Ecosystems strain to keep pace with rapidly changing climate

  By Steve Gorman, Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:14pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Earth’s various ecosystems, with all their plants and animals, will need to shift about a quarter-mile per year on average to keep pace with global climate change, scientists said in a study released on Wednesday. How well particular species can survive […]

Kenya food stocks to run out in April

By WALTER MENYA, Posted Thursday, December 17 2009 at 21:20 Kenya’s food stocks will run out in April, resulting in more people going hungry, a new study warns. The Kenya Food Security report blames the failed or poor rains, high food prices and environmental degradation for the crisis. The report also warns of increased inter-ethnic […]

Pakistan reservoirs almost empty

LAHORE: Water level at Tarbela and Mangla dams has been declining while water level at the Mangla dam was recorded only 40 feet higher than the dead level. According to IRSA, water inflow at Tarbela dam was recorded at 17,400 cusecs while outflow remained at 28,000 cusecs. On the other hand, water inflow at Mangla […]

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone radioactive longer than expected

Radioactive Material Isn’t Disappearing From the Environment as Quickly as Predicted By ALEXIS MADRIGALDec. 20, 2009 Chernobyl, the worst nuclear accident in history, created an inadvertent laboratory to study the impacts of radiation — and more than twenty years later, the site still holds surprises. Reinhabiting the large dead zone around the accident site may […]

Stimulus funds drill wells as California water vanishes

  By GARANCE BURKE, DOS PALOS, Calif. (AP) — The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the […]

Poor rains worsen east Africa famine

By Anisa Kadri A lack of rainfall has contributed to the ongoing food crisis in East Africa, Oxfam said on Thursday. It was hoped that rains expected in November would provide relief for those struck by famine in this region. However, areas including Ogaden in Ethiopia and Turkana in Kenya received below five per cent […]

Graph of the Day: Water-Level Decline in the High Plains Aquifer, 1950s to 2007

Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2007 (modified from Gutentag and others, 1984; Lowry and others, 1967; Luckey and others, 1981; and Burbach, 2007). The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.6 million acres (174,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines […]

‘It's going to get a lot quieter in the Dutch woods’ — Fewer migratory birds due to climate change

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2009) — All insect-eating migratory birds who winter in Africa and breed in the Dutch woods have decreased in numbers since 1984. This has been revealed by research conducted by the University of Groningen, the SOVON Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Radboud University Nijmegen and Alterra, published on 16 […]

Amazon losing 'flying rivers,' ability to curb warming

By Christine Dell’Amore in CopenhagenNational Geographic NewsDecember 18, 2009 The Amazon’s “flying rivers”—humid air currents that deliver water to the vast rain forest—may be ebbing, which could have dire consequences for the region’s ability to help curb global warming, an expert said this week at the Copenhagen climate conference. Rising temperatures in the Amazon region, […]

Graph of the Day: Rainfall Deficits in East Africa, November 2009

Due to the current El Niño event, above‐average rainfall was forecast for the areas of East Africa that receive October to December rains. These rains were expected to contribute to a reduction in the high to extreme levels of food insecurity that have affected many parts of the region following several consecutive failed rainy seasons. […]

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