‘Severe’ drought triggers Stage 3 water restrictions for more than 1 million in North Texas

By Randy McIlwain, NBCDFW.com 22 September 2011 More than 1 million North Texas water customers will be under Stage 3 water restrictions beginning Nov. 1. The North Texas Municipal Water District’s board of trustees unanimously voted to implement a Stage 3 drought plan for its 1.6 million customers. “This is an ongoing drought, and it […]

Warming ocean drives cod from North Sea

By Lewis Smith20 September 2011 Changes in the water temperature have put an end to hopes that the North Sea cod population can return to the levels it enjoyed in the 1970s. Warmer conditions have altered the availability of prey species and driven the cold-loving cod northwards so even if the fishery is managed perfectly […]

Super weeds pose growing threat to U.S. crops

PAOLA, Kansas (Reuters) – Farmer Mark Nelson bends down and yanks a four-foot-tall weed from his northeast Kansas soybean field. The “waterhemp” towers above his beans, sucking up the soil moisture and nutrients his beans need to grow well and reducing the ultimate yield. As he crumples the flowering end of the weed in his […]

Warming oceans cause largest movement of marine species in two million years

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent26 June 2011 Warming ocean waters are causing the largest movement of marine species seen on Earth in more than two million years, according to scientists. In the Arctic, melting sea ice during recent summers has allowed a passage to open up from the Pacific ocean into the North Atlantic, allowing […]

Native New England cottontail rabbits disappearing

By Zach Howard; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Barbara Goldberg17 September 2011 CONWAY, Massachusetts (Reuters) – The New England cottontail rabbit, in sharp decline for decades throughout the Northeast, is on the verge of disappearing from several states, with the reason somewhat a mystery, wildlife experts say. The once-prolific breeder, already no longer found in […]

Video: Giant red crabs invade the Antarctic abyss as deep water warms

By Andy Coghlan7 September 2011 Huge crabs more than a metre across have invaded the Antarctic abyss, wiped out the local wildlife and now threaten to ruin ecosystems that have evolved over 14 million years. Three years ago, researchers predicted that as the deep waters of the Southern Ocean warmed, king crabs would invade Antarctica […]

Warming California climate gives exotic grasses edge over natives

By Robert Sanders, Media Relations 28 July 2011 BERKELEY — California’s native grasses, already under pressure from invasive exotic grasses, are likely to be pushed aside even more as the climate warms, according to a new analysis from the University of California, Berkeley. In the study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal […]

Climate change and the plight of the whitebark pine – ‘None of the causes of decline can be reversed’

NYT Editorial27 July 2011 For centuries, the whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis, has grown on hundreds of thousands of acres across the West. It is a keystone species of an entire ecosystem — one now seriously at risk. Most of the whitebark pines in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks are dead. It has been declared an […]

Whitebark pine tree faces extinction threat from ‘dramatic and catastrophic’ climate change

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 […]

Loss of large predators caused widespread disruption of ecosystems – ‘Humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world’

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 […]

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