From CalMatters...
03/05/2024The consumer price index shows services are mostly responsible for persistent inflation, but prices for food and other goods in California remain high.
From CapPublicRadio...
Wildfires Are Killing California’s Ancient Giants. Can Seedlings Save the Species?
02/26/2024Ecologists estimate that up to 14,000 sequoias have been killed in recent wildfires. The National Park Service for the first time has begun replanting some severely burned areas.
From Los Angeles Times...
Scientists Warn That a Crucial Ocean Current Could Collapse, Altering Global Weather
02/25/2024New research warns of a possible collapse in Atlantic Ocean currents due to climate change. That could fundamentally alter global weather patterns.
From Monterey Herald...
Awaiting the Count—Gray Whales Population Has Been Declining
02/24/2024There was a time not so long ago when trained observers were overwhelmed by the number of whales migrating through Monterey Bay.
From Los Angeles Times...
Central Coast Ranch That Is Home to Endangered Species to Be Preserved
02/23/2024The Wildlife Conservation Board voted to award $10.3 million to the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County to preserve the 27,000-acre Camatta Ranch in Santa Margarita.
From SF Gate...
Endangered Coho Salmon Make a Major Comeback in Marin County Creek
02/22/2024One biologist called it “the highest single-day count that we have recorded.”
From CalMatters...
California’s Polluted Communities Could Miss Out on Billions Under Flawed System
02/22/2024The state’s environmental tool skews which communities are designated as disadvantaged, researchers say. Some immigrant neighborhoods could be left out, while other groups are overrepresented.
From Los Angeles Times...
How Freeing Rivers Can Help California Ease Flood Risks, Revive Ecosystems
02/19/2024Efforts to restore river floodplains are expanding in California. Making space for water is increasingly seen as a natural solution for floods and droughts.
From Los Angeles Times...
California EV Sales Are Falling. Is It Just Temporary, or a Threat to State Climate Goals?
02/14/2024California electric vehicle sales dropped significantly in the last half of 2023, raising questions about the state’s ability to phase out gas-powered cars.
From Los Angeles Times...
King Tides Are Arriving in California. Here’s What They Show About Rising Seas
02/09/2024What are king tides and will they get worse with climate change?
From CalMatters...
Why CA Legislators Want to Ban More Plastic Bags
02/08/2024State Senators Ben Allen and Catherine Blakespear announced a new measure to ban plastic bags statewide—particularly the thicker ones billed as “reusable.”
From CalMatters...
Legislators Unveil Measure to Ask Voters for $1 billion Offshore Wind Bond
02/08/2024The funds would help California ports expand to handle giant wind turbines and other equipment. California’s first offshore wind farms are on a fast track off Humboldt County and Morro Bay.
From Los Angeles Times...
How California’s Storms Are Projected to Become More Extreme With Climate Change
02/08/2024Human-caused climate is projected to bring wetter, more intense storms. Scientists explain what these shifts mean for California and the West.
From Los Angeles Times...
As Climate Hazards Converge, More Californians Are Living in Harm’s Way
02/02/2024When wildfire smoke and extreme heat combine, they create “a synergistic effect” or an “additional burden” on people’s health, researchers say.
From CalMatters...
Californians Bought Record Numbers of Electric Cars as Industry Eyes Slowdown
02/01/2024Some automakers are reducing production of electric cars and Tesla sales have dropped. Can California sustain its record pace and meet the state mandate?
From California Healthline...
Back From COP28, California Climate Leaders Talk Health Impacts of Warming
01/31/2024As Californians increasingly feel the health effects of climate change, state leaders are adopting sweeping policies they hope will fend off the worst impacts.
From CalMatters...
Saving Salmon: Newsom Unveils Blueprint for Ending Decades-Long Decline
01/30/2024Chinook and other salmon runs are collapsing. Conservation groups call it too little, too late. Plan includes dam removals and restoring river flows.
From Los Angeles Times...
