4/3 Sapsucker, Canada warming, CO2 extraction, BC LNG, carbon pricing, Shell climate policy, smells, lead poison

Red-breasted sapsucker [Grace Oliver]

Drumming with Woodpeckers
Like a jazz player beating out a drum roll, a woodpecker uses its bill to rap out a brisk series of notes. Early spring resounds with the percussive hammering of woodpeckers. Their rhythmic drumming says to other woodpeckers, "This is my territory!" We also hear them knocking on wood when they carve holes in trees to create nest cavities or reach insects. For any woodpecker, it’s all about proclaiming a signal as far and as loud as possible. (BirdNote)

Canada warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, report says
Canada is warming on average at a rate twice as fast as the rest of the world, a new scientific report indicates. The federal government climate report also warns that changes are already evident in many parts of the country and are projected to intensify. Canada's Arctic has seen the deepest impact and will continue to warm at more than double the global rate. The report suggests that many of the effects already seen are probably irreversible. (BBC) See also: Environmentalists hope for action in wake of 'shocking and utterly unsurprising' climate-change report  Clare Hennig reports. (CBC)

Climate change: 'Magic bullet' carbon solution takes big step
A technology that removes carbon dioxide from the air has received significant backing from major fossil fuel companies. British Columbia-based Carbon Engineering has shown that it can extract CO2 in a cost-effective way. It has now been boosted by $68m in new investment from Chevron, Occidental and coal giant BHP. But climate campaigners are worried that the technology will be used to extract even more oil.  Matt McGrath reports. (BBC)

Liberals tweak NDP noses with rare legislature win
B.C.’s New Democrat government suffered an embarrassing defeat in the legislature on a section of its marquee liquefied natural gas bill Tuesday night after its power-sharing partners, the Greens, walked out of a vote. MLAs were in committee phase, debating details of the NDP’s LNG Income Tax Amendment Act, which offers more than $6 billion in tax breaks to the $40-billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat. The Liberals proposed an amendment to one of the bill’s sections. Green leader Andrew Weaver, who has opposed the NDP’s pursuit of an LNG industry because of pollution it will cause to the environment, walked out of the chamber and his three-person caucus abstained from the vote. Rob Shaw reports. (Vancouver Sun)

These Countries Have Prices on Carbon. Are They Working?
The idea of putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions to help tackle climate change has been slowly spreading around the globe over the past two decades. This week, Canada’s federal government took the latest step when it extended its carbon-pricing program nationwide by imposing a tax on fossil fuels in four provinces that had declined to write their own climate plans. More than 40 governments worldwide have now adopted some sort of price on carbon, either through direct taxes on fossil fuels or through cap-and-trade programs. Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich report. (NY Times)

Citing climate differences, Shell walks away from U.S. refining lobby
Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Tuesday became the first major oil and gas company to announce plans to leave a leading U.S. refining lobby due to disagreement on climate policies, citing its support for the goals of the Paris climate agreement. In its first review of its association with 19 key industry groups, Shell said it had found “material misalignment” over climate policy with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and would quit the body in 2020.  Ron Bousso reports. (Reuters)

We know where that smell in Tacoma is coming from. We’re not sure when it’ll go away.
Some of the online chatter said it smelled like feces. Others said death, or pet food. Many on Facebook and Twitter asked where the strange odor that descended on Tacoma during the weekend came from. The city and the Port of Tacoma had some answers Monday. Alexis Krell reports. (News Tribune of Tacoma) See also: The Secret of the Seattle Stink. Help us solve this mystery  It's a dark, rainy night, and Pamela Sackett and I head to south Seattle, to the banks of the Duwamish River, in search of a mysterious odor. This odor torments her. Sackett describes it as a “sweet, sickly, fertilizer smell” so repugnant she sleeps with her windows shut tight, even in the summer heat. David Hyde reports. (KUOW)

Lead poisoning suspected in local trumpeter swan deaths
They’ve been dying in alarming numbers. Since March 17, more than 50 trumpeter swans have been found dead or dying in an area south of Monroe and into north King County. More than two dozen of the dead came from Crescent Lake, off High Bridge Road near the Snoqualmie River, a major night roost for swans this time of year. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and advocates for swans have retrieved many of the birds in recent weeks. The plan is to study the swans’ livers and gizzards to confirm what’s causing their deaths. Martha Jordan, who has been advocating for swans for more than 40 years, is pretty confident she knows the cause: lead poisoning. Eric Stevick reports. (Everett Herald)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  242 AM PDT Wed Apr 3 2019   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt rising to 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 14 seconds. Showers. 
TONIGHT  SW wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell  4 ft at 12 seconds. A chance of showers.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter. 

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told