Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List

One of the biggest issues facing us right now is global warming. Its effects on animals and on agriculture are indeed frightening, and the effects on the human population are even scarier. The facts about global warming are often debated in politics and the media, but, unfortunately, even if we disagree about the causes, global warming effects are real, global, and measurable. The causes are mainly from us, the human race, and the effects on us will be severe.

Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List

1. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants

Our ever increasing addiction to electricity from coal burning power plants releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions come from electricity production, and burning coal accounts for 93% of emissions from the electric utility industry [EPA, pg. 10].

Advice on hormone replacement therapy continues to evolve

Hormone therapy has been one of the most confusing issues in women's health over the last decade. Now, a study from the Women's Health Initiative shows the increased risk of stroke found among women who take estrogen-only hormone therapy disappears after they stop the pills but the reduced risk of breast cancer -- believed by some to result from hormone use after natural menopause -- is maintained.

The findings should help women who have had a hysterectomy better weigh their risks and benefits of taking estrogen based on their age and symptoms. Here's the study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. and the Los AngelesTimes article: "Estrogen-only therapy less risky than first thought."

Experts in women's health and menopause made a number of additional points regarding the new paper. Among them:

-- The new study, which follows women four years after they have stopped therapy, is unusual. Typically, studies examine participants while they undergo treatment with, perhaps, a brief follow-up period.

"It's important to follow women in clinical trials some time after we stop; that goes for benefits and risks. And that hardly ever happens in studies," said Andrea LaCroix, the lead author of Tuesday's paper and an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Ivorian eyewitness: Bodies on Abidjan's streets

For nearly a week residents of Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan have been sheltering indoors as forces battle each other in the city.

Troops opposed to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo have launched a final assault on his presidential residence.

Mr Gbagbo insists he won November's run-off vote, but election officials found that his rival Alassane Ouattara was the winner.

A man living in the centre of Abidjan told the BBC's Focus on Africa about events on Wednesday as he went out to look for supplies.

I took a walk and we found three dead bodies on the floor.

A couple of minutes later there was a convoy of armed men, some of them had AK-47s, bazookas, double barrels, knives, swords; others had Uzis.

The dead bodies were men with lots of bizarre things on them - like juju and charms”

There were 25 cars - four-by-fours - with about seven men per car. It [the convoy] kept on surveying the area.

More Southwest Airlines flights canceled

Southwest Airlines is expecting to cancel about 100 flights nationwide Monday as it continues to inspect its air fleet over safety concerns, company officials said.

On Friday, Flight 812 was about 18 minutes into its flight out of Phoenix when a 5-by-1-foot section of the fuselage skin burst open, terrifying the 118 passengers, who had to scramble for oxygen masks after the cabin lost pressure.

The plane landed safely at a military base in Yuma, Ariz.

Southwest canceled about 600 flights over the weekend to conduct inspections. It found three other planes with small cracks that were being evaluated, the safety board said.

Investigators revealed Sunday that tiny cracks had been found on the Flight 812 aircraft, around rivet holes along a joint where two areas of the fuselage skin overlap. They were trying to determine how long the cracks had been there.

An inspection found "persistent fatigue along the entire fracture surface," said safety board member Robert Sumwalt.

The cracks would not be immediately apparent from a visual inspection, a fact that prompted air safety officials to question whether new inspection criteria may be needed for the 737s and other aircraft.

FBI says no foul play suspected in Southwest accident

Inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transport Safety Board are en route to Yuma, Arizona to investigate why a Boeing 737 developed a hole in its cabin that forced it to make an emergency landing.

Passengers aboard Friday's Southwest Airlines flight reported hearing a sound like a gunshot, followed by pandemonium as oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and the plane made a terrifying but controlled descent, dropping 7,600 metres in roughly four minutes before touching down at a military base about 240 kilometres southwest of Phoenix

So far the NTSB has only said that Flight 812 lost pressure because of an "in-flight fuselage rupture," the cause of which remains a mystery.

The FBI has already ruled out terrorism or other foul play, describing the incident as a "mechanical failure."

Southwest officials said the Arizona plane had undergone all inspections required by the FAA, but the company did not immediately provide the date of the last inspection.

