Environment – Page 98

Why Doesn’t Global Warming Feel Warmer?

Posted on 2013/09/27 by admin

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The report states that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal.”

Then, why doesn’t it feel that much hotter? Because most of the rise in temperature is in the water:

Ocean warming dominates the increase in energy stored in the climate system, accounting for more than 90% of the energy accumulated between 1971 and 2010 (high confidence). It is virtually certain that the upper ocean (0?700 m) warmed from 1971 to 2010, and it likely warmed between the 1870s and 1971.

• On a global scale, the ocean warming is largest near the surface, and the upper 75 m warmed by 0.11 [0.09 to 0.13] °C per decade over the period 1971–2010. Since AR4, instrumental biases in upper-ocean temperature records have been identified and reduced, enhancing confidence in the assessment of change.
• It is likely that the ocean warmed between 700 and 2000 m from 1957 to 2009. Sufficient observations are available for the period 1992 to 2005 for a global assessment of temperature change below 2000 m. There were likely no significant observed temperature trends between 2000 and 3000 m for this period. It is likely that the ocean warmed from 3000 m to the bottom for this period, with the largest warming observed in the Southern Ocean.
• More than 60% of the net energy increase in the climate system is stored in the upper ocean (0–700 m) during the relatively well-sampled 40-year period from 1971 to 2010, and about 30% is stored in the ocean below 700 m. The increase in upper ocean heat content during this time period estimated from a linear trend is likely.
• It is about as likely as not that ocean heat content from 0–700 m increased more slowly during 2003–2010 than during 1993–2002. Ocean heat uptake from 700–2000m, where interannual variability is smaller, likely continued unabated from 1993 to 2009.
• It is very likely that regions of high salinity where evaporation dominates have become more saline, while regions of low salinity where precipitation dominates have become fresher since the 1950s. These regional trends in ocean salinity provide indirect evidence that evaporationand precipitation over the oceans have changed (medium confidence).
• There is no observational evidence of a trend in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), based on the decade-long record of the complete AMOC and longer records of individual AMOC components.

U.N.: Humans Induce Climate Change

Posted on 2013/09/23 by admin

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that “we cannot accept a rising tide that floats only some boats and leaves many to drown.”

Ban Ki-moon has been taking a strong stance on global warming. His latest efforts include getting world leaders to admit humans are impacting climate change. Most people would think this is a given. No. In fact, quite a few government and business leaders refuse to admit to what science shows.

“Nobody can benefit from catastrophic climate change or rampant unemployment and the social unrest that comes with it,” Mr. Ban said.

UK newspaper The Independent says. “The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will say next week that certainty has increased from “very likely” to “extremely likely” that human activity has caused more than half of the observed temperature rise from 1951 to 2010, in a large part due to fossil fuels and deforestation.”

Hawaii Most Severe Manmade Disaster: Molasses Spill

Posted on 2013/09/132013/09/13 by admin

Hawaii is in a sticky situation. An estimated 233,000 gallons of thick molasses spilled from a pipeline that was filling a cargo ship. The massive spill has killed just about everything in Honolulu Harbor.

“There’s nothing alive there at all,” diver Roger White said after making a video of dead sea life blanketing the bottom of the harbor. “Everything is dead. They’re all dead and they’re all just lying across the bottom — hundreds and hundreds, thousands.”

“The molasses is not toxic but it’s heavier than water so it’s spreading around on the sea floor, displacing the oxygen-rich water down there, and the fish are suffocating,” said Keith Korsmeyer, a professor of biology at Hawaii Pacific University.

Gary Gill of the state Health Department said, “This is the worst environmental damage to sea life that I have come across, and it’s fair to say this is a biggie, if not the biggest that we’ve had to confront in the state of Hawaii.”

