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Archive for March 26th, 2016
Plants won’t boost warming as much as feared
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: Vegetation will release far less extra carbon dioxide in a warming world than previously assumed, giving humans a bit more room in the fight against climate change, scientists reported recently. Despite this good news, efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions must still be stepped up to avoid dire climate impacts, the researchers cautioned. Earth`s plants and soil microbes absorb and exude huge quantities of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, the main driver of global warming. Over the course of a...
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Botulism in waterbirds: Mortality rates and new insights into how it spreads
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Outbreaks of botulism killed large percentages of waterbirds inhabiting a wetland in Spain. During one season, more than 80 percent of gadwalls and black-winged stilts died. The botulinum toxin's spread may have been abetted by an invasive species of water snail which frequently carries the toxin-producing bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, and which is well adapted to wetlands polluted by sewage. Global warming will likely increase outbreaks, said corresponding author Rafael Mateo, PhD. The research...
Ancient bones point to shifting grassland species as climate changes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2016
ScienceDaily: More rainfall during the growing season may have led to one of the most significant changes in Earth's vegetation in the distant past, and similar climate changes could affect the distribution of plants in the future as well, a new study suggests. In a report in Science Advances, an analysis was done of mammoth and bison hair, teeth and bones, along with other data. It concludes that a changing climate -- particularly increasing rainfall and not just atmospheric carbon dioxide -- explains the expansion...
Kenya: Greenbelt Movement raises alarm over degradation of Mau Complex
Posted by Citizen: None Given on March 26th, 2016
Citizen: Prominent environmental activist group, The Greenbelt Movement, has come out to strongly condemn the encroachment of Mau Forest.
The movement, which founded the late Nobel laureate Professor Wangari Maathai, has demanded for the immediate stop to the destruction of forests and public spaces in Kenya.
“Kenya is already water scarce and facing the difficulties that will come with a growing population and climate change. We cannot afford to lose one square foot of forest cover!” read the circular...