Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A. - Smoke from wildfires hung over Huntsville, Texas during the summer of 2011. Sean James, an eight-grader, watched with his family as the rainless, hot summer worsened the already existing drought and wildfires. In his first-place winning entry for the 2012 Earth Day Photo and Essay Contest, Sean conveyed his shock that an area so damaged by the devastating wildfires could recover so quickly.

Sean’s photograph captures a scene in northern Walker County, Texas. There, among trees charred by flames, green plants begin to flourish. “I’m pretty sure anybody who knew about the tendencies of nature knew that this “natural reconstruction” was going to occur after a fire like this, but I don’t know how many people knew it would happen in such a short span of time,” Sean wrote.

In addition to the photograph, Sean also collected photographs of the wildfires taken by others, and compiled them into a music video for which he wrote the music.

“The wildfires became such a large and emotional part of our lives last year that it was impossible for him not to be moved by the incredible turnaround we saw this year,” Sean’s mother, Renee James, recalls.

Sean and other young talented photographers took part in the sixth-annual Earth Day Photo & Essay Contest held by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). More than 400 students from across the country participated in the contest for grades 5-8, capturing scenes of our changing world.

Using their photograph as inspiration, participants then wrote an essay about the change shown in the photograph, its causes, and its impacts.

Entries were judged by IGES staff based on relevance to the contest theme (depiction of change in the environment), uniqueness and overall appearance of the photo, and quality of the written explanation.

Dominick Frank, a seventh-grader from Ames, Iowa, won second place with a picture of algae blooms taken at a lake near his home, and with his essay, helped to raise awareness of agricultural pollution. “Algae overgrowth is a result of fertilizer and manure pollution,” Dominick wrote. “Both promote the growth of plants, so algae grows like crazy claiming the surface of the water. The pollution occurs when run off from farm fields and feedlots washes down rivers, streams, and creeks.”

Third place went to Rishab Ramapriyan, a seventh-grader from Freemont, California, who snapped a photograph of the coastal wetlands near Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, California. In his essay, Rishab noted the variety of threats to wetland areas and the importance of protecting them: “Aggressive protection of existing wetlands and the remaining upland transition areas around the Bay may be the only way to preserve the natural services of wetlands that will protect the water quality of the Bay when rising sea levels encroach on developed lands.”

The top three winners receive $150, $100, and $75 gift cards. Each of the top 10 winners receives a photo book featuring the winning entries.

The article Eighth Grade Aspiring Photographer Inspired by Wildfires appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Hundreds of residents were forced to evacuate their homes as the wildfire in Colorado spread.

The High Park Fire in Larimer County, Colorado has burned almost 37,000 acres and is still growing with zero percent of the fire being contained while 400 firefighters are on the job battling the flames.

The fire is burning 15 miles west of Fort Collins and a Larimer County Sheriff Office spokeman, Executive Officer Nick Christensen has said,  ”it is a very aggressive fire, fuel driven, wind driven, and the winds have not been favorable.”

According to 9 News, a local Colorado news station, the fire is growing at 20 to 40 feet per minute.

Firefighters are receiving help by additional air resources in attempt to get the blaze under control according to Timescall.com, including at least five helicopters with more on order.

New evacuation orders were sent out this morning to the area south of Larimer County Road 38E, fire officials warn that the flames are moving rapidly in the direction of the latest evacuation ordered area.

At least 18 structures have been destroyed and many others are under threat, “That number is going to go significantly higher,” said Christensen. One person is confirmed missing from a home damaged in the fire.

The article Colorado, Wildfire Out West Burns Out of Control appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The heat wave that smothered much of the central portion of the United States in July might have moved eastward in August, but Texas continues to feel the burn through September. Cities across the state, such as Dallas, saw the weather stay hot, and even began seeing record-breaking streaks for triple digit temperatures.

Wichita Falls, a city in northern Texas along the Texas-Oklahoma border, saw their 100th day of triple digit temperatures on September 13. The city was also the first city in Texas to reach 100 days of 100-degree weather. The longest consecutive number of days with 100 degree or higher temperatures in Wichita Falls was 79 days in 1980.

Wichita Falls is another city that can be added to the list of cities in Texas that have seen such a streak. Dallas reached a 100-degree plus weather on the same day as Wichita Falls. Laredo, a city approximately 220 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, has already seen over 100 days of 100- degree plus temperatures. Laredo also saw similar streaks in 1989 and 1998.

The temperatures are not helping wildfires that are continuing to scorch the state. What little rainfall the state saw in August was not helpful, either. According to the National Climatic Data Center, the average amount of rainfall in Texas was 0.73 inches, which is far below average. Lack of rain has been contributing to the current drought in Texas, which is at D4 – Exceptional, the most severe level of drought on the US Drought Monitor.

When the amount of rainfall is small, less moisture in the soil is available to be evaporated into the air. Temperatures then rise faster because there is not enough moisture in the atmosphere to slow rising temperatures and keep the temperatures cool, writes Brett Israel in OurAmazingPlanet.com.

Forecasters at Weather.com predicted cooler temperatures and thunderstorms for Wichita Falls for the following days after the 100-degree temperature streak. Predictions hovered between the high-80s to high-90s for the city.

Temperatures immediately began falling on September 14, and stayed within the predicted range. There were also small amounts of rain, though still way below the average amount Wichita Falls usually sees by this time of the year.

The article Hot, Hot Heat in Wichita Falls appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

A wildfire that claimed the lives of two forest rangers in Florida.

A wildfire in Florida took the lives of two forest rangers, as the state continues to be affected by more than 400 blazes. According to BBC news, “the rangers had been trying to contain a 12-acre(4.8-ha) blaze near the Georgia border, but the fire flared up and trapped them”. While trying to save Josh Burch, 31 and Brett Fulton, 52 two other individuals were also injured due to the fire. The two rangers who were trying to contain the fire were not just injured they were immediately killed.

State Forestry director Jim Karels told the Associated Press News Agency that “the weather can change in Florida very quickly and that’s what we experienced”. Investigators describe how “wildfires have burned more than 200,000 acres of land in Florida since 1 May 2011.
The fire known as the Blue Ribbon Fire in Florida’s Hamilton County which killed the two rangers  had previously been contained. It “was burning roughly 85 miles (136 km) north-east of the city of Tallahassee”. This has known to be the first time anyone working for the Florida Division of Forestry has died from tackling a blaze since the year 2000, when a pilot died from dumping water on a wildfire that took place near the town Fort Myers.

Wildfires across the country have been affecting residences, outbuildings and commercial properties. Many of these fires being so disastrous that homeowners are forced to move from their hometowns. Wildfires can be caused by many things some of which include lightning, volcanic activities and spontaneous combustion. The news about the wildfire in Florida had come as the responders continued to battle around thousands of fires in the region of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

In Texas a fast-moving fire in Grimes County destroyed thirty-five homes on Tuesday, after destroying more than 4,000 acres of land. A fire which started because homeowners lost control of a fire in their grill, near the town of Stoneham. Earlier this month, a huge wildfire had hit the state of Arizona forcing thousands from their homes. The blaze had raged for 11 days.

BBC news describes “the largest of the US wildfires is considered to be the Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico, which officials said on Tuesday had burned more than 525,000 acres”. The Wallow Fire is now eighty-two percent contained according to Azfamily.com. “Approximately 15,000 acres have burned in New Mexico; the fire’s now covers a total of 538,043 acres”. More than 7,000 firefighters are involved in Arizona and New Mexico to contain wildfires there and a total of 10,400 firefighters are involved in the efforts to contain the wildfires across the US.

The article Wildfire in Florida Kills Two Forest Rangers appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.