A Fire Burning Inside an L.A. County Landfill is Raising Alarms Over Toxic Air
01/29/2024As an underground fire burns deep within Chiquita Canyon Landfill, air regulators are raising alarms over the possible spread of toxic vapors.
From CapPublicRadio...
‘Hot Droughts’ Are Becoming More Common in the Arid West, New Study Finds
01/28/2024Take a period of limited rainfall. Add heat. And you have what scientists call a “hot drought”—dry conditions made more intense by the evaporative power of hotter temperatures.
From CalMatters...
Since California Cut Home Solar Payments, Demand Has Plunged 80%
01/25/2024Experts worry that the steep decline could stall the state’s battle against climate change. Solar power is critical to meeting California’s ambitious requirement to switch to carbon-free electricity.
From Los Angeles Times...
Sludge Compost Is an Increasing Source of Microplastics, Researchers Say
01/18/2024California winds spread microplastics from natural fertilizers at higher concentrations than previously known, a team of UCLA researchers has found.
From Los Angeles Times...
San Diego County Officials Applaud Mexico Groundbreaking of Wastewater Treatment Plant
01/14/2024‘No more beach closures’: Mexico breaks ground on long-awaited wastewater treatment plant.
From Sacramento Bee...
Newsom Pitches Spending $22M to Fight Fruit Flies
01/10/2024California farmers face challenges posed by multiple types of fruit flies. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending just over $22 million to combat the spread of these flies.
From YubaNet...
New Year Brings Protections for Deep-Sea Corals and Ocean Fishing Opportunities
01/08/2024New rules took effect Jan. 1 permanently protecting the most fragile deep sea corals off Southern California. Simultaneously, more than 4,500 square miles of ocean waters are now reopened to fishing after more than 20 years of closures.
From Monterey Herald...
Homeowners Who Sued to Build a Seawall Could Reshape California’s Coast
01/07/2024Raging storms brought major damage to California’s coastline last winter. But in Half Moon Bay, a different kind of coastal upheaval is gaining momentum—one that could decide the fate of billions of dollars of property and affect hundreds of public beaches.
From SF Gate...
Nearly 1,000 Acres of Private Land Transferred to California Forest
01/02/2024The property, known as the Thomas Creek project, opens a “critical wildlife corridor” for the sprawling ecosystem of the Mendocino National Forest, a news release from the Wilderness Land Trust reads.
From San Joaquin Valley Sun...
San Diego Zoo Displays World’s Rarest Insect
12/27/2023Visitors can see the critically endangered Lord How Island stick insect, on display for the first time in North America, in a special habitat at the zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.
From The Mercury News...
Collisions With Buildings Are Killing Millions of Birds Nationwide
12/26/2023A dark-sky movement to save birds from window strikes is sweeping the San Francisco Bay Area. Several cities have passed or are drafting laws restricting light pollution while making windows easier for birds to see.
From Los Angeles Times...
Tulare Lake Farm Barons Defy Calls to Cut Groundwater Pumping
12/26/2023Tulare Lake Basin farmers want to keep pumping groundwater at volumes collapsing the San Joaquin Valley. That puts the region at greater risk of damaging floods—and in greater need of taxpayer bailouts.
From The New Yorker...
A Deeper Look at ‘No Kill’ Animal Control in Los Angeles
12/25/2023Novelist Jonathan Franzen looks at how trap-neuter-release policies in feral cat colonies have troubling consequences for city residents, local wildlife and even the felines themselves.
From YubaNet...
California Awards $116.8 Million to Conserve Agricultural Lands
12/19/2023The California Strategic Growth Council approved over $116 million in Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program grants to permanently protect 50,500 acres of croplands and rangelands, as well as lands utilized by Indigenous tribes for the cultivation of traditional resources.
From CalMatters...
California Takes Big Step Toward New Source of Drinking Water—Sewage
12/19/2023Suppliers now have detailed steps to create a new source of drinking water. But it’s not really “toilet-to-tap.” Due to the cost, it’ll likely be only large suppliers.