The BBC reports
The European Union says it is aiming to become the first major economy to go “climate neutral” by 2050.
Under the plan, emissions of greenhouse gases after that date would have to be offset by planting trees or by burying the gases underground.
Scientists say that net-zero emissions by 2050 are needed to have a fighting chance of keeping global temperatures under 1.5C this century.
Read full story at Climate change: EU aims to be ‘climate neutral’ by 2050 – BBC News
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate change, Global warming
California Fall Color has continue to find color. Now mainly in the lower elevations. Highlights from reports the last few days:
See photos and full reports at California Fall Color
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, California Fall Color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage
for more information on the trips below go to Upcoming Field Trips | Golden Gate Audubon Society.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Bay Area Birding Field Trips
The NY Times reports on the significant decline of insects and possible implications for life on earth
In the United States, scientists recently found the population of monarch butterflies fell by 90 percent in the last 20 years, a loss of 900 million individuals; the rusty-patched bumblebee, which once lived in 28 states, dropped by 87 percent over the same period. With other, less-studied insect species, one butterfly researcher told me, “all we can do is wave our arms and say, ‘It’s not here anymore!’ ” Still, the most disquieting thing wasn’t the disappearance of certain species of insects; it was the deeper worry, shared by Riis and many others, that a whole insect world might be quietly going missing, a loss of abundance that could alter the planet in unknowable ways. “We notice the losses,” says David Wagner, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut. “It’s the diminishment that we don’t see.”
Read Article at The Insect Apocalypse Is Here – The New York Times
Posted in Environment | Tags: Insect Decline
Tioga Road and Glacier Point Roads are closed for the season due to snow.
Tioga Road (continuation of Highway 120 through the park) and Glacier Point Road are closed. There is no estimate on reopening, but they usually reopen around late May. Check current road conditions/chain requirements by calling 209/372-0200
Posted in Park | Tags: Glacier Point Road Closing, Tioga Pass Road Closing, Yosemite
Defenders of Wildlife News Release
The Trump administration released today the Fourth National Climate Assessment, measuring the impact of climate change on the U.S. and its territories. The federal government is required to periodically assess the impacts that climate change is already having on the United States, as well as those that we are likely to face in the future. This report, the National Climate Assessment, is a tremendously important compendium of the very real threats to human health, various economic sectors, and ecosystems and wildlife.
The following statement is from Aimee Delach, senior policy analyst for climate adaptation:
“The Trump administration’s decision to release this congressionally mandated report the day after Thanksgiving demonstrates their approach to climate change: try to bury it on a slow news day and hope that no one notices how little this administration cares about global warming. This is truly a Black Friday, but for all the wrong reasons.“
Climate change is one of the biggest threats to humankind. Given President Trump’s abject refusal to acknowledge and confront this critical threat to wildlife and society, we hope that starting Monday, the National Climate Assessment gets the widespread attention it deserves.”
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate Change Assessment
Center for Biological Diversity News Release
WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency has refused to ban M-44s, commonly known as cyanide bombs, which cause agonizing deaths for thousands of animals every year.
The agency’s decision comes in response to a 2017 petition authored by the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians and signed by several other wildlife conservation groups.
The devices are used to kill coyotes, foxes and wild dogs, purportedly to address conflicts with livestock. But they also pose serious risks of accidental injury and death for people, family pets and imperiled wildlife.
Posted in Animals, Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: M-44s
Nomad Ecology is seeking a mid-level to senior Botanist to assist with the firm’s projects and studies relating to floristic inventories, rare plant surveys, vegetation mapping, post-fire sampling, statistical analysis of field data, and other botany related work. As a member of Nomad Ecology, the person filling this position must be dedicated to having an understanding and appreciation of the flora of California and promoting the use of sound science and current technologies available to restoration science and floristic professionals. The work will be both office-based and in the field throughout various locations in California. This individual would primarily be working with Nomad senior botanist Heath Bartosh. It requires an individual who is organized, collaborative, accustomed to physical field work, and enthusiastic about the conservation of California’s biological resources.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Botany Job Announcement
ScienceDaily reports
For the first time, a new study of strawberry crops on New York farms tested this theory and found that wildflower strips on farms added pollinators when the farm lay within a ”Goldilocks zone,” where 25 to 55 percent of the surrounding area contained natural lands. Outside this zone, flower plantings also drew more strawberry pests, while having no effect on wasps that kill those pests.
