Warmer Seas May Impact Antarctic Clams’ Reproduction
Antarctic clams (Laternula elliptica) play a vital role in the ocean ecosystem, drawing down carbon into sea-bed sediments and circulating ocean nutrients. Now a new study has found that the reproductive capacity of this long-lived and abundant species — existing in the cold, oxygen-rich waters of the Antarctic — could be seriously affected by … Read More
Shale Mining in Great Barrier Reef ‘Likely to be Banned’
Mining shale oil under the Great Barrier Reef is likely to be banned by Australia's federal Labor government as tensions rise over the environmental impact of the booming oil and gas industry on the coastline beside the reef. In February, the conservative Queensland state government lifted a moratorium on the shale oil industry in most places alon… Read More
Forest Service Gets New Wildfire Tool in Time for Season
The new sensor transmits data in near real-time to crews on the ground to analyze and use for decision-making purposes. The new instrument operates like a spinning mirror, and it paints a stripe on the ground perpendicular to the motion of flight, scanning that land for signs of heat and other characteristics that mark wildfire activity, Hinkley sa… Read More
How the Old Amazon May Help Explain the New
What will be the effect of global warming on the Amazon rainforest? Over the last 30 years, forest fires, most of them deliberately started to clear land by cattle ranchers and soy farmers, have destroyed thousands of square miles of forest. This has increased carbon emissions, reduced rainfall and made the forest more vulnerable to drought. In 20… Read More
Climate Change Responsible for Global Vegetation Change
The amount of vegetation in the world, and the way it is spread across the planet, has changed significantly in the last three decades, researchers say. They attribute more than half the changes they detected to the effects of the warming climate, with people responsible for only around a third. Surprisingly, perhaps, they are at a loss to … Read More
Study: Climate Change Will Threaten Wine Production
Bid adieu to Bordeaux, but also, quite possibly, a hello to Chateau Yellowstone. Researchers predict a two-thirds fall in production in the world's premier wine regions because of climate change. The study forecasts sharp declines in wine production from Bordeaux and Rhone regions in France, Tuscany in Italy, and Napa Valley in California and … Read More
Warming May Mean More Toxic Algae Blooms for Lake Erie
Toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie could come more often and be more intense in coming decades thanks in part to torrential rains intensified by global warming, according to a study published in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Heavy runoff from farmland, say the authors, can carry nutrient-rich fertilizer into the western… Read More
Climate Change Will Harm Mekong Basin Harvests
One of the most fertile areas of south east Asia, the Lower Mekong Basin, faces a bleak future from the impacts of climate change, according to a U.S.-funded study. The lead author of the study, Dr. Jeremy Carew-Reid, says some of its findings are “very shocking.” Hotter and wetter rainy seasons and more long-lasting dry seasons in Cambodia, Laos,… Read More