Holes in aircraft can be caused by metal fatigue or lightning. The National Weather Service said the weather was clear from the Phoenix area to the California border on Friday afternoon.

A similar incident on a Southwest plane to Baltimore in July 2009 also forced an emergency landing when a 30 centimetre-long hole opened in the cabin.

No serious injuries were reported among the 118 people aboard Friday's flight, although a flight attendant was slightly hurt, according to Southwest officials.

Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons: Africa Elephant Hunt Video 'Nothing to Be Ashamed Of'

Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons has a message for those outraged by a four-minute video of an elephant hunt in Zimbabwe on his Go Daddy video site.

"I think if you had all the facts and you knew exactly what was going on and the difference it makes in these people's lives there," he told ABC News Radio, "you'd feel completely different."

Parsons has said he participated in the hunt because the elephants were a nuisance destroying crops the local population depended upon for sustenance and even threatening the lives of villagers.

Therefore, his hunt solved two problems, he suggested.

"First they have their crops," he told ABC News Radio, "and they get to eat the elephant."

Parsons always has welcomed buzz and controversy around his racy Super Bowl commercials. But backlash against his recent video could damage his company's place as the number-one Internet domain name company.

Ivory Coast: Alassane Ouattara's uphill journey to power

An economist by profession, the western-educated Mr Ouattara has been a regular on the political scene for more than 20 years. Affectionately known as "Ado" by his supporters, he is widely seen as a hard-working politician who favours transparency.


Mr Ouattara was appointed prime minister by the Ivorian independent leader Felix Houphouet-Boigny in 1990, and charged with rescuing Ivory Coast's stagnant economy.


But Mr Ouattara was later barred from standing for the presidency, after allegations surfaced over his nationality. In 1995, a court ruled that his mother was from neighbouring Burkina Faso, although he insists both his parents are Ivorian.


Laurent Gbagbo, Mr Ouattara's old nemesis who is now clings to power, used the "outsider" taint to exploit tensions over the West African country's large population of economic migrants, and positioned himself as a nationalist fighting the outsiders.


While Mr Ouattara is a Muslim from the country's north, where most foreign migrants live, Mr Gbagbo is a Christian from the country's south.


Mr Ouattara was born in Dimbokro in the central Ivory Coast but did most of his schooling and worked as an adult in Burkina Faso, feeding the debate about his identity.


He earned a doctorate in economics in the United States 1967 and worked as both Africa Director of the International Monetary Fund and as governor of the regional Central Bank of West African State.

Ivory Coast capital falls to rebels

Rebel forces in Ivory Coast have taken control of the official capital, as power seems to be slipping away from the president, Laurent Gbagbo.

Residents and military sources said troops loyal to Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, had entered Yamoussoukro, meeting little resistance as security forces fled. The port city of San Pedro also fell.

Yamoussoukro residents told how they braced themselves for conflict before sporadic gunfire erupted. Serge Kipre, who runs a small clothing store in the city, said: "The night before, we were all calling each other to make sure nobody went outside. In the morning, I saw loads of police with balaclavas and Kalashnikovs racing across town. The market closed, shops shuttered. Everybody seemed on edge."

But the approach of the rebels was eagerly awaited by many young pro-Ouattara supporters. Kipre added: "They set a police station ablaze because they felt they would be liberated soon. We are so tired of this situation – we just want them to get it over with."

The pro-Ouattara Republican Forces (FRCI) captured the city within hours as government opposition melted away. Eyewitnesses saw soldiers taking off their uniforms and throwing guns and ammunition into ditches as they fled from the rebel army. Others say some soldiers simply switched sides and joined the FRCI.

The capture of Yamassoukro, which is in a pro-Ouattara area, is symbolic but not decisive. Gbagbo's seat of power is in the commercial capital, Abidjan, where fighting has raged for months. But the fall of Yamoussoukro opens up the main road to Abidjan, just 143 miles away.

Earlier this month a leader of rebel forces, which have controlled northern Ivory Coast since the 2002-03 civil war, told the Guardian they would "surprise all the analysts" by removing Gbagbo quickly and cleanly.

Such confidence appears to have been borne out so far as the rebels make rapid advances on three fronts and encounter little resistance.

