ROCHESTER, New York, June 9, 2009 (ENS) – During pregnancy, exposure to a toxic family of chemicals called dioxins harms the cells in rapidly-changing breast tissue, according to new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center. The researchers believe their findings, although only demonstrated in mice at this point, may explain why some women […]
Satellite images released by NASA show nearly complete destruction of Rwanda’s Gishwati Forest between 1986 and 2001. Deforestation of the forest reserve is largely the result of subsistence harvesting and cultivation by refugees in the aftermath of the country’s 1994 genocide. Overall only 600 hectares of Gishwati’s original 100,000 hectares of forest remain, a […]
By Andy Coghlan In just 40 years, the Caribbean’s spectacular branched corals have been flattened. Research reveals that the corals have been replaced by shorter rival species – and points to climate change as at least partly to blame. Most of the reefs have lost all the intricate, tree-like corals that until the 1970s provided […]
As the frozen soil in the Arctic thaws, bacteria will break down organic matter, releasing long-stored carbon into the warming atmosphere. At the same time, plants will proliferate, nurtured by balmier temperatures, more nutrients from decomposing soil and the increasing abundance of the greenhouse gas they depend on for growth. These connected but contrasting changes […]
I interviewed by email Dr. Mark Serreze, recently named director of The National Snow and Ice Data Center. Partly I wanted him to explain his “death spiral” metaphor for Arctic ice (see NSIDC: Arctic melt passes the point of no return, “We hate to say we told you so, but we did”). … CP: […]
Written by Jonathan Tirone / Bloomberg The Maldives, one of the nations most threatened by global warming, is appealing to the United Nations space agency to help the island country plan its defenses against rising sea levels. “Beach erosion is the No. 1 problem for our country right now,” Environment Minister Abdulla Shahid said over […]
By Anna Salleh Giant jelly fish are taking over parts of the world’s oceans due to overfishing and other human activities, say researchers. Dr Anthony Richardson of CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research and colleagues, report their findings in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. “We need to take management action to avert the marine […]
By Gideon Long / Santiago First, in late March the bodies of about 1,200 penguins were found on a remote beach in southern Chile. Next came the sardines — millions of them — washed up dead on a nearby stretch of coastline in April, causing a stench so noxious that nearby schools were closed and […]
Interview by Zinta Lundborg June 8 (Bloomberg) — In one photo, flood-plagued Bangladeshis crowd onto a speck of road surrounded by rising water. Another image gives an aerial view of Florida’s Delray Beach, where luxury high-rise buildings cluster on a thin strip of eroding sand. Gary Braasch, an award-winning environmental photojournalist, captured those shots and […]
Brazil moved a step closer to passing a controversial law that would allow landowners who illegally deforested land in the Amazon to get legal title to these holdings. Environmentalists say HB 458 — which now only needs the signature of President Lula, an avid supporter — will legitimize years of illegal colonization and may promote […]
