Scientific research has extended Utah's climate record back to 1429 using tree rings. Revealing extreme droughts, including one that lasted 16 years.

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Tree rings reveal nightmare droughts in Western U.S.

May 1, 2014

Source:

Brigham Young University

Summary:

Scientists extended Utah's climate record back to 1429 using tree rings. They found Utah's climate has seen extreme droughts, including one that lasted 16 years. If history is repeated in the rapidly growing Western states, the water supply would run out based on current consumption.

Scientists extended Utah's climate record back to 1429 using tree rings. They found Utah's climate has seen extreme droughts, including one that lasted 16 years. Credit: Image courtesy of Brigham Young University
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If you think the 1930s drought that caused The Dust Bowl was rough, new research looking at tree rings in the Rocky Mountains has news for you: Things can get much worse in the West.

In fact the worst drought of this century barely makes the top 10 of a study that extended Utah's climate record back to the year 1429.
With sandpaper and microscopes, Brigham Young University professor Matthew Bekker analyzed rings from drought-sensitive tree species. He found several types of scenarios that could make life uncomfortable in what is now the nation's third-fastest-growing state:

• Long droughts: The year 1703 kicked off 16 years in a row with below average stream flow.
• Intense droughts: The Weber River flowed at just 13 percent of normal in 1580 and dropped below 20 percent in three other periods.
• Consecutive worst-case scenarios: The most severe drought in the record began in 1492, and four of the five worst droughts all happened during Christopher Columbus' lifetime.

"We're conservatively estimating the severity of these droughts that hit before the modern record, and we still see some that are kind of scary if they were to happen again," said Bekker, a geography professor at BYU. "We would really have to change the way we do things here."
Modern climate and stream flow records only go back about 100 years in this part of the country, so scientists like Bekker turn to Mother Nature's own record-keeping to see the bigger picture. For this study, the BYU geographer took sample cores from Douglas fir and pinyon pine trees. The thickness of annual growth rings for these species is especially sensitive to water supply.


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Environment Pollution - State of Utah, [Little Valley Wash, Grand Staircase National Monument]

Earth Watch Report  -  Hazmat

James Holland, hydrologist/geologist with the Kanab Field Office of the United States Bureau of Land Management, examines an oil-covered rock with the Forest Service's Joe Harris and BLM's Sarah Schlanger in Little Valley Wash in the Upper Valley region of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
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April 01 2014 07:40 AM

Environment Pollution

USA

State of Utah, [Little Valley Wash, Grand Staircase National Monument]

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Environment Pollution in USA on Tuesday, 01 April, 2014 at 07:40 (07:40 AM) UTC.

Description Hikers exploring the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah last week happened upon an oil spill over four miles in length in an area known as Little Valley Wash. The spill is thought to be old, based on the dense, asphalt-like consistency of the oil, said Larry Crutchfield, Bureau of Land Management public affairs specialist. And it's a good thing the oil is so thick, he added, because that means the spill will stay put for a while. "The good news is that there is no oil actively moving in the wash," Crutchfield said. Because the oil in the wash is nearly as thick as asphalt, he added, it is not posing an immediate threat to surrounding areas. However, he said there is evidence suggesting it did move last September when massive monsoon rains created a violent flash flood in the wash. The area typically does receive some rain in the springtime, he said, but not nearly enough to fill the part of the wash where the oil is, which is far upstream. The BLM isn't taking any chances, however, and plans to secure the area with booms and other equipment to help protect monument resources and water sources. Although preliminary reports last week suggested the spill may have originated from a leak that occurred last month in a nearby pipeline operated by Citation Oil, Crutchfield said the oil found in the wash is very unlikely to have come from a recent leakage."The Citation oil line did spring a pinhole-sized leak," Crutchfield said. That leak spilled about 10 barrels of oil before it was discovered and patched last month. The oil that flows through the pipeline has a low viscosity and would be very fluid, he said �" not the thick, viscous, asphalt-like substance found in the wash. The oil in the wash appears to have been there for some time, he said. In fact, investigators currently suspect the spill had been buried beneath the wash until it was exposed by a violent flash flood last fall, which explains why the spill hadn't been reported in previous years. When asked who might have buried the spill, Crutchfield said it's quite possible that it was covered by sediment deposited by an earlier flood. There is no way of knowing for sure before BLM investigators complete their assessment of the incident. "We have an idea of where the oil may have come from, but it would be entirely inappropriate for me to speculate at this point," Crutchfield said. The first priority, he said, is to assess the danger that the oil poses to the surrounding environment. "The important thing at this stage is that we are taking action,” he said. “Citation Oil is taking action. We are working together to figure out what exactly happened."

