RSS Feed
Archive for July 9th, 2015
Tropical peatland carbon losses from oil palm plantations may be underestimated
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Draining tropical peatlands for oil palm plantations may result in nearly twice as much carbon loss as official estimates, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment and the Union of Concerned Scientists in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Peatlands -- waterlogged, organic soils -- have developed over thousands of years as carbon storage systems. In Southeast Asia, peat swamp forests cover about 250,000 square kilometers, a land...
Posted in 
Buzzkill: global warming shrinks range pollinating bumblebees
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
Reuters: Global warming is shrinking the terrain where bumblebees live in North America and Europe, with these vital pollinators departing the southernmost and hottest parts of their ranges while failing to move north into cooler climes, scientists say.
Their study, published on Thursday, used records from 1901 to 2010 to track 67 bumblebee species, finding that the insects have surrendered about 185 miles (300 km) from the southern end of the regions they called home on both continents.
The researchers...
Sea Level Could Rise at Least 6 Meters
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: Even if world manages to limit global warming to 2°C -- the target number for current climate negotiations -- sea levels may still rise at least 6 meters (20 feet) above their current heights, radically reshaping the world's coastline and affecting millions in the process.
That finding comes from a new paper published on Thursday in Science that shows how high sea levels rose the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high.
That was about 3 million years ago, when the globe was about 3-5°F...
Officials test for possible toxic algae in Oregon river
Posted by Reuters: Courtney Sherwood on July 9th, 2015
Reuters: Tests are underway to determine if a green film shimmering on the surface of Portland's Willamette River may mark the return of toxic blue-green algae that could be dangerous to both people and animals, officials in Oregon said on Thursday. The concerns come as dozens of people from across the country have signed up to participate in the 10.7 mile Portland Bridge Swim at the weekend, said Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that reported algae concerns to public...
How 2°C of Warming Could Reshape the U.S
Posted by Climate Central: Benjamin Strauss on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: If, as suggested by a comprehensive new review in the journal Science, 2°C of global warming would lock in at least 20 feet (6 meters) of eventual sea level rise, what would that warming mean for the future and heritage of the U.S.?
It would mean a map we don't recognize: Louisiana would shed its boot, the Eastern seaboard would seriously retract, and the Bay Area would grow a second inland bay -- as the nation would lose more than 48,000 square miles of land, home today to 23.4 million people....
Coastal Nations, Megacities Face 20 Feet of Sea Rise
Posted by Climate Central: Benjamin Strauss on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: If, as suggested by a comprehensive new review in the journal Science, 2°C of global warming will lock in at least 20 feet (6 meters) of eventual sea level rise, what would 2°C of warming (3.6°F) mean for the future and heritage of global nations and cities?
It would mean a world we don't recognize, one losing more than 444,000 square miles of land, where more than 375 million people live today. China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is home to by far the largest share of those...
Tom Selleck Accused Of Stealing Water For California Ranch
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
National Public Radio: KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: Now we bring you the story of an investigation. Cue the "Magnum, P.I." music... (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAGNUM, P.I. THEME") MCEVERS: ...Because yes, this involves the famously mustachioed star of the '80s series, Tom Selleck. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Over a two-year period, trucks have been taking water from a hydrant outside Los Angeles to a sprawling property in Hidden Valley. MATT HAMILTON: Mr. Selleck, for the past three decades, has lived on a 60-acre ranch there, which...
Bumblebee Habitat Shrinking Due to Climate Change, Plus 12 Other Animals at Risk
Posted by Weather Channel: Michele Berger on July 9th, 2015
Weather Channel: Busy bees are at their busiest during summertime, cleaning the nest, foraging for food. They prefer the warm weather to colder seasons. But new research published in the July 10, 2015, Science reveals that for bumblebees in North America and Europe, suitable habitat to do this work is shrinking due to a warming climate, yet the bees aren’t moving.
“Bumblebee species are retreating from the extreme southern margin of their historic ranges and losing their populations there,” Leif Richardson, a...
Scientists propose international effort assist bumblebees
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
Independent: A comprehensive study of bumblebees across two continents over the the past century has unequivocally linked their decline to rapidly rising global temperatures resulting from man-made climate change, scientists have said.
A detailed review on reported sightings of 67 different species of bumblebee across Europe and North America between 1901 and 2010 has indicated that the key pollinating insects of crops are being squeezed “like a vice” by rising temperatures.
Over the past 40 years, when...
Science is about to learn a whole lot about how climate change, drought affect crops
Posted by ExtremeTech: None Given on July 9th, 2015
ExtremeTech: A new letter in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) highlights an exciting new ability in global remote sensing: by using fluorescence data from satellites already in orbit, some scientists now believe they can provide a more accurate look at the level of photosynthetic activity in large vegetated areas. Even better, there`s already a super-powered successor satellite in the works, meaning that this new technique could shortly give scientists a much better understanding of...