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Study: high heat, higher hospital admissions

March 2nd, 2010, 2:31 pm by

Register file photo of high temperature reading at a Fullerton bank by Bruce Chambers

Higher temperatures bring a spike in hospital admissions for a variety of diseases in California, a new state study says — an effect that holds true even without heat waves, and one that could grow worse with global warming.

“Any of the diseases related to heat in this study could be exacerbated if temperatures continue to increase in the future,” said Shelley Green, an epidemiologist with the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and lead author of the study. “That’s what the concern is; that’s why we’re studying this.”

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Posted in: Climate change • pollution • • • | 1 Comment »

NOAA: January was 4th warmest on record

February 23rd, 2010, 1:30 pm by

Temperature chart courtesy, National Climatic Data Center

The nation’s climate monitoring agency says January’s global land and sea-surface temperatures combined were the fourth warmest on record for that month — much of it the result of the Pacific ocean-warming phenomenon known as El Niño.

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Posted in: Climate change • • • | 46 Comments »

State to investigate pelican deaths

February 12th, 2010, 11:27 am by

Register photo of sick pelicans being treated at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach by H. Lorren Au Jr.

A rash of sick and dying pelicans appearing across the West Coast and clogging bird rescue centers will be investigated by the California Department of Fish and Game.

Ailing brown pelicans, a species recently removed from the endangered list, have been showing up by the hundreds from the Oregon coast to San Diego since mid-January. And while the number of pelicans seems to be dwindling at the northern end of the West Coast, the birds continue to throng rehabilitation centers in Southern California.

Some 60 pelicans were being treated Friday at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, which has received a steady stream of the animals for the past five weeks. More were on the way from Dana Point, said wildlife director Debbie McGuire.

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Posted in: Animal archive • Climate change • Wildlife and the natural world • • • | 6 Comments »

Poll: Endangered-species condoms in O.C.?

February 11th, 2010, 8:38 am by

An environmental group that says reducing human population growth could help save endangered species will distribute 100,000 “endangered species condoms” across the nation on Valentine’s Day — including in Orange County. pbear2goc

Volunteers will hand out the condom packages – each carrying an image of one of six endangered species along with catchy slogans – in bars, public events such as concerts, supermarkets, college campuses and other locations.

Among the images on the condom packages, which are free, is a polar bear with the slogan, “Wrap with care, save the polar bear,” along with five other threatened or endangered species: the jaguar, American burying beetle, snail darter, coqui guajon rock frog and spotted owl. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Alternative energy • Climate change • Green events • Green products and services • pollution • Wildlife and the natural world • • • | 11 Comments »

Sick pelicans overwhelm coast for 5th week

February 10th, 2010, 2:16 pm by

Sick and starving pelicans continue to fill up bird rescue centers on the Southern California coast, with more than 50 being treated Wednesday at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach. sickpelicansss

Some 200 pelicans also were recovering at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro, and sick and dead pelicans have been turning up along the Los Angeles County coast as well.

They’ve been appearing up and down the California coast since mid-January, starving and sometimes begging for food from people. Large numbers of dead pelicans also are washing up on shore.

The reasons for the surge of sick and dying pelicans, natural or not, remain unclear, though suggestions include everything from El Nino to competition for fish from large, aggressive Humboldt squid.

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Posted in: Climate change • Wildlife and the natural world • • | 10 Comments »

Students track ocean threat at Crystal Cove

February 4th, 2010, 6:17 am by

High school students are wading bravely into chilly surf at Crystal Cove State Park this week, buckets in hand, to measure what climate scientists call a growing threat: an increasingly acidic ocean. oceantestinggoc

But it might be more than an academic exercise. Their measurements could become part of a real-world research effort to learn how severely the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is affecting the oceans — and how that, in turn, could affect marine life.

“I believe it doesn’t really matter who caused it, whether it’s natural or man-made,” said Aurelio Isidro, 18, one of 75 advanced-placement environmental-science students from Segerstrom High School in Santa Ana taking part in the program Wednesday. “We still have to take responsibility, ’cause it is going to affect us — maybe not us, but our children.”

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Posted in: Climate change • Wildlife and the natural world • • • | 7 Comments »

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