A rendering of CORE's proposed installation of "Stories of Climate Change / Historias del Cambio Climático" mural project that will appear on three Colorado Mountain College locations across western Colorado. Carlos Ulloa-Jaquez
Richard Mode, a North Carolina sportsman, has a story to tell. He likes to fish for trout, but the water is warming and the fish are disappearing.
<p>But Mode's story is more than that. It's a catalyst for shifting climate beliefs among political moderates and conservatives. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08934215.2020.1799049?journalCode=rcrs20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A recent study</a> reveals growing evidence on the benefit of humanizing the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_blank">climate crisis</a>, and one local initiative is actualizing it in a new project.</p>
<p>The Colorado non-profit CORE, The Community Office for Resource Efficiency, is calling upon the public to submit a self-portrait and a 90-second story to be featured on an upcoming mural installation. The murals will span three Colorado Mountain College buildings in western Colorado in the spring, <a href="https://www.aspentimes.com/news/core-wants-200-community-selfies-and-climate-stories-for-mural-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Aspen Times reported</a>. </p>
<p>"Climate change knows no boundaries," Mona Newton, executive director of CORE said in a <a href="https://aspencore.org/participate/stories-of-climate-change/#single/0" target="_blank">press release</a>. "We want to show the human diversity of this phenomenon, representing a breadth we don't usually see in the media or in the environmental movement."</p>
<p>Titled "Stories of Climate Change / Historias del Cambio Climático," the multicultural mural installation is part of French artist <a href="https://www.insideoutproject.net/en" target="_blank">JR's Inside Out global art project</a>, according to the press release. "We hope our portraits and personal stories will demonstrate that we are all in this together," Newton added.</p><p>The mural's goal to share local experiences of climate change underscores <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/21/how-americans-see-climate-change-and-the-environment-in-7-charts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">growing concern for the climate crisis</a> across the U.S.</p><p>Yet, compared to older generations, younger people are more willing to turn this concern into action, according to a study performed by the <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/young-adults-climate-activism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yale Program on Climate Change Communication</a>. There's good reason for this. </p><p>A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll of American teenagers found that 57 percent reported that climate change made them feel scared, while 52 percent said it made them feel angry. Only 29 percent of teenagers said they felt optimistic about climate change, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/02/03/eco-anxiety-is-overwhelming-kids-wheres-line-between-education-alarmism/?arc404=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to the Washington Post</a>. </p>
<p>So, how can <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change </a>communication motivate older generations?</p>
<p>"The scientists, we're interested in and motivated by the facts and figures and the raw numbers," Abel Gustafson, a postdoctoral associate at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, <a href="https://grist.org/climate/when-facts-fail-to-convince-storytelling-may-do-the-trick/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Grist</a>, "but we oftentimes forget that most other people in our audience are not."</p>
<p>Currently, climate communication channels make the crisis seem distant, <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/personal-climate-stories-can-persuade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to an article by the Yale Program on Climate Communication</a>. But stories like that of the North Carolina sportsman portray climate change as an issue occurring today, and affecting a larger group of people. </p>
<p>Researchers of the Yale study shared Mode's personal account of climate change with political moderates and conservatives. The result? </p>
<p>Mode's story had a persuasive impact on listeners by shifting their climate change beliefs, the Yale Program on Climate Communication article found. It reported that the more people felt worried or compassionate, the more they adjusted their climate change beliefs. "Humans just aren't wired to care deeply about dangers that seem far away," Gustafson told Grist.</p><p>Personalizing climate change through human stories could inspire more people to understand the crisis beyond <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/anwr-trump-drilling-lease-auction-2649779271.html" target="_blank">polar bears in the Arctic,</a> for example, and connect it to their next-door neighbors or hobbies.</p><p>"These findings highlight the importance of sharing personal stories about how climate change is affecting people and ecosystems," the Yale article stated. They "underscore the importance of emotion as well as facts in climate change communication."</p>
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Flames and heavy smoke are seen from the Apple Fire on August 1, 2020 in Cherry Valley, California. David McNew / Getty Images
By Brett B. Palm
The year 2020 will be remembered for many reasons, including its record-breaking wildfires that turned San Francisco's skies an apocalyptic shade of red and blanketed large parts of the West in smoke for weeks on end.
<p>California experienced <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/11416/top20_acres.pdf" target="_blank">five of its six largest fires</a> on record in 2020, including the first modern "<a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/10/5/21502397/august-complex-gigafire-wildfire-california-record" target="_blank">gigafire</a>," a wildfire that burned over 1 million acres. Colorado saw its <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/10/20/colorado-largest-wildfire-history/" target="_blank">three largest fires</a> on record.</p><p>While the smoke can make for beautiful sunsets, it can also have dire consequences for human health.</p><p>I am an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LnQkoXcAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">atmospheric chemist</a>, and the atmosphere is my laboratory. When I look at the sky, I see a mixture of many <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-wildfire-smoke-and-why-is-it-so-bad-for-your-lungs-144790" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">thousands of different chemical compounds</a> interacting with each other and with sunlight.</p><p>The reactions and transformations in the atmosphere cause wildfire smoke to change dramatically as it travels downwind, and studies have shown that it can grow <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-07-toxic-wildfire-ages.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more toxic as it ages</a>. In order to accurately forecast the effects of wildfire emissions on downwind populations and issue more-targeted air quality warnings as wildfire seasons worsen, we have to understand which chemicals are being emitted and how smoke changes with time.</p><p>To figure that out, my colleagues and I flew airplanes into the smoke plumes of some of the West's large wildfires.</p>
How We Study Wildfires
<p>Large wildfires and the way wind carries their smoke cannot be easily replicated in a laboratory. This makes them difficult to study. One of the best ways to learn about real wildfire smoke chemistry is to sample it directly in the atmosphere.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.eol.ucar.edu/field_projects/we-can" target="_blank">2018</a> and <a href="https://csl.noaa.gov/projects/firex-aq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019</a>, my colleagues and I crisscrossed the sky over active wildfires in specialized airplanes loaded with scientific instruments. Each instrument is designed to sample a different part of the smoke, often by literally sticking a tube out the window.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM2OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzQyMTM2NX0.xXKzsLFESpI3r2UCV6-ed68eJDWnTXd2hf3RU5ZKvq0/img.jpg?width=980" id="d3ce7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="74d48586c021de775ef9b28da632b825" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="872" />
To sample smoke as it moves downwind, scientists flew back and forth across smoke plumes. The gray lines are the flights from 2018. They turn red where the path crossed a smoke plume. Brett Palm/University of Washington, CC BY-ND
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjczNTQzOH0.rgNlb3xHx8CRA1w0ZDVVwoeOwDlHnP59VDMgQz0mqpM/img.jpg?width=980" id="b3f0e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6280bfc35e09f14ff524a43304a72e1f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="676" />
Scientific aircraft used for these experiments are filled with instruments that measure wildfire smoke in different ways. Brett Palm/University of Washington, CC BY-ND
<p>Wildfire smoke is far more complex and dynamic than meets the eye. It contains thousands of different compounds, most of which are molecules containing various amounts of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms. There are gases (individual molecules) as well as particles (millions of molecules coagulated together).</p><p>No single instrument can measure all of these molecules at once. In fact, some specific compounds are a challenge to measure at all. Many scientists, including myself, dedicate their careers to designing and building new instruments to improve our measurements and continue to advance our understanding of the atmosphere and how it affects us.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDIxMjk1OH0.3UW9HWcePw-0595YdXrXhGfXh9FfHPLWAqQjbMaDtdE/img.jpg?width=980" id="8fcf3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e9df69ba9785d1ddd063319e440f2ec7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1652" />
Smoke plumes from western wildfires reached across the U.S. in mid-September 2020. Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory
<p>In newly published research from the 2018 wildfires, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012218117" target="_blank">my colleagues and I showed</a> how the smoke particles changed rapidly as they were carried downwind.</p><p>Some of the particles were evaporating into gases, similar to a rain puddle evaporating into water vapor when the Sun comes out. At the same time, some of the gases in smoke were going through reactions to form new particles, similar to water vapor condensing to form a cloud or dew droplets. Meanwhile, chemical reactions were occurring, changing the molecules themselves.</p><p>As these molecules reacted with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere, the smoke was fundamentally transformed. This is what we mean when scientists talk about smoke "aging" or getting "stale" over time. Other recent research has started to show how wildfire smoke can become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b01034" target="_blank">more toxic as it ages</a>.</p>
<h3>What Do All These Changes Mean for Health?</h3><p>The health damage from smoke is largely a result of how much PM2.5 it contains. These are tiny particles, a fraction of the width of a human hair, that can be breathed deep into the lungs where they can irritate the respiratory tract. Even short-term exposure can <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-wildfire-smoke-and-why-is-it-so-bad-for-your-lungs-144790" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">aggravate heart and lung problems</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MDM4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODk0MjYxMn0.h9ggquQXrZcOxG0aNP0sIhXYxMBvZMc1OiiBMfYWS48/img.jpg?width=980" id="d4a15" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a50759db9e2bc60eb8002c6b3d4bdda9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="838" />
PM2.5 particles are tiny at less than 2.5 microns across. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
<p>Chemical reactions control how much PM2.5 is in wildfire smoke as it is transported away from the fires and into population centers. Using our aircraft measurements to understand these processes, we chemists can better predict how much PM2.5 will be present in aged smoke.</p><p>Combined with meteorology forecasting that predicts where the smoke will go, this could lead to improved air quality models that can tell people downwind whether they will be exposed to unhealthy air.</p><h3>Better Air Quality Forecasting</h3><p>With wildfires increasingly in the news, more people have become aware of their own air quality. Resources such as <a href="https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/" target="_blank">AirNow</a> from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provide current and forecasted air quality data, along with explanations of the health hazards. Local information is often available from state or regional agencies as well.</p><p>Air quality measurements and forecasts can help people <a href="https://www.airnow.gov/sites/default/files/2018-04/air-quality-guide_pm_2015_0.pdf" target="_blank">avoid unhealthy situations</a>, especially sensitive groups such as people with asthma. During predicted periods of unhealthy air quality, local or state governments can use forecasts to reduce other pollution sources, such as discouraging residential wood burning or high-emitting industrial activities.</p><p>Looking to the future, wildfire smoke is likely to be widespread across the West each year for several reasons. <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/313/5789/940.abstract" target="_blank">Rising temperatures</a> are leaving the landscape drier and more flammable. At the same time, more people are building homes in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718850115" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildland-urban interface</a>, creating more opportunities for fires to start.</p><p>A large community of scientists including me are working to better understand wildfire emissions and how they change as they blow into downwind communities. That knowledge will improve forecasts for air quality and health impacts of wildfire smoke, so people can learn to adapt and avoid the worst health consequences.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brett-b-palm-1185672" target="_blank">Brett B. Palm</a> is a </em><em>Postdoctoral Researcher in Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Washington.</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: </em><em><em>Brett Palm receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</em></em></p><p><em><em></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/wildfire-smoke-changes-dramatically-as-it-ages-and-that-matters-for-downwind-air-quality-heres-what-we-learned-flying-through-smoke-plumes-151671" target="_blank">The Conversation.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Trump Admin Manipulated Wildfire Science to Encourage Logging ... ›
- Colorado Battles Largest Wildfire in State History - EcoWatch ›
- What's in Wildfire Smoke, and How Bad Is It for Your Lungs ... ›
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stocknroll / Getty Images
More and more Americans are retrofitting their bathrooms with high-end bidets, allowing them to enjoy cleanliness and hygiene without creating as much paper waste. Not all bidets are created equal, however, and before deciding on a particular brand, it's important to do your homework. Take a look at our comprehensive Toto bidet review, and our reviews of Tushy and Omigo, to learn more about all of their options.