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Sun Independent.com

Massive oil spill discovered at Grand Staircase National Monument

Monday, 03-31-2014, 08:30 PM
Written by Michael Flynn
Hikers exploring the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah last week happened upon an oil spill over four miles in length in an area known as Little Valley Wash.
The spill is thought to be old, based on the dense, asphalt-like consistency of the oil, said Larry Crutchfield, Bureau of Land Management public affairs specialist. And it's a good thing the oil is so thick, he added, because that means the spill will stay put for a while.
"The good news is that there is no oil actively moving in the wash," Crutchfield said. Because the oil in the wash is nearly as thick as asphalt, he added, it is not posing an immediate threat to surrounding areas. However, he said there is evidence suggesting it did move last September when massive monsoon rains created a violent flash flood in the wash.
The area typically does receive some rain in the springtime, he said, but not nearly enough to fill the part of the wash where the oil is, which is far upstream. The BLM isn't taking any chances, however, and plans to secure the area with booms and other equipment to help protect monument resources and water sources.

Read More Here

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By Morgan Jacobsen, Deseret News

Published: Friday, April 4 2014 7:46 p.m. MDT

• View 13 photos »

James Holland, hydrologist/geologist with the Kanab Field Office of the federal Bureau of Land Management, left, points to asphalt-like patches of oil in Little Valley Wash in the Upper Valley region of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Escalante on Friday, April 4, 2014. Holland, along with Joe Harris of the Forest Service, Mark Bing, central regional manager of Citation Oil and Gas Corp., Terry Tolbert, wildlife biologist, and Julie Sueker of Arcadis Environmental Consulting Group, hiked the 4-mile stretch of the wash where the oil was discovered.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

ESCALANTE, Garfield County — Remnants from at least one large oil spill found by hikers on March 23 in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has officials wondering how and when the damage occurred.
As many as 4 miles in the Little Valley Wash now contain the aftermath of the spill, with about 1.5 miles of 6-inch thick oil flows contained in the mostly dry stream bed. Bureau of Land Management officials who manage the monument say it's likely the leak happened decades ago.
BLM officials hypothesize that the spill became encased in sediment deposits over time, making it difficult or impossible to see in most areas. Last September, intense floods washed down the drainage, possibly unburying the oil deposit and carrying parts of it downstream for 2.5 miles.
Boulders and tree trunks in the drainage now demonstrate the depth of the initial oil flows, with steady black lines as many as 2 feet above the stream bed. Black splotches are found in other areas, with vegetation collecting the oil as it flowed along with the flood waters.
Long stretches of oil patches not mixed with sediment have liquified in regions exposed to the sun.
"It's not what we want to see here," associate monument manager Sarah Schlanger said during an examination of the area Friday.

Read More Here

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Biological Hazard - State of Utah, [Utah-wide] : Mass Die Off (Bald Eagles) UPDATE - Experts not convinced that West Nile Virus is to blame for Bald Eagle Deaths

Earth Watch Report  -  Biological Hazards  -  Mass Animal Deaths

Unknown illness: This undated image provided by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah shows one of four bald eagles that were brought in with odd symptoms. All later died

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Biological Hazard

USA

State of Utah, [Utah-wide]

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Biological Hazard in USA on Friday, 03 January, 2014 at 04:05 (04:05 AM) UTC.

Description
A growing number of bald eagle deaths in Utah have left state wildlife officials without any solid explanations as they continue to dig into the mystery in search of answers. This month, 21 bald eagles have been found with a mysterious illness, of which 16 have died. Normally the state sees bald eagle numbers range between 700 and 1200 during their winter migration from the North and wildlife officials expect to see just a few cases of deaths or those needing help as a result of injuries or illness. The sudden number of deaths and unexplained symptoms has everyone worried. Residents began finding the downed eagles earlier this month, and at least nine have been taken to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah for treatment, which is currently taking care of four survivors. Rescuers there recount the difficulty of watching a fierce national symbol of strength inexplicably suffering from debilitating symptoms that include body tremors, seizures, paralysis, and weakness in their wings, legs and feet. "It's just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can't control ? when you can see it's pain but don't know what's happening to it," Buz Marthaler, co-founder of the rehabilitation center, told the LA Times. Experts are trying to rule out suspected causes, which range from diseases, neurotoxins, lead poisoning and radiation from the Fukushima meltdown. Leslie McFarlane, Utah wildlife disease coordinator, told Reuters that poisoning from lead ammunition has at least been ruled out in preliminary tests of carcasses by National Wildlife Health Center's lab in Wisconsin and that diseases are suspected because of the symptoms the eagles are showing. Other types of poisoning aren't high on the list of culprits because of the cases of eagles being found spread across several counties. The symptoms resemble West Nile virus, but according to McFarlane that would be unlikely because there are few mosquitoes at this time of year. Officials also looking into whether the deaths could have anything to do with a die-off of grebes at Great Salt Lake in November, which was caused by avian cholera �" a bacteria the eagles could have come into contact with by eating the infected birds. This week a wildlife official from Idaho reached out and said eagles there were also getting sick, which could mean the raptors were already ill before they got to Utah, according to the LA Times. Still, the worst fear seems to be identifying the cause and finding out that human intervention won't be able to stop it from killing more of these iconic birds. "There's all kinds of diseases out there in nature that take the lives of wildlife. You know, a lot of those diseases, there's not a whole lot that people can do about them. That's just what happens out in nature," Mark Hadley, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, told the Public News Service. While they wait for the results of mores tests, wildlife experts are advising people who find eagles who are downed or appear to be in distress to leave them be and call the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for help.
Biohazard name:	Mass. Die-off (bald eagle)
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. "Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures", see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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• Utah Bald Eagles Deaths Blamed on West Nile Virus; Record Breaking Outbreak

