drought

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    Renewable Energy Generation Breaks Records Every Month in 2016

    Renewable Energy Generation Breaks Records Every Month in 2016

    By Mike Gaworecki Electricity generation from wind, solar and other renewable energy technologies have set monthly records every month so far in 2016, based on data through June released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday. “Both hydroelectric and nonhydroelectric renewables have contributed to this trend, but in different ways. After a lengthy West […]

    82,000 Evacuated as ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Wildfire Shocks California

    82,000 Evacuated as ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Wildfire Shocks California

    With more than 25,000 acres still burning, firefighters managed to achieve four percent containment of the Blue Cut fire in California late Wednesday night. The blaze, which spread from a few acres to 30,000 in just 24 hours, was called a “once in a lifetime kind of fire” by the U.S. Forest Service. Sizzling temperatures, […]

    Lake Powell: Going, Going, Gone?

    Lake Powell: Going, Going, Gone?

    The 16-year drought on the Colorado River has drained Lake Mead and Lake Powell to their combined lowest level in history. But that’s nothing compared to what could happen, according to a new study from the State of Colorado. The study indicates that a drought like the one that happened in 2000 – 2006 “would […]

    Don’t Get Burned by Misinformation About Dead Trees and Wildfire

    Don’t Get Burned by Misinformation About Dead Trees and Wildfire

    By Douglas Bevington In California, dead trees are big news. In June, the U.S. Forest Service reported that 66 million trees had died since 2010 as the state has experienced a prolonged drought. Drought stress has weakened trees’ natural defenses to native bark beetles, resulting in a pulse of tree mortality. Yet amid all of […]

    California Wildfire Triples in Size

    California Wildfire Triples in Size

    A huge wildfire burning since Friday in the Santa Clarita Valley area north of Los Angeles has tripled in size over the weekend to 33,172 acres, destroying at least 18 homes and leaving one man dead. More than 1,500 homes have been evacuated as 1,673 firefighters battle the Sand fire. A California wildfire spread across […]

    Can Organic Farming Feed the World?

    Can Organic Farming Feed the World?

    By Kendra Klein and Kari Hamerschlag Forty five years have passed since Earl Butz, then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, asserted, “Before we go back to organic agriculture in this country, somebody must decide which 50 million Americans we are going to let starve or go hungry.” Time has proven Butz very wrong. The weight of […]