"Hot enough for ya?" Get used to hearing that remark a lot more than you used to, or so say climatologists and atmospheric researchers. As this week's Seven Days cover story "Totally Uncool" points out, Mother Nature's warning signs are now big and obvious enough for even us nonscientists to notice.
The newest evidence? Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled its new, 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone map. The Vermont map confirms what local growers have been saying for years: The Green Mountain State is becoming more temporate and now more resembles the climate of Virginia in the 1960s.
What's worse, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at their present rate, by 2080 Vermont will look and feel more like northern Georgia. The good news? More peach cobbler. The bad news: Say goodbye to real Vermont maple syrup.
According to the USDA, plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme minimum temperatures at a given location during a particular time period. They do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time. Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations.
"Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in this edition of the map have shifted in many areas," according to the USDA press statement. "The new map is generally one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States."
Since 1970, the average temperature in New England has risen 2 degrees Fahrenheit, with average winter temperatures rising twice as fast — 4 degrees between 1970 and 2000. That's according to Alan Betts, an atmospheric researcher from Pittford, Vt.
Precipitation in Vermont has also increased by as much as 20 percent, with more of it arriving as rain and less as snow. Overall, Betts warns Vermonters to expect rainier winters, earlier springs, hotter summers, longer and more persistent droughts, and heavier and more frequent and torrential “extreme” weather events such as Tropical Storm Irene.
Even under the most conservative estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions, Betts predicts that the Green Mountain State will be 3 degrees hotter by 2050 and 5 degrees hotter by century’s end. "If you want to look at what might be the most politically correct thing, you can say something's happening," Vermont gardening expert Charlie Nardozzi tells USA Today. "But the climate is changing. Spring is coming sooner and lasting longer. Fall lasts longer, and overall the weather is so much more erratic now."
To find out what zone your home or business is located in, click here and enter your zip code. For more about the long-term effects of global warming on Vermont, check out this week's cover story here.
Plant Hardiness Zone map courtesy of the USDA
Following months of mounting challenges, Jen and John Kimmich have decided not to reopen The Alchemist Pub and Brewery.
The 10-year Waterbury landmark was devastated this summer by Tropical Storm Irene, which flooded the basement and filled the dining room with waist-high water. According to an email from Jen Kimmich, "Our basement was the lifeblood of our business — our brewery, our beer, all of our food and our offices were in the basement. Moving forward, we have come to the realization that rebuilding our basement brewery is not a viable option."
Despite months of work with the brewery's insurance company, the couple recently learned that none of the contents of the basement were covered.
Instead, the Kimmiches are focused on rebuilding the 23 Main Street pub, without the brewery. "John and I are determined to rebuild as fast as possible to contribute to the vitality of downtown Waterbury. We are in talks with a few different restaurateurs to take over the space," says Jen Kimmich. "We will find the best fit for Waterbury, someone who can continue to run the pub in a warm, friendly and accessible manner, and provide employment opportunities to our staff."
The seven-barrel brewery that formerly filled the basement downtown will be moved to the recently opened Alchemist Cannery and Tasting Room at 35 Crossroad, also in Waterbury. "Once we have installed the brewery, John will be hard at work to supply the community with his creative and tasty small production beers," says Kimmich. Hopefully, she says, those brews will be served on tap at the pub that takes over for the Alchemist. Look for more information in next Wednesday's Seven Days.
Eva Sollberger visited the former pub four days after Irene and captured footage of volunteers ripping out the bar.
Last week, Eva Sollberger took her video camera to Waterbury to record the flood-recovery efforts. She captured footage of volunteers ripping out the bar at the Alchemist Pub and Brewery, and talked with Jeremy Ayers, who sells his pottery at Burlington's Artists Market. Says Eva, "Community spirit is high as neighbors and volunteers join together to dig in and clean up."
From the Vermont State Police press office comes this pulse-pounding tale about a road crew rescued from a new round of flash floods yesterday.
According to the state police, construction workers Kenneth Clark, 43, and Robert Butler, 25, both from Danby, were repairing a section of storm-damaged Route 7 in Clarendon on Thursday afternoon when new rain — and new flash floods — left them stranded on a dirt island with no way out.
From the VSP press release (apologies for all CAPS):
The "Jersey Shore" and disaster relief go together like spray tans and muck boots. Which is to say, not at all. But somehow, the folks behind the Tropical Storm Irene relief website vtresponse.com are making it happen. Inexplicably, the team connecting Vermont storm victims with eager volunteers are also the people in charge of a fledgling business called Reality Venture Capital. Their company name is a bit deceiving — a deep-pocketed venture capital firm they are not. At present, they run reality television fantasy leagues. Yep, that's right. Fantasy leagues are no longer the dominion of armchair quarterbacks. Reality tv fans can get in on the mix, too.
