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ENN: Ecosystems
Global warming: Western U.S. feels the heat
As pilot Bruce Gordon lifts up from the local airport, the distant perspective of the Teton Range raises the spirits, but the unfolding sight of dying forests sears the soul.
California revives program to buy water from farmers
SACRAMENTO -- -- Saying California's water reserves are all but gone, state officials on Thursday announced the revival of a dormant 17-year-old program to buy water from Sacramento Valley farmers and sell it to the thirstiest Southern California agencies in case this winter brings a third year of skimpy precipitation.
Sea level rise limited to two metres
What is the maximum amount that sea levels could rise by 2100? Much attention has been given to the numbers issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007, and the fact that they are absolute minimums.
Deforestation Escalates in Brazilian Amazon
Satellite imagery released earlier this week provided further evidence that deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region accelerated dramatically this year.
Global Warming: Warmer Seas Linked To Strengthening Hurricanes, According to New Research
The theory that global warming may be contributing to stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic over the past 30 years is bolstered by a new study led by a Florida State University researcher. The study will be published in the Sept. 4 edition of the journal Nature.
Massive Arctic ice shelf breaks away
A huge 19 square mile (55 square km) ice shelf in Canada's northern Arctic broke away last month and the remaining shelves have shrunk at a "massive and disturbing" rate, the latest sign of accelerating climate change in the remote region, scientists said on Tuesday.
Forecaster expects four September hurricanes
The noted Colorado State University hurricane research team on Tuesday said it expects well above-average Atlantic hurricane activity in September, with four hurricanes, two of which will become major storms. "We predict that September will be quite active based on climate signals through August," said pioneer hurricane season forecaster Dr. Bill Gray, founder of the research team.
Sea level rises could far exceed IPCC estimates
Could our coastlines disappear underwater much sooner than we think? The controversial view that sea levels could rise at a rate of more than 1 metre per century has found support from a new study of a long-melted ice sheet.
Water Corruption Prevents Progress
Africa's largest water transfer effort, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, plans to supply water to the industrial heartland of South Africa and to generate energy for impoverished Lesotho. The multi-billion dollar investment offers economic growth and greater water security for underserved communities in the region.
Arctic ice on the verge of another all-time low
Envisat observations from mid-August depict that a new record of low sea-ice coverage could be reached in a matter of weeks. The animation above is a series of mosaics of the Arctic Ocean created from images acquired between early June and mid-August 2008 from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument aboard Envisat. The dark grey colour represents ice-free areas while blue represents areas covered with sea ice.
The weekends are more rainy — and it may be our fault
IT SEEMS to happen with depressing frequency - sunny skies turn to rain just as the weekend arrives. Now Spanish researchers say they have evidence that in some parts of Europe the weather really does follow a weekly cycle, although not in the straightforward way that the anecdote might suggest.
10 Species You Can Kiss Goodbye
Think the polar bear has it bad? Here are 10 critters who are even worse off than our favorite threatened Arctic resident. Listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List as critically endangered, meaning they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future.
Baltic states failing to protect most damaged sea
Nine Baltic sea states all scored failing grades in an annual WWF evaluation of their performance in protecting and restoring the world’s most damaged sea. The assessment, presented today at the Baltic Sea Festival, graded the countries on how well they are doing in six separate areas - biodiversity, fisheries, hazardous substances, marine transport and eutrophication - and on how they have succeeded in developing an integrated sea-use management system.
When glaciers disappear, the bugs move in
We've all been stunned by images showing the dramatic retreat of mountain glaciers. Yet few of us have given much thought to what happens next.
Cut greenhouse gases to save coral reefs: scientists
To keep coral reefs from being eaten away by increasingly acidic oceans, humans need to limit the amount of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, a panel of marine scientists said on Wednesday.
'Best Hope At Sustainable Fisheries' Short-changed By Conservation Efforts, Researchers Argue
Small scale fisheries produce as much annual catch for human consumption and use less than one-eighth the fuel as their industrial counterparts, but they are dealt a double-whammy by well-intentioned eco-labelling initiatives and ill-conceived fuel subsidies, according to a University of British Columbia study.
UN climate talks split over deforestation funds
A 160-nation U.N. climate conference in Ghana split on Friday over ways to pay poor countries to slow deforestation, blamed for producing up to 20 percent of the greenhouse gases caused by human activities.