Gbagbo has called for a ceasefire, though this has been widely dismissed as a ploy. Young men are being enrolled into the army, reportedly to replace soldiers who are not turning up for work or who have changed sides.

Ally Coulibaly, Ouattara's ambassador to Paris, claimed rebel forces now controlled three-quarters of the country. "President Alassane Ouattara was patient and gave Mr Laurent Gbagbo every possibility to leave power peacefully," he told the French radio station France Inter. "He refused every offer made to him."

Greece nabs potato thieves from Bulgaria

Police in northern Greece have arrested nine Bulgarians accused of crossing the border to steel potatoes from fields at night.

Police said Monday that the five men and four women were arrested and detained early Sunday will digging up and loading 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) of stolen potatoes onto a truck, outside the northern Greek city of Drama that is close to the border with Bulgaria.

Police launched its operation after a farmer who owned the field and kept overnight watch said some 14 metric tons (15.7 tons) of potatoes were stolen in the previous week.

Hispanics boost state population

SPRINGFIELD - Last week the U.S. Census Bureau numbers revealed Hispanics make up 10 percent of the state's total population and had grown to 15 percent of Western Massachusetts population.

"All you have to do is walk down the streets of the city to see that Latinos make up a large portion of our population," said Springfield City Councilor and candidate for mayor Jose F. Tosado.

The 2010 data regarding Hispanic residents was released March 22 and revealed Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee have seen a significant rise in their Hispanic populations since the last count in 2000. The terms Hispanic and Latino are used interchangeably in the United States for people with origins in Spanish-speaking countries. The term Hispanic used throughout the article refers to people of any race who self-identify as Hispanic and are primarily of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American origin.

A study of the new data conducted by the Pew Hispanic Research Center, a national research organization that chronicles Hispanics' growing impact on the nation, shows there are 50.5 million Hispanics in the United States, making up 16.3 percent of the total population. The nation's Hispanic population, which was 35.3 million in 2000, grew 43 percent over the decade. The Hispanic population also accounted for most of the nation's growth, at 56 percent.

D'Vera Cohn, senior writer for the Pew Research Center, said Massachusetts is one of only six states in the country to attribute all of its growth to the Hispanic population.

"In these six states, which include Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island, growth in the Hispanic population accounted for all of those states' population growth. Basically, if the Hispanic population had not grown, those states would not have grown," she said.

Cohn said another interesting finding is that growth was led by American-born Hispanics, not immigrants.

"Research has indicated that most of the growth in the Hispanic population across the nation was due to birth, not immigration," she said. "While immigration is still a substantial force for increasing the population, this time around it has been surpassed by Hispanics born in the country."

GOP appears poised to take on entitlements

If there's any place where tea partiers in Congress might hesitate to call for cuts in Social Security and Medicare to shrink the federal debt, Florida's retirement havens should top the list.

Even here, however, Republican lawmakers are racing toward a spending showdown with Democrats exhibiting little nervousness about deep cuts, including those that eventually would hit benefit programs long left alone by politicians.

In fact, many GOP freshmen seem bolder than ever. It's Democrats, especially in the Senate, who are trying to figure out how to handle the popular but costly retirement programs. Congress, meanwhile, is rapidly nearing critical decisions on the budget and the nation's debt ceiling.

In southeast Florida last week, first-term GOP Rep. Allen West, a tea party favorite, called for changes that some might consider radical: abolish the Internal Revenue Service and federal income tax; retain tax cuts for billionaires so they won't shut down their charities; stop extending unemployment benefits that "reward bad behavior" by discouraging people from seeking new jobs.

As for entitlements, West told a friendly town hall gathering in Coral Springs, if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid "are left on autopilot, if we don't institute some type of reform, they'll subsume our entire GDP" by 2040 or 2050. GDP, or gross domestic product, measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.

Social Security, the largest federal program, mainly benefits retirees. Medicare provides health coverage for older people. Medicaid helps those with low incomes. Combined, the three consume about 40 percent of the budget. Their costs are growing rapidly. Social Security and Medicare benefits now exceed the payroll taxes that fund them.