Belief in Anthropogenic Climate Change

Posted on 2013/09/09 by admin

From the American Meteorological Society

A series of polls provides new tests for how weather influences public beliefs about climate change. Statewide data from 5000 random-sample telephone interviews conducted on 99 days over 2.5 yr (2010–12) are merged with temperature and precipitation indicators derived from U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) station records. The surveys carry a question designed around scientific consensus statements that climate change is happening now, caused mainly by human activities. Alternatively, respondents can state that climate change is not happening, or that it is happening but mainly for natural reasons. Belief that humans are changing the climate is predicted by temperature anomalies on the interview day and the previous day, controlling for season, survey, and individual characteristics. Temperature effects concentrate among one subgroup, however: individuals who identify themselves as independent, rather than aligned with a political party. Interviewed on unseasonably warm days, independents tend to agree with the scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic climate change. On unseasonably cool days, they tend not to agree. Although temperature effects are sharpest for just a 2-day window, positive effects are seen for longer windows as well. As future climate change shifts the distribution of anomalies and extremes, this will first affect beliefs among unaligned voters.

Yosemite Wildfire

Posted on 2013/08/28 by admin

One of the largest wildfires to ever hit California caused a smoke plume effecting air quality over 100 miles away. The fire has already destroyed over 110 structures and continues to burn out-of-control.

““It was like a bomb went off, exploded,” a firefighter said. “When the inversion lifted, the fog coming from the smoke, when it lifted, this fire exploded and it’s been running away ever since.”

So far, more than 288-square-miles have burned.

The park has issued this statement:
Most of Yosemite National Park is not affected by the fire and is relatively smoke-free. The northern part of the park, including some areas along the Tioga Road, has some smoke. Conditions may change if winds shift. However:

* The Big Oak Flat Road (the continuation of Highway 120 inside Yosemite) and Highway 120 west of Yosemite are closed between J132 near Buck Meadows (outside the park) to Crane Flat (inside the park). Beginning at noon on Wednesday, August 28, the only access to Yosemite Valley is via Highway 140 from Merced or Highway 41 from Fresno.
* Beginning at noon on Wednesday, August 28, the Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) is closed from Crane Flat to Yosemite Creek. The only access to the Tuolumne Meadows area is via Highway 120 from near Lee Vining.
* Hetch Hetchy Road and Evergreen Road are closed.
* White Wolf is closed, including the lodge, campground, road, and trails originating from White Wolf.
* Crane Flat, Hodgdon Meadow, Tamarack Flat, Yosemite Creek, and White Wolf Campgrounds and Hetch Hetchy Backpackers’ Campground are closed.
* Merced and Tuolumne Groves of Giant Sequoias are closed so firefighters can work on preventive fire suppression efforts. The groves are not currently in imminent danger.
* Wilderness trail closures: The area west of the May Lake Road and May Lake Trail continuing to the junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at Glen Aulin and then north along the PCT to Bond Pass is closed. The park’s boundary serves as the closure’s northern and western edge extending south to the junction of the Big Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road at Crane Flat. The closure’s boundary continues east from Crane Flat paralleling the Tioga Road a half mile to its south to the Tamarack Flat Campground Road. The closure follows the Tamarack Flat Campground Road to the campground then continues on the Tamarack Creek trail to the junction with the North Rim Trail. Then east along the North Rim trail to the Yosemite Creek trail north to the Tioga Road. The closure then follows the Tioga Road east to the May Lake Road. The trails serving as the eastern and southern boundary of the closed area remain open. May Lake High Sierra Camp, Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, and Porcupine Flat Campground are open.

Underwater Robotics Competition

Posted on 2013/08/27 by admin

Annual competition, sponsored by Marine Advanced Technological Education Center, gives competitors a taste of the real-life capabilities needed to maintain an ocean observing system
by NSF.gov

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center hosted its 12th annual student underwater robotics competition earlier this summer in Federal Way, Wash. The Center is a national partnership of organizations working to improve marine technical education and help prepare the future workforce for ocean occupations.

Headquartered at Monterey Peninsula College, a community college in Monterey, Calif., the MATE Center has been funded as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center of Excellence since 1997.

The student underwater robotics competition challenged this year’s participants to design and build a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) for tasks related to operating and maintaining an ocean observing system, a collection of high-tech instruments above and below the waves that provide around-the-clock information about what’s happening in the ocean.

