Optimism for Crops in Midwest; Dire Straits in the West
When it comes to this year’s drought, it seems like good news never arrives without bad news to match it. Even as drought receded from the Upper Midwest this week, conditions deepened and intensified all across the Southwest. Any optimism that may emerge for crops in the Midwest from this week’s rains is balanced by the dire conditions of pastures … 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
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
Warmer Climate Threatens Africa’s Vital Cassava Crop
A plant which is a staple food crop for millions of people across Africa is at risk from disease as regional temperatures rise, scientists say. The plant, cassava, is a significant source of food and income, and is an important industrial crop, and there is concern that serious food shortages may result and poverty worsen. Experts say the spread 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
Scientists Raise Questions on Drought and Climate
When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report on April 11 that seemed to exonerate global warming as a cause of last summer’s historic drought, a reasonable person might conclude that global warming had been exonerated. After all, NOAA is a highly respected organization, and the report’s lead author, meteorologist Martin … 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