West, who's likely to draw serious Democratic opposition next year, showed scant interest in edging toward the center on anything. He didn't take issue with the man who said congressional Democrats "have joined with the radical Islamists," or with the woman who said President Barack Obama "certainly doesn't support Israel."

In Greenville, S.C., a different Republican freshman with tea party ties, Rep. Trey Gowdy, also suggested during last week's congressional break a paring back of social programs.

According to a Greenville News account posted on his website, Gowdy "described a recent school classroom where most children indicated they think it's the government's job to provide health care, Social Security and education. 'We've got to do something about the sense of entitlement,' Gowdy said."

From the Hart: Ochocinco agrees with me!

As is the case each week at this time, the current installment of Debate Friday is running on Patriots.com

This week’s question is simple: Given the ability to sign either, who would you rather have, Moss or Ochocinco?

I made what I thought was a good argument for Randy Moss, while Paul Perillo argued for Chad Ochocinco. (You know, assuming his career in Cincinnati is actually over.)

But little did I know how influential my argument was. When our webmaster sent out a Tweet with the debate topic, @Ochocinco replied with his simple vote: “Moss.”

So there you have it, even Ochocinco thinks the Patriots should choose Moss over him in the offseason wide receiver Diva Debate Friday. I win again!

Want to vote for yourself? Head on over to the Debate Friday page on Patriots.com.

What do you think of the idea of bringing in one of the two former All-Pros to help the Patriots fill out the receiver depth chart? Let us know with a comment below!

Swazi ministers cut their salaries by 10 percent

Swaziland's Cabinet agreed to 10 percent salary cuts, a week after a massive pro-democracy protest in the tiny nation's usually quiet capital.

The cuts, in addition to three-year salary freezes for Cabinet ministers, will save the government 240 million Lilangeni ($34.9 million) over the next three years, Swaziland's prime minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini said Thursday. He said the cuts are part of Swaziland's plan to resolve its budget crisis.

Swaziland's umbrella organization of non-governmental organizations applauded the move and called it historic.

The general secretary of Swaziland's teachers union, Mhlanga Muzi, said he welcomed the salary cuts, but said the government should also withdraw a proposal that increased legislators' wages by 4.5 percent at the end of 2010.

An anti-monarchy movement has gained momentum since the government proposed freezing civil service wages while King Mswati III gave himself a 24 percent increase in his budget allocation.

The proposed wage freezes brought 7,000 demonstrators to Swaziland's capital city of Mbabane, one of the largest protests ever seen in sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy. The crowd marched to the prime minister's office and was largely peaceful.

Talks on the civil service salary freezes are ongoing.

Christian to Muslim: A change of faith

The actual conversion was brief. It only involved one sentence: “I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship but God, I bear witness that Mohammed is the messenger of God.”

For 30-year-old Mathew Miller, those words represented the culmination of a long religious transformation from Christianity to Islam.

Miller is a digital media communications major at Middle Tennessee University and works part-time at a golf course. He was raised Christian in California, surfing and dreaming of being a radio DJ.

“My first interaction with Islam was this movie called ‘Not Without my Daughter’. That was my first glimpse into what Western society believed was really going on in Islam,” he said.

"Not Without My Daughter" is a 1991 film in which Sally Field portrays an America woman who flees from Iran with her daughter. The movie, based on true story detailed in a book by the same title, was faulted by critics for portraying a stereotypical view of Iranians and Islam.

But in questioning his own beliefs, and after a conversation with a Muslim friend, Miller’s interest in Islam was piqued.

“I think for the most part I was afraid, don’t really know of what,” he said.

Later, attending Friday prayers at a small Mosque in Murfreesboro, he began to learn more.

“When I put my head on the ground with them, it felt like I could say anything to God, and what I was asking for at the time was guidance. I wanted to know whether what I was doing was the right thing to do.”

His mother had long expected his change of religious faith. “I told my mother I was Muslim in Disneyland. She said ‘I don’t necessarily know if I feel good about it, but if it makes you happy and it’s what you feel is the right way, then there’s nothing I can do.’”

Now he regularly worships at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro mosque.