<h2>Toto overview</h2><p>Toto is a company that has been around for over 100 years. They aim to improve people's quality of life, and they do that specifically by focusing on bathrooms. To that end, Toto is known for high-quality products including toilets, faucets, showers, bathtubs, and bidets. </p><p>Toto has also expressed an admirable commitment to ecological stewardship. As <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/toto-way" target="_blank">their corporate website</a> notes, they strive to "protect the global environment by conserving finite natural resources and energy." One example of this is their donation of any imperfectly fired porcelain products for recycling and reuse as porcelain floor tile. Their <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/smart-sustainable-packaging-solution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">packaging</a> uses differing levels of recycled post-consumer paper products while their forklifts operate using <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/plant-based-hydraulics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plant-based hydraulics</a> made from soybean oil instead of traditional hydraulic oil.</p><p>Toto is definitely a company with a superior reputation when it comes to bathroom accessories in general, and bidets in particular. Here are reviews of some of the specific products in the Toto line.</p><h2>Toto bidet reviews</h2><p>There are two different bidet product families available from Toto: standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments. Their standalone models include the Piedmont bidet, the Lloyd bidet, and the Clayton bidet, while their bidet toilet seat offerings include a wide selection in the popular Washlet line. Here are details on the three standalone options and three of the most popular bidet seat attachments.</p><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><h3>Toto standalone bidets</h3><h4></h4>
<h2>Toto bidet pros and cons<br></h2><p>Whether you're considering a standalone bidet or a bidet seat attachment, here are some of the pros and cons to help you compare your options.</p><h3>Pros</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Standalone bidets, such as the ones offered by Toto, are designed in a wider range of elegant, contemporary styles. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom, splurging for a standalone bidet makes sense.</li><li>Toto offers a wide selection of bidet and bidet attachment options. Some of their more advanced units feature night lights, adjustable nozzle positions, warm air dryers, and adjustable settings for the temperature of the water.</li><li>All of the Toto bidet attachments we reviewed include self-cleaning nozzles for added hygiene. They are also designed for DIY installation, and easily connect to your existing toilet's water supply without the need for a plumber or electrician.</li></ul><h3>Cons</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Toto's line of standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments are more expensive than some other brands, especially some of their more high-end models.</li><li>Standalone bidets may not be as convenient for those who have mobility issues.</li><li>All of Toto's bidet seat attachments are electric, and don't feature an eco or energy-saving mode like some other options.</li></ul><h2>The benefits of buying a bidet</h2><p>Why buy a bidet at all? There are plenty of perks, both for you and the planet:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Bidets offer a more thorough, hygienic cleaning than toilet paper.</li><li>They're considerably more eco-friendly, using less water and paper.</li><li>Because you'll use so much less toilet paper, bidets are also more cost-effective.</li><li>Compared with TP, bidets can be really soothing to the skin.</li><li>They have special benefits for women, and especially pregnant women, helping minimize the risk of a UTI.</li><li>Bidets are highly accessible, even to those with limited mobility.</li><li>A bidet makes it much easier to teach your children about proper bathroom hygiene.</li></ul><h2>Considerations when buying a bidet</h2><p>As you consider all of your options for getting a bidet, here are a few of the key factors to consider:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Look for a bidet with a self-cleaning nozzle. This will help keep things hygienic.</li><li>Electric vs. non-electric? Electric bidets can offer more comfort features, like a heated seat, but they also use more energy than a non-electric one.</li><li>Is it a standalone bidet, a bidet seat, or a bidet attachment? While a standalone bidet is a completely separate fixture from your toilet, a bidet seat will completely replace your existing seat and a bidet attachment will be installed onto your existing toilet seat. These are usually the least expensive, but also come with the fewest features.</li><li>Does the bidet connect to your home's hot water? If it doesn't, you will only be able to clean with cold water.</li><li>Make sure you can adjust the settings. For the most comfortable bidet, look for controls that let you customize the water pressure, the angle of the water stream, the temperature of the water, and the temperature of the seat, if it is heated.</li></ul><p>Use these questions to determine whether the bidets from Toto are right for you.</p><h2>Toto bidets: a leader in comfort and efficiency</h2><p>Toto makes durable, elegant, and highly functional products that will allow you to enjoy all the hygienic and environmental benefits of a bidet. You can also read our full review of the best bidets to compare with other brands like Brondell, Kohler, Tushy, and BioBidet.</p><p><em><strong>Josh Hurst </strong></em><em>is a journalist, critic, and essayist. He lives in Knoxville, TN, with his wife and three sons. His writing on natural health, nutrition, and supplements has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review.</em></p>
Piedmont
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjI3MjE3Nn0.QqBs95yaFQnGwAuf0t3XaSCc7pvrSEUalnl9UulrODg/img.jpg?width=980" id="a0c63" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d10ad2b08c5d00642b44787c1b099ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT500B-01-Piedmont-Vertical/dp/B00084P3GO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ZG6AGN0U9VQL&dchild=1&keywords=toto+piedmont+bidet&qid=1613591898&sprefix=toto+piedmo%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Toto's Piedmont bidet</a> offers an elegant, classic design, and it also comes with built-in safeguards that prevent it from ever overflowing. It is available in several color options, and will look good with any contemporary bathroom design.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This is the most affordable standalone bidet in Toto's catalog. This bidet is a good option if you are remodeling your bathroom or are building a home and want to save water and paper waste from the start. Priced starting at $533, you can find it through other retailers for around $280.</p>
$533
Lloyd
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTU0Nzk0Nn0.h9XeFBojZff_4Un8swlIoamX7xAwO1wH3RKAiiZb96k/img.jpg?width=980" id="e5d22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83ff9c9b3ed8f1b5e92ff99c14ad9b0c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT930B-01-Vertical-Cotton/dp/B0015IVUOQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto%2Blloyd%2Bbidet&qid=1613592001&sr=8-2&th=1" target="_blank">Lloyd bidet</a> has a much bolder, "skirted" design, but it also shares the Piedmont's flushing rim and integral overflow features, which keep you from ever experiencing spillage.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is a fancier product with a more striking appearance, and is mainly suited for a larger, more formal design. It retails for a slightly higher price point: The Lloyd model starts at $780 in total, but you can find it for $526 through other retailers.</p>
$780
Clayton
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTI4MTYyNn0.xNOnfejHaWbEVHRbO1vFVdUoWbFvevja40qRVr6L4dI/img.jpg?width=980" id="df200" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0cdb567e670fb2e46f50fbc43c99158c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The company's flagship standalone bidet is known as the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT784B-01-Clayton-Vertical/dp/B0018L9JUC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto+clayton+bidet&qid=1613592108&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Clayton</a>. It includes the same overflow safeguards as the other two, and of course, each of these products is backed by Toto's longstanding commitment to excellent craftsmanship.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is the most traditional in its visual style, and, with a number of colors to choose from, it will look great in almost any bathroom design. The Clayton starts at $734, but is available through other retailers for around $426.</p>
$734
<h3>Toto bidet seats</h3>
Toto Washlet C200
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTY3OTY1M30.3coYAuyqJLBcw8hQszI8Shbcfyr6nn9V0ek-kXv2kgQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="61762" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7c91d2511149e271c7f0139f1580788" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>This electronic smart bidet seat fits onto your existing toilet bowl and offers a number of comfort features, including a heated seat, automatic air deodorizer, adjustable warm water, warm air dryer, self-cleaning wand, and a wireless remote control.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> We chose the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UCIOX2Q/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=-XjvJQOmffOcAmiCOZvtAA&hsa_cr_id=7413316040901&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=0e0e7f3d-0baf-4977-85d3-663f618a76d8&pd_rd_w=Yi3yF&pd_rd_wg=LUFHB&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi3d_asin_1_img" target="_blank">Toto C200</a> as the overall best bidet in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/best-bidet-toilet-seats-2650502928.html" target="_self">our review</a> of top brands. In addition to the features mentioned, its dual action oscillating and pulsating spray and pre-mist function provide a comfortable and sanitary clean.</p>
$715
Toto Washlet S500e with EWATER+
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTgzNTIyMH0.idaacYO4MzHGTeajRkSCVHOo3TH7tehRN8TAH2s75ko/img.jpg?width=980" id="f6ed5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87fa67b17e4c8e06f74bfbce87bf4809" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW3046-01-Electronic-Contemporary/dp/B078GTKSXK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=15NGPC9YFANKH&dchild=1&keywords=toto+s500e&qid=1613960063&sprefix=toto+s500e%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Toto Washlet S500e</a> bidet seat includes the features found in the C200, plus instantaneous water heating, front and rear wash functions, two-user preset memory, and the company's <a href="https://www.totousa.com/technologies/ewater" target="_blank">EWATER+ technology</a>. This system uses electrolyzed water to keep the wand and toilet bowl clean.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This high-end Toto electric bidet seat can help you reduce water and toilet paper use, and it can help reduce the need for chemical cleaning products with its EWATER+ technology.</p>
$1530
Toto Washlet A100
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDg0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzU0OTU3MH0.g2PYzguGXvB1l7RvWBcw_xNtlpy8hsmcwui8Twr3CMA/img.jpg?width=980" id="08295" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d3d798b5d7737cddaadfd9f6fa5a84d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW2014-01-Electronic-SoftClose/dp/B0165UFOGS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=30E9Y1LAN9ZRW&dchild=1&keywords=toto+washlet+a100+elongated+bidet+toilet+seat&qid=1613589664&sprefix=toto+washlet+a100%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFBR1FMUTdJR1hXNUEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyNjIwOTkxUE1EWk5CQjg2QTZPJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0NDc1MzExSk1UMk5CQzJYVUhVJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==" target="_blank">A100</a> is an entry-level Washlet bidet attachment, but still offers numerous comfort features. It includes a heated seat with temperature control, aerated warm water with a dual action spray, and an attached arm control panel.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>One of the most affordable Toto bidet options, it still lets you adjust the water temperature and pressure settings, and features rear and front cleaning functionality for a feminine wash.</p>
$499
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A gray wolf at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado in 2007. Andy Cross / The Denver Post via Getty Images
The voters of Colorado have made history by electing to reintroduce gray wolves to the state.
