Author: postMigrator

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“…the Western Arctic Caribou Herd is not the only herd in decline. 

Others in Alaska and Western Canada also are thinning.

“Taken collectively, these declines may merely be coincidence,” Dau 

said in a written statement. “Alternatively, we may be entering a 

phase when conditions throughout North America are less favorable for 

caribou than during the past 30 years.”

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer

May 18, 2008

Alaska’s largest caribou herd falls by 20 percent

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_wst_alaska_caribou.html

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska’s largest caribou herd fell by 20 percent 

between 2003 and 2007, according the latest count by the state 

Department of Fish and Game.

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd declined by 113,000 animals after 

years of steady growth.

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Monday, May 19, 2008

Ninth Circuit Sierra ruling should shift Forest Service priorities

6:31 PM ET

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2008/05/ninth-circuit-agrees-that-forest.php

Greg Loarie [attorney, Earthjustice]: “At its core, Sierra Forest 

Legacy v. Rey (incorrectly titled CBD v. Rey) challenges the 2004 

Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (also known as the “2004 

Framework”), which establishes management direction for all 11 

national forests in the Sierra Nevada. The 2004 Framework replaced 

the original “2001 Framework,” which set forth a balanced approach 

for conserving species and reducing the risk of wildfire and was 

widely regarded as the new gold standard for ecosystem-based forest 

management. The 2004 Framework abandoned the 2001 Framework’s 

carefully crafted standards, and called for a drastic increase in 

logging of large, fire-resilient trees throughout the Sierra.

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18 May 2008

Climate Change and Tropical Cyclones (Yet Again)

Filed under: El Nino Hurricanes Climate modelling Greenhouse gases Climate Science — rasmus @ 1:28 PM

By Rasmus Benestad & Michael Mann

Just as Typhoon Nargis has reminded us of the destructive power of tropical cyclones (with its horrible death toll in Burma–around 100,000 according to the UN), a new paper by Knutson et al in the latest issue of the journal Nature Geosciences purports to project a reduction in Atlantic hurricane activity (principally the ‘frequency’ but also integrated measures of powerfulness).

The close timing of the Knutson et al and Typhoon Nargis is of course coincidental. But the study has been accorded the unprecedented privilege (that is, for a climate change article published during the past 7 years) of a NOAA press conference. What’s the difference this time? Well, for one thing, the title of the paper: “Simulated reduction in Atlantic hurricane frequency under twenty-first-century warming conditions” (emphasis added).

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