Spatial patterns of projected biomass changes. Shown are global ensemble projections at a 1 × 1 degree resolution for (A, C, and E) RCP2.6 and (B, D, and F) RCP8.5. (A and B) Multimodel mean change (percent, n = 10) in total marine animal biomass in 2090–2099 relative to 1990–1999 without fishing. (C and D) Variability among different ecosystem model and ESM combinations expressed as 1 SD. (E and F) Model agreement (percent) on the direction of change. Graphic: Lotze, et al., 2019 / PNAS

Study projects substantial declines in large fish and marine species with warming oceans – “There are substantial consequences for marine ecosystems on a global scale”

By Alison Auld 11 June 2019 (Dal News) – Populations of large fish and other marine species will decline steadily if little is done to stem the effects of climate change, according to a study led by Dalhousie University researchers that shows how greenhouse gas emissions could cause widespread global stock losses and habitat shifts. […]

China’s 60 years of environmental destruction in Tibet – “Now the rivers are polluted with poisonous waste from the mines”

By Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen 4 April 2019 (Central Tibetan Administration) – China’s latest white paper on Tibet, once again highlights Beijing’s absolute lack of understanding of Tibet’s History and its unwillingness to read beyond government documents. The paper “Democratic Reform in Tibet – Sixty Years On,” was released on 27 March 2019 to mark the […]

World’s rivers awash with dangerous levels of antibiotics – “It’s quite scary and depressing”

By Natasha Gilbert 26 May 2019 (The Guardian) — Hundreds of rivers around the world from the Thames to the Tigris are awash with dangerously high levels of antibiotics, the largest global study on the subject has found. Antibiotic pollution is one of the key routes by which bacteria are able develop resistance to the […]

Only one-third of the world’s longest rivers remain free-flowing – Nearly 60,000 large dams exist worldwide, with more than 3,700 planned

Only one-third of the world’s longest rivers remain free-flowing – Nearly 60,000 large dams exist worldwide, with more than 3,700 planned

8 May 2019 (McGill University) – Just over one-third (37%) of the world’s 246 longest rivers remain free-flowing, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature. Dams and reservoirs are drastically reducing the diverse benefits that healthy rivers provide to people and nature across the globe. A team of 34 international researchers from McGill University, […]

North Atlantic Ocean phytoplankton decline coincides with warming temperatures over the last 150 years – “10 percent of the marine food base in this region has been lost over the industrial era”

North Atlantic Ocean phytoplankton decline coincides with warming temperatures over the last 150 years – “10 percent of the marine food base in this region has been lost over the industrial era”

By Jennifer Chu 6 May 2019 (MIT News) – Virtually all marine life depends on the productivity of phytoplankton — microscopic organisms that work tirelessly at the ocean’s surface to absorb the carbon dioxide that gets dissolved into the upper ocean from the atmosphere. Through photosynthesis, these microbes break down carbon dioxide into oxygen, some […]

Study confirms fears that escaped Atlantic salmon infected with exotic virus

Study confirms fears that escaped Atlantic salmon infected with exotic virus

5 May 2019 (Wild Fish Conservancy) – A peer-reviewed paper has been published in Virology Journal showing showing that the strain of Piscine Reovirus (PRV) found in escaped farmed Atlantic salmon in Puget Sound and British Columbia originates from Iceland, where the eggs that supply the net pens are sourced. The study is co-authored by […]

Civilization destroying nature at rate “unprecedented in human history” – Up to 1 million species threatened with extinction, many within decades

Civilization destroying nature at rate “unprecedented in human history” – Up to 1 million species threatened with extinction, many within decades

6 May 2019 (IPBES) – Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the summary of which was […]

Blue-green algae causing health crisis Southwest Florida – “It is not alarmist to say that the people of Florida are being slowly poisoned by the water”

By Howard Simon 23 April 2019 (Miami Herald) – Hats off to Southwest Florida Congressman Francis Rooney for pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies to tell the public what it knows about the threat of toxic blue-green algae. Finally, a public official is focusing attention on our public-health crisis, […]

Lawsuit blames fisheries management for decline of southern resident orca population in Salish Sea

By Alex Halverson 3 April 2019 (SeattlePI) – West Coast salmon fishing contributed to southern resident orca population decrease through mismanagement and a reliance on outdated science, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday argued. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wild Fish Conservancy filed a suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service […]

Coral larvae production drops by 90 percent after marine heat waves – “We used to think that the Great Barrier Reef was too big to fail – until now”

4 April 2019 (James Cook University) – The damage caused to the Great Barrier Reef by global warming has compromised the capacity of its corals to recover, according to new research published today in Nature. “Dead corals don’t make babies,” said lead author Professor Terry Hughes, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (JCU). […]

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