Graph of the Day: Maximum and minimum temperatures in California, by region, 1950-2010

8 August 2013 (CalEPA) – Summertime (June-August) maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures have increased between 1950 and 2010 for each of the six climate regions.  The map of California climate regions is based on a space-time analysis of temperature extremes (see Richman and Lamb, 1985; Comrie and Glenn, 1998; Guirguis and Avissar, 2008 for […]

The oceans are acidifying at the fastest rate in 300 million years. How worried should we be?

By Brad Plumer31 August 2013 (Washington Post) – The world’s oceans are turning acidic at what’s likely the fastest pace in 300 million years. Scientists tend to think this is a troubling development. But just how worried should we be, exactly? It’s a question marine experts have been racing to get a handle on in […]

Fukushima’s radioactive ocean plume due to reach U.S. waters in 2014

By Jeremy Hsu31 August 2013 (LiveScience) – A radioactive plume of water in the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, which was crippled in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, will likely reach U.S. coastal waters starting in 2014, according to a new study published in Science. The long journey of the radioactive particles could […]

Graph of the Day: Decline of butterfly populations in Europe and EU, 1990-2011

22 July 2013 (EEA) – The European Grassland Butterfly Indicator has been updated both for Europe and the EU. In this chapter both indicators are presented. Figure 4.1 shows the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, as well as the indicator for the Member States of the EU alone. The indicator is based on the supranational species […]

Fukushima meltdowns have not polluted the entire Pacific Ocean, no need to panic!

By Candace Calloway Whiting28 August 2013 (Seattle PI) –  From NOAA: This image was created by NOAA’s Center for Tsunami Research and graphically shows maximum wave heights (in centimeters or cm) of the tsunami generated by the Japan earthquake on March 11, 2011. It does NOT represent levels of radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear […]

Graph of the Day: UK Farmland Bird Indicator, 1970-2011

The UK Farmland Bird Indicator, 1970-2011, showing differing trends for specialist and generalist species. Data are from the RSPB, BTO, JNCC, and Defra. The numbers in brackets refer to the number of species in each group. Specialist species have decline by over 60% in 40 years. Graphic: RSPB 22 May 2013 (RSPB) – Trends in […]

Graph of the Day: Sacramento River runoff, 1906-2011

8 August 2013 (CalEPA) – Since 1906, the fraction of annual unimpaired runoff into the Sacramento River that occurs from April through July (represented as a percentage of total water year runoff) from the accumulated winter precipitation in the Sierra Nevada, has decreased by about 9 percent.  The Sacramento River system is the sum of […]

Graph of the Day: Decline of butterflies in 4 countries in Europe, 1990-2011

22 July 2013 (EEA) – The European Grassland Butterfly Indicator is built from European species trends. In this chapter, we give an overview of the trends of grassland butterflies in Europe and the EU. First, we calculate the trend in each country and for each species separately. Figure 3.1 shows four of the national trends […]

Fukushima radiation leaks ‘much worse than we were led to believe’ – ‘It is leaking out from the basements, it is leaking out from the cracks all over the place. Nobody can measure that.’

By Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent22 August 2013 (BBC News) – A nuclear expert has told the BBC that he believes the current water leaks at Fukushima are much worse than the authorities have stated. Mycle Schneider is an independent consultant who has previously advised the French and German governments. He says water is leaking out […]

Arctic warming and our extreme weather: New study finds no clear link

By Jason Samenow19 August 2013 (Washington Post) – Is the dramatic decline of Arctic sea ice, spurred by manmade global warming, making the  weather where we live more extreme?  Several recent studies have made this claim. But a new study finds little evidence to support the idea that the plummeting Arctic sea ice has meaningfully […]

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