History > 2007 > USA > Nature, Wildlife, Climate, Weather (IV)

Leaping sturgeon have injured three people on the Suwannee River so far this year.

Eight others were hit last year, and with traffic growing on the storied river,

sturgeon are joining alligators and hurricanes on the list of things to dread in Florida.

Photograph:

Oscar Sosa for The New York Times

Summertime. Fish Jumping. That’s Trouble.        NYT        4.7.2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/us/04sturgeon.html

In East Texas,

Residents Take On

a Lake-Eating Monster

July 30, 2007
The New York Times
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

UNCERTAIN, Tex., July 25 — How this one-time steamboat landing on Caddo Lake got its name is, well, uncertain — as uncertain as the fate that now clouds this natural wonder, often called the state’s only honest lake.

With more submerged acreage than Minnesota, Texas has just 166 bodies of water commonly considered lakes. All but one of them, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, are artificial reservoirs, most created in the 1950s to fend off drought.

Now that one, Caddo Lake, a mystical preserve of centuries-old mossy cypress breaks, teeming fisheries and waterfowl habitats, is under siege by a fast-spreading, Velcro-like aquatic fern, Salvinia molesta, also known as Giant Salvinia.

In what East Texans here liken to a horror movie, the furry green invader from South America, which is infiltrating lakes in the American South and abroad to growing alarm, is threatening to smother the labyrinthine waterway, the largest natural lake in the South, covering about 35,000 acres and straddling Texas and Louisiana.

“It’s probably the most dire threat that the lake has ever faced, and we certainly have had more than our share of threats,” said Don Henley, the drummer, singer and songwriter of the Eagles, who grew up in nearby Linden, keeps a double-wide trailer on Caddo Lake and has put his celebrity and fortune behind efforts to preserve it.

The United States Geological Survey calls Salvinia molesta one of the world’s most noxious aquatic weeds, with an ability to double in size every two to four days and cover 40 square miles within three months, suffocating all life beneath. The plant is officially banned in the United States, but it is carried from lake to lake by oblivious boaters, to the point where some private lake communities now limit access to boats already there.

“It’s your classic 1950s drive-in-movie-monster plant,” said Jack Canson, director of a local preservation coalition and a former Hollywood scriptwriter who, under the pseudonym Jackson Barr, co-wrote a B-movie plant thriller, “Seedpeople,” released in 1992.

On Tuesday, Mr. Canson and six local waterway and community officials gathered around a table here to trade sightings of the weed and plan how to spend $240,000 appropriated by the Texas Legislature. “I started to put down yellow markers,” said Robert Speight, president of the lake association, showing a map stuck with yellow pins. But he said he gave up: “I ran out of yellow.”

With most of the growth spreading unchecked on the Louisiana side, where Texas residents say the authorities have been preoccupied with Hurricane Katrina recovery, local advocates raised $35,000 for a two-mile net, put up in June, to seal off Caddo Lake’s more contaminated eastern half.

“We just stuck our necks out,” said Paul Fortune, a contractor who has lived his whole life on the lake. “We just did it.” But propagating leaves still float through gaps left open for boats, and are spread by the boats themselves.

In one area of Louisiana, along a thicket of cypresses called the Big Green Brake, the Salvinia has already grown out into the lake as a luminescent green crust over the water. “It’s at the stage where it starts to lose its eerie beauty and starts to look like a real monster,” said Mr. Canson, the prow of his motorboat poking cracks in the matted covering like an icebreaker. Even flamethrowers have failed to kill it, he said. And beetles that devour the plant elsewhere die in the Texas cold.

Now chemical weapons have been thrown into the battle.

Mike Turner, a burly boat mechanic who calls himself part of the “Caddo Navy,” has set aside his business to go out daily in his small boat for $25 an hour to spray Salvinia infestations with a government-approved herbicide mixture of diquat and glyphosate and surfactants to make it stick to the leaves.

“It gets in the water hyacinth and it hides, like it’s a thinking animal,” said Mr. Turner, removing the surgical mask that protects him from the chemicals.

“I’m finding stuff that was not there two days ago,” he said, mopping his brow in the rising morning heat. He said he felt the task was hopeless at first and considered moving but changed his mind. When he was born 40 years ago, he said, his parents dipped his feet in the lake, and he did the same 12 years ago with his newborn daughter, Patte.

“I’m trying to preserve this for her and her grandchildren,” Mr. Turner said. “Who we are won’t mean a lot a hundred years from now; it’s what we leave behind.”

Ken Shaw, chairman of the Cypress Valley Navigation District and a retired paper executive with a home and boat on Caddo Lake, said that no matter what, he too was there to stay. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Mr. Shaw said. “If Salvinia takes over, so be it.”

There is a lot to preserve, historians say. The only natural lake in Texas, perhaps augmented by a blockage of the Red River in the late 1700s or early 1800s, was home to the Caddo Indians said to have given Texas its name — tejas was their word for friend. The lake was once part of a navigation system that carried steamboats up the Mississippi River from New Orleans and along the Red River as far inland as Jefferson, Tex. The difficult landing here may have given Uncertain its name. A replica paddle-wheeler, the Graceful Ghost, now chuffs through the sloughs carrying tourists.

After Texas was founded in 1836, the lake became an outlaw haven so violent that two groups of warring vigilantes — the Regulators and the Moderators — fought each other to establish order, as chronicled in “Caddo Was...,” a published account by Fred Dahmer, a native of Uncertain, who died in 2001. A pearling business from the abundant mussels flourished here, and in defiance of county dry laws “beer boats” slaked local thirsts. Lady Bird Johnson was born in nearby Karnack where her father, Thomas Jefferson Taylor, ran a general store. And Howard Hughes Sr. tested his revolutionary rotary oil drilling bits on platforms in Caddo Lake.

The lake has long been called one of Texas’s best-kept secrets for its mirrorlike reflections of moss-draped cypresses along 88 miles of marked boat “roads,” bald eagle sightings, alligator haunts and prize fishing: a 500-pound bony fish called an alligator gar was once netted here and another, not much smaller, was caught on a rod and reel. Y. A. Tittle, the former star quarterback, keeps a lake house here with a cabin on the dock, Mr. Fortune said, where he can pull up a trap door and fish from inside.

Well before the Salvinia threat, Mr. Henley, having underwritten an effort to protect historic Walden Pond in Massachusetts, came home to Caddo Lake in the early 1990s to fight plans to dredge a transport canal that he called ruinous. On that victory, he and a lawyer-friend from Aspen, Dwight K. Shellman Jr., founded the Caddo Lake Institute in 1993. They were crucial in getting most of an 8,500-acre decommissioned Army ammunition plant turned over to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service for a Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in 2004, although decontamination work at the site is continuing.

Some local businessmen who had pressed for an industrial park instead were further outraged when the Caddo Lake Institute formed a coalition in 2001 with other local groups concerned about protecting the lake under guidelines of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, a conservation treaty signed in 1972 in Iran. Mr. Henley was denounced as a United Nations tool — “kooky stuff,” he called it — but the discovery of Salvinia in Caddo Lake last year overshadowed everything else.

“We spent years here fighting politics, “ Mr. Turner said. “Now it’s Mother Nature.”

    In East Texas, Residents Take On a Lake-Eating Monster, NYT, 30.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/us/30lake.html

Gulf 'Dead Zone' Still 3rd Largest

July 29, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:26 a.m. ET
The New York Times

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The oxygen-poor ''dead zone'' off the Louisiana and Texas coasts isn't quite as big as predicted this year, but it is still the third-largest ever mapped, a scientist said Saturday.

Crabs, eels and other creatures usually found on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico are swimming in crowds on the surface because there is too little oxygen in their usual habitat, said Nancy Rabalais, chief scientist for northern Gulf hypoxia studies.

''We very often see swarms of crabs, mostly blue crabs and their close relatives, swimming at the surface when the oxygen is low,'' she wrote in an e-mail from a research ship as it returned to Cocodrie from its annual measurement trip.

Eels, which live in sediments 60 to 70 feet below the water surface, are an even less common sight, she said.

The 7,900-square-mile area with almost no oxygen, a condition called hypoxia, is about the size of Connecticut and Delaware together. The Louisiana-Texas dead zone is the world's second-largest hypoxic area, she said.

This year's is about 7.5 percent smaller than what Eugene Turner, Rabalais' husband and a professor of oceanography and coastal sciences at Louisiana State University, had predicted, judging by nitrogen content in the Mississippi River watershed.

He had predicted it would be about 8,540 square miles, which would have made it the largest measured in at least 22 years. More storms than normal may have reduced hypoxia by keeping the waters roiled, Rabalais said.

Hypoxia occurs when fresh water pouring in from the Mississippi River floats above the heavier salt water in the Gulf. Algae die and fall to the bottom, where their decay uses oxygen faster than it is brought down from the surface. Eventually, the lower layer holds too little oxygen for fish and other aquatic life.

Nitrogen, from sources including fertilizer, erosion and sewage, speeds up the process by feeding algae.

The dead zone was larger in 2002 and 2001, when it covered 8,500 and 8,006 square miles respectively, and was almost as big in 1999. Scientists want to reduce the zone to about 2,500 square miles.

    Gulf 'Dead Zone' Still 3rd Largest, NYT, 29.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Dead-Zone.html

Study: Nevada Has Big Temperature Gains

July 26, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:09 a.m. ET
The New York Times

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada is among the states with the most dramatic increase in average temperatures the last 30 years, according to a new study that examines the impact of global warming across the country.

The average temperature in Reno from June through August last year was 75.6 degrees, almost 7 degrees above the 30-year average, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group reported. The gap was the biggest measured nationally.

Las Vegas' average temperature last summer was 3.6 degrees above the 30-year average from 1971-2000, while Elko's was 4 degrees above normal and Ely's was 2.1 degrees hotter, the report said.

''The scientific evidence of global warming is incontrovertible, and Nevada is feeling the heat more intensely than most of the rest of the U.S,'' said Stephen M. Rowland, Professor of Geology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

''Only a tiny bit of this increase in temperature can be attributed to increased urbanization the so-called urban heat-island effect,'' Rowland continued. ''Global warming is here, and we better get serious about confronting it.''

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the 2006 summer and 2006 overall were the second warmest on record for the lower 48 states. And 2007 is on track to be the second warmest year on record globally.

