Patagonia mountains rise as glaciers retreat ‘faster now than they have ever retreated formerly’

Rise tied to warming and receding glaciers By Larry O’Hanlonupdated 12:49 p.m. PT, Wed., Jan. 27, 2010 Mountains along the southernmost swath of South America are growing taller at a record rate, say researchers, who attribute the growth to the accelerating loss of glaciers there. The new GPS-based measurements from Patagonia’s southern ice field show […]

Thirst for oil imperils South America's most biodiverse wilderness

Published on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 by Environment News Service QUITO, Ecuador – Yasuní National Park, located in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is the most biodiverse area in all of South America, a team of Ecuadorean, American, and European scientists concludes in the first major peer-reviewed study of life forms in the park, […]

‘Amazon Chernobyl’: 18 billion gallons of toxic waste dumped in Amazon waters

A film released this week in Britain recounts the 16-year battle by Ecuadorians for damages against Chevron for oil pollution By Esme McAvoy It’s barely eight in the morning and already the dusty oil town of Lago Agrio, on the fringes of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is sweltering. Its name means “sour lake” in Spanish, after […]

Argentine whales attacked by seagulls

Whales living off the coast of Argentina are being attacked by seagulls. The birds pick at and eat the backs of the endangered mammals forcing them to dive deep into the ocean. Now scientists are calling for the gulls to be culled. Candace Piette reports. Argentine whales attacked by seagulls Technorati Tags: marine mammal,mammal decline,endangered […]

Amazon losing 'flying rivers,' ability to curb warming

By Christine Dell’Amore in CopenhagenNational Geographic NewsDecember 18, 2009 The Amazon’s “flying rivers”—humid air currents that deliver water to the vast rain forest—may be ebbing, which could have dire consequences for the region’s ability to help curb global warming, an expert said this week at the Copenhagen climate conference. Rising temperatures in the Amazon region, […]

Milluni Reservoir: Then and Now

Reuters: Climate change and the fast diminishing glaciers in the Andes are posing a serious threat to water supplies in the Bolivian highlands. The rapid pace at which glaciers are melting in the Andes mountain range is posing a serious threat to the water supply of many Andean countries, and particularly Bolivia. Scientists expect that […]

Bolivia glacier melt: ‘Money cannot buy water’

By ELISABETH ROSENTHALPublished: December 13, 2009 EL ALTO, Bolivia — When the tap across from her mud-walled home dried up in September, Celia Cruz stopped making soups and scaled back washing for her family of five. She began daily pilgrimages to better-off neighborhoods, hoping to find water there. Though she has lived here for a […]

Graph of the Day: Deforestation in Paraguay, 1990-2000

Paraguay lost nearly 40 percent of its Atlantic Forest between 1990 and 2000 By Rebecca Lindsey. Sandwiched between Argentina to the southwest and Brazil to the northeast, landlocked Paraguay possesses remarkable ecological richness for its relatively small (about the size of California) area. The northwestern part of the country is occupied by the dry woodlands […]

Graph of the Day: Annual Carbon Flux from Land-Use Changes, 1850-2000

Annual emissions of carbon from changes in land use (Note P = 1015).20 Virtually all of the carbon released to the atmosphere from land use changes now comes from the tropics. Tropical deforestation, including logging and the permanent and temporary conversion of forests to croplands and pastures, releases about 1-2 PgC/yr. This is 15-35% of […]

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