Cumulative (a) specific and (b) total mass balances of glaciers and ice caps, calculated for large regions [Dyurgerov and Meier, 2005]. Specific mass balances signalize the strength of the glacier response to climatic change in each region. Total mass balances indicate each region’s contribution to sea level. G. Kaser, J. G. Cogley, M. B. Dyurgerov, […]
Warming water and melting land ice have raised global mean sea level 4.5 centimeters (1.7 inches) from 1993 to 2008. But the rise is by no means uniform. This image, created with sea surface height data from the Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 satellites, shows exactly where sea level has changed during this time and how quickly […]
YIXIAN, China, Aug 4 (AFP) Aug 04, 2009 The river has dried up, the well yields only dust, and Li Yunxi is hard pressed to irrigate his plot of land, even though he lives right next to the largest water project in history. The elderly farmer watches in despair as his corn crop wilts under […]
By Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News Europe’s largest mammal, the European bison, remains extremely vulnerable to extinction, despite long-standing efforts to save it, new research shows. One of the two remaining wild herds of pure bred European bison is down to an effective population size of just 25. That is despite the actual number of […]
Climate change is speeding up the release of carbon dioxide from frigid peatlands in the sub-Arctic, fuelling a vicious circle of global warming, according to a recently published study. An increase of just 1°C over current average temperatures would more than double the CO2 escaping from the peatlands. Northern peatlands contain one-third of the planet’s […]
Arctic sea ice extent for the month of July was the third lowest for that month in the satellite record, after 2007 and 2006. The average rate of melt in July 2009 was nearly identical to that of July 2007. A strong high-pressure system, similar to the atmospheric pattern that dominated the summer of […]
By Ed Stoddard MEDICINE BOW NATIONAL FOREST, Wyoming (Reuters) – From the vantage point of an 80-foot (25 meter) tower rising above the trees, the Wyoming vista seems idyllic: snow-capped peaks in the distance give way to shimmering green spruce. But this is a forest under siege. Among the green foliage of the healthy spruce […]
What do the Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone,” global climate change and acid rain have in common? They’re all a result of human impacts to Earth’s biology, chemistry and geology, and the natural cycles that involve all three. On August 4-5, 2009, scientists who study such cycles – biogeochemists — will convene at a special […]
By BRETT FRENCHThe Billings Gazette As the climate warms over the next four decades, portions of Wyoming and Montana are at ground zero for larger areas burned by wildland fires and an increase in air pollution from those fires. The forecasts come from a recently released study done for the Environmental Protection Agency by Harvard’s […]
Cover Study of Nature Provides Startling New Evidence that Only 10% of All Large Fish are Left in Global Ocean 90% of All Large Fish Including Tuna, Marlin, Swordfish, Sharks, Cod and Halibut are Gone Leading Scientists Say Need to Attempt Restoration on a Global Scale is Urgent The cover story of the May 15th, […]
