safety has filed arguments seeking to revoke the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of nationwide permit 56, which authorizes industrial finfish aquaculture structures in ocean waters around the country. CFS represents a coalition of conservation, tribal, and fishing organizations.

More than 1.5 million acres of forest have been burned or scarred in California. Climbers go high in trees to grab pine cones that could help in reforestation.

Intense rains have California out of a drought less than a year after most of the state faced water shortages. A climatologist is urging wise water usage ahead of California’s next drought.

The Office of Habitat Conservation’s Restoration Center has awarded $27.8 million to bring Central California Coast coho salmon back to California rivers, funding projects by Trout Unlimited, the San Mateo and Gold Ridge Resource Conservation Districts, and the Nature Conservancy.

The USA is likely to see consistent job growth from the transition to net zero, but the gains will be unevenly distributed, shows a new analysis conducted by Imperial College London researchers and published in Nature Climate Change.

A UCLA climate scientist says California’s redwoods might not last in their current groves for another 100 years. An effort is afoot to plant redwoods elsewhere in more potentially hospitable climates, such as the Pacific Northwest.

Researchers tell LAist that half of California’s population of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, which are endangered, died last winter due to record weather. Causes of death include avalanches, starvation and getting eaten by mountain lions after moving to lower elevations for food.

For the fifth consecutive year, California officials are delaying the Bay Area’s commercial Dungeness crab season to decrease the chances of migrating whales currently off the coast getting ensnarled by the crab-pot fishing lines.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law in October, SB 272 by Sen. John Laird, that requires local governments to plan for rising sea levels. It's already factoring into planning in places like Marin County.

China modeled some of its climate programs on policies first adopted by California. Now, California depends on the world’s most populous country for essential materials in its electric vehicle ambitions.

Legislation that was created in response to fire breaking out in 2022 at the Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage System facility was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In an effort to reduce the risk of wildfire, Cal Poly Humboldt faculty and students have embarked on a three-year study to investigate tree health.

The Watsonville Municipal Airport could be looking at a greener future. The airport recently received $83,575 through the Federal Aviation Administration for a zero-emissions vehicle and infrastructure project.

A long-awaited, controversial report weighs updates to standards that state officials say have failed to protect fish and wildlife. But environmentalists, Native tribes and others already are furious about how long this has taken—and the state is years away from taking action.

Santa Cruz County is well-known for its forestry, with approximately 75% of its overall terrain covered by trees, according to Global Forest Watch.

This year is Bird School Project’s second go at organizing the acclaimed festival (formerly the “Monterey Bay Birding Festival”), which invites bird nerds and newcomers alike to bask in the glory of our winged, bipedal brethren.

Maintaining certain interactions so that they remain similar to those that have controlled Earth conditions over the past 12,000 years is critical for ensuring human activities do not trigger dramatic changes that likely would decrease the Earth’s ability to support modern civilizations.

Using intricate infrared images captured by airplane over California's Central Valley, researchers were able to distinguish Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines that were infected but not showing symptoms.

Santa Cruz Metro is expected to finalize the purchase of 57 hydrogen fuel cell-electric buses—the single largest purchase for that variety of zero-emission vehicle in the nation.

Satellite data from across California’s landscapes reveal an increase in nitrogen dioxide levels in remote forest areas, and wildfire and soil emissions are likely the reasons why, according to a paper from UC Davis published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

“This is possibly the largest improvement project the District has ever taken on. The replacement of aged and undersize infrastructure will also greatly improve support for future firefighting efforts in the San Lorenzo Valley," said Rick Rogers, general manager of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District.

The human-built world keeps getting in the way of the rising sea. But this current story of our coast does not have to end in disaster.

Office parks, corporate campuses, strip malls would have to remove grass, or face fines of up to $500 a day.

“Central Coast Water Board staff needs to review the water quality data and the additional information before ... we can authorize Big Basin Water Company to accept flows from additional properties,” wrote Jennifer Epp of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Three years after the CZU Complex Lightning Fire, Big Basin Water Company can once again operate the local sewer system. Homeowners say one of the obstacles to rebuilding has been the county was not approving permits because sewer lines were not connected.