<p>The opponents of Proposition 114, as the measure was called, conceded Thursday, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/11/colorado-approves-gray-wolf-reintroduction/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Geographic reported</a>. As of that afternoon, the plan to reintroduce wolves had 1,495,523 votes for and 1,475,235 against with 90 percent of the votes counted. However, the remaining 10 percent were all from pro-wolf areas.</p><p>The proposition's victory marks the first time the decision to reintroduce an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animal</a> species has been made at the ballot box. It also comes exactly one week after the Trump administration <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-administration-gray-wolves-protection-2648559353.html" target="_self">announced</a> it would remove <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species-act" target="_self">Endangered Species Act</a> protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states.</p>
<p>"This is a great victory for wolves coming on the heels of Trump's illegal action to remove federal protection, and it will help restore the natural balance in Colorado's Rocky Mountains," <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> (CBD) senior <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> advocate Michael Robinson said in a press release. "The people of the Colorado have helped turn the page on a brutal chapter of our history that saw wolves exterminated across the West."</p>
<div id="2d6e9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a33ea4499054a4921f3a6a6987336985"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1324452705558056962" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">WE DID IT! Together, our pack has passed Prop 114 to bring the gray wolf home to Colorado and restore our natural b… https://t.co/bAhoQ7ZNfj</div> — Vote YES on 114 - #RestoreTheHowl (@Vote YES on 114 - #RestoreTheHowl)<a href="https://twitter.com/RockyMtnWolf/statuses/1324452705558056962">1604609106.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Gray wolves once roamed across most of the U.S., but hunting and trapping almost drove them to extinction by the start of the twentieth century, National Geographic pointed out. Colorado became the first Rocky Mountain state to put a bounty on wolves in 1869, and the last wolf in the state was killed in 1945, according to the CBD.</p><p>Wolves were granted Endangered Species Act protections in the 1970s and were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in 1995 and 1996, according to National Geographic. From there, they have spread to Montana, Washington State, Oregon and northern California. However, they have not recovered their historic range and remain missing from states like Maine, Utah and Colorado, which is one reason why scientists argued the Trump administration's decision to delist wolves was premature.</p><p>Now, the wolves are coming back to Colorado. Proposition 114 tasks Colorado Parks and Wildlife with making a plan to reintroduce wolves to the area west of the Continental Divide no later than Dec. 31, 2023, according to the CBD.</p>
<p>Supporters of wolf reintroduction argue that wolves play an important role in Western ecosystems, National Geographic pointed out. They help to manage deer and elk populations, boost smaller predators like foxes by competing with and killing coyotes and provide food for scavengers including wolverines and bears.</p><p>"Wolves evolved in the western United States for hundreds of thousands of years with their prey," former state biologist and environmental advocate Gary Skiba told <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/09/29/should-wolves-be-brought-back-to-colorado-a-rancher-and-a-biologist-have-their-say/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio</a>. "As a result of that, we've seen improved environmental conditions, at least partly because of wolves in Yellowstone. I won't say entirely, but partly. We won't probably see the same thing exactly in Colorado, but wolves were part of how the ecosystems function. We think we need to have that back."</p><p>The opposition to the measure has been led by farmers, ranchers and hunters who are worried about the impact of wolves on livestock and game, <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/11/05/colorado-voters-approve-gray-wolf-reintroducton/" target="_blank">The Colorado Sun explained</a>. Since Proposition 114 had more support in urban areas of Colorado, its opponents argued that the people voting for it were not the ones who would have to live with the new neighbors.</p>
<p>"All along, our opposition campaign was led by those who would be directly impacted by this measure, including real Coloradans, sportsmen, farmers and ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts, and more," Patrick Pratt, the spokesman of the anti-reintroduction group Coloradans Protecting Wildlife, said in a statement reported by The Colorado Sun.</p><p>But Rob Edward of the pro-reintroduction Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund said the divide was not so clear cut. He pointed to five counties on the Wester Slope, where wolves will be introduced, who voted for the measure.</p><p>"We would not be having this conversation today had it not been for people on the Western Slope voting for wolves," he told The Colorado Sun.</p>
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Smoke from the East Troublesome fire in Colorado on Oct. 22, 2020. RubyT / Flickr
Thousands of homes were evacuated Wednesday after a Colorado wildfire exploded in size, growing at a rate of 6,000 acres per hour.
<p>The East Troublesome fire had been burning since Oct. 14, but suddenly took off Wednesday in a more erratic manner than even worst-case-scenario predictions had anticipated, Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin said, as <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/10/22/east-troublesome-fire-grand-lake-destruction/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Colorado Sun reported</a>. The fire had grown to 125,600 acres by Thursday morning and 170,163 acres by Thursday evening, making it the second-largest wildfire in Colorado history. It is only five percent contained, according to <a href="https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7242/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">InciWeb</a>.</p><p>"The growth that you see on this fire is unheard of," Schroetlin said during a Thursday press conference reported by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/926838887/colorado-fire-grows-by-over-100-000-acres-in-1-day-hits-rocky-mountain-national-" target="_blank">NPR</a>. "We plan for the worst. This is the worst of the worst of the worst. And no matter how we look at it, we can't control Mother Nature."</p>
<div id="85e11" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3577a8e0d4e8a731bf0b62ac772fc8c1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319181412315107333" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Heartbreaking video of homes burning in the #EastTroublesomeFire overnight. Listening to scanners right now and fir… https://t.co/y82wWnmchu</div> — Emily Allen (@Emily Allen)<a href="https://twitter.com/EmilyAReports/statuses/1319181412315107333">1603352332.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Schroetlin said Thursday morning that there was "lots of structure loss," according to The Colorado Sun, though no official tally of damage has been reported. As many as five people were unaccounted for by Thursday evening. However, there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.</p><p>The fast-moving fire was first driven by high winds into the town of Grand Lake Wednesday night, <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/10/22/grand-county-braces-for-another-large-growth-day-for-the-east-troublesome-fire/" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio (CPR) reported</a>.</p><p>"It was basically out of a movie," retired newscaster Ernie Bjorkman told CPR. "It was a firestorm in downtown Grand Lake. Smoke and embers flying around. It was just a chaotic scene. We locked the door and said, 'hopefully, house, we'll see you when we get back.' "</p><p>As of Thursday, town manager John Crone told CPR that the town's historic Grand Lake Lodge and downtown area had not burned.</p><p>The fire then crossed the Continental Divide by 1:15 pm Thursday, according to The Colorado Sun. It also entered Rocky Mountain National Park, forcing it to close.</p>
<div id="0784c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="083c554cdc624bc22b52ef91e2646fb9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319357789836353544" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Latest satellite info shows increased fire intensity on the #EastTroublesomeFire early this afternoon. The fire has… https://t.co/GZC77SWXqB</div> — NWS Boulder (@NWS Boulder)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSBoulder/statuses/1319357789836353544">1603394384.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The flames also menaced the park gateway town of Estes Park, filling it with smoke Thursday morning.</p><p>"The air quality has just decreased to a level that's almost unsafe to go outside," resident Alec Rogers told CPR.</p><p>Estes Park was also put under an evacuation order Thursday, and traffic stalled as people tried to leave.</p>
<div id="93884" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87faed3af4a1f8c5665138a79cb37558"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319381273757028375" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">PHOTOS: The sky has gone from yellow to orange. There is a long line of cars waiting to leave Estes Park.… https://t.co/tsKRcONrNk</div> — Matthew Jonas (@Matthew Jonas)<a href="https://twitter.com/photojmatthew/statuses/1319381273757028375">1603399983.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>However, incident commander Noel Livingston said Thursday that a cold front had checked the fire somewhat as it burned inside Rocky Mountain National Park and that it was no longer headed towards Estes Park, The Colorado Sun reported.</p><p>The concern is now that the fire will merge with the Cameron Peak fire, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/colorado-wildfire-cameron-peak-2648215765.html" target="_self">largest fire in Colorado history</a>, which is burning only 10 to 12 miles away. Livingston said he thought a merger was unlikely, but not impossible.</p><p>"This year has been one of those years when low-potential events seem to be happening with high frequency," Livingston said, as The Colorado Sun reported.</p><p>Officials are hopeful that snow forecast for this weekend will help them to get the fire under control, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/22/us/colorado-evacuations-west-coast-fires/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p>
<p>The rapid growth of the East Troublesome fire is only the latest development to scorch the fire-weary Western U.S. this year. Its explosion to the second-largest fire in state history means that three of Colorado's five largest fires have now ignited in 2020.</p><p>The fire was driven quickly east by a combination of high winds, dry air and the fuel provided by lodgepole pines killed by beetles, InciWeb said. However, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is creating ideal conditions for fire across the West. Almost all of Colorado was experiencing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> by the end of September, according to NPR. Fire scientists told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/us/colorado-wildfires.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> that fires burning so close to winter in Colorado show how the season has grown because of changing conditions.</p><p>"People have built and developed in these areas without recognizing the hazard they're in, and climate change is notching that up every year," University of Montana fire ecologist Philip Higuera told The New York Times. "It has me concerned for communities across the West that are in increasingly flammable landscapes."</p>
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A wolf chases magpies and ravens from an elk carcass in Yellowstone National Park. Jim Peaco / NPS, CC by 4.0
By Rebecca Niemiec and Kevin Crooks
Colorado voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether the state should reintroduce gray wolves (Canis lupus) after a nearly 80-year absence. Ballot Proposition 114 would require the state to develop and oversee a science-based plan to restore wolves, focused in Western Colorado and initiated by the end of 2023.
