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Mangroves may shelter some corals from global warming
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on October 11th, 2014
Summit Voice: Some coral species are finding a refuge of sorts from global warming by finding new habitat in the shade of red mangrove trees.
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and Eckerd College documented discovery of the refuge in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where more than 30 species of reef corals were found growing in Hurricane Hole, a mangrove habitat within the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument in St. John.
Corals, invertebrates of the sea that have been on Earth for millions of years,...
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UK study eyes links between global warming, extreme flooding
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on August 27th, 2014
Summit Voice: British scientists aren`t quite ready to say that last winter`s record flooding is linked with human-caused global warming, but in a recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, they warned that more coastal flooding is likely as sea level rises.
"We saw a number of examples last winter that demonstrated the vulnerability of coastal regions to flooding from surge events," said Dr. Jason Lowe, of the UK Met Office. "At present our best evidence points towards future increases in...
Study tracks global warming in national parks
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on July 3rd, 2014
Summit Voice: National Parks across the country are facing an era of change because of global warming, scientists concluded in a new study showing that many parks are already experiencing temperatures that are near the extreme high end of the scale, based on measurements going back to 1910. The report by National Park Service scientists concludes “that climate change is happening in America’s national parks, and in some cases in rapid and concerning ways,” and that “measurable plant and animal responses to recent...
Global warming threatens Central Valley’s fruit and nut crops
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on May 22nd, 2014
Summit Voice: The winter tule fog in California`s Central Valley may be fading with climate change, threatening part of the region`s multibillion dollar agricultural industy, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley researchers,
High-value crops like almonds, pistachios, cherries, apricots and peaches all need a winter dormant period that is triggered and maintained by cold temperatures, but those are becoming less reliable as the global climate warms. The new study, published May 15 in...
Methane emissions from fossil fuel exploitation may push Earth past climate tipping point
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on May 17th, 2014
Summit Voice: As frackers desperately try to pump every last bit of gas from the ground before the global warming clock runs out, scientists warn that methane emissions could push Earth over a climate tipping point in just a few years.
“We have to control methane immediately, and natural gas is the largest methane pollution source in the United States,” said Robert Howarth, greenhouse gas expert and ecology and environmental biology professor at Cornell University. “If we hit a climate-system tipping point...
More evidence that geo-engineering is likely to have unintended consequences
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on December 8th, 2013
Summit Voice: When it comes to global warming nothing is simple -- and that includes proposals to mitigate the effects of heat-trapping greenhouse gases with planetary scale geo-engineering schemes. One of the ideas that`s been floated is to seed the atmosphere with material in order to reflect some of the sun`s incoming heat.
But a recent study by German researchers suggests that it probably won`t work -- and could have unexpected consequences for the global water cycle. In their model, based on an energy...
Global warming threatens freshwater mussels
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on December 6th, 2013
Summit Voice: Global warming may push many native freshwater mussel species to the brink of extinction, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report. In a laboratory setting, the researchers found that warmer water temperatures impair mussel growth.
Many aquatic biologists see mussels as bellwether species of for climate change impacts. Freshwater mussels are also good indicators of good water and sediment quality in U.S. rivers. They are also also important in the aquatic food web, filter large amounts...
Dire projections of ‘runaway’ global warming
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on August 4th, 2013
Summit Voice: Earth’s climate is not only changing, it’s changing rapidly — as much as 10 times faster than any other climate shift in the past 65 million years, according to researchers with Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution. The accelerating rate of change will strain terrestrial ecosystems around the world. Many species will need to make behavioral, evolutionary or geographic adaptations to survive, the scientists said, adding that some of the expected changes are already baked into the system....
Study quantifies sea level rise from melting glaciers
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on May 18th, 2013
Summit Voice: The world`s major ice sheets -- on Greenland and Antarctica -- haven`t really started a major meltdown yet. But the rest of the world`s glacial regions have been losing ice at a rate of about 260 billion metric tons annually, raising sea level by about 0.03 inches per year -- about a third of the observed sea level rise.
The biggest ice losses are happening in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalaya. Combined, the areas contribute as much to sea level rise...
Global warming: Forest timberline impacts not so clear
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on April 13th, 2013
Summit Voice: For residents of high-elevation regions, including Colorado -- the impacts of global warming include a potentially radical change in the composition of plant communities. In mountainous areas, the distribution of many species is limited by factors related to elevation, including temperature.
With warmer and drier conditions potentially limiting growth at lower elevations, scientists have already documented the treeline creeping upward in some areas, but there are additional factors to consider,...