Against expectations, U.S. West Coast birds are increasing in size as climate changes

By RACHEL NUWER3 November 2011 As we noted here in a recent post, a substantial body of research indicates that species tend to become smaller as a result of global warming and other climate change patterns. So researchers in California were surprised to find that West Coast birds, on the contrary, have been growing larger […]

Seaweed records show impact of ocean warming – Up to 25 percent of Australia species on path to extinction

Contact: Elisabeth (Lisa) Lyons, elyons@cell.com 617-386-212127 October 2011 As the planet continues to warm, it appears that seaweeds may be in especially hot water. New findings reported online on October 27 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, based on herbarium records collected in Australia since the 1940s suggest that up to 25 percent of […]

Climate change takes a toll on cultures

By DYLAN WALSH27 September 2011 There are nearly 7,000 known languages in the world today. It is predicted that half of these, in many cases vessels of indigenous cultures, will vanish over the next 50 years. This has been much on the mind of Brigitte Baptiste, who took over this year as director of the […]

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 […]

Graph of the Day: Shift of Alaska Marine Species Northward, 1982-2006

Increased temperatures pose a threat to the region’s fisheries and other marine species, which are important both to the economy and as a food supply, especially to Native populations. Warmer air and water temperatures have already resulted in a shift northward of species important to the region, with implications for the ecosystem and local communities. […]

U.S. Northwest tribes see changes in sacred ‘first foods’ – Smaller salmon arriving later

By Rob Manning 28 July 2011 PORTLAND, OREGON – Northwest tribal leaders say they’re seeing climate change affect food sources that are vital to their culture. “All we can do is try to help these plants and animals adapt. If we don’t, the future of the tribes’ First Foods could be at stake” says Paul […]

Where have all the flowers gone? High-mountain wildflower season reduced, affecting pollinators like bees, hummingbirds

Contact: Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov16 June 2011 It’s summer wildflower season in the Rocky Mountains, a time when high-peaks meadows are dotted with riotous color. But for how long? Once, wildflower season in montane meadow ecosystems extended throughout the summer months. But now scientists have found a fall-off in wildflowers at mid-season. They […]

Most villagers in Nepal say the climate is changing

PARIS, April 26 (AFP) — Himalayan villagers have won the backing of climate science for their suspicions that snow cover, water resources and the ecosystem are changing in their region, a study published Wednesday said. The authors of the research carried out by Britain’s Royal Society say this is the first time that subjective perceptions […]

Climate change: Making U.S. bears hungry?

April 16 (NPR) — National Parks Week kicks off Saturday, but the celebration comes at a rough time for National Parks. Harried by federal funding cuts and urban development, the nation’s park system is also facing the rising threat of climate change. Those effects are becoming most visible in Yellowstone, one of the best known […]

King crabs invade Antarctica

By Eric NiilerMarch 20, 2011 Sven Thatje has been predicting an invasion of deep-water crabs into shallow Antarctic waters for the past several years. But the biologist and his colleagues got their first look at the march of the seafloor predators while riding on an icebreaker across frozen Antarctic seas this winter. The ship towed […]

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