<p>Restoring wolves is a contentious topic that taps into diverse values and passions. Indeed, much of the conflict surrounding wolves isn't human versus animal, but human versus human.</p><p>Creating environments that allow humans and carnivores to thrive and that minimize social conflict is a global challenge. Examples include <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-bears-adapt-to-life-near-humans-by-burning-the-midnight-oil-118899" target="_blank">black bears</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bears-become-more-nocturnal-to-survive-1.5636570" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grizzly bears</a> in North America, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-09-05/mountain-lions-on-the-streets-chilean-capital-sees-big-cat-influx-amid-lockdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pumas</a> in North and South America, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/26/harmless-or-vicious-hunter-the-uneasy-return-of-europes-wolves" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wolves</a> in Europe, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204320" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lions</a> in Africa and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/01/over-1000-people-killed-india-humans-wildlife-territories-meet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tigers</a> in India.</p><p>As researchers who study the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1h72-2oAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">social</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mZNYgLcAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ecological</a> dimensions of <a href="https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/centerforhumancarnivorecoexistence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human-carnivore coexistence</a>, we see the vote on Proposition 114 as a catalyst for broader discussions about carnivore conservation and management. In our view, the best way to find workable solutions is to include people <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QppmBszEF6zsNnhBJ7Q2-pSWRR-Zx_ln/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">representing all sides of the issue</a> in shared decision-making.</p>
Back by Popular Demand?
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzOTQxNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MDM1NzkyMX0.7x9miTb7DyE9vcxcOdwIla__g7IwWnezW0017jSvgzM/img.jpg?width=980" id="8c119" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="339e3443dc63f3be06e24a82f0b37a03" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1000" data-height="1121" />Gray wolves once roamed much of North America, but hunting, trapping and poisoning in the 19th and 20th centuries greatly reduced their numbers. Living with Wolves, CC BY-ND
<p>For thousands of years before white settlers pushed west, gray wolves ranged throughout the area that is now Colorado, from the Western Slope and Front Range of the Rocky Mountains into the Eastern Plains. As the region was settled, government agencies started <a href="https://mhs.mt.gov/research/collections/newspapers/extra/wolves" target="_blank">paying bounties</a> for wolves and other predators that were seen as threats to livestock and game. By the 1940s, shooting, trapping and poisoning had systematically eradicated wolves from Colorado.</p><p>In recent decades a few lone wolves migrated to Colorado from adjacent states, but were killed or simply disappeared. Then, starting in 2019, a pack of up to six wolves and a separate lone wolf were sighted in northern Colorado. Recent media reports indicate that some of these wolves may have been <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/09/09/colorado-wolves-may-have-been-killed-in-wyoming/" target="_blank">shot and killed along the Wyoming-Colorado border</a>.</p><p>Several scientific studies have concluded that Colorado can still <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolves-in-colorado-history-and-status-8-007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">support a self-sustaining, viable wolf population</a>. Wolves can live successfully in many types of habitats where there is enough prey and where humans will tolerate them.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9aec767b3325e364a8605524504f95ab"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wTx_jqpqqfU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>Today gray wolves are <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolf-policy-8-008/" target="_blank">protected in Colorado as an endangered species</a>. However, they have no legal protection in most of Wyoming, where they can be killed on sight. This makes it challenging for wolves to migrate from the Yellowstone region, where they were <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolf-restoration.htm" target="_blank">reintroduced in the mid-1990s</a>, through Wyoming into Colorado.</p><p>The only other adjoining states with resident wolf populations are Arizona and New Mexico, where the endangered subspecies of Mexican gray wolf was reintroduced starting in the 1990s. But <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolf-policy-8-008/" target="_blank">federal policy requires</a> that wolves leaving the reintroduction zone be recaptured and returned to it. Ultimately, then, if Coloradans want to bring wolves back, having wildlife biologists reintroduce them is the most likely route.</p><p>Proposition 114 was placed on the ballot through a citizen initiative led by <a href="https://www.wolfactionfund.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund</a>. It asserts that gray wolves are endangered in Colorado; were historically an essential part of Colorado's wildlands, but were exterminated by humans; and will <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/ballots/reintroduction-and-management-gray-wolves" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">help restore ecological balance</a> if they are reintroduced.</p><p>Wolves are predators at the top of the food chain. Studies from <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/ecological-effects-of-wolves-8-005/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">national parks</a> suggest that wolves' presence can produce ecological effects that ripple through ecosystems. But science also tells us that such impacts are difficult to predict outside of national parks, including in Colorado.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzOTQzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzM1MjI5M30.tx5g8Nrc4xdmdXgnCdoCmgZKlygX7Gz4haMwOjYKAZo/img.jpg?width=980" id="2c229" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="544f8509acef11a0615aff9380916aea" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1000" data-height="621" />
A wolf chases magpies and ravens from an elk carcass in Yellowstone National Park. NPS/Jim Peaco, CC BY
Clashing Values
<p>Proposition 114 has strong support in Colorado. <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/public-perspectives-on-wolves-and-wolf-reintroduction-8-004/" target="_blank">Statewide surveys </a> conducted by phone, by mail and online over the past two decades have found that 66% to 84% of respondents supported reintroducing wolves. This support is consistent across different regions of the state and diverse demographic groups.</p><p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9074" target="_blank">survey of Colorado residents</a> that we conducted in 2019, the prospect that wolves could contribute to a balanced ecosystem was the most commonly cited reason for supporting reintroduction. Other arguments included people's cultural and emotional connections to wolves, and <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/moral-arguments-related-to-wolf-restoration-and-management-8-011/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">moral arguments</a> that restoring a species humans had eradicated was the right thing to do.</p><p>While overall public support is strong, over half of Colorado's 64 counties have passed <a href="https://www.drovers.com/article/wolf-reintroduction-ballot-colorado" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">resolutions against restoring wolves</a>. Many ranching and hunting associations are actively campaigning against the ballot measure.</p><p>In our 2019 study, we found that media coverage in the state focused more strongly on <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9074" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">perceived negative impacts</a> associated with wolf reintroduction than on beneficial effects. Surveys show that resident concerns include threats to <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolves-and-human-safety-8-003/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human safety and pets</a>; <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolves-and-livestock-8-010/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wolf attacks on livestock</a>; and the potential for wolves to <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolves-big-game-and-hunting-8-001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce deer and elk populations</a>, threatening hunting opportunities.</p>Who Decides?
