Rising Temperatures in Europe Leave Ducks Grounded
Most birds are acutely sensitive to changes in temperature. Scientists now say that changes in climate and warmer temperatures in parts of Europe have resulted in the migration patterns of certain birds being radically altered. A study looking at the migration patterns of three species of duck – the goldeneye, goosander and tufted duck – has found… Read More
As Oceans Warm, Fish Are Finding New ZIP Codes
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, employs a novel index that creates a fish thermometer of sorts, teasing out evidence of population shifts from fishery catch records during the past four decades. The study is the first to detect climate change-related shifts in the range of fish species on a global scale. In doing so, it provid… Read More
Warming Could Slash Species’ Habitat Ranges in Half
Vast numbers of plant and animal species could see their ranges slashed in half later this century as a result of climate change, according to a study in Nature Climate Change. The result, say the authors, could be serious ecosystem disruptions along with the loss of so-called “ecosystem services,” such as the purification of air and water; erosion… Read More
Amazon May Lose 65 Percent of Land Biomass by 2060
There will be no winners if agriculture made possible by widespread felling in the Amazon continues to expand, say researchers from Brazil and the U.S. They calculate that the large-scale expansion of agriculture at the expense of the forest could entail the loss of almost two-thirds of the Amazon’s terrestrial biomass by later this century … Read More
Warming Temps Cause Trees to Limit Warming—a Little
Trees may provide the Earth with a little shade from global warming – indirectly. European and Canadian researchers report that they have found what engineers like to call a negative feedback loop above the forests of Europe and North America. It works like this. Trees – those natural chemical factories that routinely deliver complex aromatic compo… Read More
Japan’s Fukushima Faces Long Road to Repair
The cleanup after the catastrophic nuclear accident two years ago at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan is not going well. Radioactive cooling water is leaking into the ground from at least three vast storage tanks, and the vulnerability of the plant to further accidents was revealed when a rat chewed through an electric cable, cutting off vital … Read More
Drought and Heat May Fuel Early Fire Season in West
Fire season may come early this year in the West, as it has more frequently in recent years, thanks to ongoing drought conditions and increasing temperatures. According to a new outlook issued by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, ID, major wildfires in California could begin as early as this month, nearly a month ahead of… Read More
Fast-Moving Climate Zones Are Speeding Extinction
As global temperatures rise, climate zones will shift at greater speed, according to new research in Nature Climate Change. If greenhouse gas emissions carry on increasing, then about 20 percent of the land area of the planet will undergo change – and the creatures that have made their homes in what were once stable ecosystems will have to adapt s… Read More