The challenge was based on work being done at the University of Washington, where researchers are designing an observatory for the ocean floor. The missions assigned to this year’s competitors were designed to simulate many of the things that will have to be done by ROVs during the installation and maintenance of the observatory.

“This was a very challenging mission,” said Jill Zande, associate director and competition coordinator at the MATE Center. “And we found that a number of the students did really well.”

Participants included more than 50 student teams representing middle schools, high schools, home schools, community colleges, universities, after-school clubs, and outreach programs from the U.S., Canada, Venezuela, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macao, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Russia, and Egypt.

Competitors’ mission tasks

Student teams piloted their ROVs to complete a variety of underwater mission tasks, prepared and presented an engineering report to a panel of volunteer judges, and created a poster display aimed at the general public.

Students were encouraged to think like entrepreneurs and manage their teams like companies, a process that helps them develop the teamwork, creative thinking, and problem solving skills that are valued in today’s global workplace. Teams were evaluated on the design, construction, and performance of their ROVs; their ability to communicate what they learned; and how they put their knowledge to use in designing and building their ROVs.

Teams competed in either the RANGER or EXPLORER class, depending on the sophistication of their ROVs and the mission requirements. Teams from California won first place in each class. A complete list of winners appears below.

MATE’s impact over its history

With NSF funding, the MATE Center began as an ATE project, and has broadened its mission, expanded its reach and increased its impact over almost 20 years. MATE began with a focus on community colleges, but over time opened up to four-year institutions and high schools. Part of its mission is to develop curricula in marine technology, underwater robotics, marine geospatial technology, career awareness, and ocean observing systems. MATE also offers professional development for high school, college, and university faculty that focuses on a broad array of marine technologies, workplace skills, and pedagogical innovations.

Now an Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) project, led by Zande, is reaching middle-school students and teachers.

The idea behind MATE’s growth is that the ROV competition can be a means to keep students engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and create a pathway to careers in the STEM workforce. Ocean careers cover a broad range of skills, and MATE provides information on its website about the preparation required for more than 50 different careers, from that of able seaman to electrical engineer to ROV technician. There are also listings for jobs and internships.

The pathway from MATE to ocean careers is well-traveled. “We’ve had students snapped up by industry into $60,000 jobs before they’ve finished their associate degree,” said Deidre Sullivan, director and principal investigator for the MATE Center. “When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened three years ago, some of people who were operating the ROVs looking at the damage were graduates of the MATE curriculum.”

“MATE has become a magnet for these kinds of skills,” said David Campbell, program director for ATE. “If a student is interested in this kind of career, most community colleges will train students in electronics and depend on their future employers to train them in marine electronics. MATE is one of the few that’s geared toward marine technology.”

Winners of the 2013 ROV competition

There were three top winners in each class, and a host of other awards.

Explorer (Advanced) Class Winners:

In the Explorer class, the overall first place winner was Jesuit High School of Carmichael, Calif. The team also won an award for being safety-conscious.

Memorial University of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada took the second place prize. Third place was captured by SeaTech 4-H Club of Mt. Vernon, Wash., which also had the highest overall mission score.

Ranger (Intermediate) Class Winners:

Aptos High School of Aptos, Calif. won overall first place in the RANGER class. With 310 out of 320 possible points, the team had the highest mission score, and they also won an award for best technical report.

Second place went to Heritage Collegiate of Lethbridge, Newfoundland, Canada. Third place went to Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech, of New Bedford, Mass., which also won an award for top poster display.

NSF’s Advanced Technological Education program is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The program was created to improve and expand educational programs for technicians to work in high-tech, STEM fields that drive the U.S. economy. The program is congressionally mandated and focuses on both the undergraduate and the secondary school levels.
— Maria C. Zacharias, (703) 292-8454 mzachari@nsf.gov

Investigators
Deidre Sullivan
Jill Zande

Related Institutions/Organizations
Monterey Peninsula College

Locations
Monterey , California

Related Programs
Advanced Technological Education
Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers

Related Awards
#1104310 Marine Advanced Technology Education Center Resource Center 2011
#0929875 MATE ROV Competitions: Providing Pathways to the Ocean STEM Workforce

Years Research Conducted
1997 – 2013

Total Grants
$2,819,973

View video
Students were challenged to design and build an ROV that could maintain an ocean observing system.