West Nile virus blamed for mysterious die-off of bald eagles that has killed 27 this month alone

• At least 27 birds have died since the beginning of December

• Symptoms, including paralysis and seizures, baffled experts

• Lab tests confirmed cases of West Nile in dead and dying birds

By Associated Press Reporter
PUBLISHED: 11:30 EST, 1 January 2014 | UPDATED: 11:32 EST, 1 January 2014

The mystery illness that has killed 27 bald eagles in Utah this month appears to be West Nile Virus, state officials said Tuesday.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said in a statement Tuesday that that laboratory tests done on some of the first birds found indicate they died from West Nile Virus.
Since December 1, officials have found the birds in northern and central Utah. All were either dead or were ill and later died during treatment.

Unknown illness: This undated image provided by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah shows one of four bald eagles that were brought in with odd symptoms. All later died

The eagles displayed similar symptoms, including head tremors, signs of seizures, weakness in legs and feet and a paralysis of the bird's wings.
Beyond the 27 that have died, officials said five eagles were being treated at a wildlife rehabilitation center Tuesday. They appeared to be responding well to treatment, officials said.
Utah wildlife officials aren't sure how the eagles caught the virus, but they suspect the birds contracted it by eating Eared Grebes that were infected with the virus and died recently.
West Nile Virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, usually infects eagles and other birds during warmer months.

Read More Here

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Bald eagles dying in Utah from mystery ailment

Los Angeles Times

Published 7:43 pm, Sunday, December 29, 2013

This bald eagle is one of four that were brought to a Utah rehabilitation center with body tremors and paralysis before they eventually died. Twenty bald eagles have died in the state in the past few weeks, and a new ailing eagle surfaces almost daily. Scientists say the birds were not shot by hunters or poisoned. Photo: Associated Press
Salt Lake City --
Bald eagles are dying in Utah - 20 in the past few weeks alone - and nobody can figure out why.
Hundreds of the majestic birds - many with wing spans of 7 feet or more - migrate here each winter, gathering along the Great Salt Lake and feasting on carp and other fish that swim in the nearby freshwater bays.
Earlier this month, however, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying listless on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet and wings.
Many of the eagles were brought to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where Buz Marthaler and other handlers tried to save the birds. Within 48 hours most were dead.
"It's just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can't control - when you can see its pain but don't know what's happening to it," said Marthaler, 56, co-founder of the facility in Ogden.
State wildlife specialists are also baffled. For weeks, officials have sent birds for necropsies at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., hoping the results would offer clues.
Read More Here

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 Science X network

Phys.Org

Bald eagle deaths in Utah alarm and mystify scientists

Dec 29, 2013 by John M. Glionna

Bald eagles are dying in Utah - 20 in the past few weeks alone - and nobody can figure out why.

Hundreds of the majestic birds - many with wing spans of 7 feet or more - migrate here each winter, gathering along the Great Salt Lake and feasting on carp and other fish that swim in the nearby freshwater bays.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-bald-eagle-deaths-utah-alarm.html#jCp

Earlier this month, however, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying listless on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet and wings.
Many of the eagles were brought to the mammoth Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where Buz Marthaler - a longtime animal caretaker - and other handlers tried to save the birds. Within 48 hours most were dead.

Earlier this month, however, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying listless on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet and wings.
Many of the eagles were brought to the mammoth Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where Buz Marthaler - a longtime animal caretaker - and other handlers tried to save the birds. Within 48 hours most were dead.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-bald-eagle-deaths-utah-alarm.html#jCp

"It's just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can't control - when you can see it's pain but don't know what's happening to it," said Marthaler, 56, co-founder of the facility in Ogden.
"As a human being, you just have problems with that. And when you lose one, it just grabs your heart."
State wildlife specialists are also baffled. For weeks, officials have sent birds for necropsies at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., hoping the results would offer clues.
They began to rule out obvious possibilities: The birds were not shot by hunters, and officials don't believe the birds were poisoned. "There doesn't seem to be anything suspicious in that regard," said Mitch Lane, a conservation officer with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, who has responded to numerous reports of downed or sick eagles.
Read More Here

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New research shows that every degree Fahrenheit of warming in the Salt Lake City region could mean a 1.8 to 6.5 percent drop in the annual flow of streams that provide water to the city.

