By Steve Connor23 April 2012 A new source of methane – a greenhouse gas many times more powerful than carbon dioxide – has been identified by scientists flying over areas in the Arctic where the sea ice has melted. The researchers found significant amounts of methane being released from the ocean into the atmosphere through […]
22 April 2012 (Canadian Press) – A group of more than 2,000 scientists from 67 countries has called for a moratorium on commercial fishing in the Arctic until more research can be completed on waters that were once covered by ice year-round. The scientists said the loss of permanent sea ice has opened up as […]
1000-year records of southern hemisphere background concentrations of CO2 parts per million (ppm – orange), N2O parts per billion (ppb – blue) and CH4 (ppb – green) measured at Cape Grim Tasmania and in air extracted from Antarctic ice and near surface levels of ice known as firn. Global CO2, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide […]
By Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk20 April 2012 Heavy rain over much of the country, provoking flash floods in some areas and severe weather warnings from the Met Office, is set to continue through the weekend but is unlikely to ease the drought gripping most of England. Flash floods closed the centre of Pocklington in […]
By Nora Muchanic18 April 2012 TRENTON, N.J., (WPVI) – The depth of the Delaware River is at record low levels for this time of year. That has people who rely on the river very worried. “It’s like you see the bottom. The bottom. There’s no water down there,” said Benita Parrotta of Hamilton Twp., N.J. […]
By Meg Weaver19 April 2012 Though writer Robert Earle Howells adds greater fuel to our wanderlust fires with his round-up of five Peruvian jungle lodges in National Geographic Traveler’s new issue, now’s unfortunately not the time to visit the Amazon Basin. Super-floods continue to inundate the region — a situation that has been underreported in […]
By Killian Fox, The Observer21 April 2012 “The argument for human-driven climate change is as follows…” says the talking penguin to the man in the red jacket in the middle of the Arctic ice field. If this sounds like the beginning of a joke, hold on for the punchline. “But isn’t it true that a […]
By Stephen Lacey 20 April 2012 Corn farmers concerned about the impact of climate change are speaking out, calling the problem “a grave threat” to the nation’s agricultural sector. Responding to the increase in severe weather — and the prospects for a “quantum jump” in such devastating events — a group of corn farmers is […]
By Arlene Martinez19 April 2012 Oil spills, water pollution, harmful pesticides: those are the types of contaminants that spurred environmental crusaders to initiate the first Earth Day in 1970. Damage from industries, businesses and agriculture was noticeable, from thick sludge in landfills that bordered homes to unnatural plumes of green smoke that were emitted from […]
By Marwaan Macan-Markar 19 April 2012 BANGKOK – With Vietnam’s fertile Mekong delta threatened by rising sea levels and salt water ingress, the country’s future as a major rice exporter depends critically on research underway in the Philippines. Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are working with Vietnamese counterparts in the town of […]