Q: Why Did the Sea Level Drop?

Posted on 2013/08/222013/08/22 by admin

A: Because the rain fell on Australia.

By Alan Buis,
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

David Hosansky,
National Center for Atmospheric Research

A unique and complex set of circumstances came together over Australia from 2010 to 2011 to cause Earth’s smallest continent to be the biggest contributor to the observed drop in global sea level rise during that time, finds a new study co-authored and co-funded by NASA.

In 2011, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of Colorado at Boulder reported that between early 2010 and summer 2011, global sea level fell sharply, by about a quarter of an inch, or half a centimeter. Using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft, they showed that the drop was caused by the very strong La Niña that began in late 2010. That La Niña changed rainfall patterns all over our planet, moving huge amounts of Earth’s water from the ocean to the continents. The phenomenon was short-lived, however.

By mid-2012, global mean sea level had resumed its long-term mean annual rise of 0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) per year (see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-362).

But analyses of the historical record showed that past La Niña events only rarely accompanied such a pronounced drop in sea level. So what made this particular La Niña unique?

To better understand this phenomenon, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo.; JPL; and the University of Colorado at Boulder combined GRACE data with data from the Argo global array of 3,000 free-drifting floats and satellite altimeters (Jason-1, Jason-2 and Topex/Poseidon).

They found that three atmospheric patterns converged over the Indian and Pacific Oceans in 2010 and 2011 to drive excessive precipitation over Australia. On average, the continent received almost one foot (300 millimeters) of rain more than normal. The result was widespread flooding. The flooding was in large part prevented from running back into the ocean by Australia’s dry soils and the mountain-ringed topography of the country’s vast interior, called the Outback, leading to the measurable drop in the world’s ocean levels.

“No other continent has this combination of atmospheric set-up and topography,” said NCAR scientist John Fasullo, lead author of the study. “Only in Australia could the atmosphere carry such heavy tropical rains to such a large area, only to have those rains fail to make their way to the ocean.”

Now that the atmospheric patterns have snapped back and more rain is falling over tropical oceans, the seas are rising again. In fact, with Australia in a major drought, they are rising faster than before. Since 2011, when the atmospheric patterns shifted out of their unusual combination, sea levels have been rising at a faster pace of about 0.4 inches (10 millimeters) per year.

The study, co-funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, will be published next month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Plastic Ocean

Posted on 2013/08/07 by admin

Plastic debris is accumulating in the ocean at an alarming rate. Many species of birds, fish, turtles, whales and other sea animals are being impacted.

In 2009, a U.N. joint commission estimated that 6.4 million metric tons of plastic waste currently pollutes the oceans. The U.N. also estimates that 5 million pieces of plastic enter the oceans each day from land. Captain Charles Moore thinks these figures, as shocking as they may seem, could be woefully optimistic.

In 1997, Moore, skipper of ORV alguita, a 50-foot Tasmania-built catamaran, first comes upon some of the plastic on his way back from a trans-Pacific sailing race, when the strongest El Nino on record forces a detour through the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre — in sailor lingo, the doldrums. There, he and his travel companions find themselves slowly traversing what he describes as a “plastic soup,” asweeping mid-oceanic tract speckled with scraps of plastic. He is incredulous, yet galvanized.

Since then, the UN has gone on to say:

With vast amounts of marine litter posing multiple threats, from harming wildlife to damaging tourism to loading the human food chain with potentially cancer-causing toxins, a United Nations conference today issued a call for concerted action against an evil present in all the world’s seas.

In a commitment statement issued at the end of week-long meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, experts from governments, research bodies, businesses and trade associations stressed the urgent need to improve global waste management, voicing concern at the growing presence of plastic debris among other rubbish discarded into the oceans, on shore, or brought indirectly to the sea by rivers, sewage, storm water or winds.