Submerged Ghana forest may point to timber bonanza
Logging of a Ghanaian forest submerged 40 years ago by a hydroelectric dam could point to an underwater timber bonanza worth billions of dollars in tropical countries, a senior Ghanaian official said on Monday.
Vote in Alaska Puts Question: Gold or Fish?
DILLINGHAM, Alaska — Just up the fish-rich rivers that surround this tiny bush town on Bristol Bay is a discovery of copper and gold so vast and valuable that no one seems able to measure it all. Then again, no one really knows the value of the rivers, either. They are the priceless headwaters of one of the world’s last great runs of Pacific salmon.
Brazil: Setting an Important Precedent for Indigenous Lands
Raposa Serra do Sol is in the Amazon jungle state of Roraima at the northwestern tip of Brazil, a land of water and abundance.
Receding Arctic icepack opens new shipping frontier
BARROW, Alaska -- Rapidly melting ice on Alaska's Arctic is opening up a new navigable ocean in the extreme north, allowing oil tankers, fishing vessels and even cruise ships to venture into a realm once trolled mostly by indigenous hunters.
Water Footprints Make A Splash
If the full water requirements of a morning roast are calculated - farm irrigation, bean transportation, and the serving of the coffee - one cup requires 140 liters of water.
New viral way of life discovered in deep-sea vents
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents look like alien worlds, their landscapes and fauna unlike any on Earth. Now a new study suggests that life works differently there too. While studying the viruses that inhabit the scalding waters surrounding a vent in the Western Pacific, Eric Wommack noticed that a large proportion turned out to be docile tenants that lurk inside their bacterial hosts without causing much trouble.
UK citizens using 58 baths of water a day
While each person in the UK drinks, hoses, flushes and washes their way through around 150 litres of mains water a day, they consume about 30 times as much in “virtual” water embedded in food, clothes and other items — the equivalent of about 58 bathtubs full of water every day.
Making Waves — World Water Week 2008
We are in the midst of World Water Week. The 2008 theme is “Progress and Prospects on Water: For a Clean and Healthy World with Special Focus on Sanitation.” World Water Week is a international conference focused on collaboration and the promotion of work that advances environmental and humanitarian development.
ENN: Wildlife
100 Hawksbill turtles die in latest Filipino poaching incident
Foreign poaching of Philippines marine life has flared up as an issue again following the discovery of more than 100 dead Hawksbill turtles aboard a Vietnamese fishing vessel apprehended near Malampaya.
Artificial Meadows And Robot Spiders Reveal Secret Life Of Bees
Many animals learn to avoid being eaten by predators. Now ecologists have discovered that bumblebees can even learn to outwit colour-changing crab spiders.
Putin collars Dr Darman’s tiger
The Amur tiger has leapt into the headlines with former Russian president Vladimir Putin shooting a tiger with a tranquillizing gun in Russia’s far east, before tagging the tiger with a collar containing a satellite radio.
New report loosens noose around Albatross’s neck
The survival chances of the albatross, now officially the most threatened seabird family in the world, have been improved following a new report released by WWF-South Africa. At least 28 species of albatross and petrel have been caught by South African fisheries, of which 13 are threatened with extinction. The birds are caught trying to retrieve bait from longline fishing hooks, or are injured or killed during trawling operations. A deterioration of their breeding habitats and targeted hunting operations are other factors.
India's monsoon floods drive out humans and rhinos
Exceptionally heavy monsoon rains and rising floodwaters forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in north-eastern India and sent elephants and rhinos fleeing, as the Indian government mobilised the military to deliver medical supplies, clean water and food.
Preecha Jiabyu used to take tourists on a rowboat to see the banks of the Mae Klong River aglow with thousands of fireflies. These days, all he sees are the fluorescent lights of hotels, restaurants and highway overpasses. He says he'd have to row a good two miles to see trees lit up with the magical creatures of his younger days.
Environmental police are investigating the deaths of at least 180 oil-soaked penguins which have been washed ashore in southern Brazil in the past week.
Shot in the arm for Sumatran elephants and tigers
The Indonesian government is to double the size of a national park that is one of the last havens for endangered Sumatran elephants and tigers. Tesso Nilo National Park was created in 2004 with 38,000 hectares of forest. Today’s declaration will see that figure increase to 86,000 by the end of this year.
