By Christopher Joyce When wildlife biologists visited a remote spot in Canada called Banks Island in the spring of 2004, they discovered thousands upon thousands of dead musk oxen. It took years to determine the cause. They called it “rain-on-snow” — the worst case of it ever documented. “Long story short, about 20,000 musk oxen […]
Scientists confirm computer model predictions that oxygen-depleted zones in tropical oceans are expanding, possibly because of climate change Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San DiegoMAY 1, 2008 An international team of physical oceanographers including a researcher from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has discovered that oxygen-poor regions of tropical […]
Britain’s ancient trees, including Newton’s apple tree, are in danger of dying out due to pollution, development and climate change, the National Trust has warned. By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent The UK has some of the most famous ancient trees in the world around country houses, in historic parkland and castle grounds. However the National […]
By Fred Pearce Diverting water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to supply agriculture, alongside a warming climate, means the once-bountiful region is becoming desert Is it the final curtain for the Fertile Crescent? This summer, as Turkish dams reduce the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to a trickle, farmers abandon their desiccated fields across Iraq […]
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis SHAIZAR CASTLE, Syria (Reuters) – Only a few decades ago, fish were plentiful in the Orontes river which for thousands of years has provided water to the lush Syrian plains, at the crossroads of the ancient world. These days the Orontes’s 12th century norias, enormous water wheels famous for their distinctive […]
By Missy Ryan YUSUFIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – What was known as history’s fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea. Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked and barren, precious marshes have dried up […]
‘On left: microscopic photo of the spring diatom bloom with large organisms dominating. On right: warming of six degrees with smaller flagellates dominating.’ Image credit:IFM-GEOMAR, via PhysOrg.com I want to be careful not to exaggerate the significance of this work. That said, I find it disturbing to learn that a warming ocean selects for […]
By Peter Lord A new study by researchers at Brown University finds that climate change is reducing the diversity of plants in New England salt marshes by causing a decline in small, flowering plants and allowing the spread of salt marsh grasses such as Spartina patens. The study, called “Experimental warming causes rapid loss of […]
Dhaka (AFP) July 21, 2009 – A delay to Bangladesh’s monsoon season is posing a severe risk of drought in the impoverished nation and threatening food supplies, officials warned Tuesday. Monsoon rains normally sweep Bangladesh from June to September and the South Asian country gets more than 75 percent of its annual rainfall during this […]
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2009) — Winter chill, a vital climatic trigger for many tree crops, is likely to decrease by more than 50 percent during this century as global climate warms, making California no longer suitable for growing many fruit and nut crops, according to a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, […]
