John Ryan

Salmon, rivers hit hard by recent Washington floods The atmospheric river that hit the Pacific Northwest in early December took a heavy toll on salmon, biologists working with Puget Sound tribes say.

From 2023: www.kuow.org/stories/salm...

Service disruption due to potential flooding. All trains south of Seattle are running normally. However, due to the level of the Skagit river, trains operating b/t SEA & VAC Canada, will be suspended Dec 11 & 12. Alternate bus transportation may not be available due to flooding.

Western Washington faces 'catastrophic' flooding as two atmospheric rivers dump heavy rain Western Washington braced for what the National Weather Service in Seattle called “catastrophic” conditions Wednesday as an atmospheric river drenched the state.

Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency in response to the intense flooding. Several impacted counties also issued evacuation orders Wednesday afternoon.

We anticipate potentially 100,000 Washingtonians facing evacuation orders. The situation is fluid and changing all the time. We expect rivers to hit historic levels as early as 4 a.m. tomorrow, lasting into Friday morning.

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if you had asked me a decade ago if i thought WA would be a climate haven - i'd have said yes.

in the time since, wildfires and smoke season have increased dramatically. the heat dome. we're presently under a flood warning.

there are no havens - the effects of climate change will come for us all

How much of the observed global warming was caused by humans? Science's best estimate: ALL OF IT

Trump denies Washington state's disaster-aid request, again For a second time, President Donald Trump has denied Washington state’s request for major-disaster aid following a bomb cyclone storm that hit in November.

Bomb cyclone denial:
www.kuow.org/stories/trum...

Washington state officials looking at evacuating 75,000 people from record flooding expected along Skagit River.
Gov. Ferguson asking FEMA to declare an emergency in 2pm mtg (despite WA being denied aid following '24 bomb cyclone).
"Lives will be at stake in the coming days."--Ferguson

Trump administration seizes oil tanker off Venezuela coast, US officials say President Donald Trump's administration has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

The United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, officials told Reuters.
www.reuters.com/world/americ...

Conspiracy theorist election denier given FEMA’s second-most important role Gregg Phillips will lead the Office of Response and Recovery, “the heart of what FEMA does.”

“This is not a game. Americans will lose their lives because this administration refuses to put in competent leadership" - FEMA staffers talk to @marisakabas.bsky.social about the conspiracy theorist now running FEMA's most important office

www.thehandbasket.co/p/conspiracy...

Is the Pacific Northwest ready for a wave of climate migration?

Climate migration is difficult to study, and even harder to predict, because a complex constellation of factors guides the decision to pick up and move. But some experts say a historic population shift has already begun, and Western Washington should start preparing now to become a “climate haven.”

‪In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the state.
—Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

Just remembered this other classic from 2005 😭

High energy costs, delayed tax credit pose hurdles for PNW hydrogen hub • Washington State Standard Even as an Australian company has put plans for a big hydrogen factory in Centralia on hold, backers of the hub are optimistic.

Yes, though that project's owner deemed it not economically viable and shelved it in 2024 (pre-Trump2). washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/08/12/h...

What % of tourists will go to some other country to avoid such invasive entry requirements? Asking for tourism-dependent businesses and towns.

Once converted (in 2 years or so), the Centralia plant will be Washington's largest gas power plant--and a major climate polluter. Upstream methane leaks can make natural gas as bad for the climate as coal, though this fact is often ignored in energy/climate discussions.

What’s remarkable about Scott is that her philanthropy isn’t an effort to offset the moral choices made in earning her fortune, as was the case for the Carnegies et al. As far I can tell, it’s just unadulterated beneficence.

A post by James Gerber from Project Drawdown stating that as CO2 emissions from coffee itself are relatively small, drink as much as you want then go learn about heat pumps.

@jorkussmellington.bsky.social On coffee (and really, I would say most other food-related questions OTHER than unchecked consumption of red meat, which the biggest single food-related source of emissions and unsustainable use of land/water resources), this post makes an excellent point!

EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites The agency revamped its webpages to feature natural causes of rising temperatures such as the Earth’s orbit.

Just your daily reminder that Trump and the GOP censoring climate science and erasing government websites that say, correctly, that humans are causing #climate change doesn't change reality. And human-caused #climatechange is a reality.

www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

Season 34: Dancing With the [Sea] Stars

Scientists crack the case of the melting sea stars. It only took a decade Researchers in Washington and British Columbia say they have solved a deadly mystery that has stumped scientists for more than a decade.

www.kuow.org/stories/scie...

Clusters of ochre stars cling to pilings

ochre star clings to a piling

kelp crab and ochre star

Ochre star appears to be eating a large (probably dead beforehand) crab

Great to see dozens of chonk, large (i.e., old) ochre stars under the Edmonds ferry dock on Friday night’s crazy-low (-3.2’) tide. And saw no obvious signs of sea star wasting disease, a scourge of the sea for the past decade-plus.

(AP) — A federal judge has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law.

Dec. 8 update: Cleanup is complete. No oil seen on the river today, including at McNary Dam. No reports of oiled wildlife, habitat damage, or drinking water contamination. The public can now re-enter the closed portion of the Columbia River from Priest Rapids Dam to Pasco.

Slop quiz!

These days, it's notable whenever a major media company ignores Trump's pressure and stands with talent. So let's note that Disney has renewed Jimmy Kimmel's contract for another year

The harm isn't just from the gross disinformation itself, but also resulting erosion of trust in federal science and guidance.

Rebuilding the latter will take far longer than correcting the former.

Storm grows over Sea-Tac Airport expansion plans Plans to expand Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including a new terminal, are tapping into enduring concerns that increased traffic at Sea-Tac hurts nearby neighborhoods.

"The three cities filed a petition for judicial review of the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent ruling that 31 planned projects, including a second terminal, would not have a significant environmental impact on nearby communities." www.seattletimes.com/business/loc...

Nine Alaska seismic stations to go dark in January, slowing West Coast tsunami alerts

“If you and I had to place a bet on where the next tsunami in the United State will come from, we should put money on the Aleutian Islands"
www.kuow.org/stories/tsun...