Acid seas threaten creatures that supply half the world’s oxygen

By Martha Baskin and Mary Bruno16 June 2014 (Crosscut) – What happens when phytoplankton, the (mostly) single-celled organisms that constitute the very foundation of the marine food web, turn toxic? Their toxins often concentrate in the shellfish and many other marine species (from zooplankton to baleen whales) that feed on phytoplankton. Recent trailblazing research by […]

Coal company CEO threatens to sue EPA for ‘lying’ about global warming

By Emily Atkin 10 June 2014 (ClimateProgress) – The owner of the largest independent coal producer in the U.S. is threatening to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over its new regulations on carbon emissions from existing coal plants, saying the agency has been lying about the existence of global warming, and that the earth is […]

Disappearing puffins, stray whales, invading sailfish: The North Atlantic is in a bad way, and here’s why

By Rowan JacobsenMay/June 2014 Issue (Mother Jones) – The new poster child for climate change had his coming-out party in June 2012, when Petey the puffin chick first went live into thousands of homes and schools all over the world. The “Puffin Cam” capturing baby Petey’s every chirp had been set up on Maine’s Seal […]

Tree-killing beetles attacking California's forests – ‘We have no known treatment. We have no capacity to fend it off.’

7 June 2014 (CBS News) – Southern California is already plagued by a crippling drought and wildfires. Now you can add a legion of seemingly unstoppable beetles to the list of threats facing the region’s forests. They’ve already invaded hundreds of tree species, and they are showing no signs of slowing down. “We have lost […]

California drought yields only desperation – ‘It’s going to get worse. They’re not planting. Think what it will be like at harvest.’

By Diana Marcum30 May 2014 HURON, California (Los Angeles Times) – The two fieldworkers scraped hoes over weeds that weren’t there. “Let us pretend we see many weeds,” Francisco Galvez told his friend Rafael. That way, maybe they’d get a full week’s work. They always tried to get jobs together. Rafael, the older man, had […]

Sick sea lions flood shelters in California – Pups wash ashore all along the coast amid what scientists say are strains on the ocean

By Jim Carlton 6 June 2014 SAUSALITO, California – Record numbers of distressed sea lions have washed ashore in California for a second straight year, the latest example of a marine mammal facing severe problems amid what biologists say is overfishing and other human-caused strains on the world’s oceans. From January through May, a record […]

Sea star disease epidemic surges in Oregon, now present on entire U.S. West Coast, local extinctions expected – ‘This is an unprecedented event’

Contact: David Stauth, 541-737-0787; Kristen Milligan, 541-737-88624 June 2014 CORVALLIS, Oregon (OSU) – Just in the past two weeks, the incidence of sea star wasting syndrome has exploded along the Oregon Coast and created an epidemic of historic magnitude, one that threatens to decimate the entire population of purple ochre sea stars. Prior to this, […]

In Norfolk, evidence of global warming is in the streets at high tide – ‘We don’t like being the poster child for climate change’

By Lori Montgomery31 May 2014 NORFOLK (Washington Post) – At high tide on the small inlet next to Norfolk’s most prestigious art museum, the water lapped at the very top of the concrete sea wall that has held it back for 100 years. It seeped up through storm drains, puddled on the promenade and spread, […]

Rising sea level in Miami is an enormous problem

By Chiamaka Nwakeze 30 May 2014 (Science Recorder ) – Eighteen American scientific societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have reached a consensus on global warming, namely that it is occurring and is largely attributable […]

U.S. House Science Committee declares the IPCC report isn’t science, fills agenda with climate science denialists

By Mark Strauss30 May 2014 (io9) – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warned that more intense droughts and heat waves will cause famine and water shortages. But, don’t worry! Yesterday, the GOP held a hearing to tell us the IPCC is, in fact, a global conspiracy to control our lives and “redistribute […]

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