Read more at Best use of wildflowers to benefit crops on farms — ScienceDaily
Posted in Environment | Tags: Wildflowers Benefit Farm Crops
Posted in Fall Foliage, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: Autumn leaf color, Fall Leaves
Audubon has an article on how your choice of garden plants has a major impact on birds and insects
“Each plant in your landscape you should think of as a bird feeder,” says Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware who also worked on the study. “It either has food in it, or it doesn’t.” (Carolina Chickadees aren’t big users of actual bird feeders during nesting season, and, like most other birds, they do not feed birdseed to their chicks.)
Overall, Narango found way more insect food on native plants. That’s because a tree or shrub will only have bugs if the creatures recognize the plant as food. If they haven’t evolved together in the same ecosystem, bugs will probably steer clear of the greenery. For example, Narango searched scores of crepe myrtle trees, a non-native popular in landscaping. “I don’t think we ever found a caterpillar,” she says. Meanwhile, a neighboring oak tree crawls with dozens or more.
Read full article at Yards With Non-Native Plants Create ‘Food Deserts’ for Bugs and Birds | Audubon
Posted in Birds | Tags: Native Plants and Birds
The air was finally clean and the rain stopped so I went up to UC – Berkeley Botanical Garden. The trees have lost some leaves but there is still color to see, especially in the Asian section. Many plants still had water droplets from yesterday’s rain. Here are some photos from today.
Posted in Garden, Photos (Sandy's) | Tags: Garden Photos, UC Berkeley Botancial Garden
The BBC reports
Unchecked climate change will cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars and damage human health and quality of life, a US government report warns.
“Future risks from climate change depend… on decisions made today,” the 4th National Climate Assessment says.
The report says climate change is “presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth”.
The warning is at odds with the Trump administration’s fossil fuels agenda.
Read more at Climate change: Report warns of growing impact on US life – BBC News
Posted in Environment | Tags: Climate Change Impacts
ScienceDaily reports mammals cannot evolve fast enough to escape current extinction crisis
The sixth mass extinction is underway, this time caused by humans. A team of researchers have calculated that species are dying out so quickly that nature’s built-in defense mechanism, evolution, cannot keep up. If current conservation efforts are not improved, so many mammal species will become extinct during the next five decades that nature will need 3-5 million years to recover to current biodiversity levels. And that’s a best-case scenario.
Read full story at Mammals cannot evolve fast enough to escape current extinction crisis — ScienceDaily
Posted in Birds, Environment | Tags: Extinction Threats
With the first winter storm in the forecast this week, the National Park Service has announcedthat Tioga Pass (Highway 120 west) will close at 6:00pm tomorrow,Tuesday, November 20.
In addition, Caltrans has announced that Ebbetts Pass (Highway 4) will close at 3:00pm tomorrow and Sonora Pass (Highway 108) will close at noon on Wednesday, November 21. Both agencies have noted that these closures are not necessarily the long-term seasonal closures yet. There are no expected re-opening times for the roads; that is weather-dependent.
For up to date information go to Cal Trans site on Mt. Closures at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/clsdlst.htm and click on highway number to get up to date information on specific road closures.
Posted in Drives | Tags: Sierra Nevada Pass Closures
Defenders of Wildlife News Release
Today, Interior Secretary Zinke and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, held a briefing call on recent wildfires and forest management. They discussed the Trump administration’s plans to call upon Congress through the vehicle of the 2018 Farm bill for more authority to clear-cut forests, under the guise of “forest management.”
Sandra Purohit, Government Relations Legislative Counsel, Defenders of Wildlife issued this statement:
“The Trump administration is manipulating the California wildfires and the tragic loss of life and property for even more environmental rollbacks. Secretaries Perdue and Zinke asked Congress for more authority to log forests but this is not a problem of authority. Congress gave the Trump administration substantial new authority, legal tools and more money to address forest wildfires just this past January, yet not a single project has been completed under this newfound authority.
“Leading forest fire experts and hundreds of scientists are on record opposing the very measures that the Trump administration is calling for in the Farm Bill. The administration wants to point fingers, propose rollbacks and promote harmful logging practices rather than follow the science. We hope the Farm Bill reflects the science and not the administration’s rhetoric.”