Sarah Waterman (who we recently wrote about here), 27, and Matt Sisto, also 27, are the masterminds responsible for creating the reality tv fantasy league concept. And don't let any reality tv fantasy league biters tell you differently. The business began as a hobby, says Sisto, who with a friend started assigning points to various reality show themes — vomiting, crying, hooking up, the word "situation," etc. Within three years, the idea grew into an online enterprise for the general reality tv-addicted public.
At present, they run a fantasy league for the "Jersey Shore," and they are just about to launch two other leagues — one for the "Real Housewives" series and one the upcoming Kim Kardashian wedding. So far, they have about 30 players, who get points when the characters they pick to be on their team do or say certain reliably predictable reality show things like getting drunk or telling someone that they're "not trying to make any friends."
The leagues, which are free to join, make money via web ads. Recently, they've been working on their business plan and getting all their legal ducks in a row (there has been some unwanted encroachment from sports blog Grantland, the pair say). But then Irene rolled in and soaked and flattened much of southern Vermont. That's when Waterman, a veteran Hurricane Katrina volunteer with a masters desgree in public administration, kicked into action. The pair, along with "social media ninja" Katie Kent, quickly set up vtresponse.com to serve as a one-stop shop for people looking for Irene resources.
While disaster relief and systems planning is Waterman's bailiwick, Sisto is a new convert to the field. So far, it's been a proverbial baptism by fire for the former aspiring novelist (who did manage to get referenced on The Atlantic Wire for a blog post he wrote about Snooki). After graduating from UVM in 2007, Sisto stuck around the area, doing web development for Home Ecology, a green general store in Shelburne, for two years. He then took a year off to write the Great American Novel. When he returned to the working world, he figured he and Waterman could make a go of their reality tv fantasy league concept.
He didn't bank on becoming one of the major Irene resources, but that's what he and Waterman and Kent have become. They've been pulling endlessly long days trying to harness the power of willing and able volunteers around the state. Waterman says this is essential to provide people resources for two main reasons — one, because people need to feel like they can help their neighbors; and two, perhaps more importantly, a coordinated volunteer response means that people will be less likely to go where they are not needed, wanted or where it's dangerous.
As of today, the team has put Reality Venture Capital on hold while they work to compile the never-ending calls for assistance on vtresponse.com. That way they can focus on listening to what people need. Sometimes, Waterman says, all victims need is a kind ear and someone who will hear them out and help them feel less isolated as they struggle figure out the next step.
In addition to fielding calls and emails from people who are stranded due to road wash-outs or power outages, they've also heard from people desperate to help. One woman, an endurance equestrian, got in touch to offer her services to ride into inaccessible areas with supplies. Another person wrote in to say he had a lumberjack crew and ATVs at the ready to help clear downed trees and debris. Still another Vermonter emailed to say her husband had a Jeep with a winch as well as rigging equipment and was willing to help in the clean-up. To deal with the deluge, they recently added a forum to their website where people can connect directly with one another.
The vtresponse.com site is a far cry from the world of J-Woww, Khloé and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps. But relief work is what's needed now, the crew reasons. Plus, there will be no shortage of reality tv material to mine when Irene finally blows over.
Photo via snookienicole.com.
When President Barack Obama signed a federal disaster declaration Monday designed to bring federal support to the water-ravaged Green Mountain State, he did so under the so-called "Stafford Act." It was named for former Vermont governor and U.S. Sen. Robert T. Stafford.
The ironies don't end there.
Stafford championed federal funding for higher education (does low-interest "Stafford loan" ring a bell?), and the environment, including hazardous-waste sites and the Clean Water Act. He was also ... a Republican. And, like former Gov. Jim Douglas, a Middlebury College grad.
Listening to some of the national GOP voices calling for an elimination of FEMA or placing restrictions on federal funding of disaster relief, you can see the ideological shift from Stafford's days in the GOP to now.
Stafford died in late 2006 at the age of 93.
According to a White House statement issued Monday, Obama's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster-relief efforts "which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the State of Vermont."
Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. The state will have to pay the remaining 25 percent, the release noted.
The Stafford Act, officially called the "Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act," was signed into law in 1988 and was an update to the 1974 Disaster Relief Act. According to findings in the Stafford Act, its intent was "to provide an orderly and continuing means of assistance by the federal government to state and local governments in carrying out their responsibilities to alleviate the suffering and damage which result from such disasters."
