This year's heat wave is part of a broader trend of rising temperatures in Iowa, according to a new report released last week by the Iowa Public Interest Research Group (Iowa PIRG). The average temperature in Des Moines is up 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 2000 compared with the previous three decades (1971 through 2000). In the continental United States , the first seven months of 2006 were the warmest January-to-July period of any year on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. In Iowa , the average temperature was the third warmest January-through-July on record. To examine how these recent temperature patterns compare with temperatures over the past 30 years, Iowa PIRG's researchers analyzed temperature data from 255 major weather stations in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., for the years 2000 through 2005 and the first six months of 2006. Research was collected from four Iowa cities: Des Moines, Waterloo, Dubuque, and Sioux City. In August, Iowa PIRG released a report showing how the U.S. could cut global-warming pollution by nearly 20 percent by 2020 by making homes, cars, and businesses more efficient; switching to renewable-energy sources; and giving Americans more alternatives to driving, paired with strong, mandatory limits on global-warming emissions. For more information, visit (http://www.iowapirg.org).
Nearly
1,500 volunteers cleaned area streams, creeks, drainage ways, rivers,
and illegal-dump sites on Saturday, August 19, and removed more than
150,000 pounds of garbage, tires, and other illegally dumped items.
Xstream Cleanup, which took
place from 8:30 a.m. until noon, targeted 31 sites in both Scott and
Rock Island counties. Volunteers removed an estimated 5,200 tires,
2,200 bags of trash, 58 pieces of furniture, 36 appliances, 25
bicycles, and 22 pallets from area waterways. In addition, site
coordinators reported finding bags of clothing, a wine rack, shopping
carts, automotive parts, hair and beauty supplies, toilets, various
electronics, boat carpet, blankets, barge cable, safety cones,
recliners, and wire. At one site near Milan, volunteers found nearly
everything one would need to build and furnish a home including
carpet, appliances, furniture, wood, metal, drywall, siding, and
shingles. Volunteers donated more than 4,500 hours of work during the
cleanup. Organizers estimate that nearly $100,000 in staff time,
equipment, collection, and disposal costs were avoided with the help
of volunteers and in-kind donations for the event. Cleanups took
place in Bettendorf, Davenport, and LeClaire, Iowa; and East Moline,
Milan, Moline, Rock Island, and Taylor Ridge, Illinois. For more
information and to view photos from Xstream Cleanup, visit
(
Xstream Cleanup, presented by Riverboat Development Authority, is seeking hundreds of volunteers to clean up 32 waterways in the Quad Cities on Saturday, August 19 from 8:30 a.m. until noon. This annual event is presented in collaboration with nationally-known, Quad City native Chad Pregracke and his Living Lands & Waters team. Cleanups will take place in Bettendorf, Davenport, and LeClaire, Iowa, and East Moline, Milan, Moline, Rock Island, and Taylor Ridge, Illinois. The main focus of Xstream Cleanup 2006 is an illegal dumping site in Bettendorf where Crow Creek drains into the Mississippi River; that site, discovered during last year's Xstream Cleanup, has an estimated 3,000 tires scattered along the creek and will be the primary work site for Pregracke and his crew. Those interested in volunteering should register online at (
