Science
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Saving Salmon: Newsom Unveils Blueprint for Ending Decades-long Decline
Posted By Rachel Becker/CalMatters on Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 11:39 AM
The blueprint calls for tearing down dams and improving passages for migrating salmon, restoring flows in key waterways, modernizing hatcheries to raise fish and taking other steps to help Chinook, coho, steelhead and other migrating fish.
“We’re doubling down to make sure this species not only adapts in the face of extreme weather but remains a fixture of California’s natural beauty and ecosystems for generations to come,” Newsom said in a statement.
Fewer than 80,000 Central Valley fall-run chinook salmon — a mainstay of the state’s salmon fishery — returned to spawn in 2022, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It’s a decline of nearly 40 percent from the previous year, and the lowest since 2009. Last year, all salmon fishing was canceled in California and much of Oregon due to low numbers projected to return from the Pacific.
The threats to California's salmon are many — dams that block migration, diversions that drain rivers, ocean conditions and climate change. And the effects of the decline are wide-ranging: loss of fishery jobs, impacts on tribes’ food security and cultures, no local supplies for restaurants and consumers, and more.
Many of the projects and solutions outlined in Newsom’s report are already underway, or under the direction of the federal government, tribes and conservation groups. Included are the historic demolition of four aging hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, and reintroduction of endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Lake Shasta.
Regulatory efforts include establishing minimum flows on the fiercely contested Scott and Shasta Rivers, and the long-delayed and controversial management plan for the Bay-Delta, the heart of the state’s water supply.
Some environmental groups called the plan a ploy to burnish Newsom's image after taking other steps that jeopardized salmon: his waiver of water quality requirements in the Delta that protect salmon, his support of a controversial pact with major water suppliers, and his backing of the Delta tunnel project, which the state’s environmental assessment warned could put salmon at risk.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
California COVID Cases are Increasing, Again. Here’s the Latest on Boosters and More
Posted By Kristen Hwang/CalMatters on Wed, Sep 6, 2023 at 10:30 AM
It’s a familiar story by now, but one that has become perhaps more confusing with time because of changing public health recommendations, new vaccine boosters and our evolving understanding of the virus.
There’s no reason to panic, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said, with population immunity at high levels.
“Over the course of the last three-and-a-half years, we’re fairly sure everybody’s been exposed or vaccinated at least once, or exposed and infected whether they knew it or not,” Pan said. “There’s thankfully a lot more immunity overall.”
The test positivity rate has been growing steadily over the past two months, increasing about 8 percentage points since July to a 12.5 percent seven-day average. That’s a higher positivity rate than last winter’s surge, although testing data has become less reliable as access decreased and testing rates plummeted. But wastewater surveillance networks confirm what the testing data suggests: COVID-19 infections are on the rise across California.
The second indicator of COVID-19’s comeback — hospitalizations — is also trending upward. The number of daily new hospital admissions increased more than 87 percent since the start of summer.
The Labor Day holiday will surely fuel more transmission and hospitalizations, but hospitals are nowhere near the brink of collapse that previous surges threatened. The uptick in cases is not having a “dramatic impact on hospitals” so far, California Hospitals Association spokeswoman Jan Emerson-Shea said.
Still, public health experts recommend people take the typical precautions to prevent a serious outbreak: vaccinate, mask and isolate.
“Some people are very terrified. Most people are not thinking about (COVID-19) at all. The right answer is somewhere in between,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF Health. “At the minimum we have enough tools to have individual protection without having mandates.”
If you’re wondering what the latest uptick means, you’re not alone. Here are answers to common questions.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Super Blue Moon Set to Rise
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Wed, Aug 23, 2023 at 12:10 PM
According to NASA, so-called blue moons — and the accompanying phrase “once in a blue moon” — come about because the moon’s lunar cycle runs just shy of a regular month.
“So, eventually a full moon will happen at the beginning of a month, with enough days left for a complete lunar cycle,” NASA’s skywatching site What’s Up states. “When that happens, we get a blue moon.”
But this month, the phenomena brings a little something extra special. It’s happening when the moon is closer to Earth — since the moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle.
“At its closest point, called perigee, it's 14 percent closer than at its farthest,” the NASA post states.”About three to four times a year, the full moon phase happens to coincide with the moon reaching perigee, and we call that event a supermoon. While it technically appears a little bit bigger (and a tad brighter) than the average full moon, the difference is not super noticeable to the eye.”
Having a blue moon and a supermoon coincide — and hence the super blue moon — “occurs about every 10 years, on average,” according to NASA, which notes “the time between any two occurrences can vary from two months to two decades or more.”
So, here’s to clear skies for this month’s super blue moon.
Monday, April 10, 2023
What Can California Do About Abortion Pill Ruling? Not Much
Posted By Kristen Hwang/CalMatters on Mon, Apr 10, 2023 at 11:05 AM
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone more than 20 years ago, arguing that it was flawed and invalid. Kacsmaryk issued a temporary stay on his ruling for seven days to allow the Biden administration to appeal. The ruling is likely to pull the drug from pharmacy shelves unless a higher court intervenes while the case moves through the appeal process.
But just hours later, a district judge in Washington state issued a conflicting ruling in a separate case, prohibiting the FDA from taking the drug off the market. Despite the confusion caused by these dueling decisions, legal experts say even the threat of a legal gray area is likely to cause providers to stop distributing the drug.