''Global warming is rewriting the record books in Nevada and across the country,'' said Jill Bunting, a spokesperson for U.S. PIRG.

''Unless our elected officials act now to curb global warming pollution, Nevada will see more severe heat waves that increase the risk for wildfires, drought, and heat-related illnesses,'' she said.

The new report found Reno's average temperature from 2000 to 2006 was 3.4 degrees above the 30-year average, the second-highest reading in the nation for the period.

The environmental advocacy group analyzed temperature data collected from 255 weather stations across the country to examine warming temperatures during recent years compared with historical trends.

Nationally, the average temperature during the summer of 2006 was at least half a degree above the 30-year average at 82 percent of locations studied.

Reno experienced 74 days the temperature hit at least 90 degrees in 2006 -- 21 more days than the historical average. The average temperature for all of 2006 was 3.3 degrees above normal in Reno, the report said.

The average minimum temperature in Reno last summer -- the lowest temperatures recorded on a given day, usually at night -- was 59 degrees. That was almost 10 degrees above the normal minimum temperature recorded from 1971 to 2000, again the biggest difference noted nationally.

Warmer nighttime temperatures exacerbate the public health effects of heat waves, since people need cooler nighttime temperatures to recover from excessive heat exposure during the day, the study said.

Las Vegas was second on that list nationally, recording an average minimum temperature of 80.5 degrees last summer -- 4.8 degrees above normal. It's average for all of 2006 was 2.8 degrees above normal.

Las Vegas' above-average temperatures in 2006 are part of a broader warming trend since 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, the average temperature was 1.7 degrees above the 30-year average in Las Vegas.

''Nevadans are starting to understand that global warming is affecting us right now, and that our elected officials need to start making some tough choices to protect our quality of life,'' said Kyle Davis, the Policy Director for the Nevada Conservation League and a member of the Governor's Climate Change Task Force.

------

On the Net:

U.S. Public Interest Research Group: www.uspirg.org/ 

    Study: Nevada Has Big Temperature Gains, NYT, 26.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Warmer-Nevada.html

Scientists Celebrate Butterfly Return

July 25, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:07 p.m. ET
The New York Times

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Though the surfers, skaters and beachgoers might not notice the butterflies fluttering by, conservationists are celebrating the return of the endangered El Segundo blue to its native habitat along Santa Monica Bay.

The insects, with a wingspan of about an inch, are thriving in plain sight at beaches in Redondo Beach and Torrance after scientists nurtured their dwindling population in three fenced-in nature reserves for years. It had been decades since the critters had been seen in their native habitat.

But thanks to an effort to restore native vegetation to the area, buckwheat, source of the butterflies' preferred nectar, now blankets bluffs that had been overgrown with invasive nonnative ice plant.

Still, scientists were surprised the El Segundo blues, thought to be too lazy to travel long distances, returned home without the help of human hands.

They have been on the nation's endangered species list since 1976.

''No one figured that they would just do it on their own,'' said Ann Dalkey, co-chairwoman of the Beach Bluffs Restoration Project. ''You can see them like crazy. They're everywhere.''

    Scientists Celebrate Butterfly Return, NYT, 25.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Rare-Butterfly.html

Falling Mice Population Concerns Experts

July 25, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:40 p.m. ET
The New York Times

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Some might think fewer rodents would be a good thing, but scientists are concerned about the dwindling populations of two small fury creatures on New Mexico's list of endangered mammals.

The state Department of Game and Fish says recent surveys show the number of New Mexican meadow jumping mice has dropped by at least two-thirds -- and possibly as much as 90 percent -- throughout the state. Surveys also show the Arizona montane vole is found only in a very small region of Catron County and in east-central Arizona.

''The thing in common between both is the loss of riparian habitat along streams and rivers in the Southwest,'' said Jim Stuart, a non-game endangered species mammalogist with the Game and Fish Department. ''There's a combination of factors. Grazing is often jumped on as a reason, but there have also been climate factors involved like the dewatering of streams and rivers and the lowering of groundwater.''

Stuart pointed to the drought that has had New Mexico in its clutches, saying it -- along with human management of the landscape -- can lead to fragmented or lost habitat and that any species can be affected, not just the meadow jumping mouse and the vole.

The Game and Fish Department is hosting a series of public meetings this week in Raton, Santa Fe, Alamogordo and Silver City to let people know about an effort to develop a recovery plan for the two mammals.

After the meetings, the department will put together a plan and present it to the public for comment and eventually to the state Game Commission for approval. Approval could come next spring, said Leland Pierce, the department's terrestrial species recovery plan coordinator.

Scientists consider the two rodents to be indicator species of the health of New Mexico's riparian areas.

Pierce said riparian areas are important habitat throughout the state.

Of the 867 species of vertebrates known to exist in New Mexico, more than half rely to some extent on aquatic, wetland or riparian habitat for survival, according to the department's Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy.

The problem is some experts suggest that New Mexico and neighboring Arizona, which also has populations of the New Mexican meadow jumping mouse, have lost an estimated 90 percent of their original riparian ecosystems over the last century.

In New Mexico, Game and Fish scientists did surveys in the 1980s and found the mouse -- with its striking yellowish fur and well-developed hind feet -- in the Jemez, Sangre de Cristo and Sacramento mountains.

When they followed up with another round of surveys in 2005 and 2006, Stuart said, the habitat at many of the original sites had changed and the mouse was gone.

The mouse and the vole depend on moist meadows along streams and rivers to make their homes, find food and reproduce.

Stuart said the goal of the recovery plan is to protect and improve remaining habitat as well as encourage better streamside management. He said it's possible the plan could call for building artificial wetlands and relocating animals.

The rodents' existing communities are fragmented with many miles in between, making it harder for them to survive, he said.

''Some of them are just hanging on,'' he said. ''These fragmented populations are more vulnerable to being snuffed out the next time a drought comes along.''

------

On the Net:

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish: http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/ 

    Falling Mice Population Concerns Experts, NYT, 25.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Rodent-Recovery.html

Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California

July 25, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:31 a.m. ET
The New York Times

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) -- Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.

An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid -- or Dosidicus gigas -- can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

''Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another thing for fishermen to compete with,'' said the study's co-author, Stanford University researcher Louis Zeidberg. ''That said, if a squid saw a human they would jet the other way.''

The jumbo squid used to be found only in the Pacific Ocean's warmest stretches near the equator. In the last 16 years, it has expanded its territory throughout California waters, and squid have even been found in the icy waters off Alaska, Zeidberg said.

Zeidberg's co-author, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, first spotted the jumbo squid here in 1997, when one swam past the lens of a camera mounted on a submersible thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.

More were observed through 1999, but the squid weren't seen again locally until the fall of 2002. Since their return, scientists have noted a corresponding drop in the population of Pacific hake, a whitefish the squid feeds on that is often used in fish sticks, Zeidberg said.

''As they've come and gone, the hake have dropped off,'' Zeidberg said. ''We're just beginning to figure out how the pieces fit together, but this is most likely going to shake things up.''

Before the 1970s, the giant squid were typically found in the Eastern Pacific, and in coastal waters spanning from Peru to Costa Rica. But as the populations of its natural predators -- like large tuna, sharks and swordfish -- declined because of fishing, the squids moved northward and started eating different species that thrive in colder waters.

Local marine mammals needn't worry about the squid's arrival since they're higher up on the food chain, but lanternfish, krill, anchovies and rockfish are all fair game, Zeidberg said.

A fishermen's organization said Tuesday they were monitoring the squid's impact on commercial fisheries.

''In years of high upwellings, when the ocean is just bountiful, it probably wouldn't do anything,'' Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. ''But in bad years it could be a problem to have a new predator competing at the top of the food chain.''

    Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California, NYT, 25.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Jumbo-Squid-Invasion.html

Drought Dollars to Flow to Plains States

July 16, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:50 a.m. ET
The New York Times

ORLEANS, Neb. (AP) -- As the federal government prepares to send hundreds of millions of dollars to farmers in Plains states deemed to have suffered from an ongoing drought, critics say the region is not as dry as some claim.

Kansas farmers and ranchers could get $121 million of the $3 billion in disaster aid available for losses in 2005, 2006 and this year, according to an analysis by professors at Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In Nebraska, they could receive around $73 million.

''The more they cry wolf, the government listens and gives them payments,'' said Ernie Kuhl, who has been Harlan County's official weather observer for the National Weather Service for 28 years. ''It's been dry, but it's not really been a drought.''

Kuhl -- who records precipitation in his backyard rain gauge and sends the information to be recorded by weather service officials -- is adamant there has been no drought in the county despite it being labeled a ''disaster area'' in recent years.

Kuhl said normal precipitation for Harlan County is about 24 inches a year. In 2005, it received more than 25 inches; in 2006, more than 27, according to his records.

The Standardized Precipitation Index backs that up. Nebraska and Kansas received normal precipitation in 2005, and with the exception of one region in each state that was moderately dry, they got normal precipitation the following year, according to the index, which measures deviations from a precipitation baseline using historical data.

Information used for the index comes from the National Climatic Data Center and is mapped by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The precipitation record contrasts sharply with the picture of oppressive drought conditions painted by farm-state politicians as they pleaded for drought relief dollars and called it long overdue once approved.

''For too long, South Dakotans have had to wait for drought assistance,'' Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said after Congress OK'd the $3 billion in disaster aid.

President Bush had resisted the disaster assistance, calling it unnecessary in light of a federally subsidized crop insurance program his administration described as a generous safety net. It was designed to eliminate the need for the type of assistance that was approved. Now, farmers essentially have two nets.

Planting carefully for dry conditions is not the norm, as many farmers prefer to ''farm the crop insurance,'' said Orleans farmer Bill Horwart.

Instead of rotating crops or leaving ground unplanted -- practices that can help boost productivity during drier spells -- many plant the same thing year after year, he said. They then rely on crop insurance payments triggered by crops with poor yields that are blamed on drought, he said.

But defining drought is far more complex than simply looking at rainfall records, some argue.

For example, a widely used measure of drought that takes into account factors besides precipitation shows that breadbasket states South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas were scorched by drought during key growing months in 2006, though not so much in 2005. Precipitation is just one of several criteria used when crafting the popular U.S. Drought Monitor map.

Bradley Lubben, an agriculture economist at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, predicted much of the disaster aid will go to dryland farmers, not irrigators, who are often able to keep their yields closer to normal during dry periods by pumping water.

