1. After a century of rapid industrialization and unprecedented urban development, bees have to fly much further in search of the plants they need. Long distances exhaust them. This is putting them on the verge of extinction.
That’s why we created Bee Saving Paper – an innovative, biodegradable material that can be used for many purposes and works like an energy drink for bees to help them fly further. The paper contains a unique form of energy-rich glucose that is appetizing for bees for but does not make the paper sticky. This is thanks to a special kind of sugar, which can be dissolved into water from a food known as “fondant for bees”. This food is used by beekeepers during the winter. There is no need to dissolve large quantities because 0.5 kg of this paste is enough to feed several thousand bees.
Our paper contains seeds from the honey plant, Lacy Phacelia. It’s a well know, to be one of bee’s favorite plants. One of the reasons that bees end of stranded on the ground is that they have to fly further than they used to. This is all a result of rapid industrialization. Leaving a strip of our paper next to a struggling bee has a second benefit – once the bee has eaten the glucose, a honey plant will grow from the leftover strip. This way, an extra “rest stop” for other bees will be created. For them, the plant will be like an island on their way home across an ocean.
Bee Saving Paper is covered with water-based UV paint, with a pattern full of circles visible only to bees. Why did we choose red circles? What we see as a beautiful meadow, bees see as a field of red circles.
These ultraviolet patterns often outline “landing zones” for bees, pointing them towards the parts of plants that contain nectar and pollen. Could there be any better way to attract bees to our paper? Source: beesavingpaper.com
2. Astroshed: What’s Up There? Thursday, June 28
Mars remains a stunning sight all week. The Red Planet reaches its stationary point today, which means that its eastward motion relative to the background stars of Capricornus comes to a halt and it begins moving westward. Mars rises around 11 p.m. local daylight time and climbs highest in the south just before morning twilight commences. The planet shines at magnitude –2.1, making the third-brightest point of light in the night sky after Venus and Jupiter. If you point a telescope toward Mars, you’ll see its 21″-diameter disk and perhaps some subtle surface features — though many of these likely will be obscured by the planet’s major ongoing dust storm.
The image of Burns Cliff, located on the inside rim of Endurance Crater on Mars.
Friday, June 29
Venus dominates the western sky after sunset. The dazzling object shines at magnitude –4.1 among the background stars of western Leo, having crossed the border from Cancer earlier in the day. The planet appears 15° high an hour after sundown and sets around 11 p.m. local daylight time. When viewed through a telescope, Venus appears 16″ across and 70 percent lit.
The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 10:43 p.m. EDT. It then lies 252,315 miles (406,061 kilometers) from Earth’s center.
Saturday, June 30
The waning gibbous Moon rises in the east-southeast just as the last vestiges of twilight fade away. About 15 minutes later, ruddy Mars joins our satellite. The two stand about 5° apart as they cross the sky tonight.
For people who live near 30° north latitude, today marks the latest sunset of the year. Although Earth’s summer solstice and the Northern Hemisphere’s longest day occurred more than a week ago (on the 21st), latest sunset happens several days after and earliest sunrise several days before. The specific dates depend on your latitude, however — latest sunset at 40° north took place June 27. In general, latest sunset occurs closer to the solstice the farther north you live.
Sunday, July 1
Now that the Moon is exiting the evening sky, this is a good opportunity for binocular users to track down one of summer’s finest open star clusters. NGC 6231 lies in the tail of Scorpius the Scorpion, just 0.5° north of the double star Zeta (ζ) Scorpii (which is another fine binocular sight). NGC 6231 shines at magnitude 2.6 and packs more than 100 stars into a region about half the width of the Full Moon. This part of Scorpius lies nearly due south after darkness falls, though it doesn’t climb high from mid-northern latitudes.
3. Southwest Climate Forecast.
Precipitation and Temperature: The Southwest was characterized by below-average precipitation in May, ranging locally from record driest to near average (Fig. 1a). Temperatures were above average to much-above average across most of the Southwest, with small pockets of record-warm conditions in the northwest corner of New Mexico and along the eastern edge of the state (Fig. 1b). The March through May period exhibited similar patterns of mostly drierthan-average to record-dry precipitation and much-above-average to record-warm temperatures. Water-year precipitation to date (Oct 2017 – May 2018) highlights how dry most of the region has been at a longer timescale, with below-normal to record-dry conditions across Arizona and above-normal to record-dry conditions in New Mexico.