<p>This measure is the first giving voters in the U.S. an opportunity to weigh in on bringing back a native species. Addressing the issue through a ballot measure adds a unique twist to public and media discussions about wolves.</p><p>Supporters call it a democratic way to ensure that the <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/09/29/should-wolves-be-brought-back-to-colorado-a-rancher-and-a-biologist-have-their-say/" target="_blank">public's values are recognized</a>. They also argue that voters are deciding only whether wolves should be reintroduced, while allowing experts at the <a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">state wildlife agency</a> to create a reintroduction plan <a href="https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/election/howl-you-vote-wolf-advocates-opponents-ask-colorado/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">based on the best available science</a>.</p><div id="4c11f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dec8674441e02372e50b796d848e4130"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1316474105315483649" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">According to a recent poll of 900 demographically representative likely voters, two-thirds supported “restoring wol… https://t.co/74LMG1PYtW</div> — High Country News (@High Country News)<a href="https://twitter.com/highcountrynews/statuses/1316474105315483649">1602706860.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Opponents assert that wildlife management decisions should be <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/09/29/should-wolves-be-brought-back-to-colorado-a-rancher-and-a-biologist-have-their-say/" target="_blank">left to state experts</a>. As some critics note, the <a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/Commission.aspx" target="_blank">Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission</a> has decided <a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/CON-Wolf-Management.aspx/" target="_blank">against wolf reintroduction four times</a>, most recently in 2016. The commission is a citizen board appointed by the governor and made up of sportspersons, agricultural producers, recreationists and nonconsumptive wildlife organizations. Opponents also point out that people who do not support reintroducing wolves, such as ranchers, will bear a disproportionate share of the costs.</p><p>These arguments reflect deeper power dynamics that influence wildlife management across the U.S. Many wildlife agencies tend to represent people and organizations who believe wildlife should be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13493" target="_blank">managed for human benefit</a>, particularly hunting and other consumptive uses.</p><p>These agencies receive much of their funding from <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-better-conserve-wildlife-consider-all-kinds-of-animals-not-just-the-ones-we-hunt-58556" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hunting and fishing license fees</a>. And people who believe wildlife should be managed to benefit humans tend to support using lethal methods to control wolves and other carnivores. They also are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1617138112001173" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more likely to oppose reintroducing them</a> where they have been eradicated.</p><p>However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-hunting-declines-efforts-grow-to-broaden-the-funding-base-for-wildlife-conservation-105792" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">support for this view is declining</a>. A growing share of Americans believe humans should coexist with carnivores and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13493" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oppose managing them primarily for human benefit</a>. But because agency decisions don't always reflect these increasingly popular values, people who advocate coexisting with nature are seeking a greater say via the ballot box.</p>
Finding Consensus
<p>Studies suggest that ballot initiatives like 114 will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.07.032" target="_blank">become more common</a> as public values toward wildlife change and more diverse groups seek to influence wildlife management. For us, the key question is how to recognize and incorporate these differing values as agencies make decisions.</p><p>Research drawing on insights from <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/dialogue-and-social-conflict-about-wolves-8-009/" target="_blank">psychology, political science and sociology</a> suggests that it is critical to run<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QppmBszEF6zsNnhBJ7Q2-pSWRR-Zx_ln/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> truly participatory processes</a> that engage government agencies and people who have a stake in the issue in shared decision-making. Fostering dialogue between groups that value wildlife differently can build empathy and mutual understanding and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.07.015" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">foster compromise</a>. Broadening the conversation in this way is essential for coexisting with carnivores with minimal impacts on predators and people.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Heavy Smoke rises from the Cameron Peak fire as it continues to burn on Oct. 5, 2020 in Larimer County near Fort Collins, Colorado. Helen H. Richardson / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images
For the second time this year, Colorado is battling the largest wildfire in state history.
<p>Strong winds pushed the Cameron Peak fire 17 miles to the east Tuesday and Wednesday, <a href="https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/10/14/strong-winds-push-cameron-peak-fire-east-prompting-more-evacuations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wildfire Today reported</a>. It burned more than 20,000 acres in a single day, swelling to 158,300 acres by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and placing at least nine new areas under evacuation orders, the <a href="https://eu.coloradoan.com/story/news/2020/10/14/largest-wildfire-colorado-history-cameron-peak-fire/3659545001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fort Collins Coloradoan reported</a>.</p>
<div id="76933" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d898cedb438dfd8534d4f496549ca2b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1316578050574897153" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here is the #CameronPeakFire map created with data from the multi mission aircraft (MMA) flight earlier today. Th… https://t.co/PQanYpzbyT</div> — Canyon Lakes Ranger RD (@Canyon Lakes Ranger RD)<a href="https://twitter.com/usfsclrd/statuses/1316578050574897153">1602731642.0</a></blockquote></div>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUyMDA2OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDk2MjgxMX0.kIfbtaRMKrM71wvz48H6dVC8P4GP5U0buEVJr3V3Vbo/img.png?width=980" id="89059" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4833a1292ec73bbdc9abcc80faf7ed51" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1168" data-height="612" />
<p>"This really was almost an epic day for doing evacuations and again, for everybody that's been moved, I know it's extremely difficult," officials said Wednesday night, as <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/10/14/cameron-peak-fire-largest-wildfire-colorado-history/" target="_blank">CBS4 Denver reported</a>. "We do know that we lost structures today and for anybody who is impacted, you know, our heart goes out to you."<br></p><p>One family lost two cabins they owned in the Buckhorn Canyon area.</p><p>"The materials is one thing," Parker Hutchinson told CBS4 Denver. "But the amount of family heirlooms and just the memories of that area, they've been burned."</p><p>Despite these individual tragedies, Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said the day could have been even worse.</p><p>"We have no reported injuries, no deaths, a lot fewer structures were impacted that we truly anticipated based on what we saw with that said, there's certainly a lot of folks that got hit," he said, as <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/10/14/cameron-peak-fire-spreads-quickly-into-more-populated-areas/" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio reported</a>.</p>
<div id="f67b3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ab50c11f23a7fdd3176e6fc537d96ed2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1316443792988352522" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Time lapse sent by a colleague (with permission to share), taken near the mouth of the Big Thompson canyon… https://t.co/phRPfP4sAs</div> — Russ Schumacher (@Russ Schumacher)<a href="https://twitter.com/russ_schumacher/statuses/1316443792988352522">1602699633.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Cameron Peak fire has been burning since Aug. 13 in the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest. It has persisted despite a snowstorm in early September and more snow on Sunday, fueled by high winds and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a>. It had already destroyed or damaged 99 structures before exploding Tuesday, and officials said conditions were still too dangerous to assess the total number of buildings impacted in the last 24 hours. It is now 56 percent contained and more than 1,000 people are fighting it.</p><p>The fire is burning to the west of Fort Collins, but Smith said he did not think the flames would reach that more populous area or the nearby city of Loveland because they are protected by bodies of water and a lack of the heavy timber that feeds the flames.</p><p>The two largest fires in Colorado history both ignited this year. The Cameron Peak fire unseated the Pine Gulch fire, which burned 139,007 acres over the summer and held the record for only 48 days.</p>
<p>The ten largest fires in Colorado history all took place in the last 20 years, and seven took place in the last 10, according to figures reported by the Fort Collins Coloradoan.</p><p>As of August, 2020 was Colorado's third driest year on record and twelfth warmest, according to <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/08/20/colorado-wildfires-climate-change-drought-snowpack/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio</a>. Almost a fourth of the state is experiencing extreme drought. These fire-fueling conditions are in line with what scientists say the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> will do to the state.</p><p>"What we're seeing here is indicative of the fact that when the hot, dry years come around, they're hotter than most of the time when they've occurred in the past," state climatologist Russ Schumacher told Colorado Public Radio. "And that's pretty well in line with what climate projections have been saying for some time."</p>
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Public health officials in Colorado are urging the public to be vigilant after a squirrel tested positive for bubonic plague. Courtney McGough / Flickr
The plague has recently seen an uptick in cases, and the World Health Organization has categorized it as a re-emerging disease. That's why public health officials in Colorado are urging people to be vigilant after a squirrel tested positive for bubonic plague.
<p>The squirrel was found in the town of Morrison, west of Denver. Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) officials announced the discovery of the plague-infected squirrel in <a href="https://www.jeffco.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1275" target="_blank">a statement</a> over the weekend. It's the first case of plague in the county, according to the statement, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bubonic-plague-colorado-squirrels-test-positive/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported.</p><p>"Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can be contracted by humans and household animals if proper precautions are not taken," officials from JCPH said in the statement.</p>
<p>The county was prompted to test the squirrels after someone in Morrison reported seeing at least 15 dead squirrels around the town. Officials tested one, and since it was positive for bubonic plague, they expect others to be infected, according to CBS News.</p><p>The disease has been around for centuries and is responsible for the deadliest pandemic in human history. An estimated 50 million people in Europe died during the Black Death pandemic of the Middle Ages. JCPH warns the public that it can infect both humans and animals if proper precautions are not taken, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/bubonic-plague-squirrel-scn-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>Every year, there are approximately 1,000 to 2,000 reported cases, but that is likely an undercounted number as there are many unreported cases, according to the WHO, as CNN reported. The U.S. reports up to a few dozen cases every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Two people died in Colorado from the plague in 2015, according to CNN.</p>
<p>Rodents are the main vector of plague transmission from animals to humans, but the disease can also be passed on through flea bites or from person to person. People can be infected from direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals such as a cough or a bite, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/squirrel-tests-positive-bubonic-plague-colorado/story?id=71769840" target="_blank">ABC News</a>.</p><p>That danger hit home on the other side of the world this week when a teenage boy in Mongolia died from bubonic plague after eating a marmot, according to a separate report from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/asia/mongolia-plague-death-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>Marmots are large ground squirrels, a type of rodent, that have historically been linked to plague outbreaks in the region. Tests confirmed the teenager had contracted bubonic plague and authorities imposed quarantine measures in the Tugrug district of Gobi-Altai province, according to CNN.</p><p>The quarantine began on Sunday, but so far the 15 people authorities isolated who came into contact with the teenager have all been healthy.</p>
<p>JCPH warned pet owners that cats are highly susceptible to the plague from things like flea bites, a rodent scratch or bite, and ingesting an infected rodent. Cats can die if not treated quickly with antibiotics after contact with the plague. Dogs, on the other hand, are far less likely to pick up the plague. However, they can contract it through fleabites, according to ABC News.</p><p>In its statement, JCPH recommended several precautions to protect against the plague, including eliminating sources of food and shelter for wild animals, avoiding sick or dead wild animals and rodents, and consulting with vets about flea and tick control, as CBS News reported</p><p>"Risk for getting plague is extremely low as long as precautions are taken," the statement said.</p><p>The statement also added that plague symptoms include sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache, nausea and extreme pain and swelling of lymph nodes, which could occur within two to seven days after exposure to the bacteria.</p>
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Trending
More than 1,000 people were told to evacuate their homes when a wildfire ignited in the foothills west of Denver Monday, Colorado Public Radio reported.
