Posted on November 21, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
This icy trickle of water in North Tenmile Creek has a better chance of making it to the Gulf of California, thanks to a new agreement between the U.S. and Mexico on Colorado River flows.
Temporary treaty amendment includes innovative water banking
By Summit Voice
FRISCO — A landmark water agreement between the U.S. and Mexico on Colorado River flows is winning acclaim as a true win-win — a rarity in an era of perpetual water shortages and rising concerns over allocation of the Southwest’s great river.
But even though the deal is getting good reviews, it’s important to remember that the Colorado River is not healthy.
Massive diversions and storage projects have choked off native flows that helped maintain riparian habitat. Those same projects have pushed four native fish species to the brink of extinction. The agreement will help resolve some long-standing issues in the lower Colorado Basin, but doesn’t do anything to alleviate the extreme pressure on the river’s upper reaches. Continue reading
Filed under: Colorado, Environment, rivers, water | Tagged: Colorado River, Environment, Gulf of California, Mexico, rivers, US-Mexico water agreement | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 24, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Major Pacific storm with winds of 120 mph expected to weaken before reaching Baja coast
Hurricane Miriam is generating winds of 120 mph off the coast of Baja, Mexico. Photo courtesy NOAA.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — One of the strongest hurricanes of the year has formed in the eastern Pacific and could affect the weather in the southwestern U.S. late in the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Miriam, southwest of the Baja Peninsula, is generating sustained winds of 120 mph and could strengthen a bit more in the next couple of days before weakening as it encounters strong winds from the west.
The storm is forecast to track northward, and even northeastward, which would put the system on track for a landfall along the Baja coast next weekend or early next week, potentially with tropical storm force winds.
Miriam’s outflow is already streaming over the southern tip of Baja. No coastal watches or warning have been issued for the storm, but the system will likely soon pump up the surf along the Baja Coast.
Filed under: climate and weather, tropical storms and hurricanes | Tagged: 2012 Hurricane season, Baja California peninsula, Baja hurricanes, Hurricane Miriam, Mexico, National Hurricane Center, Pacific hurricanes | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 25, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Clear-cutting may have reduced rainfall by as much as 15 percent
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — The decline of Maya civilization has often been linked with drought by climate researchers and archaeologists. Now, a new study suggests the Maya may have hastened their own demise by clearing forests.
Based on climate modeling, Mayan land-clearing may have reduced rainfall by as much as 15 percent in the heavily logged Yucatan Peninsula, and by up to 5 percent in other parts of southern Mexico. Overall, the researchers said as much as 60 percent of the regional drying may have been caused by deforestation.
“We’re not saying deforestation explains the entire drought, but it does explain a substantial portion of the overall drying that is thought to have occurred,” said the study’s lead author Benjamin Cook, a climate modeler at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, Drought | Tagged: deforestation, drought, Guatemala, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Maya, Maya civilization, Mexico | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 9, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Flooding a concern along the Rio Grande
Along the Rio Grande …
By Summit Voice
It appears that the U.S. has not learned from recent Eastern European history that walls and fences just don’t work when it comes to trying to keep people in or out of a country.
Pushed mostly by politicians with a xenophobic agenda and pandering to a xenophobic constituency, plans for a massive border wall along the Rio Grande continue, and now, it appears as though the new 14-mile section of wall could block flood water from draining into the Rio Grande, bottling it up in towns and farm land and significantly worsening damage inflicted, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The three border wall sections will consist of concrete bollards spaced four inches apart and topped by as much as 15 feet of steel fencing. If the bollards become choked with storm debris, the structures will function as dams, deflecting water out of the river channel and perhaps even changing the channel of the River itself (and thus our border). The wall sections are slated to be placed in the Rio Grande floodplain adjacent to the communities of Roma, Rio Grande City and Los Ebanos. Continue reading
Filed under: Environment, world news | Tagged: border wall, flooding, immigration, International Boundary and Water Commission, Mexico, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Rio Grande, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, World news | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Storm surge, mountain floods and mudslides expected
Hurricane Carlotta, far left, is growing and strengthening rapidly near the southern coast of Mexico.
Hurricane Carlotta could move along the coast of southern Mexico the next few days.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — Hurricane warnings are in effect for several hundred miles along the Pacific coast of Mexico including Acapulco, as Hurricane Carlotta approaches the area with winds that could reach 100 mph early in the weekend.
The biggest concerns are for a dangerous storm surge that will produce significant coastal flooding, along with powerful and destructive waves. Rainfall totals are forecast to reach 3 to 5 inches in Chiapas and northern Oaxaca, with higher amounts up 10 15 inches in the mountains of southern Oaxaca, where mudslides and flash flooding are possible.
The latest forecast track nudges Carlotta a bit farther north before the hurricane turns west again, which means the storm could weaken and even fall apart if it runs into the high mountains of southern Mexico, but the exact track has been hard to pinpoint. Carlotta could rake a large part of Mexico’s southern coast with high winds and heavy rains.
Officially, wind speeds are forecast to reach 90 mph by Friday evening and 100 mph by Saturday morning as the center nears the coast.
Filed under: climate and weather, tropical storms and hurricanes | Tagged: Acapulco, eastern pacific hurricanes, Hurricane Carlotta, Mexico, Tropical cyclone warnings and watches | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 14, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Storm could make landfall Saturday with 80 mph winds
A NOAA satellite image shows Tropical Storm Carlotta gathering strength over the southeastern Pacific.
Tropical Storm Carlotta is likely to reach hurricane strength by Friday and poses a threat to the southern coast of Mexico.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — Carlotta, the season’s third tropical storm of the season has formed over the far southeastern Pacific and is strengthening rapidly, with sustained winds of 50 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical Storm Carlotta is forecast to reach hurricane strength and become a threat to the southern coast of Mexico by Friday. A hurricane watch is already in effect for the Mexican coast between Barra de Tonala and Punta Maldonado, and hurricane warmings are likely in the region soon.
It’s not exactly clear how far north the storm will move before heading back out to sea due to a ridge of high pressure building to the north. The NHC says the storm could stall in the general vicinity of Acapulco during the weekend.
Filed under: climate and weather, tropical storms and hurricanes | Tagged: 2012 Hurricane season, Acapulco, Mexico, National Hurricane Center, Pacific hurricanes, Tropical cyclone warnings and watches, Tropical Storm Carlotta | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 21, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
Tropical Depression Two-E could become hurricane by Wednesday
TD Two-E is visible as a cluster of clouds in the bottom right corner.
A tropical storm is forming in the eastern Pacific.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — The early part of the 2012 hurricane season is shaping up as an active one, with yet a third storm forming in the warm tropical Pacific south of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical Depression Two-E is already generating sustained winds of 35 mph and is moving slowly westward. But forecasts suggest the track will turn more northward in the next 24 hours, bringing the storm over warmer waters and allowing for strengthening as vertical wind shear decreases.
The storm could reach hurricane strength by Wednesday, and by Thursday, it could be generating winds of 100 mph as it approaches the Mexico coast somewhere south of Cabo Corrientes.
Filed under: climate and weather, El Niño, La Niña, tropical storms and hurricanes | Tagged: Mexico, Pacific hurricanes 2012, Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclone, Tropical Depression Two-E | Leave a comment »