The birth of a Giant Panda baby is captured on video in what is being celebrated as Japan's first successful birth by an artificially inseminated panda in 20 years. Giant Panda Tan Tan was the star of Kobe's Oji Zoo on Tuesday (August 26) after giving birth to Japan's first baby panda in 20 years to be born as a result of artificial insemination.
10 Species You Can Kiss Goodbye
Think the polar bear has it bad? Here are 10 critters who are even worse off than our favorite threatened Arctic resident. Listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List as critically endangered, meaning they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future.
Fishing Technology Letting Turtles Off the Hook
Alternative fishing technology has been shown to save turtles while not affecting fish catches, according to a report released by WWF and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
Batman has the Joker; real bats have wind turbines. The energy-generating machines kill bats the world over, yet the exact cause has remained as mysterious as the plot of a movie thriller. Now, a new study appears to have solved the riddle.
Pollutants cause birds to sing tainted love songs
Traces of a chemical once used by power plants leave birds looking fit, but singing another tune altogether. Wild chickadees exposed to permitted levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can't keep a tune as well as other birds.
Polar bears found swimming miles from Alaskan coast
An aerial survey by government scientists in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea this week found at least nine polar bears swimming in open water — with one at least 60 miles from shore — raising concern among wildlife experts about their survival.
Marine Turtle Conservation Moves into High Gear
Bali/Bangkok, 20 August 2008 - An innovative regional agreement is beginning to turn the tide for the 'ancient mariners' of the world's oceans. Marine turtles traverse the seas for thousands of kilometers, returning after decades to nest in the same area where they entered the world as tiny hatchlings.
DNA Forensics May Prevent Elephant Poaching
A shipment of forest timber traveled around the southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean before it arrived at the Hong Kong dockyards two years ago. During a routine X-ray examination, customs officials discovered an even more lucrative cargo hidden behind a false wall: 605 elephant tusks.
Hopes fade for abandoned baby whale in Australia
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hopes of saving a baby whale abandoned by its mother in a bay north of Sydney faded late on Wednesday as the calf continued to try to suckle from a moored yacht. International experts said it had just days to live. The humpback whale, nicknamed "Colin" by Australian media, was found at Pittwater after apparently being abandoned by its mother off Australia's east coast.
EPA not spilling the beans on bees.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is refusing to disclose records about a new class of pesticides that could be playing a role in the disappearance of millions of honeybees in the United States, a lawsuit filed Monday charges.
Little robin from Gabon is world's newest species
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A red-breasted bird discovered by accident in the forests of Gabon is a new species, U.S. scientists said on Friday. They have named the little bird the olive-backed forest robin, or Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus, but say they know little about it yet.
King penguin receives Norwegian knighthood
Nils Olav already has medals for good conduct and long service. He made honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King's Guard in 2005. And on Friday he was knighted. Not bad for a 3-foot tall penguin — actually, three of them.
Coastal "dead zones" spread globally, study finds
"Dead zones" in coastal waters -- regions of ocean floor so deprived of oxygen that most marine life cannot survive -- are spreading worldwide at an alarming pace, scientists said on Thursday. Driving the trend are nitrogen and phosphorous from chemical agricultural fertilizers that reach coastal waters after flowing off farm fields and into streams and rivers, according to the study published in the journal Science.
Mysteries of Mediterranean bluefin tuna come under the microscope
The most ambitious Mediterranean tuna tagging project yet will today start seeking answers to some key mysteries on the migratory behaviour of this most valuable but also most imperilled ”prince of the sea’.
Elephant seals join fight against climate change
Elephant seals swimming under Antarctic ice and fitted with special sensors are providing scientists with crucial data on ice formation, ocean currents and climate change, a study released on Tuesday said. The seals swimming under winter sea ice have overcome a "blind-spot" for scientists by allowing them to calculate how fast sea ice forms during winter.
Endangered Species Act Changes Give Agencies More Say
The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.
U.S. ship heads for Arctic to define territory
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter will embark on an Arctic voyage this week to determine the extent of the continental shelf north of Alaska and map the ocean floor, data that could be used for oil and natural gas exploration. U.S. and University of New Hampshire scientists on the Coast Guard Cutter Healy will leave Barrow, Alaska, on Thursday on a three-week journey. They will create a three-dimensional map of the Arctic Ocean floor in a relatively unexplored area known as the Chukchi borderland.