Posted in Environment
The New York Times has a video showing how Dandelions can fly for long distances.
Comments Off on Video: How Dandelions Fly
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: How Dandelions Fly
Anthropocene Magazine reports
With a few decades, autonomous and semi-autonomous machines will be found throughout Earth’s environments, from homes and gardens to parks and farms and so-called working landscapes — everywhere, really, that humans are found, and perhaps even places we’re not. And while much attention is given to how those machines will interact with people, far less is paid to their impacts on animals.
“Machines can disturb, frighten, injure, and kill animals,” says Oliver Bendel, an information systems professor at the University of Applied Science and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. “Animal-friendly machines are needed.”
Read full story at Will smart machines be kind to animals?
Posted in Animals | Tags: Threat of Machines to Animals
The University of Exeter reports on a recent study on what birds dominate at Feeders
Burly bird gets the worm
The pecking order of garden birds is determined by their size and weight, new research shows.
In a study at bird feeders, researchers from the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) found larger species like house sparrows and greenfinches monopolised the best food and spent longer feeding than smaller birds.
Meanwhile, smaller birds such as blue tits and coal tits had to feed quickly and were left with lower-quality food.
The researchers say the findings have “important implications” for using bird feeders as a conservation method.
Read full story at Featured news – Burly bird gets the worm – University of Exeter
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Bird Dominance at Feeders
Yesterday we saw an injured California Scrub-Jay in our yard. At first we thought it was dead as it wasn’t moving and was laying on its side. After a while it sat up and eventually it flew away. Whether it survived or not we don’t know. Injured birds sometimes recover. Other times they may recover enough to leave but later succumb to their injuries.
We realized weren’t completely sure how to respond to the injured bird so we check on line and found the following guides from the Golden Gate Audubon Society
Window Collisions
Sometimes birds are stunned by window collisions but will recover on their own. Give it an hour. It may revive and fly off.
While it recovers, remove it from potential predators such as cats. Place it in a warm, dark, quiet place such as a shoebox lined with a cloth or paper towel. (Do not use shredded paper, cotton balls or grass clippings.) Be sure to provide holes for ventilation.
Do not attempt to provide food, water or first aid to the bird.
After an hour, take it outside and open the box. If the bird hasn’t recovered, take it at once to a wildlife rescue organization (listed below).
Other Injuries or Distress
Take the bird to a wildlife rescue organization immediately, if possible.
Using a towel or washcloth, grasp the bird around the shoulders so its wings are against its body and cannot flap. Transport it to the rescue organization in a shoebox lined with a cloth or paper towel. (Do not use shredded paper, cotton balls or grass clippings.) Be sure to provide holes for ventilation.
Do not attempt to provide food, water or first aid to the bird.
Continue read at Injured Birds – Golden Gate Audubon Society
Posted in Birds | Tags: Injured Birds
Bay Nature answers the question “What Causes Fall Sunsets to Look Different?”
It is often said that pollution, smog, or haze produce more vivid sunsets but, alas, that is not actually true.
So what does cause the uptick in vivid sunsets during the fall? Changes occurring in both wind patterns and the angle of the sun are the prime culprits.
Read full story at Bay Nature: What Causes Fall Sunsets to Look Different?
Posted in Environment | Tags: Colorful Fall Sunsets
from the Regional Parks Foundation
The Bay Area’s Air Quality index is currently at unhealthy levels and your health is important to us.
The East Bay Regional Park District is advising visitors to minimize or refrain from active outdoor recreation due to the unhealthy air quality. Scheduled programs by interpretive or recreation instructors may be canceled. Check our website at www.ebparks.org for details.
Those with reservations in East Bay Regional Parks should contact our reservations office, Monday-Friday, 8:30-4:00pm at 1-888-EBPARKS (888-327-2757), option 2, should you choose to cancel or change a picnic, camping, program, or indoor facility reservation/registration. Currently no fires of any kind are allowed in any East Bay regional park.
Should air conditions worsen, park or facility restrictions may occur and service levels may be reduced for the safety of the public and our park staff. All restrictions will be posted by 4pm for the following day on ebparks.org, as well as via social media.
