NewsRack: 'Ecosystems' news in 'Climate Change' topic for user demo (21-41 of 3,646)

Environmental risks of leaving the EU are huge	14.5.2013	Guardian: Environment
Membership of the European Union has been a boon to the UK's wildlife and habitats – and human health is better as a result The UK's membership of the European Union has rocketed up the political agenda in recent weeks, but if Lord Lawson and Nigel Farage get their way, a go-it-alone Britain would be far from green and pleasant. An analysis for Friends of the Earth, published today by the EU policy expert Dr Charlotte Burns from the University of York, provides a damning critique of UK environmental performance over decades, and highlights the huge risks of EU withdrawal. The UK really was once the dirty man of Europe. We had the highest level of sulphur dioxide emissions in Europe, resulting in acid rain that devastated Scandinavian forests. Our seas were akin to open sewers as we pumped human effluent in them as part of a "dilute and disperse" approach to pollution – the result of which I vividly recall from family holidays. And our drinking water was contaminated with a cocktail of ...
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Arctic expedition to study impact of climate change on plankton	14.5.2013	Guardian: Science
French schooner returns to north as scientists research effects on organisms that form basis of marine ecosystem Tara will soon set sail for the Arctic again. The famous schooner will cast off from Lorient in Brittany on Sunday 19 May for a seven-month expedition via the Northeast Passage along Russia's Arctic coast, returning through the Northwest Passage. The goal of the 25,000km Tara Oceans Polar Circle Expedition , with some 15 scientist on board, is to search for planktonic organisms, including viruses, bacteria, protists and metazoans , all vital resources that need to be studied in their own environment while there is still time. "This is a vital and urgent task," said Chris Bowler, a biologist at the École Normale Supérieure graduate school and research centre, and head of research at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). "The Arctic is one of the most productive planktonic regions on the planet, so we have to get there before humans start interfering." The ...
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Great Barrier Reef is at risk even if it doesn't make Unesco's danger list \| Graham Readfearn	13.5.2013	Guardian: Environment
UN World Heritage Committee to rule on whether fossil fuel industry threatens Australia's reef, but its coral is already in peril It might be regarded as some sort of sick joke that the Great Barrier Reef happens to nestle beside the heart of Australia's fossil fuel export boom. When the coal ships leave the Queensland ports, the two become one as the captains make passage through the 2300 kilometre/1430 mile-long reef – the world's largest. Now environment groups and the United Nations World Heritage Committee have decided this joke just isn't funny any more. WWF Australia, the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Greenpeace are all engaged in campaigns to "save the reef" from the ravages of climate change and the construction of multi-billion dollar port facilities to ship coal and gas around the world. Greenpeace describes it as "one of the biggest environmental battles in our nation's history" and is pushing a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience. Next month in ...
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One-third of animal species will be hit by climate change, scientists warn	13.5.2013	The Guardian -- World Latest
Plant and animal species could see dramatic losses as habitats become unsuitable and ecosystems collapse One-third of common land animals could see dramatic losses this century because of climate change, scientists predict. More than half of plants could be hit the same way as habitats become unsuitable for numerous species. The collapse of ecosystems would have major economic impacts on agriculture, air quality, clean water access, and tourism. Global temperatures are set to rise 4C above preindustrial levels by 2100 if nothing is done to stem greenhouse gas emissions. This could have a hugely destructive effect on thousands of common as well as rare and endangered species around the world, according to the researchers. An estimated 57% of plants and 34% of animals were likely to lose half or more of their habitat range. But the damage would be greatly reduced if emissions were scaled down in time, the study shows. Losses are reduced by 60% if global warming is cut to 2% ...
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UN seeks protection of habitats on Migratory Bird Day (Cached)	13.5.2013	New Kerala: India News
New York, May 12 : As an estimated 50 billion birds commence their annual migrations, the critical staging areas they need to complete these journeys continue to be degraded or are disappearing completely, the United Nations Saturday warned on this year's World Migratory Bird Day.
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Study says common plants, animals are threatened by climate change	13.5.2013	Twincities.com: Nation
WASHINGTON -- Climate change could lead to the widespread loss of common plants and animals around the world, according to a study released Sunday, May 12, in the journal Nature Climate Change.
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Decline fear for plants and animals	12.5.2013	BBC: Front Page
More than half of common plant species and a third of animals could see a serious decline in their habitat range because of climate change, a study suggests.
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Climate shifts birds' winter homes	11.5.2013	BBC News - Science & Environment
Three species of migratory ducks are shifting their wintering grounds northwards in response to warmer early winter temperatures, say scientists.
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Global carbon dioxide in atmosphere passes milestone level	10.5.2013	The Guardian -- World Latest
Climate warming greenhouse gas reaches 400 parts per million for the first time in human history For the first time in human history, the concentration of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has passed the milestone level of 400 parts per million (ppm). The last time so much greenhouse gas was in the air was several million years ago, when the Arctic was ice-free, savannah spread across the Sahara desert and sea level was up to 40 metres higher than today. These conditions are expected to return in time, with devastating consequences for civilisation, unless emissions of CO2 from the burning of coal, gas and oil are rapidly curtailed. But despite increasingly severe warnings from scientists and a major economic recession, global emissions have continued to soar unchecked . "It is symbolic, a point to pause and think about where we have been and where we are going," said Professor Ralph Keeling, who oversees the measurements on a Hawaian volcano, which were begun by his father ...