Ken Bantam is one such farmer. He farms in Harlan County, pegged by government officials as a drought ''disaster'' area last year, and has done fine relying on precipitation.

''If we can get one or two inches in the summer we can get a pretty good crop,'' he said.

------

Associated Press Writer Chet Brokaw in South Dakota contributed to this report.

--------

National Drought Mitigation Center: http://drought.unl.edu/

    Drought Dollars to Flow to Plains States, NYT, 16.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Farm-Scene.html

Scientists Detail Cost of Global Warming

July 11, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:54 p.m. ET
The New York Times

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Wilting heat, deadly storms, flash floods, coastal erosion, more days with unhealthy air -- those are just some of the effects of rising temperatures on the Northeast, a group of scientists reported Wednesday.

They urged governments and citizens to take steps now to avoid the most devastating consequences of global warming.

The Union of Concerned Scientists presented a report detailing the disastrous consequences of climate change on the economy, tourism industry, coastline and agricultural production in nine states. The scientists said the goal of the assessment is to provide policymakers and business leaders with the best available science on which to base climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

''We've got a real problem when it comes to climate change -- there is a clear and present danger,'' New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine said before receiving the 145-page report, entitled ''Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast.'' It was compiled by 50 independent scientists from around the country.

The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and gasoline, are a leading cause of the heating of the planet, known as global warming.

In New Jersey and other states, the multi-billion-dollar coastal tourism industry will suffer from even a slight rise in sea level that will result from a global rise in temperatures, the scientists said. Less snowfall and more ice storms will adversely impact New Hampshire, Vermont and other states that draw winter tourists for skiing, snowmobiling and the like.

In New Jersey, two of the state's premier crops, blueberries and cranberries, would be threatened if temperatures rise by as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit by late century, as scientists predict if fossil fuel consumption continues to rise at current levels.

Some impacts of global warming have already begun because of heat-trapping gases already in the environment. Some impacts are expected to happen whether or not anti-global warming strategies are adopted.

For example, Boston and Atlantic City, N.J., are projected to experience once-a-century flooding every year or two. Coastal flooding and erosion along the eastern seaboard is projected to occur regularly, costing billions. And, in Maine, Long Island Sound and other coastal regions, the lobster industry will be decimated by warmer sea waters, and cod are expected to disappear from those waters by the end of the century.

The economic impacts of global warming extend to human health. With more days over 100 degrees, and more unhealthy air days, more people will suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments, and more will require emergency care due to extreme heat, the report says.

The allergy season will last longer, and more people will suffer more serious effects. Because many pests thrive in warmer, dirtier air, farmers may be forced to use more pesticides and herbicides to protect their crops.

The scientists encourage several mitigation and adaptation strategies. They include reducing reliance on fossil fuels, building environmentaly friendly buildings, retrofitting older structures with green materials and technologies, and developing wise transportation and land-use policies. On a personal level, residents can buy energy-efficient products; drive hybrid cars, take mass transit or use a bicycle; and not waste energy, the scientists suggested.

''We have so much to lose in our state if we don't act,'' said Environmental Commissioner Lisa Jackson.

The report comes five days after Corzine signed a law ensuring that New Jersey would be a leader in the fight against global warming. His Global Warming Response Act requires the state to reduce global warming gases to 1990 levels by 2020, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050.

New Jersey became the third state behind California and Hawaii to enact a comprehensive global warming law. But, New Jersey is the first state to set global warming targets so far into the future, and the first to require that energy imports adhere to New Jersey's standards.

Corzine said such action is vital on the state level since the federal government has failed to act on global warming.

------

On the Net:

Union of Concerned Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org 

    Scientists Detail Cost of Global Warming, NYT, 11.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Global-Warming.html

Coast to Coast, Americans Swelter Alike

July 10, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:07 p.m. ET
The New York Times

NEW YORK (AP) -- Even industrial-size fans couldn't beat the heat in Hell's Kitchen on Tuesday.

John Alaimo, manager of a taxi repair shop in the Manhattan neighborhood, said the fans only blow hot air around, doing little to keep his mechanics cool.

''I buy these guys gallons of water just to keep them going,'' he said. ''I can't afford to put air conditioning in here.''

The city put up a valiant fight against the second day of temperatures in the 90s as heat gripped the country from coast to coast. In Medford, Ore., the temperature was forecast to hit 105. Central Park saw a high of 92, well below the 102-degree record set in 1993, but still unpleasant enough.

More than a week of high temperatures across the West has raised wildfire concerns. Conditions have gotten ''super-dry,'' said Roger Peterson, a spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. ''And it's only going to get drier over the next few days.''

In the East, the heat spread as far south as Virginia, where temperatures in the 90s prompted state officials to issue a hazardous weather alert. Richmond opened three cooling shelters Monday.

The West Virginia town of Bluefield offered free lemonade Tuesday after temperatures surpassed 90 degrees the day before, following a decades-old tradition.

In Washington, D.C., forecasters predicted a high of 96 degrees, which would feel like 101 with the humidity.

New Jersey was more like a hothouse than a Garden State on Tuesday as the humidity made it feel like 100 degrees in some places. But after thunderstorms moved through in early afternoon, delaying flights across the Eastern Seaboard, the temperature was down to 85 in Trenton and 88 in Atlantic City, officials said.

A state office building in Philadelphia, where the temperature was in the low 90s, was closed because cooling systems weren't working properly. About 1,000 state employees work in the 18-story downtown building; the building was expected to reopen Wednesday.

In New York, park officials said they would keep the city's 52 outdoor public pools open at least an extra hour. Nearly 300 cooling centers were opened for people without air conditioning. Firefighters opened hydrants fitted with special sprinkler caps to douse squealing children.

The operator of New York state's electrical grid said power use was expected to peak Tuesday at more than 32,000 megawatts, enough electricity to power about 32 million homes, as people cranked up their air conditioners.

The weather was expected to ease somewhat Wednesday, with high temperatures in the mid-80s.

Associated Press writers Daniela Flores in Hopewell Township, N.J., and Christian Salazar in New York contributed to this report.

    Coast to Coast, Americans Swelter Alike, NYT, 10.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Heat-Wave.html

NYC's Jamaica Bay Wetlands Fading Away

July 10, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:22 a.m. ET
The New York Times

NEW YORK (AP) -- The scene from Dan Mundy's living room window is worlds away from the normal urban views of New York City.

The sky is a brilliant blue, and the waters lapping at the stone wall just a few feet away are clear and calm. A duck paddles off, and even a jellyfish looks more peaceful than dangerous as it undulates near Mundy's dock.

Welcome to Jamaica Bay, a wildlife haven just next door to John F. Kennedy International Airport and a short subway ride from Manhattan's skyscrapers.

But the tranquility hides a truth well-known to Mundy and others who have spent their lives here -- the salt marsh islands dotting Jamaica Bay are disappearing.

The loss of the islands could have huge ramifications for the environment because a quarter of the country's bird population makes its way through Jamaica Bay.

Marsh loss has always been part of life in the bay, but it has been accelerating in the past decade or so, said Mundy, a retired firefighter who advocates for the marshes.

Records show Jamaica Bay averaged a loss of 26 acres a year from the mid-1970s until the mid-1990s, but the pace picked up to more than 40 acres a year by 1999, the last time a comprehensive look was taken, said Brad Sewell of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who serves as co-chairman of an advisory committee for the bay.

Anecdotal evidence indicates the situation has probably gotten worse in the last couple of years.

There are around 1,000 acres of salt marsh islands in the bay. If the disappearance continues at its current rate or accelerates, the islands could be gone in less than 20 years, Sewell said.

No one knows for sure why the marshes are disappearing. Several possibilities are being considered, including the rise in sea level and the lack of sediment to renew the marshes flowing into the bay.

''Research has looked at a handful of contributing factors, none of them have emerged as a clear cause,'' said Steve Zahn, a program manager for a marine resources unit for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Some are convinced that excessive nitrogen from the city's four wastewater treatment plants is a factor. The nitrogen -- a byproduct from the water treatment process -- feeds algae blooms, which die off and are decomposed by bacteria that use a lot of oxygen, leaving less in the system.

The city acknowledges that more nitrogen than the system can handle is being discharged into the bay, but also says there is no definitive scientific evidence that the nitrogen is the main cause of the marsh loss.

The scientific model for water quality doesn't show that making the significant financial investment into reducing the amount of nitrogen coming out of the wastewater treatment plants will significantly raise the dissolved oxygen level, said Angela Licata, deputy commissioner of environmental planning and analysis at the city Department of Environmental Protection.

The water quality model did show an improvement in Long Island Sound, so the city invested in reducing nitrogen output there, she said.

Restoration is one possible way to fix the problem, but restoration projects are expensive.

A couple of marsh islands have been replanted, but the cost needs to come down before more projects are done, said Douglas Adamo, chief of the division of natural resources for Gateway National Recreation Area, of which Jamaica Bay is a part.

Otherwise, ''the cost will be so prohibitive that we're not going to get many acres for the dollar,'' he said.

But the price of a bay without the marsh islands is higher than anyone would want to pay, said Mundy and others.

Mundy pointed out that the islands act as a buffer for waves coming across the bay. Without them, the waves would roll in several feet higher than they already do. ''It's like a disaster waiting to happen here,'' he said.

And the role the marshes play in the ecosystem can't be overstated, with so many fish and fowl in the bay, Sewell said.

Plus, he said, it's a resource for urban dwellers. ''It's the only unit of the National Park Service that's accessible by subway,'' he said.

    NYC's Jamaica Bay Wetlands Fading Away, NYT, 10.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Jamaica-Bay-Wetlands.html

Heat Wave Descends on Northeastern U.S.

July 9, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:30 p.m. ET
The New York Times

NEW YORK (AP) -- The city opened nearly 300 cooling centers Monday as temperatures across much of the Northeast surpassed 90 degrees -- the hottest in the metropolitan area since a heat wave last year that was blamed for 40 deaths.

Extra utility crews were on hand in case of power outages, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged residents to help prevent blackouts by conserving power. He urged New Yorkers not to exert themselves in the sweltering conditions.

''It is very hot,'' Bloomberg said. ''I don't care how good a runner you are, I don't care how strong you are, you should take some precautions to prevent strokes.''

The temperature in Central Park hit 90 degrees at 1 p.m. High temperatures were forecast in the 90s through Wednesday.