Monsoon & Tropical Activity: The Pacific tropical storm season got off to a strong start with Aletta and Bud, the former as an early start to the season in May, and the latter bringing wellabove-normal June precipitation to parts of the Southwest.
Snowpack & Stream ow Forecast: Snow was all but gone from the Southwest by June, and snow water equivalent (SWE) for the Upper Colorado River Basin remain below average, with only the upper Great Basin and Pacific Northwest having any semblance of above-normal snowpack. Warm and dry conditions continue to affect stream ow and runoff timing – a pattern that extends to the Upper Colorado River Basin, where stream ow forecasts are all well-below average.
Drought: Drought-designated areas continued to expand from last month. In the June 21 U.S. Drought Monitor, Arizona and New Mexico saw further increases in the extent and intensity of drought. These designations reflect short-term precipitation deficits, above-normal temperatures at monthly and seasonal timescales, and longer-term drought that tracks the cumulative effect of extended periods of warmer- and drier-than-normal conditions. The surge of tropical storm activity (Bud) in mid-June brought a welcome reprieve from ongoing dry conditions, but the next realistic hope for drought relief is the summer monsoon. The extent of its impact will depend on when it starts and how much (and how regularly) precipitation actually falls.
Wild Fire: The National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for June identified above normal wildland re risk across the Southwest except for eastern New Mexico and far northwestern Arizona, while the outlook for July calls for the re risk to return to normal in anticipation of monsoon moisture abating the risk. Southeastern Arizona and portions of New Mexico received precipitation linked to the remnants of Tropical Storm Bud, but regional patterns are not indicative of an early start to widespread monsoon activity (see Monsoon Tracker on pp. 4-6). A late start to the monsoon could extend the re-risk window, especially if long periods of dry lightning—a major ignition risk in June and July—precede precipitation. The region has been relatively fortunate in 2018, with less lightning-caused re activity than might have been expected (Fig. 6), given the exceptionally warm and dry conditions over the winter and above-normal ne-fuel loading and continuity.
El Niño Tracker: Neutral conditions are present in oceanic and atmospheric indicators, and longer-term outlooks indicate increasing chances of an El Niño event in 2018. Both the timing and the probability of an El Niño event are still uncertain, but most forecasts highlighted an increased chance of El Niño forming compared to last month, with now nearly twice the chance compared to ENSO neutral conditions. Notably, there is nearly zero chance of a La Niña event in 2018.
Precipitation and Temperature Forecast: The three-month outlook for June through August calls for increased chances of above-normal precipitation in Arizona and western New Mexico, with equal chances in central and eastern New Mexico. The outlook calls for increased chances of above-average temperatures for the entire Southwest.
4. Environmental Working Group (EWG) Sun Screen Pack. Sunscreen has been in the news A LOT this year. From the potential Hawaii ban of oxybenzone and octinoxate to EWG’s annual Guide to Sunscreens, people are focused on picking the right sunscreen.
Once again, EWG is making it easier than ever to find sunscreens that protect against the sun’s damaging rays – without the worrisome ingredients – with our 2018 Sun Sampler Pack!
This year’s Sun Sampler Pack is our best yet – featuring 13(!) product samples like Beautycounter’s mineral sunscreen lotion, a CC cream from Juice Beauty, an Amavara facestick and so much more. All of the products have met EWG’s strict criteria for sun protection and ingredient safety – plus this year’s box is reef-friendly!
You can’t get this unique collection of product samples anywhere else. EWG’s Sun Sampler Pack is your best chance to test out sun safety products to find what works best for you and your family. You can get yours today with a donation of just $60 or more, but you need to hurry. Supplies are extremely limited, so we’re sure to sell out FAST!
Get your 2018 Sun Sampler Pack today with a donation of $60 or more. You’ll get 13 SPF product samples, while helping EWG continue to provide the research you rely on.
5. Drought May Trigger State Water Crisis. The East Verde’s drying up.
The C.C. Cragin Reservoir’s nearly empty.
The completed C.C. Cragin pipeline never switched on.
And Rim Country swelters in “exceptional drought.”
But truth be told — we don’t have it so bad.
Most of the rest of Arizona’s now slipping into a dramatic water crisis — with no easy solution in sight.
Although the lack of a snowpack this winter left the C.C. Cragin Reservoir empty, long-range projections suggest the 3,000 acre-feet of water from the reservoir in normal years will make Payson one of the few places in the state with an assured, long-term water supply. Better yet, in most years much of the C.C. Cragin water will go into Payson’s underground water table — insurance against future droughts.
