News of the Week - January 19, 2015

2014 Was the Hottest Year on Record

Continuing a recent trend, NOAA confirmed that weather data from 2014 shows it was the hottest year on record. All 10 of the hottest years have occurred since 1998. It was also the second hottest year on record for Oregon and the fifth for Washington.

Climbers Scale El Cap's Dawn Wall (PHOTOS)

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the historic climb of the 3,000 Dawn Wall on El Capitan. The rock face in Yosemite Valley was once considered impossible to free climb. The climbers, along with members of the media and their support team, captured these incredible images showing their progress on the way to the accomplishment.

New Wolf Roaming in Southern Oregon

Wildlife officials have confirmed that another wolf has been found roaming in the area of OR-7 and his newly designated pack in Southern Oregon. Wolf tracks have been found in near Klamath Falls, and a motion-triggered camera caught a partial photo of the wolf. The sighting gives conservationists more reason to be optimistic about wolf recovery in Oregon.

Plan to Save Monarch Butterflies Backfires

Monarch butterflies need milkweed to breed, but due to pesticide applications the availability of the plant has been in steep decline. To make up for the loss, gardeners have been planting milkweed in their gardens. However, it turns out the only species of milkweed available in the U.S. also exposes the butterflies to a harmful parasite, disrupting the conservation effort.

Radiation from Fukushima has Reached North America's West Coast

Scientists have been tracking the movement of radiation released by the disaster at Fukushima, Japan in 2011. It took just over 2 years for the radioactive plume to cross the Pacific Ocean. The concentrations of radiation reaching North America are well below levels considered hazardous and are not expected to reach dangerous levels.