''This is the first heat wave this year,'' said Joe Pollina, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Last year, a heat wave in late July and early August caused 40 deaths from heat stroke and contributed to the deaths of another 60 people.

On Monday, the city opened its network of 290 cooling shelters for the first time in 2007, offering people without air conditioning a break from the heat at senior centers and community buildings.

But one social worker with an senior-service agency cautioned that the cooling centers may not be enough.

''We've seen that the city has done a good job of publicizing the cooling centers, but it's often hard for seniors to get there,'' said Karen Fuller, director of health and nutrition services for Dorot, an agency that delivers meals and other services to homebound seniors.

The commissioner of the city's Department for the Aging, Edwin Mendez-Santiago, urged seniors to make sure someone checks on them.

''Make sure you're planning in advance, that you have water, that you use your air conditioner. And if you don't have an air conditioner, seek respite at a cooling site or any other location where you can cool off,'' he said.

Extra utility workers were in place to guard against blackouts like the ones that plagued the borough of Queens and suburban Westchester County in July 2006, when 174,000 people lost service or experienced low voltage.

''There will be outages in the summertime,'' Consolidated Edison utility spokesman Alfonso Quiroz said. ''And we're just hoping that when they come they are short in duration and few in number.''

Monday's heat spread as far south as Virginia, where temperatures in the 90s prompted state officials to issue a hazardous weather alert. Richmond city officials opened three cooling shelters.

In Washington, D.C., where the high temperature at Reagan National Airport was 97 degrees, the city set up several air-conditioned cooling where people could take a break from the heat and have a cup of cold water.

Unhealthy air quality also led some local transit systems to offer free bus rides in hopes of keeping cars off the roads.

State parks in Pennsylvania were closed after Gov. Ed Rendell furloughed more than 24,000 state employees because of a partisan deadlock that is holding up a state budget -- a move that put state-run swimming areas off limits to those seeking relief from the heat.

Seven-year-old McClane Dyerson looked dejected after his family had to cut short its weeklong camping trip at Black Moshannon State Park in Philipsburg.

''I like going to the beach,'' he said. ''That's what most people like to do here most.''

    Heat Wave Descends on Northeastern U.S., NYT, 9.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Heat-Wave.html

Dozens of Wildfires Ravage the West

July 9, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:39 a.m. ET
The New York Times

HOT SPRINGS, S.D. (AP) -- Overnight rain and cooler temperatures slowed a wildfire that had raced out of a canyon, destroyed 27 houses and killed a homeowner who went back to try to save his belongings, a top fire official said early Monday.

The change in weather gave firefighters a chance to shore up their fire lines, though conditions could shift again for the worse, state wildland fire coordinator Joe Lowe told crews at a morning briefing held in light rain.

''This fire is not over yet,'' he cautioned. ''This fire could come back to life again.''

The blaze was started by lightning on Saturday, and by Monday it had covered an estimated 11 square miles just southwest of Hot Springs, on the southern side of the Black Hills. It was 20 percent contained and crews expected to have it fully contained by Thursday.

Other fires blackened the landscape in California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Montana and Oregon, many of them also started by lightning and fueled by the dry conditions, made worse by a heat wave that sizzled across the West last week.

In addition to the death in South Dakota, smoke from a major Utah fire was blamed for two deaths in a weekend motorcycle accident, and another blaze still active in Utah killed three people last week.

Crews in California's eastern Sierra Nevada gained ground against a fire that had charred at least 34,000 acres, or 53 square miles, in the Inyo National Forest.

That fire was 15 percent contained Sunday after cooler temperatures and lighter wind allowed firefighters to make their first real progress, Inyo National Forest spokesman Nancy Upham said.

The flames skirted the popular John Muir Wilderness and destroyed at least one home outside Independence. Crews worked to protect major power transmission lines in the area feeding the eastern Sierra front and greater Los Angeles, fire information officer Jim Wilkins said.

A wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California blackened more than 6,500 acres in rural hills Sunday in Santa Barbara County.

A water-dropping helicopter crashed near the Los Padres fire and two pilots suffered minor injuries, Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Eli Iskow said.

The biggest wildfire in Utah history had charged across 283,000 acres or 442 square miles of extremely dry sagebrush, cheat grass and pinion juniper in the central part of the state.

''This fire just ran away from us, and we couldn't put a dent in it,'' said Mike Melton, fire management officer for Utah's Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

The fire was right along Interstate 15 on Sunday, closing 60 miles of the highway between Interstate 70 near Cove Fort and Beaver for nearly five hours, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Steve Winward said.

A fire in southern Arizona had blackened about 3,500 acres in the mountains near the telescope complex at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Air tankers dropped retardant between the fire and the observatory, and fire trucks were stationed at the mountaintop facility, officials reported.

In Nevada, about 1,500 evacuees from Winnemucca were allowed home hours after a 25,000-acre wildfire destroyed an electrical substation and several outbuildings, shut down Interstate 80, delayed trains and killed livestock. The fire was 10 percent contained Sunday evening. No injuries were reported.

''It was a huge wall of flame coming at the homes. It's amazing that no homes were lost,'' Humboldt County Undersheriff Curtiss Kull said Sunday.

A 45,000-acre fire in Idaho was contained Saturday, officials said. Crews on Sunday raced to repair fire-damaged transmission lines that threatened to cause rotating power failures.

Associated Press writers Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco, Raquel Maria Dillon and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City, Martin Griffith in Reno, Nev., and Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.

    Dozens of Wildfires Ravage the West, NYT, 9.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Wildfires.html

Temperature Records Fall Across the West

July 7, 2007
The New York Times
By WILLIAM YARDLEY

BOISE, Idaho, July 6 — Hilary Hartner dipped her dyed-black mohawk into a downtown fountain as the thermometer surged toward triple digits here on Friday. She then lifted her head to explain a main reason she was moving back to Portland, Ore.

“It’s too extreme here,” said Ms. Hartner, 25, whose border collie, Domino, cooled off in the water as well. “Way too hot.”

A few steps away, Marilyn Parker and a friend walked back to work after having lunch at a cafe, where they chose not to sit outside on the brick patio.

“It’s like stepping into your oven,” Ms. Parker said. “Of course, that’s a dry heat, too. You get accustomed to it, but I wouldn’t like a steady diet of this.”

It has been more of a binge for Boise and much of the West this week as a high-pressure system scorched the Southwest with record-breaking temperatures, well over 110 in places, and pushed northward into Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana.

Wildfires kicked up, too. Federal fire officials said that Thursday was the busiest day of the year, with 365 new fires reported. With weeks of drought, the heat wave and forecasts for lightning but little rainfall this weekend, firefighting crews took up positions in eastern Oregon, Nevada, Utah and California, and they are expecting the worst.

“This is absolutely the recipe,” said Randy Eardley, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center here.

[Heat records have been falling across the West, with Boise hitting 104 degrees on Thursday and reached 105, a record, on Friday. In Phoenix, where it was 113 at 4:30 Friday afternoon, the temperature has reached or exceeded 110 for 10 days in a row.]

“It’s very, very miserable,” said Chris Fuller, 27, who wore a wide-brimmed hat to shade his face while doing surveying work in the Phoenix area on Friday. “Phoenix has to be the hottest place that I’ve ever worked, and I’ve worked in Death Valley and Florida. I don’t know what it is, if it’s the asphalt or what it is, but, man, it’s hot here.”

On Thursday, when the temperature hit 115, the Arizona Public Service Company, the state’s largest electric utility, recorded its highest peak usage of the year, said a spokesman, Damon Gross.

In Las Vegas, the 116-degree temperature on Thursday tied a 1985 record and kept all but the hardiest souls from venturing out. The normal high and low for this time of year is 104 degrees and 77 degrees, so heat is always a matter of perspective. But it was abnormal enough for the city to open several cooling stations in recreation centers.

In the Central Valley of California, temperatures have hovered well over 100 degrees this week, bringing unpleasant reminders of last July, when a ferocious heat wave took the lives of 140 people, the state’s worst heat-related death toll since 1955.

“Every year you think it is the worst,” said Brandee Bridges, a receptionist at the Central Valley Y.M.C.A. camp on Sequoia Lake. “But this is the worst I remember.”

Summer camps in the area have been mindful of keeping children hydrated and indoors for many activities.

“The kids don’t seem to mind it that much,” Ms. Bridges said. “They’re still having a great time. We’re all just trying to stay inside and sit in front of the fan.”

In the Idaho town of Orofino, a 1-year-old boy died on Wednesday when he was left alone in a locked car as temperatures neared 100. Officials have urged residents to check on elderly people who may keep their windows closed and not have air conditioning.

Paul Flatt, a forecaster for the National Weather Service here, said the heat, although record breaking in places, was not unheard of.

The high-pressure system is working in different ways across the West, Mr. Flatt said. In the Southwest, he said, the pressure coupled with having the sun high overhead builds brutal heat in the ground that subsides only somewhat at night. Further north, he said, the sun is lower in the sky but out longer in the summer, allowing temperatures to rise slowly. The highs often do not occur until 6 p.m. or even later around Boise.

Early Friday, during a postmidnight respite from the sun, the members of a band, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, spilled into the 7-Eleven on Vista Avenue in Boise. The band, having dispensed its Christian rock at yet another hot show in yet another hot town on a nationwide tour, arrived at the register with frozen Salisbury steaks, pizza rolls and general refreshment, though not cold beer.

“The shows are so hot it’s ridiculous,” Dallas Taylor, 27, the singer, said. “But this is not as hot as Texas. Florida, this is probably as hot as Florida. Arizona, though, that was the worst.”

“Tempe,” specified Brian Holmes, 21, the manager of the band, whose home climate is Birmingham, Ala., where it is not the heat but the humidity that gets you. Mr. Holmes displayed various body parts he had sunburned since the band made its way out to the dry, deceptive West.

“Because we weren’t sweating,” he said, “we didn’t know we were cooking.”

Randal C. Archibold contributed reporting from Las Vegas, Paul Giblin from Phoenix and Jennifer Steinhauer from Los Angeles.

    Temperature Records Fall Across the West, NYT, 7.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/us/07heat.html?hp

California urges power conservation as heat wave sizzles

Fri Jul 6, 2007
12:21AM EDT
Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California urged citizens to raise thermostats and conserve power on Thursday as the first heat wave of the summer stretched into a third day in the vulnerable state.