Miller, a white convert in a diverse congregation, has heard comments about his faith - and the controversy surrounding his mosque. Once, an Iraqi war veteran told him that the new controversial Islamic Center of Murfreesboro should not be built because it could potentially harbor terrorists.

“I addressed his questions formally and it was funny because at the end of the conversation, he kind of started admitting, 'Well you know, I don’t know anything about Islam.”

Wildfire south of Denver 95 percent contained

Firefighters hope to put out the last of a wildfire that temporarily forced the evacuation of 8,500 people south of Denver.

The fire has burned 2 1/2 square miles of trees and grasslands near Franktown. Fire crews worked through the night and the fire was 95 percent contained Friday morning.

Authorities say the roof of one home was singed but no other damage was reported.

A helicopter was able to start dropping water on the blaze within about 15 minutes of the fire starting. Another helicopter and an airplane that had been fighting another fire in the foothills west of Golden also helped slow the growth of the latest fire.

Residents have been allowed back into their homes near Franktown but have been warned to remain ready to evacuate in case of flare-ups.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Firefighters gained ground on two wildfires on the outer reaches of the Denver that forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

A fire fueled by high winds 2.5 square miles of trees and grasslands Thursday and prompted evacuation orders for about 8,500 people near Franktown, 35 miles southeast of Denver.

UN: Up to 1 million flee Ivory Coast violence

With possessions balanced on their heads, about 1,000 people frantically crowded around buses rented by Mali to evacuate its citizens Friday from Ivory Coast, as the U.N. said up to 1 million have fled their homes amid fears of civil war.

More than 2 million Malians live in neighboring Ivory Coast, and human rights groups say the foreigners are facing growing threats of violence as the Ivorian political crisis intensifies. Evacuation efforts have been hampered by a lack of buses so far.

"700 today. 700 tomorrow. Everyone who wants to leave will be able to as long as I'm here," said Hamet Diawara, president of the council of Malians in Ivory Coast.

Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo has refused to cede office despite his rival Alassane Ouattara being recognized by the international community as the rightful winner of November's presidential election. Pro-Gbagbo forces have attacked foreigners from the region whose countries have supported Ouattara.

At least 33 citizens of Burkina Faso have been killed while another 35 are missing, said Albert Ouedraogo, the chairman of the Tocsin, the main diaspora association, from the Burkinabe capital.

Zimbabwe prime minister's ally arrested a 2nd time

A Zimbabwean court on Friday ordered a top political ally of the prime minister to be held in jail after his second arrest this month, attorneys said, arrests that have been criticized by the prime minister's party as being politically motivated.

Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, a founder of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's former opposition party, was arrested Friday over allegations that he interfered in a deal to buy equipment for the state electricity utility, said defense attorney Beatrice Mtetwa.

He was first arrested March 10 on charges he bypassed official procedures to buy gasoline from neighboring South Africa.

Mangoma denies any wrongdoing in both cases that carry a penalty of imprisonment or a fine. After his last arrest, Tsvangirai threatened to pull out of the nation's shaky two-year power sharing coalition.

Tsvangirai was scheduled to fly to South Africa on Friday for talks with South African President Jacob Zuma, the chief regional mediator on Zimbabwe, over bitter disputes still dogging the coalition.

Mangoma, a former corporate executive, argued the fuel deal was signed in January to ease acute gasoline shortages after being approved by ministerial colleagues at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Robert Mugabe.

After four nights in jail, he was freed on bail to face trial scheduled March 28.

Mtetwa on Friday described his second arrest as a deliberate attempt to return him to jail in violation of bail conditions granted by the Harare High Court on the first charges.

She said police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri had opposed Mangoma's bail and afterward wrote to Mugabe's Cabinet office demanding Mangoma be stripped of his ministerial duties.

Tsvangirai described Mangoma's first arrest as the act of "a barbaric and senseless dictatorship."

6 countries offer to host skating worlds

Six countries have put in bids to replace Japan as host of the world figure skating championships following the earthquake and tsunami that killed an estimated 18,000 people.

International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the bids are from Russia (Moscow), Canada (Vancouver, British Columbia), the United States (Colorado Springs, Colo., or Lake Placid, N.Y.), Finland (Turku), Croatia and Austria.

