Graph of the Day: Monthly Arctic Sea Ice Extent, March 1979 – 2010

The average ice extent for March 2010 was 670,000 square kilometers (260,000 square miles) higher than the record low for March, observed in 2006. The linear rate of decline for March over the 1978 to 2010 period is 2.6% per decade. Sea ice reached its maximum extent for the year on March 31, the latest […]

Forest epidemic is unprecedented phenomenon, worsening as Pacific Northwest warms

(Oregon State University) The Swiss needle cast epidemic in Douglas-fir forests of the coastal Pacific Northwest is continuing to intensify, appears to be unprecedented over at least the past 100 years, and is probably linked to the extensive planting of Douglas-fir along the coast and a warmer climate, new research concludes. Scientists in the College […]

Great Barrier Reef faces threats from oil spill and dispersants

April 7, 2010 – 12:35PM (AAP) A marine expert says part of the Great Barrier Reef faces a damaging double whammy from an oil leak and chemicals used to disperse it. Associate Professor Peter Harrison, the director of Marine Studies at Southern Cross University, says coral spawning could be affected later this year. Several tonnes […]

Eastern U.S. forests resume decline — New research finds 4.1 percent loss over 3 decades

After increasing during much of the 20th century, forest cover in the eastern United States in recent decades has resumed its previous decline, according to an exhaustive new analysis published in the April 2010 issue of BioScience. The work is described in an article by Mark A. Drummond and Thomas R. Loveland of the US […]

Graph of the Day: Damage to Migratory Bird Habitat Following Hurricane Hugo

Caption by Rebecca Lindsey In addition to their battering of human habitats—cities and residential neighborhoods—hurricanes cut a destructive swath through migratory bird habitat. A recent study that combined field surveys of birds with before-and-after satellite images of forests concluded that migratory bird species located as far as 60 miles (100 kilometers) from a hurricane’s path […]

EPA study confirms damage from strip mining

By Ken Ward Jr.Staff writer CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal government scientists say a “growing body of evidence” shows that mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying Appalachian forests and dangerously polluting vital headwater streams. In a new report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outlines the results of dozens of scientific papers published over the last decade […]

New timber ban fails to stop illegal logging in Madagascar

  www.wildmadagascar.orgApril 04, 2010 Rainforest timber continues to be cut illegally from Madagascar’s national parks despite a recently announced moratorium on precious wood exports and logging, reports a source from the Indian Ocean island nation. On March 24, Madagascar’s transitional authority unveiled decree (no. 2010-141) prohibiting all exports of rosewood and precious timber for two […]

Kenya: A lake lies on its deathbed

By WANJIRU MACHARIAPosted Tuesday, December 8 2009 at 22:00 The short rains that pounded the larger Nakuru District for a few days in August, September and November were greeted with a sigh of relief. For a while, residents and tourists marvelled at the replenished Lake Elementaita that had dried up due to the long drought, […]

Logging starts in endangered Koala forest – Ancient trees to be exported for woodchips

By JENNIE CURTINMarch 30, 2010 LOGGING has started in a forest containing the only known colony of koalas on the far south coast, despite warnings the work could threaten the marsupials. Forests NSW began harvesting timber for woodchipping and high-quality logs in the Mumbulla State Forest near Bega. Work is expected to continue for six […]

Ocean acidification threatens Alaska fisheries

KUCB News (2010-03-26) UNALASKA, AK (kucb) – The cold waters and currents of the North Pacific Ocean make the ecosystems around the Aleutians more susceptible to ocean acidification. Brad Warren with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership spoke about the issue at the Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference Thursday. “It’s a cross cutting threat to food webs […]

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