Sierra

Sierra Nevada climate changes feed monster, forest-devouring fires

By Tom Knudson - Sunday, November 30 2008 - 12:00 am

Wildfire has marched across the West for centuries. But no longer are major conflagrations fueled simply by heavy brush and timber. Now climate change is stoking the flames higher and hotter, too.

Forest Service unveils plan to fight climate change

By Tom Knudson - Saturday, November 8 2008 - 12:00 am

RENO – U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell unveiled on Friday a new agencywide effort to tackle the problem of climate change, saying it poses the greatest danger yet to the nation's woodlands.

Yosemite glacier on thin ice

By Tom Knudson - Tuesday, October 28 2008 - 4:59 pm

The melting Lyell Glacier, one of Yosemite's and California's natural landmarks, is one of the signals of climate change coming into focus in the Sierra Nevada, where the snowpack – the source of 65 percent of California's water – is dwindling, too.

Video Report

California, nonprofits form coalition to protect Sierra

By Tom Knudson - Thursday, October 9 2008 - 12:00 am

TRUCKEE – From the shores of Donner Lake on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the creation of a private, non-profit coalition – the Northern Sierra Partnership – to work with government to protect open space, forests, watersheds and step up efforts to respond to climate change.

Old-growth junipers felled amid warming debate

By Tom Knudson - Sunday, September 21 2008 - 12:00 am

ALTURAS � After he saw the centuries-old junipers on the ground, Glenn Fair felt sick to his stomach. A fishing guide from Lassen County, Fair has nothing against thinning forests to protect them from fire and disease. But the barren swath of stumps and downed junipers logged from public land last year was not that kind of cut.

Video Report

About Sierra Warming

No longer is climate change a distant drama of shrinking polar ice caps. As year-round ice fades from the saw-toothed summits of the Sierra Nevada, it's clear an unwelcome reality is at our doorstep: Global warming is local warming.

Sierra Summit blog

Field Notes - Podcasts from a Warming World

Up in Smoke - Climate Change, Ecosystems and Fire

A Hiker's Guide to Climate Change

Climate change on the web @ KQED

Climate Change Denial - Alaska glaciers - Fact and fiction

Miller Photo Co. 1913

A group of visitors in Merrill ice cave in Lava Beds National Monument in 1913, including a man in ice skates. Over the past decade, nine caves across the monument -- including Merrill -- have melted out, a strong sign of climate change, park officials say.
rpench@sacbee.com

Seasonal geologist Sophia Kast stands on the wall of Merrill ice cave, which was once covered in ice through much of the 20th Century at Lava Beds National Monument June 3, 2008. The core temperature has risen enough to cause the ice to melt, and all that remains are the jumble of lava rocks.
G.K. Gilbert

This photo shows Lyell Glacier on Aug. 7, 1903, and was taken by the geologist G.K. Gilbert.
Hassan Basagic

This photo shows Lyell Glacier on Aug. 14, 2003, and was taken by Hassan Basagic, a graduate student at Portland State University. The glacier has shrunk in size by about 50 percent because of gradual warming in the Sierra.