The Croatia offer is likely Zagreb, while Cinquanta believes Graz is Austria's offer.

Russia appears to be the leading candidate, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin having spoken in favor of the bid Tuesday, saying "this is not a very expensive event and we are capable of taking care of all the expenses."

The ISU council will vote Wednesday or Thursday on the site and determine the dates in late April or early May. There are 11 members of the council but Cinquanta will only vote if there's a tie.

"Russia is a big country for skating," Cinquanta said. "Russia's is a strong bid, just like the others."

Russia held the worlds in 2005 at the Luzhniki sports complex in central Moscow. But the ITAR-Tass news agency cited Russian figure skating federation president Alexander Gorshkov as saying that the most likely venue for the championships would be the Megasport arena, which is newer but far from the center.

Skate Canada offered the Pacific Coliseum, the figure skating venue at last year's Vancouver Olympics, and said it could host April 18-24 or May 16-22.

Skate Canada CEO William Thompson said Vancouver's bid is probably a long shot because Canada is already scheduled to host next year's Grand Prix final as well as the 2013 world championships. But the federation is willing to help out in any way it can, whether it's chosen or not.

Arraignment set for woman charged in Texas fire

A woman who was an international fugitive for nearly a month after a fire at her Houston home day care center killed four children returned to Texas on Tuesday ahead of her first court appearance.

Jessica Tata is being held without bond in a Houston jail, said agency spokesman Alfredo Perez.

"We're very glad that it worked out as smoothly as it did," Perez said of Tata's return to the U.S.

Tata was set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in state district court on 14 charges, including manslaughter. The Feb. 24 blaze also injured three other children in her care.

Court records did not show Tata had an attorney. Her brother, Ron Tata, did not immediately return a telephone call on Tuesday.

Investigators say Tata went shopping and left the seven children alone. When she returned, a stove-top burner had ignited the blaze.

The 22-year-old day care operator, who has U.S. and Nigerian citizenship, fled to the West Africa country two days after the fire.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which headed the search for Tata, said a series of tips and other information helped Interpol agents to capture her on Saturday

Her family says she turned herself in.

Tata was returned to the U.S. early Monday morning.

Air tankers, helicopters battle Colorado wildfire

Air tankers and helicopters dropped fire retardant and water on a wildfire in the tinder-dry foothills west of Denver on Tuesday while 17 homes remained under evacuation orders.

Residents of hundreds more homes were told to be ready to evacuate if the fire came their way.

The fire, burning through grass, brush and trees in two rugged canyons outside Golden, started Sunday and had blackened about 1,200 acres or 2 square miles by Tuesday. It was 15 percent contained. Officials say they suspect it was human-caused.

High winds spread the fire Monday, and crews were bracing for more wind Tuesday, with gusts as high as 75 mph expected, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said.

No injuries have been reported and no structures have burned. Sheriff's spokesman Mark Techmeyer said the flames moved past two homes overnight but firefighters were able to save both.

About 200 firefighters were on the lines Tuesday.

"I don't care how many firefighters they have, they can't control a fire that's raging in wind like that," said Keith Lowden, who was watching the fire with binoculars from a bedroom window at his home in a nearby subdivision. "That's the scariest part."

Months of dry weather have left much of Colorado vulnerable to wildfires, leaving what Techmeyer called "the perfect recipe for a fire disaster."

Tim Mathewson, a fire meteorologist for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, which coordinates, federal, state and local firefighting, said much of eastern Colorado and the lower foothills have been drier than usual since August.

"It hasn't been just the last couple weeks. This is part of an extended dry period," he said.

He said fire danger could remain high until mid-April.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says most of Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains is in a severe drought. All of eastern Colorado, along with a broad swath of Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, were under a National Weather Service red flag warning Tuesday, meaning fire danger is high because humidity is 15 percent or less and winds are at least 25 mph.

A smaller, 10-acre fire southwest of Golden was contained Monday, allowing the residents of 25 evacuated homes to return. A third fire in the mountains of Jefferson County burned at least one structure before it was contained.

A wind-driven blaze scorched 622 acres west of Boulder on March 11. More than 200 homes were evacuated for a few hours, but none was damaged.