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
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
Storms Chip Away at Drought in Northern U.S.
Two weeks of storms and a slowly melting snowpack in the northern U.S. continued to chip away at the drought gripping the center of the country. But even as the drought has contracted nationwide, parts of the Texas and the Southwest have seen conditions deteriorate, and are likely to face another tough summer of drought. The northern part of the … 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
Links to Solar May Forge New Ties Across Mediterranean
The world’s largest concentrated solar power plant opened in March in the middle of Abu Dhabi’s western region, amid the country’s giant oil fields. The $600 million plant’s hundreds of mirrors direct sunlight towards towers full of water. These are heated to drive steam turbines that provide enough electricity for thousands of homes. In a … Read More
Andes’ Tropical Glaciers Going Fast, May Soon Be Gone
The glaciers of the tropical Andes have shrunk by between 30 and 50 percent in 30 years and many will soon disappear altogether, cutting off the summer water supply for millions of people, according to scientists studying the region’s climate. Their findings are particularly significant because glaciers in the tropics, 99 percent of which are in … Read More
High-altitude Ice Reveals a Climate on the Rocks
The story was tucked on the bottom of page A4 in last week's New York Times. Most readers probably passed on it. Another piece about how fast the ice is melting. So what's new. And few would have reacted to the name of the scientist behind the study, which found the world's largest tropical glacier is retreating at a geologic sprint. Among … Read More
