Blogging the End of the World™
By Morgan Erickson-Davis, mongabay.com Caspian Seal populations have declined 90% in the past 100 years, prompting the IUCN to switch their designation from Vulnerable to Endangered. A team from the University of Leeds performed a series of surveys in 2007 and 2008 which revealed that the birth rate has decreased from around 17,000 pups born […]
Billions of tons of carbon sequestered in the world’s peat bogs could be released into the atmosphere in the coming decades as a result of global warming, according to a new analysis of the interplay between peat bogs, water tables, and climate change. Such an atmospheric release of even a small percentage of the […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservationists have taken the first detailed look at the world’s mammals in more than a decade, and the news isn’t good. "Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide," the team led by Jan Schipper of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Gland, […]
A U.S. study suggests the common insecticide malathion can decimate tadpole populations, killing them indirectly at doses too small to kill them directly. University of Pittsburgh researchers wanted to determine the environmental impact of the use of malathion — the most popular insecticide in the United States. The scientists discovered gradual amounts of malathion […]
By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Barcelona The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study. It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion. The figure comes from adding the value of […]
By Andrew Darby, Hobart THE first evidence suggests that a predicted rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide will wreak havoc on krill, the tiny crustacean at the heart of the Antarctic food web. Although public sympathy for the crustacean is undetectable, polar life such as penguins, seals and whales would wither without it. Captive-bred krill at […]
Fall air temperatures have climbed to record levels in the Arctic due to major losses of sea ice as the region suffers more effects from a warming trend dating back decades, a report released on Thursday showed. The annual report issued by researchers at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other experts is […]
The acidification of the world’s oceans, caused by the absorption of huge volumes of carbon dioxide, is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, threatening marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of tens of millions of people, concluded scientists attending the Second International Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World held in Monaco from 6-9 […]
By Craig Pittman, Times staff writer A rising demand in China for turtles for food and medicine has led to the round-up of thousands of turtles from Florida’s lakes, ponds and canals. Exporters are shipping up to 3,000 pounds of softshell turtles a week out of Tampa International Airport, according to the Florida Fish and […]
New research has determined that due to climate change, seabird populations on the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding waters is facing dramatic declines. The research has been compiled by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It addresses the impact of climate change on seabirds, and obtained by The Australian under freedom of information laws. […]