In addition to federal funds and supplies, the act also outlined a wide-ranging number of efforts designed to:
(1) revise and broaden the scope of existing disaster relief programs;
(2) encourage the development of comprehensive disaster preparedness and assistance plans, programs, capabilities, and organizations by the states and by local governments;
(3) achieve greater coordination and responsiveness of disaster preparedness and relief programs;
(4) encourage individuals, states, and local governments to protect themselves by obtaining insurance coverage to supplement or replace governmental assistance;
(5) encourage hazard mitigation measures to reduce losses from disasters, including development of land use and construction regulations; and,
(6) provide federal assistance programs for both public and private losses sustained in disasters.
In recent days FEMA specifically, and federal disaster relief in general, has come under criticism from some GOP presidential candidates and politicians. Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has said he'd like to see FEMA eliminated, while GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) wants to see any disaster relief spending on Hurricane Irene offset by cuts to other parts of federal government.
Federal help, though, isn't stopping some Vermonters from taking action to help their neighbors. Here, it's all hands on deck.
Many people have been asking how they can help Vermonters who have suffered the most from the historic flooding Tropical Storm Irene caused on Sunday. Here are some resources with information on donation and volunteer efforts.
Before we get to the rest of the list: If you're looking to volunteer somewhere, or if you need assistance, visit VTResponse.com first. They've been doing amazing work linking up volunteers. That site should be your first stop if you want to lend a helping hand. (We've covered their story here and here.)
If you know of any relief efforts that aren't listed here, let us know in the comments. We'll update the list periodically.
Photo of flooding in Richmond by Shem Roose
DONATIONS
VOLUNTEERING
BENEFIT SALES
BENEFIT EVENTS
MORE RESOURCES
UPDATE (9:45 pm): Parts of Vermont were simply devastated by Tropical Storm Irene today. Torrential rains have led to flooding in the state's rivers and streams. Historic covered bridges have been washed away. The National Weather Service expects floodwaters to crest in Montpelier overnight, and says it could be worse than the floods that inundated Montpelier in May. Numerous other Vermont towns are underwater or cut off from surrounding areas due to washed-out roads, too.
If you'd like to lend a hand to help local emergency shelters provide relief, please dial 2-1-1. And Twitter users are coordinating relief efforts using the hashtag #VTresponse.
We're still collecting photos and videos from Irene's aftermath for our interactive map. Click here to send us yours. And scroll to the bottom of this post to see the map so far.
Original post: Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene is over Vermont, and she's packing quite a punch. Major flooding is occurring, especially in southern Vermont. Evacuations have been ordered in parts of Brattleboro and Rutland, among other places. It's not pretty out there.
To get a better idea of Irene's impact around Vermont, we're building a crowdsourced map of photos and stories from around Vermont. Check it out at the bottom of this post.
We'd like to see photos and videos from where you are, too. If you don't have any images to share, just tell us how it looks outside. Click here to send us your photos and stories. We'll add more as we get them.
Stay safe out there, everyone.
Photo taken in Woodstock, courtesy of Snow Talbot
Comic by XKCD.com
So, I don't know if you've heard, but there was an earthquake today. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia was felt all over the East Coast and into parts of the Midwest. It was kind of a big deal in Washington, D.C., actually. The Smithsonian Castle sustained a bit of damage, and three of the pinnacles on the National Cathedral broke off. (But no, the Washington Monument is not leaning. And yes, Fox News said that.)
Yep, that's the same shaking we felt all the way up here. Seems kind of wild that we could feel a Virginia-centered quake in Vermont, right? Turns out it's because the rock here is "colder and denser," which allows earthquake shaking to travel a longer distance than out West. So now you know.
Here in Vermont, no damage was reported. It just kinda felt like sitting on a boat on a quiet lake for about 10 seconds. Kinda weird that it's the second mild earthquake we've had in 14 months, but that's about the extent of the newsworthiness. That didn't stop the Burlington Free Press and WCAX from busting out the BIG RED BOLD BREAKING NEWS TEXT on their website homepages for the occasion.
The Free Press also took the opportunity to hit the streets and talk to people who were displaced from their offices for five or 10 minutes. (By the way, you shouldn't leave a building during an earthquake. If you're afraid of an imminent ceiling collapse, just get under your desk and cover your head.)
Californians must be laughing so hard at us drama-queen East Coasters right now. But, hey, August is a pretty slow news month! Even CNN went from live coverage of reporters dodging bullets in Libya to live coverage of D.C. office workers standing around outside their buildings and looking confused.
Of course, like any good communal happening in Vermont, today was a good opportunity for locals to get on Twitter and crack jokes. Here are some of the best ones:
So yeah, today's earthquake was unusual, and kind of interesting. But let's keep it in perspective. This was not Japan. Let's save the big red letters for a real disaster. Like maybe that hurricane that's barreling up the coast.