‘Missing’ global heat may hide in deep oceans

By Deborah Zabarenko in Washington, editing by Chris Wilson18 September 2011 (Reuters) – The mystery of Earth’s missing heat may have been solved: it could lurk deep in oceans, temporarily masking the climate-warming effects of greenhouse gas emissions, researchers reported on Sunday. Climate scientists have long wondered where this so-called missing heat was going, especially […]

Persisting drought in Arkansas plagues hay farmers

By Suzi Parker; Edited by Colleen Jenkins and Ellen Wulfhorst18 September 2011 LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) – Cooler weather has arrived in Arkansas but a severe drought lingers, bringing bad news for the state’s hay and cattle producers. The Climate Prediction Center recently issued a three-month outlook that showed drought persisting or worsening into eastern […]

Native New England cottontail rabbits disappearing

By Zach Howard; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Barbara Goldberg17 September 2011 CONWAY, Massachusetts (Reuters) – The New England cottontail rabbit, in sharp decline for decades throughout the Northeast, is on the verge of disappearing from several states, with the reason somewhat a mystery, wildlife experts say. The once-prolific breeder, already no longer found in […]

Extinction looms for last resident killer whale pod in Scottish waters

By Niamh Anderson18 September 2011 FOR at least three decades they have made the waters off the west of Scotland their own, delighting visitors and residents alike. But now it seems the country’s only resident pod of killer whales is doomed to extinction and pollution could be to blame. The nine whales have failed to […]

Rising seas expected to wash out key California beaches

By Emmett Berg; Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Johnston15 September 2011 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Rising seas forecast from climate change will likely wash away some of California’s most iconic beaches by century’s end, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate, roads and tax revenues, a new study found on Wednesday. […]

Scientists rescuing minnows from Texas river as drought threatens their ability to reproduce

FORT WORTH, Texas, September 16 (AP) — Wading through a muddy river bed to reach shallow pools of water, wildlife biologists scooped up hundreds of minnows Friday in one of the first rescues of fish threatened by the state’s worst drought in decades. The scientists collected smalleye shiners and sharpnose shiners from the Brazos River […]

Texas drought worsens from ‘abysmal’ – Hottest three months ever recorded in the U.S.

15 September 2011 (MSNBC) – The drought in Texas that has fueled wildfires, devastated agriculture and caused water shortages actually worsened in the past week while several other states also saw spreading drought, according to a weekly report issued Thursday. The forecast for three months out isn’t any better: Texas was told to expect abnormally […]

Over 1,000 Somali refugees a day pouring into Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp

By Sally Williams17 September 2011 It was the death of their last cow that did it for Abdi. He told his wife, Sarura, and their four children that they had to leave. In Bakool, Somalia, they packed some clothes and cooking pots and set out for Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, on the edge […]

Graph of the Day: Distribution of Mississippi River Crest Levels Per Decade, 1900s-2010

Increased precipitation could increase streamflow by 51 percent, due to more rain falling on near-saturated soils. The risk of floods has already increased over the past few decades along the Mississippi River near St. Louis due to increased flows. Because of its location at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, peak flows at […]

‘Artificial volcano’ test to mitigate global warming

[Desdemona weighed in on this sort of geoengineering scheme a few years ago: So the leaders of men conceived of their most desperate strategy yet.] By Steve Connor, Science Editor14 September 2011 A disused airfield in Norfolk will become the focus of a controversial scientific experiment to see whether it is feasible to engineer the […]

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