“Marine debris – trash in our oceans – is a symptom of our throw-away society and our approach to how we use our natural resources,” said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, whose agency organized the meeting in cooperation with the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“It affects every country and every ocean, and shows us in highly visible terms the urgency of shifting towards a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy,” he added in a message to conference delegates, who included experts from some 35 countries, governments, scientific bodies, corporations such as Coca-Cola Company and trade associations such as Plastics Europe.

“One community or one country acting in isolation will not be the answer. We need to address marine debris collectively across national boundaries and with the private sector, which has a critical role to play both in reducing the kinds of wastes that can end up in the world’s oceans, and through research into new materials. It is by bringing all these players together that we can truly make a difference.”

The Honolulu Commitment issued at the end of the meeting, the 5th International Marine Debris Conference, calls on “international organizations, governments at national and sub-national levels, industry, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), citizens and other stakeholders” to halt and reverse the occurrence of marine debris by minimizing waste and turning it into a resource in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Citing the harmful impact of marine debris, UNEP said some 270 species worldwide are affected by entanglement in or ingestion of the trash marine, including 86 per cent of all sea turtles species, 44 per cent of all seabird species and 43 per cent of all marine mammal species.

“There is growing concern over the potential impact on human health of toxic substances released by plastic waste in the ocean,” it added, noting that scientists are studying whether contaminants linked to cancer, reproductive problems and other health risks can enter the food chain when ingested by marine animals.

Moreover, accumulated debris on beaches and shorelines can have a serious economic impact on communities that are dependent on tourism, while the debris may house invasive species that can disrupt marine habitats and ecosystems. Heavy items of marine debris can also damage habitats such as coral reefs and affect the foraging and feeding habits of marine animals.

Waste management is one of 10 economic sectors highlighted in UNEP’s Green Economy Report launched last month, highlighting enormous opportunities for turning land-based waste, the major contributor to marine debris, into a more economically valuable resource.

The value of the waste-to-energy market, for example, was estimated at $20 billion in 2008 and is projected to grow by 30 per cent by 2014.

In a major report issued two years ago – Marine Litter: A Global Challenge – UNEP details the human actions, accidental or intentional, that are the sources of marine litter. Ocean-based sources include merchant shipping, cruise liners, fishing vessels and military as well as offshore oil and gas platforms and drilling rigs, and aquaculture.

On land, the culprits include beaches, piers, harbours, marinas, docks and riverbanks, and municipal landfills located on the coast, as well as rivers, lakes and ponds that are used as illegal dump sites, discharges of untreated municipal sewage and storm water, industrial facilities, and medical waste.

Nuclear Energy Laser Uranium Enrichment

Posted on 2013/08/01 by admin

Many scientists have come to the conclusion that nuclear energy is one of the alternative energy solutions for climate change. A new process, laser enrichment, is a major advancement in the efficiency of nuclear energy production.

The United State Nuclear Regulatory Commission said, “General Electric (GE) currently plans to use the Australian laser enrichment technology known as Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (SILEX) to enrich natural UF6 gas in the uranium-235 isotope. GE is planning to conduct the project in two phases, a test phase and a commercial-scale enrichment plant phase. The Test Loop, which is being built at GE’s nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, will verify performance and reliability data for full scale (commercial-like) facilities. This engineering demonstration program is currently under construction. For the commercial-scale plant phase, GE submitted a license application in June 2009. On September 25, 2012, NRC staff issued a construction and operating license for the facility.”

Wikipedia describes the uranium enrichment process:
SILEX is an acronym for Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation, a technology developed in the 1990s for isotope separation to produce enriched uranium using lasers. In 2007, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) signed letters of intent for uranium enrichment services with Exelon and Entergy – the two largest nuclear power utilities in the USA.

Details of the SILEX process
According to Laser Focus World, the SILEX process exposes a cold stream of a mixture of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) molecules and a carrier gas to energy from a pulsed laser. The laser used is a CO2 laser operating at a wavelength of 10.8 μm (micrometres) and optically amplified to 16 μm, which is in the infrared spectrum. The amplification is achieved in a Raman conversion cell, a large vessel filled with high-pressure para-hydrogen.