<p><br/></p>
<p>The Elephant Butte Fire sparked in Evergreen, Colorado around 2:30 p.m., <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/elephant-butte-fire-in-evergreen-what-we-know/" target="_blank">KDVR reported</a>. As of Tuesday morning, it had spread to 50 acres and was zero percent contained, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office tweeted.</p>
<div id="ee717" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c382c3bf5156f3c108c5b46303ead1d1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1283030707460354051" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Day 2 Update on the #ElephantButteFire Fire is still at 50 acres in size with zero containment. No evacuation order… https://t.co/1BF7UMdl6f</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1283030707460354051">1594733332.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>One of the families forced to evacuate Monday told <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/07/13/elephant-butte-fire-lincoln-family/" target="_blank">CBS4</a> the land they fled had been in the family for 100 years.</p><p>"It's completely made out of wood. It's a 104-year-old house. I've lived there all my life," teenager Aidan Lincoln told CBS4. "It's been there since before my dad was born. It means a lot to my family."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Right now we’re at 700 homes evacuated in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElephantButte?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ElephantButte</a> fire in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Evergreen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Evergreen</a>. I talked with a 17 year old who was in tears believing his family home has gone up.<br>Latest on <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBSDenver</a> <a href="https://t.co/EAhaVawPN4">pic.twitter.com/EAhaVawPN4</a></p>— Alan Gionet (@AlanGTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlanGTV/status/1282824359397208067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Lincoln feared the family home had caught fire, but the sheriff's office says no homes have been lost. Fire officials also said no one had been injured as of 6:30 p.m. Monday, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/07/13/evergreen-wildfire-elephant-butte-fire/" target="_blank">The Denver Post reported</a>.</p><p>The fire is burning in the Upper Bear Creek Road and Overlook Trail area, according to Evergreen Fire Rescue. The evacuation area initially covered a five-mile radius and around 250 homes but was later increased to cover around 1,000 homes. The Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters parks were also both closed because of the blaze.</p>
<div id="e2b09" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e665c6f540754d83a6eb94ba8f6e04fa"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282818933762875393" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters Parks are both CLOSED due to the #elephantbuttefire #jeffco @efr_co https://t.co/nyHki32PjB</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1282818933762875393">1594682842.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>There were more than 100 people fighting the fire Monday and at least three air tankers and several helicopters, Colorado Public Radio reported.</p>
<div id="ab90e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d20a60932bf9aa3d5c9336d1c31edb57"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282863366071914496" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Though these images were taken about an hour ago, they give you a different perspective of what the… https://t.co/Rcvn7TtlCQ</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1282863366071914496">1594693435.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Monday's weather made battling the flames more difficult. Firefighters on the ground had to pause in their efforts a little before 7 p.m. Monday because of lightning in the area, and wind pushed the fire up into the treetops of one ridge. There was a little rainfall, but it proved disappointing.</p><p>"Unfortunately the rain didn't help as much as we hoped," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook, as Colorado Public Radio reported.</p><p>Conditions are expected to be more favorable Tuesday because of a cold front, KDVR reported.</p><p>The immediate cause of the fire is under investigation, according to The Denver Post. However, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> has helped to increase the size and frequency of wildfires in the Western U.S. Of the more than 40,000 fires that burned from Colorado to California between 1950 and 2017, 61 percent ignited in the last two decades, according to the <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2830/six-trends-to-know-about-fire-season-in-the-western-us/" target="_blank">National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)</a>. At the same time, global temperatures have gotten hotter, encouraging ideal fire conditions like high temperatures and dry air.</p><p>"Those fire conditions all fall under weather and climate," NASA Langley Research Center wildfire expert Amber Soja said. "The weather will change as Earth warms, and we're seeing that happen."</p><p>Before the Elephant Butte Fire ignited, Jefferson County had implemented a burn ban because of hot, dry weather, Colorado Public Radio reported.</p>
<p><em>Correction: An earlier version of this article attributed a quote to the sheriff's office on Twitter. The quote was posted on Facebook.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Across the country, millions of people live within half a mile of fracking sites, like this one in Frederick, Colorado. milehightraveler / Getty Images
By Emily Pontecorvo and Naveena Sadasivam
On a spring weekend morning a few weeks ago, Judy Kelly stepped outside of her house in Broomfield, Colorado, to grab the newspaper when her nose perked up. It smelled like something was burning.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Kelly, who's 73, lives in an upscale, 55-and-up retirement community called Anthem Ranch, which sits below the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The 1,300-home development is manicured and quiet, with green lawns and landscaped roads that flower out into smaller cul-de-sacs. Its active residents enjoy their own private fitness center, pool, movie theater, and more than 90 clubs that meet in a central community center. But about a quarter of a mile away from the southern border of this retirement dreamland sits a circle of fortress-like walls that enclose the Livingston fracking site, which contains 18 wells owned by Extraction Oil and Gas.</p><p>Kelly is among <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vLyFee6vdXi_uaZliyDRYTkdKP1wmHoE/view" target="_blank">more than 200</a> Broomfield residents who have submitted complaints to the city since November, reporting chemical smells and symptoms like headaches, burning eyes, and nosebleeds that they believe are caused by oil and gas activity in the area.<span></span></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI0MDUwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjUxNTQzMn0.RVnAakHo_HY7Zn933bFrr_AMoraKwiNnqoH98oIbTkQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="fc523" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="906f763cc7878ec90aea69f45896cd18" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="433" />
An excerpt from an email sent to the city by a resident concerned about the Livingston fracking site.
<p>When she notified the city about the smell that morning, she was told that a city inspector had been on the site already and nothing was wrong. But Kelly was on high alert. Just a few days earlier, Extraction had begun "flowback," a part of the fracking process that is <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2019/10/17/oil-and-gas-drilling-health-impacts-colorado/" target="_blank">associated with</a> <a href="https://garfield-county.com/air-quality/files/sites/33/2019/06/Garfield-County-CSU-Final-Report-presentation-06_16.pdf" target="_blank">some of the highest emission</a> rates of carcinogenic chemicals like benzene. Even under normal circumstances, flowback scared Kelly, who had followed the devastation in neighboring Weld County when one of Extraction's wells <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.18/energy-industry-how-site-workers-and-firefighters-responding-to-a-2017-natural-gas-explosion-in-windsor-colorado-narrowly-avoided-disaster" target="_blank">exploded</a> during the process in 2017, causing a major fire and injuring a worker. Kelly and her husband, who has pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, a lung disease, had planned on leaving town to stay with their son when flowback at Livingston began.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in those plans. On March 25, when Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued a statewide stay-at-home order to stop the coronavirus's spread, Kelly and her neighbors were suddenly trapped, trying to avoid one health hazard while worrying about being exposed to another. After all, fracking <a href="https://grist.org/energy/coronavirus-has-states-hitting-pause-except-when-it-comes-to-oil-and-gas-drilling/" target="_blank">remained a "critical" business</a>, according to the state.</p><p>"Where am I going to go?" Kelly asked. "I can't go to a hotel. I can't risk that with my husband. I have nowhere to go now."</p><p>Kelly's dilemma is not unique. Across the country, <a href="https://oilandgasthreatmap.com/threat-map/" target="_blank">millions of people</a> live within half a mile of fracking sites and other oil and gas activity and are exposed to a slew of toxic chemicals in their day-to-day lives. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6616936/" target="_blank">Researchers have found</a> that those living close to fracking are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses — the very underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to the most severe outcomes from COVID-19. While many residents may have found ways to seek respite from these toxic emissions during normal times — whether it was working or going to school elsewhere, or simply moving in with friends and family during the most intense periods of activity — those options went out the window when state governors began announcing stay-at-home orders.</p><p>For its part, Extraction says that Anthem Ranch residents have nothing to worry about. The company did not respond to Grist's detailed list of questions, but in legal filings and public testimony it has stated that the new technology it uses for flowback has been shown to keep emissions far below the levels associated with traditional techniques. In a complaint filed in a Colorado court, the company's lawyers said that the "anxiety and stress" experienced by Broomfield residents was "self-induced."</p>
Broomfield vs. Extraction
<p>The unsettling bind that the stay-at-home order put many residents in was not lost on Laurie Anderson, a Broomfield city councilwoman who lives just half a mile from the fracking site in another neighborhood called Anthem Highlands. The night Governor Polis' order came down, a special meeting of the city council was scheduled to <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/10m9nX3vilG4IEOl0zJdfMsKIZz68jte8/view" target="_blank">discuss</a> the potential dangers of work continuing at the Livingston site during the pandemic. The council decided to draft a proposal ordering Extraction to postpone flowback — a process where the chemical-laden water used to fracture open the shale flows back to the surface and must be collected, treated, and disposed of — until the stay-at-home order was lifted.</p><p>"The thought was to protect these residents, to delay flowback, understanding that it has to happen because they've already fracked these wells," said Anderson, who is also an organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, a national advocacy group that fights polluters. "It was only going to delay them for a couple weeks."</p><p>Of particular concern was Anthem Ranch, where the median age is 70 years old. The city's public health staff drafted up an order and included <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vLyFee6vdXi_uaZliyDRYTkdKP1wmHoE/view" target="_blank">data</a> showing that people over 65 are more susceptible to COVID-19 complications, that the top symptom reported by older Broomfield residents in the city's <a href="https://broomfield.org/2842/File-an-Immediate-Concern" target="_blank">oil and gas complaint system</a> was "anxiety/stress," and that stress and anxiety are linked to poor health outcomes in general.</p><p>But two days later, before the council could discuss the draft proposal, Extraction headed them off at the pass. The company secured a temporary restraining order from the Seventeenth Judicial District Court in Colorado, which prohibited the city from halting or delaying its operations. According to court documents, Extraction alleged that the city was acting in bad faith, trying to "shut down Extraction's operations not because they pose any real health risk, but because they are unpopular." Then, on March 30, the company filed an official complaint with the district court against the city, seeking damages for a breach of contract.</p><p>It's true that this was far from the first time Broomfield had tried to interfere with Extraction's … extraction. The city has battled the company at every stage of the drilling process in response to complaints from residents about odors, health symptoms, and <a href="https://www.kunc.org/post/broomfield-tried-limiting-oil-and-gas-noise-now-company-pushing-back-0#stream/0" target="_blank">noise</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI0MDUwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NTc4Nzc5OH0.6PiS9A4RDBTRxcEpXVKMCpX0E_bTdhaaTukbcH1QyFA/img.jpg?width=980" id="d5ce3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="674f50ef2de67f27aca1a58936eb425e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="408" />
An excerpt from an email sent to the city by a resident concerned about the Livingston fracking site.