Rising Temperatures Challenge Salt Lake City's Water Supply

Dell Creek in Parley's Canyon, is a source of water for Salt Lake City. A new study shows how climate change is likely to affect the various creeks and streams that help slake Salt Lake City's thirst. (Credit: Patrick Nelson, Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities)

Nov. 1, 2013 — In an example of the challenges water-strapped Western cities will face in a warming world, new research shows that every degree Fahrenheit of warming in the Salt Lake City region could mean a 1.8 to 6.5 percent drop in the annual flow of streams that provide water to the city.

By midcentury, warming Western temperatures may mean that some of the creeks and streams that help slake Salt Lake City's thirst will dry up several weeks earlier in the summer and fall, according to the new paper, published today in the journal Earth Interactions. The findings may help regional planners make choices about long-term investments, including water storage and even land-protection policies.
"Many Western water suppliers are aware that climate change will have impacts, but they don't have detailed information that can help them plan for the future," said lead author Tim Bardsley, with NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. "Because our research team included hydrologists, climate scientists and water utility experts, we could dig into the issues that mattered most to the operators responsible for making sure clean water flows through taps and sprinklers without interruption."
Bardsley works for the CIRES Western Water Assessment, from the NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center in Salt Lake City. For the new paper, he worked closely with colleagues from the city's water utility, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and the University of Utah.
The team relied on climate model projections of temperature and precipitation in the area, historical data analysis and a detailed understanding of the region from which the city utility obtains water. The study also used NOAA streamflow forecasting models that provide information for Salt Lake City's current water operations and management.
The picture that emerged was similar, in some ways, to previous research on the water in the Interior West: Warmer temperatures alone will cause more of the region's precipitation to fall as rain than snow, leading to earlier runoff and less water in creeks and streams in the late summer and fall.
"Many snow-dependent regions follow a consistent pattern in responding to warming, but it's important to drill down further to understand the sensitivity of watersheds that matter for individual water supply systems," said NCAR's Andy Wood, a co-author.
The specifics in the new analysis -- which creeks are likely to be impacted most and soonest, how water sources on the nearby western flank of the Wasatch Mountains and the more distant eastern flank will fare -- are critical to water managers with Salt Lake City.
"We are using the findings of this sensitivity analysis to better understand the range of impacts we might experience under climate change scenarios," said co-author Laura Briefer, water resources manager at the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities. "This is the kind of tool we need to help us adapt to a changing climate, anticipate future changes and make sound water-resource decisions."
"Water emanating from our local Wasatch Mountains is the lifeblood of the Salt Lake Valley, and is vulnerable to the projected changes in climate," said Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker. "This study, along with other climate adaptation work Salt Lake City is doing, helps us plan to be a more resilient community in a time of climate change."
Among the details in the new assessment:

• Temperatures are already rising in northern Utah, about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century, and continue to climb. Summer temperatures have increased especially steeply and are expected to continue to do so. Increasing temperatures during the summer irrigation season may increase water demand.
• Every increase in a degree Fahrenheit means an average decrease of 3.8 percent in annual water flow from watersheds used by Salt Lake City. This means less water available from Salt Lake City's watersheds in the future.
• Lower-elevation streams are more sensitive to increasing temperatures, especially from May through September, and city water experts may need to rely on less-sensitive, higher-elevation sources in late summer, or more water storage.
• Models tell an uncertain story about total future precipitation in the region, primarily because Utah is on the boundary of the Southwest (projected to dry) and the U.S. northern tier states (projected to get wetter).
• Overall, models suggest increased winter flows, when water demand is lower, and decreased summer flows when water demand peaks.
• Annual precipitation would need to increase by about 10 percent to counteract the stream-drying effect of a 5-degree increase in temperature.
• A 5-degree temperature increase would also mean that peak water flow in the western Wasatch creeks would occur two to four weeks earlier in the summer than it does today. This earlier stream runoff will make it more difficult to meet water demand as the summer irrigation season progresses.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Colorado at Boulder.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Tim Bardsley, Andrew Wood, Mike Hobbins, Tracie Kirkham, Laura Briefer, Jeff Niermeyer, Steven Burian. Planning for an Uncertain Future: Climate Change Sensitivity Assessment toward Adaptation Planning for Public Water Supply. Earth Interactions, 2013; 17 (23): 1 DOI: 10.1175/2012EI000501.1

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