Our hearts are with the communities affected by the fires throughout the State, in particular Butte County.
Up-to-date information on air quality and guidance to limit exposure is available at www.baaqmd.gov.
Posted in Park | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks
California Christmas Bird Count calendar with a synopsis and statistics from previous CBCs at 2018/19 Schedule of California Christmas Bird Counts
Posted in Birds | Tags: 2018/19 Schedule of California Christmas Bird Counts
Bay Nature reports
Beginning in fall 2018, the public can visit Jenner Headlands Preserve, accessed via a state-of-the-art parking area some 1.5 miles north of the tiny town of Jenner. Nearly nine years have gone into creating trails and generating a management plan for the grassland, riparian, and forest ecosystems here. Jenner Headlands represents a conservation triumph: Embracing 5,630 acres, it is one of Sonoma County’s largest protected areas. The Wildlands Conservancy owns and stewards the preserve and was one of many partners contributing to its acquisition, a long effort spearheaded by the nonprofit Sonoma Land Trust.
Read full story at Bay Nature Magazine: Enjoy Soaring Views and Hawks at Jenner Headlands
Posted in Park | Tags: Jenner Headlands
Bay Nature reports
Humpback whales are venturing into the San Francisco Bay and staying through November!
See the spectacular photos and find out what’s changing the usual migration behavior of these gentle giants at Bay Nature: Humpback Whales Staying Longer in the Bay in 2017, 2018
Posted in Animals | Tags: Humpback Whales In San Francisco Bay
The New York Times reports
In a dark, dusty patch of sky in the constellation Sagittarius, a small star, known as S2 or, sometimes, S0-2, cruises on the edge of eternity. Every 16 years, it passes within a cosmic whisker of a mysterious dark object that weighs some 4 million suns, and that occupies the exact center of the Milky Way galaxy.
For the last two decades, two rival teams of astronomers, looking to test some of Albert Einstein’s weirdest predictions about the universe, have aimed their telescopes at the star, which lies 26,000 light-years away. In the process, they hope to confirm the existence of what astronomers strongly suspect lies just beyond: a monstrous black hole, an eater of stars and shaper of galaxies.
For several months this year, the star streaked through its closest approach to the galactic center, producing new insights into the behavior of gravity in extreme environments, and offering clues to the nature of the invisible beast in the Milky Way’s basement.
One of those teams, an international collaboration based in Germany and Chile, and led by Reinhard Genzel, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, say they have found the strongest evidence yet that the dark entity is a supermassive black hole, the bottomless grave of 4.14 million suns.
Read full story and see photos at Trolling the Monster in the Heart of the Milky Way – The New York Times
Posted in Astronomy | Tags: Black Holes
EarthSky reports
November’s wonderful Leonid meteor shower happens every year around November 17 or 18, as our world crosses the orbital path of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Like many comets, Tempel-Tuttle litters its orbit with bits of debris. It’s when this cometary debris enters Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes that we see the Leonid meteor shower. In 2018, the peak mornings of the shower are expected from midnight to dawn on Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18. Although a bright waxing gibbous moon will be out for some of the night on the peak dates, try watching this shower during the predawn hours, or after the moon has set.
Read full article at All you need to know: 2018’s Leonid meteor shower | Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky
Posted in Astronomy | Tags: Leonid Meteor Shower
California Fall Color has new posts. Here are the highlights
See many photos and full detailed reports at California Fall Color
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Autumn leaf color, California Fall Color, Fall Color, Fall Foliage
MDPatch reports
This is the time for Maryland leaf-peepers to go for a drive to view in fall colors as trees in Anne Arundel, Calvert and Prince George’s counties hit their peak, according to state foresters and rangers. Leaves have changed colors to vibrant oranges at Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, one expert says.
Read full repot at Maryland Fall Foliage Peak: Where To Find Best Autumn Color | Annapolis, MD Patch
Posted in Fall Foliage | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Foliage, Fall Color, Fall Foliage, Maryland Fall Color
The New York Times has a story that answers the question
What is it about California that makes wildfires so catastrophic? There are four key ingredients.
- The (changing) climate
People
Fire suppression
The Santa Ana winds
Read story at Why Does California Have So Many Wildfires? – The New York Times
Posted in Environment | Tags: Why California Has So Many Wildfires
Natural History Wanderings 