<p>Several times the city has contacted the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), a state regulatory body, to address those complaints. According to Megan Castle, a COGCC spokesperson, the agency intervened once in response to a noise issue and a second time to request the company swap drilling fluids which were causing odor complaints. Castle said the agency has conducted additional noise monitoring and did not find that the site was out of compliance with state regulations.<br></p><p>Andrew Bare, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said that the nature of some of the complaints — such as odors that would likely have dissipated by the time inspectors reached the site — made taking action against Extraction "difficult." Bare said that the agency sent a mobile air monitoring lab to the site in response to residents' concerns and that the lab will remain near the Livingston site for at least another two weeks.</p><p>In legal documents, Extraction claims it has gone above and beyond the best management practices required by its operating agreement with the city, including investing more than $250 million on a "Next Generation Flowback" system to reduce emissions during the <a href="https://broomfield.org/DocumentCenter/View/29674/Current-Broomfield-Project-Schedule---10-31-19?bidId=" target="_blank">two to three months</a> flowback is expected to last. At the public meeting last month, representatives from the company <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-SOMCErjKsJtHr3mjeBesrKqbwDzvMSt/view" target="_blank">explained</a> to the council that instead of storing and processing the flowback fluid on site, the company would ship it via pipeline to a facility in Weld County. They asserted that the design eliminates "99.9 percent of emissions" and significantly reduces the duration of the flowback phase. Later at the meeting, Barbara Ganong, a petroleum engineer who was hired by the city as a consultant, asserted that Extraction's decision to pipe fracking fluids offsite represented a "paradigm shift."</p><p>Air quality experts hired by the city gave a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_N4HobIw7JMmHlD9r0kZnLPSjZnKoASR/view" target="_blank">presentation</a> showing that without this new closed system, emissions during flowback could have been 31 times higher than during fracking. Still, when they measured emissions during flowback at another Extraction well in a less populated part of town, they said emissions were still double those during fracking, even with the new system.</p>
<p>Broomfield residents interviewed by Grist were not reassured by Extraction's new technology. Kelly said the company told Broomfield that it was using the latest technology in every step of the process so far, but that the city has nevertheless had to step in multiple times after residents complained of noise and health symptoms.</p><p>"They've done nothing to make me feel like I can trust them and trust what they say," said Elizabeth Lario, who lives with her husband and daughter in the Wildgrass neighborhood a little less than a mile south of the Livingston site. Lario said she and her family have experienced migraines, nose bleeds, stress and anxiety, and throat irritation since drilling began last summer.</p><p>Broomfield fought the company's restraining order, and on April 6, the same judge who originally issued the temporary order agreed to dissolve it. He found that it was granted too soon, considering the city had not even officially taken action to delay or halt Extraction's operations yet. But the judge also issued a warning: If Broomfield exercised its regulatory powers in a way that was "arbitrary and capricious and not rationally related to combating the spread of COVID-19," it would be back where it started, facing more legal action from Extraction.</p><p>The judge's warning created a new problem for Broomfield: The city's order was designed to protect public health, but it had nothing to do with preventing the spread of the virus.</p><p>Two days after the judge dissolved the restraining order, the city council finally put its public health order to a vote, but by that point, it had become harder to justify. Anderson and other city council members tried to rewrite the order in a way that didn't flout the judge's ruling. If they did, they thought Extraction was likely to take them to court again and the restraining order might be reinstated.</p><p>"I kept thinking we'll find a way forward," said Anderson. "But sometime between that Tuesday and Wednesday it became clear that there just wasn't a way forward that wouldn't result in a legal battle."</p><p>Ultimately, Anderson and the majority of the council voted the public health order down 9 to 1.</p><p>It was a devastating blow for Kelly and some other residents. As a member of the League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans, a nonprofit representing community groups and residents affected by fracking, Kelly has been at the forefront of the battle with Extraction, and in the past, the city has taken bold action to protect residents. While her home is about a mile from the Livingston site, she said she's most worried about some of her neighbors who are as close as a quarter-mile from the site.</p><p>"People that I've gotten to know over the last … almost seven years, who I really care about, are very close to it," she said. "And it scares me to death."</p>
‘Why Didn’t You Protect Us?’
<p>Leading up to that final vote, the city council was flooded with emails begging them to forge ahead with the public health order. After it decided to drop the issue, community members were on edge. Kelly said she understands why the city did what it did. But others are incredibly frustrated with the outcome. "I get so many calls from people that say, 'why didn't you protect us?'" she said. "They're so concerned about their health that they would have rather seen us in court."</p><p>One concern is what residents will do in case there is an emergency, like a major emissions release or an explosion like the one in Weld County. The Broomfield police department has told families that live within a half-mile of the site to keep a bag packed in case an evacuation is necessary. But Elizabeth Lario is not sure where her family would go. Under normal circumstances, the city's emergency shelter is its recreation center, but as long as social distancing is necessary, that no longer feels like a safe option. "The evacuation plan is to wait and hear what the evacuation plan is," Lario said.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI0MDU1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3Mzk2NDEzMn0.T-GP9D1-EW0D-di6RalD5lvGNo56ST9CpHQ9YuHRlzg/img.jpg?width=980" id="5fac7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2470d4f20b48740b060fc1e459495de4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="414" />
An excerpt from an email sent to the city by a resident concerned about the Livingston fracking site.
<p>On April 13, the Broomfield Office of Emergency Management held a telephone town hall to present evacuation instructions. Residents told Grist that instructions on where they should go were not very clear, and that the evacuation plan was fluid depending on the scale of emergency and the status of the pandemic. "It was a plan left in chaos, in my opinion, that fortunately hasn't had to be used," said Anderson.</p><p>The Broomfield police department told Grist that it uses a cell phone alert system for emergency notification. An "Emergency Management Update" powerpoint created by the department instructs residents to "follow the instructions you receive" and monitor the situation on the city's social media accounts. In the case of an evacuation, it says to go to the home of a family member or friend — and to go to the recreation center only if needed. The department advises that residents who do elect to evacuate to the recreation center remain in their cars "if quarantined/isolated."</p><p>Not all of Broomfield's citizens are worried about the fracking site. In fact, some actively opposed the city's idea to delay Extraction's work. Anderson said there had been pressure from residents who felt that the city was already wasting too many public dollars on its clashes with the company, and worried that another lawsuit could bankrupt the city. A former council member <a href="https://westernwire.net/broomfield-criticized-for-oil-and-gas-witch-hunt/" target="_blank">accused</a> the city of conducting a witch hunt.<br></p><p>Broomfield has indeed spent a significant amount of money on oil and gas oversight, including hiring additional personnel, outside counsel, and consultants. It has also deployed systems to monitor air quality and noise. The Broomfield Enterprise, a local newspaper, <a href="https://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/2020/01/10/broomfield-to-consider-emergency-noise-ordinance-2/" target="_blank">reported</a> that the city spent $1.8 million in 2018, $1.5 million in 2019, and is expected to spend $3.1 million this year just on oil and gas-related personnel and programs. The city has approved approximately <a href="https://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/2019/12/23/broomfield-air-quality-monitoring-contract-updated/" target="_blank">$1.5 million</a> for air quality monitoring contracts in 2020 alone.</p><p>Broomfield's <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CqZGbwWaZgVMWnTpC1BYfJ1FtcjDlnkp/view" target="_blank">air monitoring system</a> is impressive, given that it's a city of only about 70,000 people. The city currently has 11 new sensors set up to monitor emissions, as well as two mobile air quality laboratories and <a href="https://engr.source.colostate.edu/to-monitor-air-quality-scientists-chase-methane-plumes-in-dead-of-night/" target="_blank">a mobile "plume tracker"</a> — a Chevy Tahoe equipped to measure real-time methane concentrations in the air — from Colorado State University that will be deployed periodically. The city's sensors do not measure the specific amount of benzene and other harmful compounds in the air, but they set off "triggers" to take an air sample any time they register a spike in emissions.</p><p>Anderson hopes that collecting this data will give the town a clearer picture of the public health risks fracking poses to residential communities. She said that part of the reason the town's order was abandoned was due to a lack of data showing that flowback would put residents at greater risk. Now they are collecting that data — but by the time any potential harms come into focus, it will be too late. Residents will have been exposed.</p><p>"This community feels like guinea pigs, and I'm right there with them," she said. "We're doing things that we don't have the data to show that it's safe."</p>
<p class=""><em>This story originally appeared in</em> <a href="https://grist.org/" target="_blank"><em>Grist </em></a><em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Trending
The Denver Zoo may be closed to visitors to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, but, for the animals inside, life goes on.