The rest of the state’s not so lucky.
Lake Powell and Lake Mead are close to record low levels — although not quite down to the 2011 low point. Projections put them at a combined 48 percent of capacity by September — even with good monsoon rains.
Without an above-average winter, the giant reservoirs could drop to 44 percent by next April — very close to water rationing.
States bicker about water
The shortfall has triggered the start of a bitter dispute between Arizona and the other six states with a right to water from the Colorado River. Arizona has failed to adopt a water management plan to protect its groundwater and help manage shortfalls on the Colorado River — provoking the ire of the other Colorado River basin states.
Mind you, even if the river users resolve their differences and figure out how to ration water through the drought — Arizona still has a serious “drinking problem,” according to Arizona State University researcher John Sabo.
Sabo calculated that to manage its resources long-term in an era of deeper, longer droughts, we would have to use no more than 40 percent of the available surface and groundwater from the Colorado River Basin. Instead, we’re using 76 percent — which means we don’t have enough to nurture future growth or ride out a drought.
The Colorado River Basin supports the populations of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.
Sabo noted, “My take is we’re already beyond the point where we have enough insurance against the bad years, which is why a year and a half ago we started talking about rationing before it started raining in December.”
He noted that farming accounts for 77 percent of the water use by humans in Arizona. For instance, growers in Yuma produce almost all of the nation’s water-intensive crop of lettuce in the winter, although Yuma gets an average of about 2 inches of rain annually.
Sabo said the Southwest would have to cut its water use by 60 percent to make the water supply sustainable in the long-term. However, Maricopa County’s population grew by 24 percent from 2000 to 2010 — and projections envision a population of 7.8 million by 2030.
That makes the current dispute over the Colorado River reservoirs a high-stakes problem for Arizona.
The dispute started with the release of documents from the Central Arizona Project, which manages the federal, $5 billion pipeline from the river to Phoenix and Tucson. The documents revealed CAP’s efforts to move as much water as possible from Lake Powell — which stores water for the upper basin states — and Lake Mead, which holds water for the lower basin states.
Next, the Arizona Legislature failed to adopt a water conservation plan required by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which paid for the CAP pipeline and manages the two giant reservoirs.
Arizona stands last in line
Under current policy, when Lake Mead falls to a certain level Arizona and Nevada could lose their share of water — since their rights have the lowest priority. California has the highest priority water rights.
However, California agreed to share in the rationing if all the other states developed water conservation plans. Arizona is the lone holdout. Efforts to develop a conservation plan in the Legislature floundered on the plight of central Arizona farmers — who could face a dire financial situation if the CAP cuts off water deliveries.
Meanwhile, Arizona lingers in extreme to exceptional drought — with the worst of the drought encompassing northern Gila County and much of Apache and Navajo counties.
The SRP reservoirs on the Salt and Verde rivers are just 54 percent full — compared to 71 percent at the same time last year. Roosevelt Lake has shrunk to 49 percent full — roughly 800,000 acre-feet. Tonto Creek has dried up before it reaches Roosevelt and the Salt River has 41 percent of its normal flow. The Verde River’s doing better, with 78 percent of its normal flow.
Rim Country has water
All of which demonstrates the vital role of the C.C. Cragin Reservoir in Rim Country’s future.
The reservoir holds about 15,000 acre-feet of water, but ended this winter at just 22 percent of its capacity. As a result, for the first time in years the Salt River Project never started the pumps up in the spring. This prompted the East Verde to dry up and prevented Payson from opening its nearly-completed water treatment plant and taking delivery of its first 3,000 acre-foot allotment.
Currently, Payson uses about 1,800 acre-feet annually from its network of wells. Those wells were dropping quickly before Payson imposed tough water conservation rules prior to the last recession in 2008. Since then, well levels have stabilized.
The delivery of 3,000 acre-feet annually from the pipeline would in the short term recharge the town’s water table and in the long term provide enough water for a town of 30,000 to 40,000.
So while most of the rest of Arizona is facing the prospect of water rationing and falling water tables, Payson will instead have to figure out what to do with a 160 percent increase in its longterm water supply.
Providing this drought doesn’t go on forever.
And a wildfire doesn’t sear the watershed and fill the reservoir with mud. Source: Payson Roundup
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