Ashley Ahearn
Stories
-
Study: Salmon Could Use Earth’s Magnetic Field To Go Home
Salmon travel thousands of miles out to the open ocean to feed and mature. Then after a few years they head home, back to the exact river where they hatched to spawn the next generation.
-
Tidal Power Project In Puget Sound One Step Closer To Approval
Snohomish County Public Utility District wants to put two turbines 150 feet below the waves near Whidbey Island. The pilot project would generate enough
-
Searching The Olympic Forest For The Elusive Marten
The American marten is a small elusive member of the weasel family. People trap them and sell their pelts on the fur market where they’re known as “sable.
-
What Climate Change Means For Seattle And The Northwest
City officials predict that by 2050 parts of Seattle will be under water at high tide as global sea levels rise. At a press conference held Monday on the edge of Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle, the City Council announced a new plan to take action on climate change.Councilmember Mike O’Brien stood before the wintery gray waters of Puget Sound and pointed to a large map of the Seattle shoreline.O’Brien said the effects of climate change will hit Seattle right where it hurts: the industrial shipping zone at Harbor Island, a hotspot of West Coast maritime trade. The report projects that over half of Harbor Island would be under water in a regular high tide event by the year 2050.Read the whole story on KUOW’s Earthfix
-
Talk Of A Carbon Tax In The Northwest
Keeping up with transportation infrastructure isn’t cheap. The Washington State Transportation Commission estimates that in the next 20 years around 200 billion dollars needs to be put towards the maintenance of roads, ferries and more. But how to pay for that? Some are putting forward the idea of a tax on carbon emissions.Read the whole story on KUOW’s Earthfix
-
The Next Act For Clean Water
The Clean Water Act turned 40 this year. What has it accomplished? Where would we be without it? And what will the next 40 years look like for clean water in this country? Weekday presents a special broadcast produced by KUOW's EarthFix and Living On Earth from Public Radio International.
-
Strong Opposition In Seattle For Gateway Pacific Terminal
More than 2,000 people showed up Thursday to tell regulators what they think should be considered in the environmental review of a proposed coal export terminal near Bellingham, Wash. If built, it could be the largest such facility on the West Coast.
-
Where Coal Divides, Community Remains
Exporting coal via the Northwest has become an issue so divisive that old friendships and alliances strain under the pressure. No matter how you feel about climate change or construction jobs or any number of issues bound to the five coal export terminals under consideration around the Northwest, chances are you know someone who feels differently about the issue than you do.
-
Oil Trains On The Rise In The Northwest
As regulators in the region weigh the potential impacts of trains full of coal moving along the Columbia River and the shores of Puget Sound, trainloads of oil are quietly on the move. There are billions of barrels of oil in the Bakken shale formation – located in North Dakota and Montana mainly. And some of that oil is now making its way to refineries in Puget Sound.Read the whole story on KUOW’s Earthfix
-
Acidifying Water Takes Toll On Northwest Shellfish
Rescuing shellfish from the rising acidity in Puget Sound will require a wide-ranging response: everything from curbing greenhouse gases and controlling water pollution to growing more seaweed and putting restaurant-discarded oyster shells into shallow bays. Those are among the recommendations in a long-awaited report on ocean acidification that was delivered today to Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire by a blue-ribbon panel.Read the whole story on KUOW's Eartfix