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| Western red-backed salamander [Gary Nafis] |
The western red-backed salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. The species is found in extreme southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States. The western red-backed salamander is found in temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. It is considered widespread in the region and is not strictly associated with a specific habitat type. (Wikipedia)
Crab larvae off Oregon and Washington suffering shell damage from ocean acidification, new research shows
Ocean acidification is damaging the shells of young Dungeness crab in the Northwest, an impact that scientists did not expect until much later this century, according to new research. A study released this week in the journal Science of the Total Environment is based on a 2016 survey of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia coastal waters that examined larval Dungeness. The findings add to the concerns about the future of the Dungeness as atmospheric carbon dioxide — on the rise due to fossil-fuel combustion — is absorbed by the Pacific Ocean and increases acidification. “If the crabs are affected already, we really need to make sure we start to pay attention to various components of the food chain before it is too late,” said Nina Bednarsek, the lead author among 13 contributing scientists. The study was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)
Mussels provide insight to marine water quality
With headlamps glowing and rubber boots crunching across the beach, a group of four volunteers led by the state Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Mariko Langness ventured in the darkness Monday night toward the Guemes Channel shoreline at N Avenue Park. “Let’s see what we’ve got,” Langness said as they set out. The group was retrieving a cage holding 100 native bay mussels that had been in the water since the last week of October. The cage was one of dozens put out in the fall in an ongoing effort to learn more about water contamination along the state’s marine shorelines. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)
Jordan Cove Energy Project Withdraws Application For Key Oregon Permit
The Jordan Cove Energy Project has abruptly withdrawn its application for a key permit from the state of Oregon. In a letter dated Jan. 23, the project told the Oregon Department of State Lands that the company was withdrawing the application effective Friday. No reason was given, but earlier this week, the department had denied Jordan Cove’s request for a fifth deadline extension for the application. It’s not immediately clear what the withdrawal means for the Jordan Cove project. Liam Moriarty reports. (Jefferson Public Radio)
Tribes stand united in fight to protect Bristol Bay from Pebble Mine
Leaders from five Coast Salish tribes joined a delegation from the United Tribes of Bristol Bay in Seattle this week to formally unveil a Bristol Bay Proclamation. It demands that the U.S. government protect the tribes' way of life, as “people of the salmon,” by halting the permitting process for the so-called Pebble Mine in Southeast Alaska. And it’s a pledge of unity in a fight that has been an uphill battle. The tribes say the land and water of three native peoples near the proposed mining area could be devastated by the Pebble Partnership’s efforts to extract copper, gold and other minerals. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)
Recreation over preservation? Residents and Natives worry the San Juan Islands could be ‘loved to death’
The federal government helped make the islands a national monument. But locals worry a Trump-era focus on making public lands productive could be their undoing. Levi Pulkkinen reports. (Crosscut)
Science ranks grow thin in Trump administration
Dozens of government computers sit in a nondescript building here, able to connect to a data model that could help farmers manage the impact of a changing climate on their crops. But no one in this federal agency would know how to access the model, or, if they did, what to do with the data. That’s because the ambitious federal researcher who created it in Washington quit rather than move when the Agriculture Department relocated his agency to an office park here last fall. He is one of hundreds of scientists across the federal government who have been forced out, sidelined or muted since President Trump took office. The exodus has been fueled broadly by administration policies that have diminished the role of science as well as more specific steps, such as the relocation of agencies away from the nation’s capital. Annie Gowen, Juliet Eilperin, Ben Guarino and Andrew Ba Tran report. (Washington Post)
Squamish lands low-carbon startup Nexii to bolster clean-tech cred
Nexii Building Solutions, the Vancouver-headquartered startup selling the construction sector on an alternative, lower-carbon building system, is proposing to produce its materials in Squamish, the company said Thursday. That is a welcome development for the District of Squamish, home to clean-tech poster case Carbon Engineering and a growing cluster of environmentally friendly businesses. “Squamish is clearly charting a future to reach carbon neutrality, so I believe these companies want to be part of that journey with us,” said Squamish Mayor Karen Elliott. “There is a lot of alignment with the vision were creating and people like Carbon Engineering and Nexii see for their companies.” Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)
The End May Be Nearer: Doomsday Clock Moves Within 100 Seconds Of Midnigh
Two years after moving the metaphorical minute hand of its Doomsday Clock to within two minutes to midnight — a figurative two-minute warning for all humanity — the science and security board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
revealed Thursday that it has moved that minute hand another 20 seconds closer to the midnight hour. “It is 100 seconds to midnight,” declared the Bulletin‘s president and CEO, Rachel Bronson, at a Washington, D.C., news conference as a black cloth was lifted to reveal the clock. Never since the clock’s 1947 Cold War debut has it come so close to the putative doomsday annihilation represented by the 12 a.m. hour. David Welna reports. (NPR)
Climate Change Could Cause the Next Financial Meltdown
Climate change has already been blamed for deadly bush fires in Australia, withering coral reefs, rising sea levels and ever more cataclysmic storms. Could it also cause the next financial crisis? A report issued this week by an umbrella organization for the world’s central banks argued that the answer is yes, while warning that central bankers lack tools to deal with what it says could be one of the biggest economic dislocations of all time. The book-length report, published by the Bank for International Settlements, in Basel, Switzerland, signals what could be the overriding theme for central banks in the decade to come. Jack Ewing reports. (NY Times)
Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca- 229 AM PST Fri Jan 24 2020
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY SE wind 10 to 20 kt becoming SW 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 10 ft at 10 seconds. Showers in the morning then showers likely in the afternoon.
TONIGHT S wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SE after midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 10 ft at 15 seconds. A chance of showers in the evening then rain likely after midnight.
SAT SE wind 10 to 20 kt becoming W to 10 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 8 ft at 14 seconds. Rain in the morning then rain likely in the afternoon.
SAT NIGHT E wind to 10 kt rising to 15 to 20 kt after midnight. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft building to 3 to 5 ft after midnight. W swell 8 ft at 13 seconds.
SUN NW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SW 20 to 25 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 4 to 5 ft building to 5 to 7 ft in the afternoon. W swell 8 ft at 17 seconds.
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"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.
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