Potential illegal immigrants were warned they could not carry enough water to make it across the border from Mexico safely into Arizona, where temperatures also soared.

The early summer blowtorch in California and the Desert Southwest reminded grid operators and consumers of the marathon 11-day heat wave last summer that strained power networks and caused more than 130 heat-related deaths.

The most populous U.S. state kept the lights on without any emergencies on the July 4 Independence Day holiday, with businesses shut down.

But power consumption jumped on Thursday as work resumed and meteorologists forecast temperatures in the major cities in California's Central Valley and the Desert Southwest would top 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius).

Power grid managers expect to avoid cutting power or unplanned outages, said Gregg Fishman, spokesman for the California Independent System Operator.

On Tuesday, a small plane crash knocked down transmission lines near San Diego and there was a loss of about 1,900 megawatts of generation in the southern part of the state, but plants were mostly back on line Thursday, Fishman said.

The grid manager forecast statewide demand for power on Thursday to be near 45,000 megawatts, below an earlier forecast of 47,000 MW.

A megawatt can serve about 650 to 700 homes in California.

The city of Fresno in California's central valley opened 11 "cooling centers" early on Thursday where the elderly, homeless and others could get some relief from temperatures forecast as high as 105 degrees F and 107 F on Friday.

The U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona, where temperatures were at 114 F in Phoenix, issued danger warnings to migrants in the Sonora Desert.

"All would-be crossers should be warned it is physically impossible to carry sufficient water to sustain adequate hydration in these extreme temperatures," the Patrol said.

Some cooler temperatures along the California coast caused a slip in power demand expectations, Fishman said.

"It's not a dire situation by any means but conservation is still a good idea," said Fishman.

Weather forecasts can change again and if the western edge of the heat wave causing temperatures well above 90 F moves toward the Pacific Coast, higher demand and a strain on the grid may occur, he said.

The demand forecast is well below the state's record of 50,270 MW set during the record heat wave last July.

California also has more power plant generation available to meet the expected usage Thursday.

The grid operator said a Stage 1 emergency, in which the grid urges consumers to reduce their usage of electricity voluntarily to avoid severe strains, was possible, while more serious emergencies were unlikely.

Forecasters expect temperatures to dip into the lower 100s in the Central Valley on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Arizona)

    California urges power conservation as heat wave sizzles, R, 6.7.2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0533600920070706

Heat Wave Scorches Western States

July 6, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:20 a.m. ET
The New York Times

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Sweltering residents across the West headed for lakes and rivers on Thursday, seeking relief from triple-digit temperatures expected to set records through at least Friday.

Some office workers were given the option to float on innertubes down the Boise River instead of sitting at stuffy desks, with temperatures in Boise reaching 104 degrees Thursday afternoon. Forecasters predicted a high of 107 on Friday -- six degrees higher than the 101 record for that date set in 1985.

''Once it gets that high -- 105, 107, 109 -- it just feels hot,'' said Rick Overton, a copywriter who arranged the float trip for the digital marketing firm Wirestone. ''I'm going to keep a tube under my desk for the whole summer and whenever it gets this hot I'm going to escape.''

But temperatures in part of the West were climbing so high that authorities warned residents of southern Nevada, southeastern California and northwestern Arizona that outdoor activities could be dangerous except during the cooler early morning hours. Phoenix reached 115 degrees; Baker, Calif., reached 125 degrees.

A 1-year-old boy was found dead Wednesday evening in a locked car in temperatures approaching 100 degrees in Orofino, Idaho. He was locked in the car for about five hours when passers-by noticed him, and the boy's stepgrandmother was charged in his death, authorities said Thursday.

St. George, Utah, hit 115 degrees by 5 p.m., a day after a nearby weather sensor recorded an unofficial reading of 118, which would top the the state's all-time record of 117 set in St. George in 1985. Summer temperatures across Utah are running 10 to 15 degrees above normal, meteorologist Brandon Smith said.

''To be honest, as far as temperatures, for as far out as we can see there's no relief,'' he said.

Around Las Vegas -- where temperatures reached 116 degrees Thursday afternoon -- transformers were overheating and causing electrical pole fires because of all the people switching on their air conditioners, said Scott Allison with the Clark County Fire Department.

In Montana, farmers anxiously watched their crops and thermometers. High temperatures for a handful of days can harm crop yield.

''Prolonged heat is devastating. Four or five days of it is going to be hard,'' said wheat farmer Lynn Nordwick near Poplar, Mont.

Even Stanley, Idaho, which at more than 6,000 feet elevation is routinely the coldest place in the lower 48 states, was seeing record highs, the National Weather Service said. The remote town in the Sawtooth Mountains reached 91 degrees Thursday, and was expected to hit 93 degrees Friday.

Hardly anyone in the tiny town has air conditioning, said Nancy Anderson, Stanley deputy city clerk. The City Hall offices are also without that amenity.

''They're all going to the lakes and the rivers and trying to find the shade,'' Anderson said.

At least 150,000 people were expected to flock to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada and Arizona in hopes of cooling off in the water this weekend, said Roxanne Dey, recreation area spokeswoman.

''For some people, we're the only affordable alternative for a place to cool off,'' Dey said.

In Phoenix, 42-year-old laborer Russ Waldrip wiped sweat from his face as he unloaded large windows from the back of a truck.

''When it gets this hot I pour water over my head all day,'' Waldrip said. ''Sometimes I can't wait to jump in the pool, but I don't even have the energy to do that.''

Arizona emergency rooms don't see many patients when it's this hot, said Dr. Ann-Michelle Ruha at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale. ''People in Arizona seem aware of the problems that come with the heat,'' Ruha said.

In Spokane, Wash., the temperature reached 101 degrees, well above the record-tying 100-degrees.

Northeastern Oregon residents were experiencing what was expected to be the hottest day of the year on Thursday, with temperatures reaching 108 in Pendleton and 107 in Hermiston.

The heat and a dry spring raised concern among firefighters.

''We're really primed to burn right now,'' said Dennis Winkler, an assistant fire management officer for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. ''We're well above average in terms of fire danger for this time of year.''

An index that helps fire officials estimate how fast flames would spread was at its highest point for early July in the past decade, said Dave Quinn, who manages an interagency dispatch center at the La Grande Airport in Oregon.

The heat wave began last week after a large high pressure center developed over Arizona, said National Weather Service forecaster Paul Flatt in Boise. A weather pattern was pushing that high-pressure center north into Canada, Flatt said, but most of the West is expected to experience high temperatures into next week.

Associated Press writers John K. Wiley in Spokane, Wash., Tim Fought in Portland, Ore., Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City, Moises D. Mendoza in Phoenix and Susan Gallagher in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report.

    Heat Wave Scorches Western States, NYT, 6.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Heat-Wave.html

Storm - Weary Texas Braces for More Rain

July 6, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:27 a.m. ET
The New York Times

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- With rivers and lakes filled to the brim and more rain in the forecast, emergency officials Friday braced for more of the flooding that has severely damaged or destroyed 1,000 homes.

State emergency management chief Jack Colley said all of Texas' major river basins are at flood stage, the first time that has happened since 1957. Major flooding was forecast on the Guadalupe River in Victoria and Calhoun counties, where it was expected to crest near Bloomington at just over 27 feet early Saturday. Flood stage is 20 feet.

''Mostly this time of year we're fighting wildfires ... The problem with this is, the water won't go away,'' he said Thursday.

Other areas of concern include the Brazos, Sabine and Trinity rivers and Nueces River near Corpus Christi, Colley said.

Floodwaters slowly subsided Thursday in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. Concerns eased that a full Lake Texoma along the Oklahoma-Texas line would send floodwaters into the Red River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said water could spill over the Denison Dam on Friday, flooding areas to the south. Those living in farm areas near the river were told to move their belongings to higher ground and have an evacuation plan.

Early Friday, Lake Texoma's level topped 639 feet, well past its normal elevation of 619 feet and just shy of the top of the spillway -- 640 feet, according to the Corps.

''It's still rising but right now, we've been able to handle the flows and minimize the threat for downstream flooding,'' said Ed Rossman, assistant chief of planning for the Corps.

To the south, storms that began May 23 continued pounding Texas. The National Weather Service said 1 to 3 inches of rain could fall Friday, with heavier amounts in isolated areas. On Thursday night, rainfall amounts in the past 24 hours included 5 inches in coastal Palacios, 2.17 inches at Houston's Hobby Airport and 1.88 in Rockport.

Flash flood warnings were issued overnight for several counties in northern Texas. Flooding washed out a bridge in Anderson County early Friday and authorities closed at least two roads, a dispatcher said. Hunt County also reported road closures.

Michael Gittinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said a series of low-pressure systems that have hovered over Texas for three weeks, combined with moist bands of air from the Gulf of Mexico, have fueled the near-record rainfall. The system is forecast to move northward through Arkansas and toward the East Coast.

The affected area covers 49 counties and 48,000 square miles from northern Texas to the Rio Grande Valley, a section roughly the size of the state of Mississippi. Thirteen deaths have been blamed on the weather in the past 2 1/2 weeks in the state, Gov. Rick Perry's office said.

The latest death occurred early Thursday near Clifton in Bosque County, when a car driven by a 37-year-old woman hydroplaned, collided with a curb and plunged into a creek, authorities said.

Four people have been reported missing, including a 6-year-old boy swept into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday as strong currents ripped him from his father's arms at the mouth of the Brazos River in Freeport.

In Missouri, the body of a 16-year-old girl was found Wednesday night in a submerged SUV after she apparently tried to cross a flooded creek.

So far, the heaviest flood damage has been in Miami, Okla., where the Neosho River crested at about 29 feet, its highest stage since 1951. The river was not expected to be back within its banks until late Sunday.

About 600 homes and businesses were believed damaged, City Manager Mike Spurgeon said. More than 30 roads in the area were still closed Thursday.

''We're starting to see an average drop of about a half-inch every hour,'' Spurgeon said, though he estimated it could take six months to a year to rebuild in the parts of town most heavily damaged.

Displaced residents watched and waited, anxious to begin salvaging soggy belongings. Dorena Jackson walked near her neighborhood in Miami, Okla., trying to get a glimpse of the home that she waded out of two days ago.

''I don't even have a change of clothes,'' Jackson said. ''I lost everything as far as I know.''