Mifepristone is the first of a two-drug regimen that makes up the majority of abortions in the U.S., according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy center. It blocks the pregnancy hormone progesterone and is also used to manage miscarriages.
While the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision last June rescinded federal abortion protections, it left intact states’ ability to set their own abortion laws. California legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom jumped at the chance to make the state a beacon for progressive politics, even approving financial assistance for people in other states seeking abortions in California.
But Kacsmaryk’s ruling addresses the FDA’s authority nationally, and leaves little room for states to mitigate the fallout.
“We’re in uncharted territory,” Lisa Matsubara, an attorney for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and vice president of policy, told CalMatters a day after Kacsmaryk heard arguments in the case in mid-March. “It will take some time to understand how this will play out in California.”
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
UPDATED: Preliminary 4.6 Quake Hits Near Ferndale
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Tue, Mar 21, 2023 at 4:30 PM
The temblor struck at a depth of 9.6 miles, the initial report states. The quake is one of the largest to hit our actively seismic area since the 6.4 Dec. 20 quake and 5.4 New Year's Day aftershock.
"Today's M4.6 is an aftershock of the Dec 20 M6.4 Ferndale earthquake. It is the third largest aftershock recorded to date. It is not unusual for aftershocks to continue for months and to die down and then pick up again," a post on the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group's Facebook page states.
Find more information here.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Humboldt Sees Another COVID Death
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Wed, Jan 18, 2023 at 6:27 PM
One new hospitalization was also reported and, according to a state database, nine people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including three receiving intensive care. The death reported today is Humboldt County's 167th since the pandemic began.
Find the full public health press release, which includes a schedule of upcoming vaccination clinics, including for booster shots that now combative Omicron sub variants BA.4 and BA.5, and information on flu testing, by clicking here.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Humboldt County Sees Another COVID Death
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Wed, Dec 28, 2022 at 3:30 PM
Nine new hospitalizations were reported and, according to a state database, five people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including one receiving intensive care. The death reported today is Humboldt County's 163rd since the pandemic began.
Find the full public health press release, which includes a schedule of upcoming vaccination clinics, including for booster shots that now combative Omicron sub variants BA.4 and BA.5, and information on flu testing, by clicking here.
Monday, December 19, 2022
NWS Citizen Science Network Needs Your Help
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Mon, Dec 19, 2022 at 10:52 AM
The Eureka office of the National Weather Service is looking for volunteers to join the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow network, or CoCoRaHS, to gather data about local conditions.
“This grassroots effort is part of a growing national network of home-based and amateur rain spotters with a goal of providing a high density precipitation network that will supplement existing observations,” a NWS release states.
According to NWS, the network was spurred by a flash flood that hit Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1997, causing $200 million in damage, after a thunderstorm poured down more than a foot of rain over the course of several hours in certain areas while other portions of the city only saw moderate rainfall.
“CoCoRaHS was born in 1998 with the intent of doing a better job of mapping and reporting intense storms. As more volunteers participated, rain, hail, and snow maps were produced for every storm showing fascinating local patterns that were of great interest to scientists and the public,” the NWS release states. “Recently, drought reporting has also become an important observation within the CoCoRaHS program across the nation. In fact, drought observations from CoCoRaHS are now being included in the National Integrated Drought Information System.”
Find more information on how to become a volunteer here.
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Two More California Condors Set to Fly Free
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 12:48 PM
The birds set to try out their wings are A6 and A7, the last of the four in a second cohort of condors that arrived in mid-August. A7, a young female, recently returned from the Oakland Zoo after recovering from minor surgery by vets there to remove what appeared to be an embedded bone fragment that caused an infection in her jaw.
Those two will join four others — Ney-gem' 'Ne-chween-kah (She carries our prayers, A0), Hlow Hoo-let (Finally, I/we fly, A1), Nes-kwe-chokw' (He returns/arrives, A2) and Poy'-we-son (The one who goes ahead, “leader,” A3) — that took their historic flights in May and July, becoming the first of massive birds with a nearly 10-foot wingspan to do so locally in more than a century — as well as Cher-perhl So-nee-ne-pek' (I feel strong, A4); and Neee'n (Watcher, A5) that were released last month.
After A6 and A7 fly the coop, they, too, will receive Yurok names.
Monday, November 7, 2022
'Blood Moon' Lunar Eclipse Starts Just After Midnight
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Mon, Nov 7, 2022 at 1:10 PM
That red hue, according to NASA, is “because the only sunlight reaching the moon passes through Earth’s atmosphere.”
“The more dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the moon will appear,” the space agency stated in a post on the event. “It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon.”
Recent Comments
-
Re: Controversial Place Names in Humboldt County
I would like to know how we can move forward in renaming Larabee Creek, Larabee…
-
on April 22, 2024
-
Re: Kreis Files Answer to Ethics Charges, Denying Most Allegations
Wow greg, Thats a lot of denying, everything can be explained away, where you did…
- on April 15, 2024
-
Re: NCJ's Greenson Takes Second Freedom of Information Award
Mr. Greenson well deserves the recognition he has earned.
- on April 2, 2024
-
Re: Huffman, Haaland to Visit Humboldt Bay Amid Growing Tribal Offshore Wind Opposition
Now it’s 5,000 jobs? For how long? Sure.
-
on March 28, 2024
