A New Work/Retirement Week
Bob Shannon, Kathy Meader US Editors
Ron Rattray, Rick Price British Columbia and Alberta Editors

California May Have Hit Its Driest Point In 500 Years, And The Effects Are Frightening

Most of the models continue to predict El Niño to develop during September-November and to continue into early 2015 . A majority of models and the multi-model averages favor a weak El Niño. At this time, the consensus of forecasters expects El Niño to emerge during September-October and to peak at weak strength during the late fall and early winter.

Depending on their strength, El Ninos sometimes – but not always – deliver significant amounts of rain and snow to much of the Western U.S.

Typically, a strong El Nino can result in a stormy winter along the West Coast, a wet winter across the South and a warmer-than average winter for parts of the North.
California is in desperate need of winter precipitation. The state is enduring one of its worst droughts on record. As of Thursday, 100% of the state was in a drought, including 58% in "exceptional" drought, the worst level, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported.

Michelle Mead, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento, said a weak El Niño won't end the California drought.
"Unfortunately there is very little correlation between weak El Niño events and above-normal precipitation," Mead said. "In the past above-normal (precipitation) has occurred during some of these events. But, at the same time, during weak El Niño events we've seen below-normal conditions.”

The toddler who went to bed with pink eye and was dead from enterovirus 68 the next morning: Parents pay tribute to 'beautiful and perfect son' as medics hunt for answers

A medical examiner has determined that Enterovirus-D68 is the cause of the death of Eli Waller, 4
The Waller family is in the process of establishing a foundation in Eli's honor
Eli's father, Andy Waller, released a statement Sunday saying his son was full of 'unconditional love'
Eli's is the first death with Enterovirus-D68 as the determined cause

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Magical Alberta by
Rick Price

A four-year-old boy who went to bed with only pink eye died in his sleep hours later from enterovirus 68.

Eli Waller of Hamilton Township, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Atlantic City, is the first fatality linked directly to a strain of enterovirus that has infected more than 500 people.

Waller was asymptomatic before his death and the onset of his illness was rapid, according to Hamilton Township Health Officer Jeff Plunkett said.

The images of Hurricane Katrina remain indelible nine years after the storm devastated the central Gulf Coast. These include pictures of the failed levees that allowed up to 17 feet of water to inundate the majority of New Orleans, bloated bodies floating in the contaminated floodwaters and a flattened Mississippi coastline.

We spent a week traveling through Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in July to report on the lives of LGBT people who live there. Rampant discrimination, persecution and poverty were among the external factors that provided a context for our trip. It quickly became clear to us the aftermath of Katrina was another backdrop to the story that had already changed our lives in a profound and deeply personal way.

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Where is our Topsoil

You may hear the phrase: "We are losing our soil." Sounds serious…but how do we lose soil? Nick Comerford, a member of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and professor at the University of Florida, provides the answer.

Soil erosion is the movement of soil by wind or water, and it's through erosion that soil is "lost." If it is an organic soil, we also lose it by subsidence which happens when an organic soil is drained and its organic matter decomposes.

We lose about 1.7 billion tons of soil per year from just our cropland. That is a lot, but it's better than it used to be. Over the past 25 years we have reduced soil erosion by over 40%, mainly by conservation practices such as conservation tillage, terracing, cover crops, and grass waterways. It can take roughly 500 to 1000 years to form one inch of soil, depending on the climate and the material from which soil forms.

With that in mind it is not hard to see that soil is a non-renewable resource and worth protecting. Since the soil is the source of water and nutrients for plants as well as a bioreactor to purify and filter water, it is crucial to our quality of life.

Soil erosion occurs when the soil is not protected from the elements. Remove the plants and mulch from mineral soil and things start to happen. Raindrops can break apart the soil making it easier to move it by wind and water. The water's ability to enter the soil is reduced and more water now can flow over the top of the soil. Unfortunately, water is powerful and can carry away soil particles if it flows overland. Since water flows downhill, that's where the soil goes once water erosion begins.

Where does the soil end up? It might end up at the bottom of a hill, or it might end up in a river or stream or in the ocean, or it might end up in a reservoir. If the soil ends up in reservoir, it limits the space for water and has to be removed by a very expensive process called dredging. If the soil dries out while it is unprotected, then wind can pick it up and move it downwind.

Organic soils can be drained. When drained, they decompose and this is called subsidence. In the Everglades area of Florida where soils have been drained for agriculture, organic soils have lost as much as five feet or more of their organic matter. Organic soils are preserved by not draining them. Letting them stay saturated with water allows them to continue to build over time.

Soil erosion is expensive. It costs the United States about $44 billion per year. Preventing erosion means taking care of the soil. That means protecting it with mulch and plants, not plowing on steep slopes, and maximizing the amount of water that enters the soil while minimizing the water that runs over the soil.

The images of Hurricane Katrina remain indelible nine years after the storm devastated the central Gulf Coast. These include pictures of the failed levees that allowed up to 17 feet of water to inundate the majority of New Orleans, bloated bodies floating in the contaminated floodwaters and a flattened Mississippi coastline.
We spent a week traveling through Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in July to report on the lives of LGBT people who live there. Rampant discrimination, persecution and poverty were among the external factors that provided a context for our trip. It quickly became clear to us the aftermath of Katrina was another backdrop to the story that had already changed our lives in a profound and deeply personal way.
- See more at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/09/03/katrina-still-haunts-gulf-coast/#sthash.0acXKm10.dpuf

Spanish Nurse gets Ebola outside Africa

BARCELONA, Spain — A Spanish nurse has become the first person to be infected with Ebola outside of West Africa, after contracting the virus while treating a missionary who died in a Madrid hospital, Spain’s health ministry said Monday.

The assistant nurse was part of the medical team at Madrid’s Carlos III hospital that treated Manuel García Viejo, the missionary, who was repatriated from Sierra Leone but died in the hospital on Sept. 25.

Ana Mato, Spain’s health minister, told a televised news conference that the nurse tested positive for Ebola twice, and that the rest of the 30-person team that looked after the missionary were undergoing medical tests to determine whether they had contracted Ebola. The nurse’s identity was not disclosed.