Blogging the End of the World™
Predicted Ae. albopictus range expansion in the northeastern USA under two climate change scenarios. (A) Moderate increase in CO2 emissions (B2 scenario). (B) Higher increases in CO2 emissions (A2 scenario). Predicted present range based on 1950–2000 climate data. Three future time periods: 2020s (years 2010–2039), 2050s (years 2040–2069), and 2080s (years 2070–2099). Urban areas are […]
Contact: Aaron Jacobs, Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, Aaron.F.Jacobs@hud.gov 19 August 2013 WASHINGTON – President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, chaired by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, today released a rebuilding strategy to serve as a model for communities across the nation facing greater risks from extreme weather and to continue […]
By Jim Malewitz, Pew/Stateline 19 August 2013 (USA TODAY) – Will wildfires grow ever bigger, more frequent — and deadlier? Those who live in the rugged West are enduring another summer of scorched-earth devastation. Colorado this year saw the most devastating wildfire in its history, a blaze that killed two people and destroyed 16,000 acres […]
By Christopher C. Burt 12 August 2013 (wunderground.com) – An all-time national heat record was set in Japan today (August 12th) when the temperature peaked at 41.0°C (105.8°F) at the Ekawasaki site in Shimanto (part of Kochi Prefecture). The previous record of 40.9°C (105.6°F) was recorded at Tajima and Kumagaya on August 16, 2007. Tokyo […]
By John Roach 19 August 2013 (NBC News) – Flood damage in the world’s major coastal cities may top $1 trillion a year by 2050 due to rising seas and subsiding land, according to a new study. The startling figure is “not a forecast or a prediction,” but rather a means to “show that not […]
By Peter Rüegg 19 August 2013 (PhysOrg) – Using indicator molecules, a team of researchers headed by ETH Zurich demonstrates that carbon stored in the Arctic permafrost is being mobilised in Eurasian river basins. Arctic permafrost soils store vast amounts of carbon in the form of dead but not decomposed plant debris. Around half of […]
[You know that you’ve arrived when your story makes the cover of TIME. The rest is behind the pay wall, unfortunately.] By Bryan Walsh 19 August 2013 (TIME) – You can thank the Apis mellifera, better known as the Western honeybee, for 1 in every 3 mouthfuls you’ll eat today. Honeybees — which pollinate crops […]
14 August 2013 (WDC) – Latest figures (August 12th) from the Iceland Fisheries Directorate give a shameful total of 89 fin whales killed by Kristjan Loftsson’s fleet so far this season. Loftsson could slaughter as many as 184 fin whales under a self-allocated quota, but the rationale behind the hunt is looking increasingly shaky. There […]
17 August 2013 (Associated Press) – The Oregon Department of Forestry has spent more than $70 million fighting major wildfires so far this summer, far more than it generally spends to handle conflagrations on state-protected lands. The two largest wildfires in Southern Oregon — the Big Windy and Douglas Complex fires — are responsible for […]
22 July 2013 (EEA) – Figure 3.2 shows some examples of European butterfly trends: The Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), a widespread and in many countries common and abundant butterfly, occurring on all kinds of grasslands; the Orangetip (Anthocharis cardamines), a typical spring butterfly; the Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon), a specialist species of dry calcareous grasslands. […]