President Bush has already issued federal disaster declarations for numerous counties in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, clearing the way for housing assistance and low-interest loans, and more declarations are expected.

Associated Press writers Grant Slater in Dallas and Justin Juozapavicius in Miami, Okla., contributed to this report.

    Storm - Weary Texas Braces for More Rain, NYT, 6.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Flooding.html

Flooding Slowly Subsides in Kan., Okla.

July 5, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:45 p.m. ET
The New York Times

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Floodwater slowly subsided Thursday in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, though forecasters warned that isolated storms could hamper efforts to clean up after weeks of heavy rain damaged homes, businesses and roads.

''Rain is not out of the forecast but it's not expected to be any significant amounts to affect the rivers in any significant way,'' said Daryl Williams, a National Weather Service forecaster in Norman.

The weather had already been blamed for 11 deaths in Texas over the past two weeks and the death of a 16-year-old girl in Missouri. The teenager's body was found Wednesday night in a submerged SUV after she apparently tried to cross a flooded creek.

The worst flood damage was in Miami, Okla., where the Neosho River crested at about 29 feet, its highest stage since 1951. The river was not expected to be back within its banks until late Sunday.

''We're starting to see an average drop of about a half-inch every hour,'' City Manager Mike Spurgeon said.

A shelter set up in the city housed about 55 people, and flood damage was expected to affect about 600 homes and businesses, Spurgeon said. More than 30 roads in and out of the city of 13,500 were still closed Thursday due to flooding.

Spurgeon estimated it could take six months to a year to rebuild in the parts of town most heavily damaged.

''It's going to take a while for some of these people to get back on their feet,'' said Joyce Heeney, working at the First Baptist Church of Miami, one of the overflow shelters in town. ''We had one family that left (their home) with nothing.''

Concerns also eased Thursday that a full Lake Texoma along the Oklahoma-Texas line would send floodwaters into the Red River.

Ross Adkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said water could spill over the Denison Dam, possibly Thursday, but no major damage to homes was anticipated. The last major flood was nearly 5 feet over the spillway in 1990. This year's level is expected to crest at 1 foot over the spillway.

Still, residents, particularly those living in farm areas near the river, were warned to take precautions.

''(We're) warning residents along the Red River to move all livestock, equipment and other necessary belongings to higher ground,'' Bryan County Emergency Management Director James Dalton said. ''We are also urging residents to have an initial evacuation plan, should conditions threaten homes in the area.''

Thursday, the National Weather Service forecast a return to drier conditions in northeastern Oklahoma over the next 10 days, with an occasional isolated rain shower.

About 50 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops worked 12-hour shifts providing security in flood-ravaged neighborhoods.

As floodwaters receded in hard-hit southeastern Kansas Thursday, emergency personnel worked to get several semitrailer loads of bottled water into flooded communities where water treatments plants were down because of high water or power loss.

The area was mostly spared in overnight storms. The half inch or so of rain that fell was not expected to raise river levels, which should continue to slowly fall over the next several days, said Andy Kleinsasser, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

But south-central Kansas was hard hit overnight torrential rains, especially in Sumner County where some areas got as much as three inches in just a few hours.

In Texas, heavy rain spread across wide areas of the state on Wednesday, causing minor street flooding. More than half the state's counties were under flash flood watches, flash flood warnings, flood warnings or a combination of watches and warnings Wednesday night.

The Trinity River in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was expected to crest at 37 feet, about 7 feet above flood stage. Corpus Christi recorded nearly 3 1/2 inches of rain by Wednesday evening on top of 10 inches that fell on Monday.

In northeastern Oklahoma, the Caney River began slowly falling after cresting at 34.18 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The river, which forced hundreds of residents near Bartlesville from their homes this week, wasn't expected to fall below flood stage until Sunday night, the weather service said.

Associated Press writers Marcus Kabel in Springfield, Mo., and Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kan., contributed to this report.

    Flooding Slowly Subsides in Kan., Okla., NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Flooding.html

Another Storm System Heads for Plains

July 5, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:35 a.m. ET
The New York Times

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The floodwater slowly subsided Thursday in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, but forecasters said an approaching storm system could hamper efforts to clean up after weeks of heavy rain damaged homes, businesses and roads.

The biggest concern was at Lake Texoma along the Oklahoma-Texas border, where water was projected to spill over the Denison Dam later Thursday, said Bryan County Emergency Management Director James Dalton.

''(We're) warning residents along the Red River to move all livestock, equipment and other necessary belongings to higher ground,'' Dalton said. ''We are also urging residents to have an initial evacuation plan, should conditions threaten homes in the area.''

In Missouri, a 16-year-old girl was killed when she drove her SUV through a flooded low-water crossing and was swept into a creek. Authorities found her body inside the submerged vehicle Wednesday night. The weather had already been blamed for 11 deaths in Texas in the past two weeks.

Severe thunderstorms formed along a cold front as it sagged southward out of Kansas and Missouri toward Oklahoma on Wednesday.

Floodwater was ebbing in several northeastern Oklahoma communities, but meteorologists predicted more problems because lakes and reservoirs were already filled to capacity.

The worst flood damage was in Miami, where the Neosho River crested at about 29 feet, its highest stage since 1951, before beginning its decline.

''We're starting to see an average drop of about a half-inch every hour,'' City Manager Mike Spurgeon said.

A shelter set up in the city housed about 55 people, and flood damage was expected to affect about 600 homes, Spurgeon said.

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren took an aerial tour to assess the damage with representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Boren, a Democrat, promised to do whatever he could to secure federal assistance for the victims in his state.

About 50 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops worked 12-hour shifts providing security in flood-ravaged neighborhoods.

In Texas, heavy rain spread across wide areas of the state on Wednesday, causing minor street flooding. More than half the state's counties were under flash flood watches, flash flood warnings, flood warnings or a combination of watches and warnings Wednesday night.

The Trinity River in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was expected to crest at 37 feet during the night, about 7 feet above flood stage. Corpus Christi recorded nearly 3 1/2 inches of rain by Wednesday evening on top of 10 inches that fell on Monday.

In Kansas, water was receding in the community of Osawatomie as drainage structures were opened on the Pottawatomie River, and power had been restored to about 60 homes, allowing those residents to return, Miami County officials said.

At least 1,000 people were out of their homes throughout southeast Kansas, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas adjutant general.

In northeastern Oklahoma, the Caney River began slowly falling after cresting at 34.18 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The river, which forced hundreds of residents near Bartlesville from their homes this week, wasn't expected to fall below flood stage until Sunday night, the weather service said.

Meanwhile, a 42,000-gallon crude oil slick that spilled into the Verdigris River during a flash flood in Coffeyville, Kan., had mostly dissipated, and there was no indication the oil went into Oklahoma's Lake Oologah, a water source for Tulsa, officials said Wednesday.

Coffeyville Resources said oil had stopped leaking from the refinery. Officials were trying to determined what caused the spill and were assessing damage to the plant.

Associated Press writers Marcus Kabel in Springfield, Mo., Margaret Stafford in Coffeyville, Kan., and Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kan., contributed to this report.

    Another Storm System Heads for Plains, NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Flooding.html

West Sizzles As Temperatures Soar

July 5, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:44 a.m. ET
The New York Times

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A heat wave sizzling across the West showed little sign of letting up Thursday, with Las Vegas forecast to tie a record high and even northern Idaho expected to top 100 degrees.

''You can become dehydrated really quick before you know it. You step outside and, 'wow,''' said Charlie Schlott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas was expected to hit 116, which would tie a record for the date set in 1985. Near-record highs were also forecast for Southern California, where the mercury was expected to top 115 in desert.

A high of 101 was forecast Thursday in Spokane, Wash., and nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which would exceed the record of 100 set in 1975. Friday's forecast didn't hold much relief from the nearly weeklong heat wave, either.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the opening of state cooling centers in 13 counties, and the operator of the statewide power grid ask Californians to try to conserve energy to avoid brownouts.

The high temperatures, combined with an extremely dry winter, also worried wildfire crews across the West.

Three firefighters suffered heat exhaustion while battling a 700-acre wildfire that broke out Wednesday northwest of Santa Barbara, said Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Craig Vanderzwaag.

Moisture levels in some of the largest logs east of the Cascade Range have dropped to what typically is seen in the hottest days of August, U.S. Forest Service officials said.

''We're headed toward a long, hard fire season, the way it looks. The public needs to be prepared for it,'' said Steve Rawlings, fire management officer for the Colville National Forest in Washington. ''We've slid into fire season without people making a big issue about it.''

    West Sizzles As Temperatures Soar, NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Heat-Wave.html

Heat Warning Issued for Western U.S.

July 5, 2007
The New York Times
By JOHN HOLUSHA

The west wilted under near-record high temperatures today, while saturated parts of Texas and Oklahoma braced for renewed flooding, with additional rain in the forecast.

The National Weather Service issued an excessive-heat warning for the area west of the Rocky Mountains. Temperatures are expected to peak at 113 to 116 degrees in Las Vegas today and Friday, and are expected to reach 115 to 122 along the Colorado River valley, including the areas around Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. The warning continues through 9 p.m. Pacific time on Friday.

An excessive-heat warning is issued when temperatures are forecast to rise high enough to endanger many people’s health unless they take precautions. Authorities urged people, especially tourists who are not acclimated to desert heat, to confine their outdoor activities to the early morning or late evening hours, to drink plenty of water and to stay in air conditioned rooms as much as possible during the afternoon.

The temperature in Needles, Calif., hit 120 degrees on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 118 established in 1985.

Even in the northern Rockies, forecasters said, temperatures will reach the high 90s and low 100s today.

Meanwhile, the area from Oklahoma City to Dallas was bracing for thunderstorms that could dump 3 to 5 inches of additional rain in some areas. Since the ground in the region is already saturated by previous heavy rains, the new downpours could quickly lead to flash flooding.

Authorities warned motorists who encounter flood-covered roads not to drive through water of unknown depth. As little as six inches of water can prevent a driver from controlling a car.

In the northeast, a cold front will continue moving across the region, accompanied by thunderstorms that could cause locally heavy rainfall in the area between Washington, D. C. and Boston, including New York City.

    Heat Warning Issued for Western U.S., NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/us/05cnd-heat.html?hp

Rain Helps Save Parched Kentucky Crops

July 4, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:51 a.m. ET
The New York Times

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- For western Kentucky grain farmer Bill Clift, last week's heavy rains came just in time for his drought-stressed corn crop.

