By Katie Valentine13 February 2014 (Climate Progress) – The Earth’s oceans are warming rapidly, absorbing about 90 percent of the heat created by anthropogenic climate change. Now, new research shows that this heat has caused “almost unprecedented” damage to ancient corals of the coast of Western Australia. The research, which has yet to be published […]
By Loren Bell, Mongabay-Indonesia contributor 10 February 2014 (mongabay.com) – Protecting large, isolated areas of no-take zones for over 10 years with strong enforcement is the key to effective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), according to a letter published this week in Nature. However, 59% of all MPAs meet less than three of the five criteria, […]
By Scott Sonner16 January 2014 SPARKS, Nevada (Associated Press) – State wildlife officials are trying to figure out why all the fish have died in a northern Nevada marina where the stocked fishery has flourished since the man-made lake was created nearly 15 years ago. An estimated 100,000 trout, bass and catfish have died over […]
By Shan Li29 January 2014 (Los Angeles Times) – California wildlife officials have banned fishing in several rivers to protect salmon and steelhead trout during a severe drought that follows the state’s driest year on record. Fish populations are in danger as low levels in many of the Golden State’s waters could prevent them from […]
By Robin Wilkey15 January 2014 SAN FRANCISCO (The Huffington Post) – The shore of California’s Lake Oroville hasn’t looked this way in modern history. Cracked dry mud shatters the canyon floor, and buoys rest 10 feet up the side of a shale hill. The remains of two vehicles — crashed long ago — rise from […]
By Margaret Munro29 December 2013 (Postmedia News) – Mercury wafting out of oilsands operations is impacting an area – or “bull’s-eye” — that extends for about 19,000 square kilometres in northeast Alberta, according to federal scientists. Levels of the potent neurotoxin found near the massive industrial operation have been found to be up to 16 […]
By Louis Sahagun 26 December 2013 (Los Angeles Times) – Elizabeth Lopez maneuvered a massive steel claw over the side of a 134-foot sailboat and guided its descent through swaying kelp and schools of fish 10 miles off the coast of San Diego. She was hoping to catch pieces of a mysterious marine ecosystem that […]
By Bridie Smith 12 December 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Mining poses a greater threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef than agriculture, according to one marine scientist who has cast doubt on the federal government’s prediction that water quality will improve along the reef coast. On Tuesday federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt […]
By GUY KOVNER5 December 2013 (THE PRESS DEMOCRAT) – Climate change is the likely cause of unprecedented mass of oxygen-poor water off the Sonoma Coast, a phenomenon that could harm the region’s prized Dungeness crab and other marine life. Scientists at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, who were the first to detect the hypoxic (low-oxygen) waters, […]
By Mark Schleifstein6 December 2013 (The Times-Picayune) – The extensive damage caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the ensuing cleanup efforts to natural resources along the shoreline and in deepwater habitats of the Gulf of Mexico were outlined for the first time Friday (Dec. 6) in a comprehensive environmental assessment. The assessment, […]
