Just about everywhere you look ice is melting — see USGS report details “recent dramatic shrinkage” in U.S. glaciers, matching global decline. Here is a very impressive presentation from a 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference: “Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers […]
IF THE sinking Maldives aren’t enough to galvanise action on climate change, could losing a classic beer do it? Climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and colleagues say that the quality of Saaz hops – the delicate variety used to make pilsner lager – has been decreasing in recent years. They say the […]
Direct and rapid responses to recent Arctic climate change have included earlier flowering of plants in Greenland [replicate slopes for each genus are based on annual estimates from 1996 to 2008 in Zackenberg; adapted from T. T. Høye, E. Post, H. Meltofte, N. M. Schmidt, M. C. Forchhammer, Curr. Biol. 17, R449 (2007)]. Eric Post, […]
NKAYA, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) – Degradation of the environment is reaching alarming levels in Nkaya in southern Malawi, where people have to walk ever greater distances to collect firewood and water. Mayi Chambo, a village head in Nkaya, blamed charcoal makers for the deforestation. This is her story. “In the 1980s we had lush […]
Addis Ababa (AFP) Sept 10, 2009 – The European Union granted Ethiopia 10 million euros (14.5 million dollars) to help feed more than six million people in need of emergency aid due to drought, the bloc said Thursday. “Ethiopia faces growing humanitarian challenges which are largely due to climate change,” EU’s country representative Dino Sinigallia […]
From Tamino: Several things are abundantly clear: The “sudden recent warming” is right there. For every grid. Just open your eyes. For every grid the last decade is the warmest. Over the last 3 decades, 108 out of 113 individual stations indicate warming, 48 of 113 are significant at 95% confidence, none show significant cooling. […]
In July, national parks in South Africa lost 26 white rhinos and one black rhino to poachers, bringing the total rhinos lost to in South Africa to 84 this year alone. The situation has led Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica to call for an integrative approach to the crisis. “The minister and the […]
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — The world faces a compounding series of crises driven by human activity, which existing governments and institutions are increasingly powerless to cope with, a group of eminent environmental scientists and economists has warned. Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say that nations alone are unable to resolve the […]
Synopsis by David Buchwalter, Ph.D. and Wendy Hessler Levels of antibiotics measured in streams, lakes and well water near pharmaceutical factories in India are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times higher than levels measured in waters that receive sewage effluent in the US or China. Much of the world’s supply of generic antibiotics is produced in the […]
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Sep 02, 2009 – New analysis shows that the water scarcity being experienced in southeast Australia started up to 15 years ago. While the results from the work by senior CSIRO researcher, Dr Albert van Dijk, may not surprise many people, it provides scientific evidence of the shift. New analysis shows that […]