<p>This is especially the case for the zoo's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lions" target="_self">lion</a> pride, which welcomed two new members Thursday, April 23, the zoo <a href="https://denverzoo.org/zootales/a-new-pair-in-the-pride/?CMPID=?utm_source=_FB_&utm_medium=_SOCIAL_&utm_campaign=_AC" target="_blank">announced Tuesday</a>. The new cubs were born to mother and father Kamara and Tobias, who are both four years old.</p><p>"We're seeing a lot of positive signs that things are going well, and will continue to keep a close eye on [Kamara] and the cubs in these critical first days and weeks," Assistant Curator of Predators Matt Lenyo said.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f96eccaf46b561e843b73461dc794a6e"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yjBZ5RDUHWk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>The births come little less than a year after the zoo welcomed another lion cub named Tatu, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/04/28/denver-zoo-lion-cubs-video/" target="_blank">The Denver Post reported</a>. Tatu is also the child of Tobias, meaning he now has two half-siblings. (Their sexes are still unknown.) His mother is Kamara's mother, Neliah, and his birth is now helping the new mom care for her own cubs.</p><p>"We are watching Kamara closely to make sure she's showing appropriate maternal behaviors, like nursing and grooming," Lenyo said. "She learned a lot by watching Neliah and interacting with Tatu last year, which really prepared her to be a mom."</p><p>The cubs' birth is good news for lion <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a>. African lions have decreased by fifty percent since 1994, <a href="https://wildnet.org/" target="_blank">Wildlife Conservation Network</a> (WCN) told <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conservation/2019/07/where-lions-once-ruled-they-are-now-quietly-disappearing" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>. While they once roamed almost the entire African continent, they are now absent from 94 percent of their historic range and are considered <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15951/115130419" target="_blank">vulnerable</a> by the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/" target="_blank">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>. The primary threats to their survival are loss of prey and habitat, as well as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/poaching" target="_self">poaching</a>.</p>
<p>"Lions are truly one of the world's universal icons, and they are quietly slipping away," WCN director of conservation programs Paul Thomson told National Geographic.</p><p>The new cubs' birth is part of an effort to combat this trend. Tobias, their father, was moved to the Denver Zoo in 2018 from Buffalo in the hope that he would mate with Kamara and Neliah, the zoo said. The move was recommended by the Lion Species Survival Plan, a plan for ensuring healthy, genetically diverse lion populations in zoos belonging to the <a href="https://www.aza.org/" target="_blank">Association of Zoos and Aquariums</a> (AZA).</p><p>"Kamara and Tobias were a very genetically valuable match," General Curator Emily Insalaco said in the birth announcement. "And these cubs are an important contribution to the species' population in AZA facilities, and will help inspire visitors to learn more about their wild cousins."</p>
<p>While the zoo isn't receiving visitors right now, the cubs won't know the difference. They will be secluded with their mother for two months to give them time to connect with her and meet the rest of the pack, which also includes an unrelated seven-year-old female named Sabi.</p><p>You can still follow the cubs remotely via the zoo's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DenverZoo/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/DenverZoo" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzlJHwWxz2INhrSbLlK4xRQ" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/denverzoo/?hl=en" target="_blank">Instagram</a> accounts.</p>
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A large fracking operation with Mount Meeker and Longs Peak looming in the background on December 28, 2017 in Loveland, Colorado. Helen H. Richardson / The Denver Post / Getty Images
by Andrea Germanos
The Trump administration on Friday released a new land use plan for southwestern Colorado that community and conservation advocacy groups warn is a "dangerous" pathway towards increased fossil fuel extraction that makes no "climate, ecological, or economic sense."
<p>Published officially Friday in the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/10/2020-07316/notice-of-availability-of-the-record-of-decision-for-the-uncompahgre-field-office-approved-resource" target="_blank">Federal Register</a>, the Bureau of Land Management's "Approved Resource Management Plan" for the Uncompahgre Field Office affects 675,800 acres of public lands and 971,220 acres of federal mineral estate and spans six counties. It gives a 20-year blueprint for how the land can be used for purposes such as oil and gas drilling as well as livestock grazing, and was issued by the Interior Department over objections raised in public comments.</p><p>The advocacy groups opposed to the plan <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-administration-plan-expands-fossil-fuel-extraction-across-southwestern-colorado-2020-04-09/" target="_blank">say</a> that expanding fracking in the region over the next decades will not only add fuel to the planetary climate crisis, but will also adversely impact local organic agriculture and endangered species.</p><p>"This plan, unconscionable as the connections between fossil fuel emissions and global climate change become clearer every day, has the potential to exponentially increase greenhouse gas pollution in the region over the next decade, when we need to be drastically reducing emissions," said Melissa Hornbein with the Western Environmental Law Center.</p>
<p>According to the groups,</p><blockquote>The plan would allow fracking on more than half of the 675,000 acres of public land and almost a million acres of federal minerals that it covers, and coal extraction on another 371,000 acres. The BLM's environmental impact analysis fails to tally direct and indirect climate pollution that would result from fossil fuel production.<br></blockquote><p>According to Natasha Léger, executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Community, the plan is "exactly the type of federal action that is responsible for accelerating climate and environmental degradation, which cannot be allowed to stand if we have any hope of protecting present and future generations, rare and irreplaceable ecosystems like the North Fork, and meeting Colorado's goals for a clean and renewable energy future."</p><p>The new plan sets up a clash between Colorado's new law calling for a halving of carbon emissions by 2030 and what the advocacy groups say could be a 2,300% increase over the next decade in climate pollution as a result of the BLM's proposal for increased oil and gas extraction.</p><p>"Ultimately," said Rebecca Fischer, climate and energy program attorney for WildEarth Guardians, "the Trump administration is testing Colorado's commitment to its new climate law, and its success depends on the state stepping up to defend bold climate action."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/10/trump-advances-climate-doom-massive-fracking-expansion-federal-lands-colorado" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Colorado River Has Lost 1.5 Billion Tons of Water to the Climate Crisis, 'Severe Water Shortages' May Follow
21 February 2020
Climate
Horseshoe Bend (seen above) is a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River in Page, Arizona. didier.camus / Flickr / public domain
Millions of people rely on the Colorado River, but the climate crisis is causing the river to dry up, putting many at risk of "severe water shortages," according to new research, as The Guardian reported.
<p>Longer periods of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" rel="noopener noreferrer">drought</a> and rising temperatures have decreased the river's annual flow by 20 percent compared to the last century. The researchers, who published their study in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/02/19/science.aay9187" target="_blank">Science</a>, say that global heating has caused mountain snowpacks that feed the river to disappear, which leads to increased evaporation, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/02/20/climate-change-has-stolen-more-than-billion-tons-water-wests-most-vital-river/" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p>
<p>"That's the thing I found most fascinating about this study," lead author Chris Milly of the U.S. Geological Survey said to <a href="https://www.knau.org/post/study-colorado-river-s-flow-decreases-9-percent-every-degree-warming" target="_blank">KNAU</a>. "As the snow cover dwindles due to warming, it's reflecting less sunlight back to the atmosphere. So the basin's absorbing more sunlight. That sunlight is powering evaporation out of the basin. Now when that evaporation—the water is taken out of the basin due to the evaporation, there's less water flowing down the river to the 40 million people that are waiting for it."</p>
<p>Snow and ice reflect sunlight back away from the Earth's surface, a phenomenon known as the albedo effect. The loss of snow and ice means the Earth absorbs more heat.</p>
<p>Milly and his research partner, Krista A. Dunne, found that for every degree Celsius of warming, the river's flow decreases 9.3 percent. Recent studies have confirmed that the river's steady decreased flow since 2000 is due to rising temperatures. The decline has amounted to 1.5 billion tons of missing water, equal to the annual water consumption of 10 million Americans, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
<p>About 40 million people live along the Colorado and it supports nearly $1 trillion in economic activity each year and provides 16 million jobs. Its waters cover a wide expanse, according to The Washington Post. Its waters are channeled as far away as California's Imperial Valley and central Arizona, where its used to irrigate crops, as well as across the Rockies to supply <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a> for Colorado's biggest cities. The Colorado feeds the two largest water reserves in the U.S., Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Lake Mead supplies Las Vegas with almost all of its water, as The Guardian reported. The huge reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam has dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s.</p>
<p>So far the world has heated up by about 1 degree Celsius over pre-industrial times, but it is on course to rise 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century unless emissions are drastically cut, as The Guardian reported. For the Colorado River this means, an "increasing risk of severe water shortages," the study says. Increased rainfall will not offset the loss in reflective snow. </p>
<p>"This has important implications for water users and managers alike," Brad Udall, a senior scientist at Colorado State University and an expert on water supplies in the west who was not involved in the research said, as The Guardian reported. "More broadly, these results tell us that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as we possible can. We've wasted nearly 30 years bickering over the science. The science is crystal clear – we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately."</p>
<p>Andrew Mueller, general manager for the Colorado River District, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email to The Washington Post that the new findings provide "confirmation of significantly grim indicators about future flow in the Colorado River."</p>
<p>He added that the amount of water that would disappear with another 1 degree C temperature rise is nearly five times what Las Vegas uses each year. "A decline in flows of this magnitude will present a significant challenge to all inhabitants in the Colorado River Basin."</p>
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