By REBECCA THURLOWMARCH 9, 2011 SYDNEY—The damage done by Cyclone Yasi to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia’s top attraction, will take decades to fully mend, according to a growing number of scientists—which could reduce both visitor numbers and the local fishing industry’s catches. In the worst-hit areas “there was hardly a coral to be found […]
It’s a new name for a new geologic epoch—one defined by our own massive impact on the planet. That mark will endure in the geologic record long after our cities have crumbled. By Elizabeth KolbertPhotograph by Jens Neumann/Edgar RodtmannMarch 2011 The path leads up a hill, across a fast-moving stream, back across the stream, and […]
March 6, 2011, Singapore (AFP) — The unbridled manufacture and use of pesticides in Asia is raising the spectre of “pest storms” devastating the region’s rice farms and threatening food security, scientists have warned. Increased production of cheap pesticides in China and India, lax regulation and inadequate farmer education are destroying ecosystems around paddies, allowing […]
By Rhett A. Butler, www.mongabay.com March 07, 2011 Expansion of industrial oil palm plantations across Malaysia and Indonesia have laid waste to vast areas of forest and peatlands, exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions and putting biodiversity at risk, reports a new satellite-based analysis that maps mature oil palm estates across Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra. The […]
Scatterplot of the greater Central Valley, California calibration data showing the relationship between air quality score and the proportion of nitrophytic lichen abundance at each plot. Abstract: Lichens are highly valued ecological indicators known for their sensitivity to a wide variety of environmental stressors like air quality and climate change. This report summarizes baseline results […]
By Michael RicciardiMarch 3, 2011 Over the past decade, the Arctic’s annual “bloom” of phytoplankton has been arriving earlier each year. The trend in earlier blooms of this crucial, primary producer of the Arctic’s food web is occurring largely along coastal and ice edge areas within the Arctic circle, with the exception of large patches […]
By Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers28 February 2011 WASHINGTON — Global warming took a toll on coral reefs in 2010, endangering one of the world’s key ecosystems that benefit people in countless ways. Coral reefs are habitat for almost 100,000 known marine species, including about 40 percent of all fish species. They feed millions of people, […]
By Christine Dell’Amore, National Geographic NewsPublished February 28, 2011 “Crazy green” pools teeming with life have been found among remote Antarctic sea ice, scientists say—and they may be a global warming boon. Observed in the little-studied Amundsen Sea (see map), the brilliant blooms owe their colors to chlorophyll, a pigment in various types of phytoplankton, […]
Sanur, Indonesia (AFP) March 1, 2011 – An insatiable appetite for reef fish like snapper in Hong Kong and other markets is fuelling over-fishing in the Coral Triangle, a key area for marine biodiversity, experts said Tuesday. The trade is encouraging fishermen to use cyanide and explosives that destroy reefs and fish hatcheries essential for […]
Contact: Mark McCollough, 207-866-3344March 2, 2011 Although the eastern cougar has been on the endangered species list since 1973, its existence has long been questioned. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) conducted a formal review of the available information and, in a report issued today, concludes the eastern cougar is extinct and recommends the […]