''We were a week or maybe 10 days at the most away from a complete disaster,'' Clift said Monday. ''Prospects look a lot better now that it's rained.''

Clift's parched fields in Caldwell, Crittenden and Lyon counties got about 2 inches of rain, breaking a dry spell that settled in in May.

Farmers elsewhere in Kentucky also benefited from rains that could prop up yields in the autumn and possibly rejuvenate stagnant pastureland and hay fields to feed hungry cattle.

Rainfall across Kentucky was normal or above normal last week, said Tom Priddy, a University of Kentucky extension agricultural meteorologist.

It was a welcome reprieve for farmers contending with a challenging growing year featuring a late spring freeze followed by prolonged drought.

''For agriculture, it was a huge boost, very timely,'' Priddy said of the rains.

Despite the precipitation, rainfall levels remain well below normal, and the eastern half of Kentucky remains in severe drought.

Still, last week's rains pulled western Kentucky out of a severe drought and into the moderate category, Priddy said.

Sixty percent of the corn crop was rated either good or excellent in the latest weekly report issued Monday by the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Kentucky field office. The previous week, 49 percent of the corn crop was rated good or excellent.

The latest report said 61 percent of the soybean crop was in good or excellent shape, up from 50 percent in the two categories a week earlier. Also, slightly more tobacco -- a more drought-resistant crop -- was considered in good or excellent condition in the latest report.

Until last week, Clift worried his 1,500 acres of corn would produce yields of 50 bushels per acre or less. Some of his crop might have died if it had stayed dry for another week, he said. Last year, he had his best corn yields ever -- about 180 bushels an acre.

Now, he estimated that his latest corn crop might result in yields of 120 to 130 bushels per acre, though more rain is needed -- as his crop goes through crucial development stages -- ''to max out the yield that we have left.''

Clift said he'll need everything he can get out of his crops to keep ahead of high production costs, which are due largely to the high prices of fuel and fertilizer. Also, he had to replant about a third of his corn that was killed by the late-spring freeze.

In Shelby County, just east of Louisville, rainfall amounts last week ranged from an inch to 3 inches, said county agricultural extension agent Brittany Edelson. Some of the drier areas received less precipitation, she said.

The rains will be enough to stave off dismal corn yields of 70 to 80 bushels an acre, Edelson said. She predicted, however, that yields will likely still be well off the 140- to 150-bushel county average. The amount of rainfall in the next couple of weeks will go far in determining the outcome of the corn crop, she said.

The rain spared tobacco producers -- at least for now -- from irrigating their leaf, she said. It also brought some needed relief for ranchers faced with parched pastures and hay yields that were well below normal earlier in the season. But it didn't solve their problems.

''Most of the guys are realizing at this point they're going to have to purchase hay or do some culling of their herds,'' she said.

    Rain Helps Save Parched Kentucky Crops, NYT, 4.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Farm-Scene.html

Summertime. Fish Jumping. That’s Trouble.

July 4, 2007
The New York Times
By ABBY GOODNOUGH

BRANFORD, Fla. — “Lots of artillery out there,” an old man hollered from the safety of the Suwannee River’s edge, and he was right. The sturgeon were jumping high and fast, twisting their armored girth in midair and returning to the depths with a stunning splash.

On the water, there was reason to be anxious. Florida’s season of “sturgeon strikes” — law enforcement’s term for collisions between the state’s largest freshwater fish and hapless boaters — was already well under way.

It may seem bizarre, but it is no joke. Leaping sturgeon have injured three people on the Suwannee this year, including a woman on a Jet Ski and a girl whose leg was shattered when one of the giant fish jumped aboard her boat. Eight others were hit last year, and with traffic growing on the storied river, sturgeon are joining alligators and hurricanes on the list of things to dread in Florida.

“These injuries are very impressive,” said Dr. Lawrence Lottenberg, director of trauma surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine in nearby Gainesville. “You’ve got people sitting on the front of an open boat, and the boat is going 20, 30, 40 miles per hour. The fish jumps up and usually slaps these people right across their face and upper chest. Almost every one of them universally has been knocked unconscious. If you’re not wearing a life jacket, you’re going to fall in the water and potentially drown.”

Fortunately, most sturgeon in Florida stick to the Suwannee, which winds 265 miles from southern Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico. Known as gulf sturgeon, they migrate between the river, where they spawn in spring and relax in summer, and the gulf, where they return in the fall to feed. They have no teeth or temper, only a pressing, mysterious urge to jump all summer long.

“You’ll be sitting out there,” said Melanie Carter, who boats on the river with her husband, “and then all the sudden, 5, 10 feet away from you, a big one will jump up and scare you half to death.”

Sturgeon have been around since the dinosaur age, and they look it. They have long, flat snouts and hefty bodies covered in sharp, bony plates. Gulf sturgeon can grow up to eight feet long and weigh 200 pounds, but even the smaller ones can inflict serious harm. In recent years, injuries have included a broken pelvis, a fractured arm and a slashed throat.

Brian Clemens was motoring down the Choctawhatchee River in the Panhandle in 2002 when a sturgeon “jumped up and hit him dead center in the chest,” said his wife, Joy. It broke his ribs and sternum, caused one of his lungs to collapse and put him in intensive care for three days, she said, adding, “There’s a permanent dent in his chest where that fish hit him.”

Wildlife officials have posted signs warning boaters to slow down. Leah Daniel, a friend of Ms. Carter, said there was only one other precaution to take: “Pray.”

Fear is not rampant on the gentle river, lined with ancient cypress trees and moss-draped live oaks, but curiosity is. No one knows for sure why sturgeon jump.

“We say, ‘Pretty much because they can,’ ” said Karen Parker, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. She said the jumping seemed more frequent this year and last, maybe because sturgeon favor deeper water and are feeling cramped with the river unusually low.

Ken Sulak, a biologist with the United States Geological Survey, has ruled out several theories. Since sturgeon do not jump in spawning season, Dr. Sulak said, the jumping must not be for reproductive reasons. And since they have no freshwater predators but occasional alligators, it is probably not an escape response.

Might they jump for joy?

Doubtful, Dr. Sulak said.

His guess is that sturgeon jump to let other sturgeon know they have found a good spot to hang out. They seem to gather mainly within six short, narrow stretches of the Suwannee where there are deep holes, so they do not have to waste energy fighting the current. They fast and relax all summer, basically “just going to the spa for several months,” Dr. Sulak said.

They can use the rest. The federal government has listed gulf sturgeon as threatened since 1991, and for nearly a quarter-century Florida has outlawed catching them. Ms. Parker said there were now 3,000 to 5,000 of them in the Suwannee; Dr. Sulak puts the number closer to 7,000.

But with more people using the Suwannee, more farm waste flowing into it and urban regions eyeing it as a source of water, the sturgeon’s future is uncertain, said Bill Pine, a fisheries professor at the University of Florida.

Dr. Pine would like to see speed limits on sections of river where sturgeon congregate. The state has imposed such limits along miles of “manatee protection zones,” but with fierce objections from boaters who say the restriction spoils their fun.

Some irate boaters have called the wildlife commission and railed against sturgeon, Ms. Parker said, even asking the state to “kill all of them so people can enjoy the river.”

Others think the fish are purposely attacking boaters who invade their turf, but Dr. Sulak said sturgeon were as docile as lambs. He sometimes acts as their public relations agent, encouraging curious boaters to watch as he nets sturgeon for population counts. They lie quietly on a scale in his boat, their rough, cold bodies looking bronze one second, greenish gold the next.

Some onlookers melt. “Once they see they’re not monstrous, they don’t have big teeth, they’re not mean — they’re kind of lovable, in a way,” he said, “that kind of defuses things.”

Jim Tomey, sitting by the riverbank, said watching for sturgeon was his summer ritual. As he spoke, one burst out of the water and returned with a mighty smack.

“I love to come down here,” Mr. Tomey said, “and sit and watch them fish jump.”

    Summertime. Fish Jumping. That’s Trouble., NYT, 4.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/us/04sturgeon.html

Drought Is Sapping the Southeast,

and Its Farmers

July 4, 2007
The New York Times
By ADAM NOSSITER

TONEY, Ala., July 2 — Northern Alabama has become acre after acre of shriveled cornstalks, cracked red dirt for miles and days of unrelenting white heat. The region’s most severe drought in over a century has farmers here averting their gaze from a future that looks as bleak as their fields.

The drought is worst here, but it is wilting much of the Southeast, causing watering restrictions and curtailed crops in Georgia, premature cattle sales in Mississippi and Tennessee, and rivers so low that power companies in the region are scrambling and barges are unable to navigate. Fourth of July fireworks are out of the question in many tinderbox areas. Hay to feed livestock is in increasingly short supply, watermelons are coming in small and some places have not had good rain since the start of the year.

On Monday, Dennis Bragg, the biggest farmer in Madison County, the drought’s center, clutched a scrawny, leathery cornstalk half as high as it should be, barely reaching his waist. A healthy one should now be towering over him, according to the calendar.

“This right here is going to be a zero,” Mr. Bragg said, pushing the puny thing away. “This is what we call a weed.” The field of muted green will be a loss.

Down the road, he stopped his truck at a barren hillside that should be carpeted with green soy plants. “I tend not come over here and look at it,” he said, bending his head. “This whole hill never came up because of the drought.”

In the browning corn fields here, the light breeze makes a tindery noise as it rustles the dry stalks.

Struggling to pay their bills, farmers here in the Tennessee Valley say they are burning through cash reserves and staring at bankruptcy, as last year’s dry weather turned into a singeing drought this year. Gleaming steel grain bins that should be full of corn ready to become ethanol are virtually empty. Cattle sales are several times normal; the farmers have nothing to feed them. Harvest day’s expected small returns will be make-or-break time, farmers here say.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Alabama, beetles are boring into bone-dry pine trees, threatening century-old stands. Lake levels are 10 feet below normal, and boathouses are sticking up out of the water.

There is also a drought in Southern California and much of the Southwest, but the one in the Southeast, encompassing more than a dozen farm-reliant states as far north as Ohio and Indiana, is more unusual, producing conditions not seen in more than 50 years in some places, and longer in northern Alabama.

