Study: Oregon could be due for a killer quake

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Parts of the Cascadia subduction zone may be overdue for a large earthquake. Map courtesy USGS.

New research documents timeline of Pacific Northwest fault activity

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Pacific Northwest could be due for a monster earthquake sometime in the next 50 years, with Oregon’s southern coast pinpointed as the most vulnerable area, according to Oregon State University researchers who recently finished studying the pattern of historical quakes in the region.

The comprehensive analysis of the Cascadia Subduction Zone confirms numerous earthquakes during the past 10,000 years and estimates that a new quake could approach the intensity of the Tohoku quake that devastated Japan in March 2011.

“The southern margin of Cascadia has a much higher recurrence level for major earthquakes than the northern end and, frankly, it is overdue for a rupture,” said Chris Goldfinger, a professor in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and lead author of the study. “That doesn’t mean that an earthquake couldn’t strike first along the northern half, from Newport, Ore., to Vancouver Island. (more…)

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Feds reinstate critical habitat for western snow plovers

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Western snowy plover. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

Settlement may partially protect breeding plovers from encroaching sea level rise

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Slowly but surely, federal biologists are undoing some of the most egregious decisions by the Bush administration with regard to endangered species.

In a settlement announced this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated about 38 square miles of critical habitat for western snowy plovers in Washington, Oregon and California.

Snowy plovers were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1993, when the coastal population dropped to 1,500 birds. The listing enabled the population to recover to more than 3,600 adults by 2010. (more…)

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Oregon oysters take a hit from global warming

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Research links ocean acidification with stunted larval growth

If you enjoy fresh oysters, eat up, because global warming and ocean acidification are taking a toll on the reproduction of the popular shellfish. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.

SUMMIT COUNTY — An Oregon oyster farm may have to shut down because increasing increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in sea water has stunted larval growth, making the operation “non-economically viable.”

Researchers found that the sea water is becoming more corrosive, inhibiting larval oysters from developing their shells and growing at a pace that would make commercial production cost-effective.

As atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise, the Oregon oysters may be the proverbial canary in the coal mine for other ocean acidification impacts on shellfish, according to Oregon State University scientists. (more…)

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Tsunami anniversary offers lessons for Northwest

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Cultural shift needed to ensure safety of coastal residents

Tsunami flooding on the Sendai Airport runway. PHOTO COURTESY U.S. AIR FORCE.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The one-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami in Japan offers some sobering lessons for parts of the U.S. that could one day face a similar disaster.

The fact that 90 percent of the coastal region’s residents and visitors evacuated effectively is a tribute to planning and community drills, said Patrick Corcoran, an Oregon State University education and outreach specialist, who just returned from a disaster symposium at United Nations University in Japan.

If the same magnitude earthquake and tsunami hits the Pacific Northwest, the death toll will be much higher because of the lack of comparable preparation, he said. That 90 percent rate could be the number of victims, not survivors. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Western wolf wars continue

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Gray wolf. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

Sanctioned Oregon killings on hold pending appeals court review of state wildlife laws

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — As a species, we humans like to think we’ve progressed in the last 100 years or so, but some things haven’t changed all that much, including an irrational fear and hatred of wild predators like wolves that still rears its ugly head.

That was proven once again last month, when at the behest of the ranching industry, wildlife officers in Oregon set out to decimate a wolf pack in the eastern part of the state.

The wolves targeted for killing included the alpha male and a yearling wolf of the Imnaha pack, the state’s first pack in nearly 65 years and one of only four statewide. The pack is the first to raise pups in Oregon since the animals began their fragile recovery in the state more than a decade ago. (more…)

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