Summit Voice: Most-viewed & week in review

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Climate, avalanches and photography!

The backcountry avalanche danger in Colorado remains high, and Summit Voice readers can stay informed with our regular avalanche updates.

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Year of the Dragon proved a popular topic with Summit Voice readers, who visited this guest post by Eileen Wacker more than 2,300 times. Some social media attention to ongoing climate science coverage helped drive a carbon dioxide-global warming story to more than 2,200 page views, while a pair of avalanche stories also garnered more than 2,000 page views combined. More social media love from a couple of meteorologists with The Weather Channel also helped boost a Colorado skiing photo essay into the ranks of the most-viewed stories.

Click on the headlines to read, then use the buttons at the end of the post to share the stories via your own social media networks. Thanks for supporting independent journalism in Colorado.

Filed under: Archaeology, avalanches, climate and weather, Colorado, Environment, global warming, Snow and weather, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Colorado River advocates rally in Denver

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Conservation advocates and outdoor enthusiasts rallied in Denver to show their support for the Colorado River. PHOTO COURTESY TROUT UNLIMITED.

Anglers, kayakers seek protection in face of planned new diversions

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Colorado conservation activists last week gathered outside EPA headquarters in Denver, asking federal regulators to protect the Upper Colorado River system from proposed water diversions to the Front Range.

“This is a moment of truth for the state,” said Sinjin Eberle, president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, which helped organize the gathering of Denver residents, kayakers, anglers, outdoor recreationists and other river supporters. “We have to do something to save our state’s namesake river from dying.”

Eberle said the EPA is preparing to comment on a pair of water projects that will result on new diversions from the Upper Colorado River. The rally at the EPA was intended to show the EPA that there’s public support for implementing strong mitigation measures to ensure that the diversions don’t further degrade the Upper Colorado. Read more »

Filed under: Colorado, Environment, rivers, Summit County news, water | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Global warming: How will Arctic ecosystems change?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

What do orcas really eat? PHOTO COURTESY NOAA.

Scientists supplement research with traditional indigenous knowledge

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — As Arctic sea ice melts at unrelenting pace, marine biologists are trying to understand how ecosystems in the North Pole region may change. As with any ecosystem, apex predators are critical. In the Arctic Ocean, killer whales fill that role, eating nearly everything, from schools of small fish to large whales.

The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. Some new research, recently published in BioMed Central’s re-launched open access journal Aquatic Biosystems, has combined scientific observations with Canadian Inuit traditional knowledge to start answering some of those questions by determing killer whale behaviour and diet in the Arctic. Read more »

Filed under: biodiversity, climate and weather, Environment, global warming, Marine biology, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Climate: Soot a factor in declining spring snow cover

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Decline of reflective snow cover likely to speed overall warming

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By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Heat-trapping greenhouse gases aren’t the only reason the spring snow cover across the northern hemisphere has been declining steeply the past few decades.

By tweaking a sophisticated set of climate models, researchers found that black carbon and dust — both generated by human activities — are at least part of the reason that spring snow cover in Eurasia is declining faster than across North America.

Declining spring snow cover has a feedback effect of intensifying warming because snow-covered ground reflects incoming radiation. Once the snow is melted, the heat is absorbed. Read more »

Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming, Snow and weather, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Morning photo: Winter

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Summit snow scenes

Someone make a lovely snowman for all to enjoy, and old Frosty seems to be embracing the arrival of some cold and snowy weather.

SUMMIT COUNTY — Winter, as it is this year, seems to have made at least a half-hearted arrival, with some new snow and bright, sparkly days. I’m kind of getting that feeling that we should probably enjoy it while it lasts, because it may not last all that long this year. Oh, sure, it’ll snow in March and April … and May. it always does, but it’s not quite the same. Here are a few pics after the most recent snowstorms.

First rays on Peak One.

Read more »

Filed under: Morning photo, photography, seasons, Snow and weather, Summit County snow and weather | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Breckenridge: Canadians take home the gold

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Great Expectations. PHOTO BY JENNEY COBERLY.

Sculptures on display through Feb, 5, weather permitting

By Summit Voice

Team Canada-Quebec secured first prize in the 22nd annual International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Colo. with “Great Expectations,” a complex and cohesive piece depicting the “ice houses” once used to preserve meat, poultry and fish on the Saint Anne River in central Quebec.

Photos of all the completed sculptures are online here. Along with 15 other teams and artists from 11 other countries, Team Canada-Quebec worked across five days, for a total of 65 hours, to create an enormous work of art from a 20-ton block of snow. Read more »

Filed under: Breckenridge, Colorado, snow sculpting, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Photoblog: Breckenridge Snow Sculpting Championships

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Jenney Coberly

Winners will be announced 3:30 pm. Sunday

Photos and story by Jenney Coberly

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

BRECKENRIDGE —The artists have completed their work, creating a series of stunning and memorable sculptures at this year’s competition in Breckenridge, with public voting continuing through 2 p.m. Sunday. The awards ceremony will be held at 3:30 pm, when the results of the formal judging, the People’s Choice, and the Kid’s Choice will be announced.

Filed under: Breckenridge, photography, snow sculpting, Summit County Colorado | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Cape Hatteras gets new beach-driving rules

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Non-motorized zones to protect coastal wildife

A loggerhead turtle heads toward the sea at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The National Park Service last week announced new rules on beach driving to protect nesting and baby sea turtles and birds, as well as pedestrians, at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

In 2007, Audubon North Carolina, Defenders of Wildlife and Southern Environmental Law Center turned to the courts for help in getting the park service to implement long overdue safeguards for pedestrians and beach-nesting wildlife on park beaches overrun by off-road vehicles.

“The park service’s rules are a compromise that provides protections for both pedestrians and wildlife while still allowing responsible beach driving,” said Julie Youngman, senior attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center. Read more »

Filed under: biodiversity, Environment | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

National park tourism boosts local economies

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Recreational visits to national parks help boost the economy of surrounding gateway areas.

Park visitors spend $12 billion in gateway communities

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Travel and tourism at national parks continue to be economic engines for surrounding gateway communities, according to the latest National Park economic study, showing that the country’s parks hosted 281 million recreation visits in 2010.

Park visitors spent $12.13 billion in gateway areas (within roughly 60 miles of the parks) and visitors staying outside the park in motels, hotels, cabins and bed and breakfasts accounted for 56 percent of the total spending. Read more »

Filed under: Colorado, economy, national parks, public lands, recreation, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

New Gulf of Mexico oil lease sale announced

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

A NASA satellite image shows the oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon disaster spreading across the northern Gulf of Mexico in late May, 2010.

Meanwhile, oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster still causing environmental impacts

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Proposed new deep-water leases off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama could yield 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Obama administration, announcing a June 20 lease sale in New Orelans.

The sale will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Minimum bids for the deepwater leases will be set at $100 per acre, administration officials said, after an economic analysis showed that leases sold for less than that amount saw virtually no exploration and development drilling during the past 15 years.

Conservation groups have been critical of new lease sales in the Gulf, pointing out that some areas that have already been leased haven’t been explored yet. There are lingering concerns that the administration hasn’t done nearly enough to protect the environment in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which marred the Gulf with 5 million gallons of crude oil spreading across nearly 4,000 square miles of the Gulf — the largest oil spill ever. Read more »

Filed under: BP Gulf oil spill, energy, Environment, oil drilling, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

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