Blogging the End of the World™
WASHINGTON — More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming. More than half of the loss of landlocked ice in the past five years has occurred in Greenland, […]
By Maggie Fox, editing by Philip Barbara WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Huge swarms of stinging jellyfish and similar slimy animals are ruining beaches in Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, Australia and elsewhere, U.S. researchers reported on Friday. … The report, available on the Internet at http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/jellyfish/index.jsp, says the Black Sea’s fishing and tourism industries […]
Elephants in Zakouma National Park, the last stronghold for the savanna elephants of Central Africa’s Sahel region, now hover at about 1,000 animals, down from an estimated 3,000 in 2006. Ivory poachers using automatic weapons have decimated elephant populations — particularly when herds venture seasonally outside of the park. … "The situation in Zakouma is […]
In the third part of our series on the eve of the Poznan conference, we look at how climate change is already changing ordinary people’s lives from Australia to Brazil John Vidal in Immaculada, Brazil The Guardian, Wednesday 10 December 2008 Joao da Antonio’s eyes are full of tears. If good rains do not come, […]
POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) – Weather-related disasters and earthquakes are likely to make 2008 the second most costly year for insurers after 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck the United States, a leading insurer said on Wednesday. Losses in 2008 are around $160 billion so far, Thomas Loster, chair of Munich Re Foundation, told Reuters on the […]
Despite successes in reducing dolphin bycatch fishing found to negatively affect reproduction By Mario Aguilera, Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UC San Diego Despite broad “dolphin safe” practices, fishing activities have continued to restrict the growth of at least one Pacific Ocean dolphin population, a new report led by a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at […]
POZNAN, Poland (AFP) – Almost a fifth of the planet’s coral reefs have died and carbon emissions are largely to blame, according to an NGO study released Wednesday. The report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, warned that on current trends, growing levels of greenhouse gases will destroy many of the remaining reefs […]
Since the wide-spread burning of fossil fuels began, our global oceans have become nearly a third more acidic and it is killing one of the most unusual ecosystems we have – deep sea coral. An international symposium is underway right now in Wellington, bringing researchers from all around the world together to discuss the problem. […]
Link to report (pdf): Effects of Pollutants on the Reproductive Health of Male Vertebrate Wildlife – Males Under Threat Evolution is being distorted by pollution, which damages genitals and the ability to father offspring, says new study. by Geoffrey Lean The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling […]
AFP – Twenty-one animal species, including the cheetah, three dolphin families and an Egyptian vulture, were added to the list of those in danger of extinction by a UN conference that ended Friday. … A spokesman for the Whale and Dolphin Society welcomed measures on increased protection for marine species, but said governments had not […]