Much of the region, government scientists say, is suffering from a rare sharp dry spell, though they are reluctant to attribute it to climate change. “In terms of its intensity, this one is very severe,” said Donald Wilhite, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Most of northern Alabama, along with parts of Mississippi and Georgia, is rated D4, the center’s highest possible level of drought intensity, signifying an exceptional drought.

Scientists call it a cruel freak of nature, one that is causing misery to farmers at a critical period in the growing cycle and has already ruined a “startling” proportion of Alabama’s agricultural output, said Douglas Le Comte, a senior meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some 88 percent of the state’s corn crop is classified by the government as poor to very poor, along with 85 percent of its soybeans and 74 percent of its cotton.

“The reality is, we’re going to lose a significant amount of money this year,” said Stuart Sanderson, a fourth-generation farmer in Limestone County, east of here. The foothills of the Appalachians make an alluring backdrop, but the reality on the ground is grim.

“A disaster like this is one you never see coming. We’re looking at a 70 to 80 percent loss,” Mr. Sanderson said, standing by a useless field of shrunken cornstalks. The rare, stunted ear could only manage a few malformed grains.

Deep cracks in the red earth indicated dry soil inches deep. “I’ve never seen this ground do that,” he said.

Rainfall is at least 20 inches below the normal 32 inches and in some places far lower than that. Jerry Newby, president of the Alabama Farmers Federation, said: “It’s gone from bad to worse. All of the corn is pretty much lost that’s not under irrigation.”

On Monday, the entire state was declared a drought disaster area by the federal Department of Agriculture, making many farmers eligible for low-interest emergency loans. “Nobody alive has ever seen it like this,” said Perry Mobley, the beef and hay director of the farmers’ federation. And the National Weather Service says conditions are unlikely to change until fall.

The governors of Georgia and Alabama called for prayer; rare showers in the following days made the front pages here earlier this week.

Out at Mr. Bragg’s 7,000-acre, third-generation spread just north of Huntsville, immediate worries are pressing: he is facing the classic farmer’s debt squeeze, with heavy investment — $1 million in giant new silos, a down payment on an ethanol-based future — and little revenue to pay for it. Mr. Bragg is contemplating a $500,000 loss.

Mr. Sanderson’s grain bins cost $400,000. “Not only have we lost our revenue, I’m also $400,000 in debt,” he said.

Mr. Bragg said, “My salary is tied to how much it rains.” He is luckier than most because some of his crop is irrigated by giant sprayers. He still has “the potential to work for this whole year and not get paid.”

In his cotton fields, the stalks are not high enough to be reached by the mechanical picker. Every stalk should have 10 bolls, but these barely have four or five.

The drought takes a psychological toll. Mr. Bragg spoke of a tight feeling in the pit of his stomach when drought sets in. “Mentally, we expect it,” he said, “but genetically, we can’t handle it.”

The true reckoning will be unpleasant , and it will come later this year. “I don’t plan on having to sell out this year,” Mr. Sanderson said. “But there’s only so much I can handle. If we come out next year with another year like this, you’re going to see a significant number of farmers go out of business.”

Drought Is Sapping the Southeast, and Its Farmers, NYT, 4.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/us/04drought.html

Oil Plus Floods

Turn Kansas Town Slimy

July 3, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:36 p.m. ET
The New York Times

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (AP) -- The flood engulfing homes to the rooftops carried an extra curse Tuesday as a slick of 42,000 gallons of thick crude oil floated downstream with the mud and debris, coating everything it touched with a slimy, smelly layer of goo.

''My question is how are they going to get all that oil out of the environment,'' said Mary Burge, a heart surgery patient who had to breathe from a portable oxygen tank because the petroleum odor Monday was so strong it could be detected by the crews of helicopters passing overhead.

By Tuesday, the oil was nearing a large Oklahoma reservoir that supplies water to several cities.

The Verdigris River had crested and was beginning to recede Tuesday at Coffeyville, but it was kept high by water being released from the Elk City and Fall River Toronto Lake reservoirs upstream, said Jim Miller, Montgomery County emergency manager.

''It's going to come down the Verdigris until they shut that water supply off,'' he said. ''So it's just a matter of time.''

A malfunction allowed the oil to spill from the Coffeyville Resources refinery on Sunday, while the plant was shutting down in advance of the flood heading toward it on the Verdigris River.

Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas adjutant general, said the EPA and state officials would work with officials at the refinery to measure the amount of contamination and help the refinery clean up. In the meantime, however, Watson said, ''We're asking everyone to avoid the floodwaters.''

That wasn't an option for Fire Department Capt. Mike Mansfield, who rescued eight dogs from water-logged homes Monday. He said all the dogs found outside were covered in oil.

The oil slick had been expected to float into Oklahoma's Oologah Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa, early Tuesday, said Dave Bary, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas.

However, officials who flew over the river said that by late morning the slick was still about 5 or 6 miles from the lake entrance.

Tulsa is among the nine Oklahoma cities that get public water supplies from the Verdigris and Oologah.

The floating oil, which would enter the north end of the lake, wasn't expected to have an effect on water supply intakes located well below the surface at the south end, said Skylar McElhaney, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

The oil joins other causes of misery for thousands of flood evacuees in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

''We do have health concerns,'' said Bret Glendening, city manager in Osawatomie, Kan. ''You've got stagnant water. The water's been into the wood. You have mold issues. There's a whole host of concerns flooding causes.''

''All our utilities are under water,'' Fredonia Mayor Max Payne said.

However, the water had receded significantly at Osawatomie by Tuesday morning, said Mayor Philip Dudley. Pumps provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were ''making significant progress.''

''I saw drops (in water level) on the sides of houses of about a foot and half,'' Dudley said. ''It's looking a lot better than it did Saturday and Sunday.''

On Monday night, President Bush declared a major disaster in Kansas and ordered federal aid for recovery efforts.

Flooding on the Marais des Cygnes river stretched from Kansas into western Missouri, where residents of two small farm communities were urged to evacuate because high water was cutting off their access by road. Most residents of Rockville and Papinville -- total population about 140 -- were believed to have left, said Bates County Emergency Management Director Tim Young.

Eleven deaths have been blamed on weeks of heavy rain and flooding in Texas, where two men are missing.

More thunderstorms hit parts of Texas on Monday, flooding some roads. The National Weather Service said about 10 inches of rain fell by noon at Corpus Christi.

Two youngsters were rescued from an Arlington, Texas, drainage channel, one after floating half a mile downstream through at least three viaducts, said Fire Department Battalion Chief David Stapp. A handful of people had to be rescued from flooded homes in Laredo.

In North Little Rock, Ark., about 30 homes were evacuated Monday when heavy rain and a faulty drainage system caused flooding up to 6 feet deep in some spots.

Associated Press writer Thomas Peipert in Cedar Hill, Texas, contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that oil has not yet reached Oklahoma reservoir.)

Oil Plus Floods Turn Kansas Town Slimy, NYT, 3.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Flooding.html

Hundreds Evacuate

As Plains Rivers Bulge

July 2, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:46 a.m. ET
The New York Times

OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) -- Rivers swollen to record levels by days of heavy rain inched higher in parts of the southern Plains on Monday, keeping people from returning to ruined homes.

Crude oil spilling from a refinery into one flooding river contributed to the mess.

The Kansas National Guard was sent to help with a mandatory evacuation of Osawatomie, a small town in eastern Kansas and one of the hardest-hit communities in the region. The town evacuated 40 percent of its 4,600 residents after two rivers -- Pottawatomie Creek on the town's south flank and the Marais des Cygnes on the north -- rose out of their banks.

''I think the Marais des Cygnes will be OK,'' Mayor Philip Dudley said. ''I'm still concerned about Pottawatomie Creek. It's supposed to get over 49 feet on Monday.''

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius planned to survey the damage Monday.

Rain had mostly stopped falling Monday in Kansas, but the National Weather Service extended a flash flood watch for six counties in the state's southeast corner because major flooding continued on area rivers.

Levees and dikes around Osawatomie held after volunteers reinforced them with sandbags, but water pooling in low-lying areas overwhelmed pumps and flooded neighborhoods.

''It's going to be a few days before we get some of the higher rivers to come down,'' said Maren Stoflet, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Pleasant Hill, Mo.

Problems created by the flooding were compounded by a spill of more than 42,000 gallons of crude oil from the Coffeyville Resources refinery into the Verdigris River, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Emergency Management Agency.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency had teams on the scene of the spill, said Jim Miller, Montgomery County emergency manager. About a third of the homes in Coffeyville and a quarter of homes in Independence had been evacuated, he said, and water intakes for Coffeyville, Independence and Elk City had been shut down.

Coffeyville Mayor Virgin Horn said his own house was submerged.

''We're very concerned,'' Horn said. ''It's chemicals mixed with water.''

The oil was expected to flow down the swollen Verdigris River into Oklahoma and Lake Oologah, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the Kansas state adjutant. The lake, about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa, provides flood control in the Verdigris and Arkansas river basins and is used for boating and fishing.

''The water's moving too fast for us to do anything with it right now,'' Bunting said Monday.

While Kansas was getting a break, more rain was scattered over Texas and eastern Oklahoma on Sunday and Monday, the latest in nearly two weeks of storms that have inundated parts of Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Eleven deaths have been blamed on the storms and flooding in Texas, where two men are missing.

The overnight rainfall flooded a few roads in South Texas but there were no reports of stranded motorists or evacuations, authorities said.

During June, the weather service measured more than 11 inches of rain at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, about a half-inch shy of the 1928 record. The Texas town of Marble Falls, northwest of Austin, collected about 18 inches in one night last week.

At least 200 people were still displaced from their homes near the Brazos River in Texas' Parker County.

Although some flooding eased in northern and central Texas, officials cautioned that more was possible.

''It's a continuous up and down situation,'' said Shawn Scott, Parker County emergency management coordinator. ''This could be ongoing for the next few days.''

Oklahoma also has suffered flooding, with some of the worst on Sunday near Bartlesville, where the Caney River was more than 3 feet above flood stage.

Amtrak's Heartland Flyer passenger rail service between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth was halted Sunday because of flooding in north Texas, said Terry Angier, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Passengers were placed on buses.

------

Associated Press writers David Twiddy in Kansas City, Marcus Kabel in Springfield, and Anabelle Garay in Dallas contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/

Hundreds Evacuate As Plains Rivers Bulge, NYT, 2.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Flooding.html