By Juliet Eilperin18 July 2011 The Fish and Wildlife Service determined Monday that whitebark pine, a tree found atop mountains across the American West, faces an “imminent” risk of extinction because of factors including climate change. The decision is significant because it marks the first time the federal government has identified climate change as one […]
By Deborah Zabarenko18 July 2011 WASHINGTON — Polar bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn’t have to swim as far, a new study reports. Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on […]
Media contactsCheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734, cdybas@nsf.govTim Stephens, UCSC (831) 459-2495, stephens@ucsc.edu July 14 (NSF) – The decline of large predators and other “apex consumers” at the top of the food chain has disrupted ecosystems across the planet. The finding is reported by an international team of scientists in a paper in this week’s issue […]
By Shelby Lin Erdman, CNN; CNN’s Ninette Sosa and Barbara Hall contributed to this reportJuly 18, 2011 (CNN) – Massive global greenhouse gas pollution is changing the chemistry of the world’s oceans so much that scientists now predict it could severely damage shellfish populations and the nations that depend on the harvests if significant action […]
You may recall the Business Insider scoop from December 2010, And Now Presenting: Amazing Satellite Images Of The Ghost Cities Of China. Here’s their follow-up gallery, with more beautiful imagery of doomed architecture viewed from space. By Gus Lubin16 June 2011 China plans to build 20 cities a year for the next 20 years. […]
By Paul Goldman, NBC News Producer6 July 2011 TEL AVIV – During the hot summer months, Israel has always been synonymous with beautiful sandy beaches and swimming in the warm salty waters of the Mediterranean Sea – but not anymore. It’s now a common sight to see scores of dead, gray jellyfish covering the beaches’ […]
The primary Mata Atlantica forest once stretched over much of the eastern edge of Brazil. Large swaths of it have been eliminated and replaced with eucalyptus plantations. Photos and commentary by Anne Petermann, Executive Director, Global Justice Ecology Project30 June 2011 On Wednesday, July 29th, around 200 participants divided into 4 groups toured various facilities […]
By Verna Gates; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Ellen Wulfhorst10 July 2011 BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) – Thousands of baby pelicans grunt and hiss at their parents in tightly packed nests on Gaillard Island, a feathered paradise situated off the coast of Alabama. The 1,300-acre, man-made island is hosting more than 50,000 birds this summer as […]
By Steve Conner, Science Editor12 July 2011 Climate change is speeding up the rate at which animals and plants are becoming extinct. By the end of the century, one in 10 species could be on the verge of extinction because of the effects of global warming, a study has found. The findings support the view […]
New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-73376 July 2011 Washington, DC — A new study has found that wastewater from natural gas hydrofracturing in a West Virginia national forest quickly wiped out all ground plants, killed more than half of the trees and caused […]
