Climate

Excess forest vegetation once controlled by managed burns by Coast Salish peoples now accumulates in dry, unhealthy forest conditions.

As summer temperatures rise over time, Mount Baker’s shrinking glaciers reveal the impact.

“Climate change is real” is a lesson from Dec. 27 flooding that damaged the La Conner downtown.

Predicted sea-level rising along with extremely high tides and storm surges pose increasing risk to coastal waterfront homes. How much are those trends affecting property values?

Sea levels are expected to rise by 1.5 to nearly 2 feet by 2100 along low-lying shorelines around the Salish Sea—including many areas where people live and recreate.

Protection of sensitive Whatcom County wetlands may be enhanced, with approval of next steps toward a proposal for 608 acres in mitigation banking.

A grassroots multifaith network is seeking to increase awareness of — and action to address — climate change issues through its Sacred Earth Fair July 31.

Rising sea levels combined with storm surges threaten to inundate shoreline sites such as Bellingham’s Boulevard Park.

As Whatcom County works to prepare for the next major flooding events and to foster community resilience, a discussion on long-term solutions and ways to promote salmon population and environmental preservation along the Nooksack River is taking shape.

Is that lifeless-looking hummingbird lying on the frozen ground really dead … or in torpor? Wildlife rescue professionals say it’s not uncommon to see Anna’s hummingbirds at their centers during the winter months, as the birds have moved farther north with climate change. Inert-seeming hummingbirds may in fact be alive but conserving energy, and experts advise contacting professionals to find out how to help.

Given the high volume of rain and flooding during the past few weeks, it may seem strange to talk about water scarcity in the Nooksack River system. Although the watershed has ample water in the winter (often too much water), it holds too little in the summer to support healthy salmon. Complicating the water supply issue are the adverse effects of climate change.

Farmers are in a powerful position to help curb climate change, and many locally already are taking steps to do so, note dairy farmer Katherine Steensma and author Stevan Harrell. While this bodes well for the future of agriculture here, there is more to be done to stop “wasting and poisoning the good and beautiful things of the world”: natural resources.

With the state legislature and some local governments contemplating a future without fossil fuel-powered vehicles, Northwest Washington car buyers are beginning to ponder what it’s like to drive an electric vehicle — a computer on wheels — and some already are behind the wheel.

Since long before more than 2,000 chinook salmon died this summer before they could spawn in the South Fork Nooksack River, the Nooksack Indian Tribe has been working with a wide range of partners to plan for supporting at-risk habitat and species. A new report from the tribe aims to translate the science and put boots on the ground.