The 16 μm wavelength laser preferentially excites the 235UF6, creating a difference in the isotope ratios in a product stream, which is enriched in 235U, and a tailings stream, which has an increased fraction of the more common 238U.[9] The Sydney Morning Herald reports that “The lasers electrically charge the atoms, which become trapped in an electromagnetic field and drawn to a metal plate for collection.”

According to John L. Lyman, the Silex Systems Ltd. (SSL) research facility in Australia uses a laser pulsed at a frequency of 50 Hz, a rate that results in great inefficiency. At 50 Hz, only 1% of the UF6 feedstock is processed. This results in a high fraction of feedstock entering the product stream and a low observed enrichment rates. Consequently, a working enrichment plant would have to substantially increase the laser duty cycle. In addition, the preparation time needed is prohibitively long for full-scale production. The SSL research facility requires ten hours of prep time for a one-hour enrichment test run, significantly restricting output.

Further details of the technology, such as how it differs from the older molecular laser isotope separation(MLIS) and atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) processes are not known publicly. The technique can be used for the isotopic enrichment of chlorine, molybdenum and uranium, and similar technologies can be used with carbon and silicon.

Security classification of SILEX information
SILEX is also distinctive in that it is currently the only privately held information that is classified by the U.S. government. In June 2001, the U.S. Department of Energy classified “certain privately generated information concerning an innovative isotope separation process for enriching uranium.” Under the Atomic Energy Act, all information not specifically declassified is classified as Restricted Data, whether it is privately or publicly held. This is in marked distinction to the national security classification executive order, which states that classification can only be assigned to information “owned by, produced by or for, or is under the control of the United States Government.” This is the only known case of the Atomic Energy Act being used in such a manner

Arizona Wildfire

Posted on 2013/07/04 by admin

Extreme weather conditions in the Southwestern United States have resulted in several wildfires. Nineteen of the world’s best firefighters were killed in the Arizona wildfire.

The state of Arizona says: Yarnell Hill Fire Reported 45 Percent Contained
(Posted July 3, 2013, at 9:32 p.m.) The Yarnell Hill Fire burning southwest of Prescott, Ariz., is reported 45 percent contained.

Residents of Peeples Valley and Yarnell, evacuated by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday, remain out of their homes. The Yarnell Fire Department and Yavapai County are assessing homes and structures around Glen Ilah and Yarnell.

Red Cross shelters are open at Yavapai Community College in Prescott at 928-717-8210 and at the Wickenburg High School in Wickenburg at 480-213-0706. People and small animals are welcome at both shelters while large livestock can be taken to Hidden Springs Ranch on Highway 89.

State Highway 89 remains closed between MP 270 and MP 238. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has three different road blocks: the junctions of Highway 89 and Hays Ranch Road; Hays Ranch Road and Sickles Ranch Road; and at Buckhorn and Frontier Road.

Again, temperatures are expected to be in the low 90s, humidity 15-19 percent, and predicted winds out of the west at 4 to 6 miles per hour, gusting up to 12 miles per hour.

Locally, gusts up to 30 mph may occur near thunderstorms. The decreased relative humidity and increased wind speeds could cause more erratic fire behavior. No significant rain is expected in the next 7-10 days. However, overall fire behavior should continue to diminish due to fuels being consumed.

Tomorrow, firefighters will continue work on the eastern flank with a goal of connecting the contained areas on the northeast and southeast corners between Yarnell and Peeples Valley.

On the northern portion, hot shot crews will continue to build line towards a ridge above Peeples Valley. Scouting will take place along the western flank and contingency plans will continue to be refined in case the fire becomes active again. Firefighters will also support initial attack in the area as needed.

Creeping and smoldering are expected to continue around the structures, though sometimes not showing until the afternoon, and some areas around structures are still holding enough heat to be a concern. A plan is being developed to restore utilities and infrastructure to the affected communities.

Yarnell Hill Fire facts:
Fire Start Date: June 28, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
Location: West of State 89 between Yarnell and Peeples Valley
Size: Estimated at 8,400 acres
Containment: 45 percent
Cause: Lightning
Personnel: 681 (includes 15 crews and 26 engines)
Aircraft: Thirteen helicopters are assigned to the incident and air tankers are available to support firefighters.