By Emily Beament, PA5 June 2011 Threatened wildlife such as water voles could be hit by the continuing dry weather across parts of the country, the Wildlife Trusts warned today. This year has seen an unusually dry spring, and despite some recent rainfall the dry weather is set to continue across much of the country […]
By JIM WAYMER 2 June 2011 COCOA BEACH — The mauve stinger jellyfish spared swimmers Wednesday, after stinging about 1,800 people in the past week. But biologists say the tiny creature could pop up off the Space Coast in sporadic pulses for weeks, even as long as a year, depending on how long conditions favor […]
By EDWARD WONG1 June 2011 DANJIANGKOU, China — North China is dying. A chronic drought is ravaging farmland. The Gobi Desert is inching south. The Yellow River, the so-called birthplace of Chinese civilization, is so polluted it can no longer supply drinking water. The rapid growth of megacities — 22 million people in Beijing and […]
By Tony Todd1 June 2011 The spring of 2011 has been the driest in decades and the hottest in a century, a deep concern for France’s indebted farming community. The younger generation, which has borrowed heavily to invest in properties, is most gravely affected. The worst drought in decades threatens to cripple France’s agricultural sector, […]
By Margaret Munro, Postmedia News30 May 2011 Canada’s fabled Northwest Passage will not open up to shipping anytime soon, according to a study that warns global warming is a double-edged sword for northern transportation. “And Canada is going to be feeling the harsh edge of the sword more strongly than other Arctic states,” says Scott […]
GRAND COULEE DAM, Washington, June 2 (Associated Press) — The giant concrete dams of the Pacific Northwest are overflowing with water. Wyoming has deployed National Guard troops to pile up sandbags. A federal official compares the impending situation to a bucking bull ready to storm out of his chute. States across the West are bracing […]
By Robert Burns, Texas A&M3 June 2011 COLLEGE STATION — A few areas received rain, but except for parts of north-central and extreme northeast Texas, the state continued to suffer from moderate to exceptional drought, according the U.S. Drought monitor. Even where the drought had lifted, Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel reported shortages of hay […]
By Rob Taylor; Editing by Ed Davies2 June 2011 CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia warned on Thursday that its World Heritage-listed outback Kakadu wetland, made famous in the “Crocodile Dundee” films, was at severe risk from climate change, as the government faced a growing battle to introduce a carbon tax. Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s one-seat majority […]
By Matt Walker Editor, BBC Nature 31 May 2011 Populations of wildlife species in the world-renowned Masai Mara reserve in Kenya have crashed in the past three decades, according to research published in the Journal of Zoology. Numbers of impala, warthog, giraffe, topi, and Coke’s hartebeest have declined by over 70%, say scientists. Even fewer […]
Record rise, despite recession, means 2C target almost out of reach By Fiona Harvey, Environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk29 May 2011 Greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, to the highest carbon output in history, putting hopes of holding global warming to safe levels all but out of reach, according to unpublished estimates from […]
