Thousands of suffocating fish have been spotted dying off a British beauty spot where the sea has been turned red by what experts believe could be a rare killer bloom of toxic algae. Warnings have been issued around St Austell Bay, Cornwall, where the mysterious rusty brown seas threaten to poison bathers, infect food and […]
Boreal forests in some of the world’s wealthiest countries are being rapidly destroyed by human activities — including mining, logging, and purposely-set fires — report researchers writing in Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Assessing the status of the boreal forest that stretches across Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia, Corey Bradshaw and colleagues found that less […]
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Aug 13, 2009 – Tasmania’s east coast is recording its highest-ever winter water temperatures of more than 13 degrees C – up to 1.5 degrees C above normal – due to a strengthening of an ocean current originating north of Australia. Satellites have given oceanographers an insight into a remarkable phenomenon – […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 12, 2009) — Mosquitoes with the potential to carry diseases lethal to many unique species of Galápagos wildlife are being regularly introduced to the islands via aircraft, according to new research published today. The southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, was previously thought to have been introduced to the Galápagos in a one-off event […]
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Groundwater levels in northern India have fallen about 20 percent more than expected because of excessive pumping, threatening to spark a major food and water crisis, according to a study based on U.S. space agency data. The study, led by Matthew Rodell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said […]
By KEITH BRADSHER SHENZHEN, China — In this sprawling metropolis in southeastern China stand two hulking brown buildings erected by a private company, the Longgang trash incinerators. They can be smelled a mile away and pour out so much dark smoke and hazardous chemicals that hundreds of local residents recently staged an all-day sit-in, demanding […]
A new report has put a dollar value on the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. The study, by the international consultancy Oxford Economics, predicts that coral bleaching will cost the Australian economy more than 30 billion US dollars. The study took into account not just lost tourism, commercial fishing and other […]
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The world’s population is forecast to hit 7 billion next year, the vast majority of its growth coming in developing and, in many cases, the poorest nations, a report released Wednesday said. A staggering 97 percent of global growth over the next 40 years will happen in Asia, Africa, Latin America and […]
Snipers will stand guard over Sydney’s endangered penguins until vicious attacks on them stop, wildlife experts say. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has employed marksmen to protect the colony of about 120 little penguins at Manly and North Head for “as long as necessary”. Nine of the penguins have been mauled to death on […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 10, 2009) — Located over 12 000 kilometers from the Alps, the Kerguelen Islands are home to the largest French glacier, the Cook ice cap (which had an area of around 500 km2 in 1963). By combining historical information with recent satellite data, the glaciologists at the Laboratory for Space Studies in Geophysics […]