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This Crater in Siberia Reveals the Future of a Globally Warmed Planet	10.5.2013	Mother Jones
This story originally appeared in The Guardian . The future of a globally warmed world has been revealed in a remote meteorite crater in Siberia, where lake sediments recorded the strikingly balmy climate of the Arctic during the last period when greenhouse gas levels were as high as today. Unchecked burning of fossil fuels has driven carbon dioxide to levels not seen for 3 million years when, the sediments show, temperatures were 46 degrees higher than today, lush forests covered the tundra and sea levels were up to 40 meters higher than today. "It's like deja vu," said Prof Julie Brigham-Grette, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who led the new research analyzing a core of sediment to see what temperatures in the region were between 3.6 and 2.2 million years ago. "We have seen these warm periods before. Many people now agree this is where we are heading." Continue Reading ...
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Meteorite crater reveals future of a globally warmed world	9.5.2013	Guardian: Environment
Lake sediments recorded the climate of the Arctic during the last period when CO2 levels were as high as today The future of a globally warmed world has been revealed in a remote meteorite crater in Siberia, where lake sediments recorded the strikingly balmy climate of the Arctic during the last period when greenhouse gas levels were as high as today. Unchecked burning of fossil fuels has driven carbon dioxide to levels not seen for 3m years when, the sediments show, temperatures were 8C higher than today, lush forests covered the tundra and sea levels were up to 40m higher than today. "It's like deja vu," said Prof Julie Brigham-Grette, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who led the new research analysing a core of sediment to see what temperatures in the region were between 3.6 and 2.2m years ago. "We have seen these warm periods before. Many people now agree this is where we are heading." "It shows a huge warming – unprecedented in human history," said Prof Scott Elias, at ...
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World Bank Turns to Hydropower to Square Development with Climate Change	9.5.2013	International Rivers Sitewide RSS Feed
By: Howard Schneider, The Washington Post Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 World Bank President Jim Yong Kim attends the Fragility Forum this month in Washington. The forum discussed ways for fragile nations to improve their economies, their infrastructure and the well-being of their citizens. Michael Reynolds/European Photopress Agency The World Bank is making a major push to develop large-scale hydropower projects around the globe, something it had all but abandoned a decade ago but now sees as crucial to resolving the tension between economic development and the drive to tame carbon use. Major hydropower projects in the Congo, Zambia, Nepal and elsewhere — all of a scale dubbed “transformational” to the regions involved — are part of the bank’s fundraising drive among wealthy nations. Bank lending for hydropower has scaled up steadily in recent years, and officials expect the trend to continue amid a worldwide boom in water-fueled electricity. Such projects ...
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India Ink: From Arunachal Pradesh, a Tribe Offers Lessons in Ecology	8.5.2013	NY Times: World
Apa Tani, one of the most progressive tribes in the area, is fast adapting to the environmental changes in the region.
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Carbon emissions 'rapidly acidifying' Arctic Ocean (Cached)	7.5.2013	New Kerala: Andhra Pradesh
London, May 7 : Global warming is making the Arctic Ocean acidic, according to a new report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP).
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Protections for wolverines draw states' opposition	7.5.2013	Seattle Times: Top stories
State officials in the Northern Rockies are opposing a federal proposal that cites climate change as a looming threat to the carnivorous wolverine, which depends on deep mountain snows to survive.
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Protections for wolverines draw states' opposition	7.5.2013	Seattle Times: Local
State officials in the Northern Rockies are opposing a federal proposal that cites climate change as a looming threat to the carnivorous wolverine, which depends on deep mountain snows to survive.
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Protections for wolverines draw states' opposition	7.5.2013	AP Washington
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- State officials in the Northern Rockies are opposing a federal proposal that cites climate change as a looming threat to the carnivorous wolverine, which depends on deep mountain snows to survive....
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Can Humans Survive?	6.5.2013	Newsweek Top Stories
Five mass extinctions have nearly wiped out life on earth. The sixth is coming.
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Climate changes could bring malaria to the UK	5.5.2013	Guardian: Environment
Health experts warn of growing threat from 'exotic' diseases Leading health experts are urging the government to take action against the growing threat that mosquito-borne diseases, including potentially fatal malaria, could soon arrive in the UK. The disturbing recommendation to "act now before it is too late" is being made as a growing body of evidence indicates that what were once thought of as tropical diseases are being found ever closer to the UK. Health experts meeting at the annual public health conference of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health later this week will hear that rising incidences of a growing list of pest-borne diseases are now a "serious" cause for concern in the UK. The conference will be told that it would be complacent to think that diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, now present on the European continent but once considered "exotic and confined to faraway places", will not emerge in the UK. "With ...
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Rare beetle getting more room to roam at Coral Pink Sand Dunes	4.5.2013	Salt Lake Tribune
by Brian Maffly The Salt Lake Tribune Published May 3, 2013 06:47PM MDT State and federal officials are expanding conservation zones in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes to further protect a rare beetle, narrowing the portion of the dunes available to off-road vehicles. Announced Friday, the move is hoped to secure additional habitat for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agency is to decide by the end of September whether to list the beetle as threatened. Such a ... ...
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