tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43696932169747582322024-03-13T20:05:48.028-07:00The Global Warming ArchiveThe purpose of this archive is to trace international news reports on the 6th great extinction. Not since the demise of the dinosaurs has this planet seen the destruction of so many species. Feel free to post any other articles you have come across that may help us better understand the speed and impact of this global environmental crisis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger907125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-7086257103281175342009-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:002009-12-01T19:27:23.063-08:00Oceans Absorb Less Carbon Dioxide as Marine Systems ChangeFrom: <span class="name">Ben Block, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.worldwatch.org/">Worldwatch Institute</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.enn.com/editorial_affiliates/39">More from this Affiliate</a></span> <br /><br /><div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40700">Mixing Up Greener Cement</a><br /><i>November 12, 2009 11:16 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40669">$30.6M in Stimulus Funds Give US Hydroelectric Projects a New Spark</a><br /><i>November 5, 2009 09:28 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40679">Business Execs Plan to Boost Clean-Tech Investments Next Year</a><br /><i>November 9, 2009 09:21 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40671">Clean Energy Legislation Will Boost US Manufacturing Jobs </a><br /><i>November 5, 2009 10:21 AM</i></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40749-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>The oceans are by far the largest carbon sink in the world. Some 93 percent of <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40749#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">carbon </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">dioxide</span></span></a> is stored in algae, vegetation, and coral under the sea. But oceans are not able to absorb all of the <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40749#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static; background-color: transparent;">carbon </span><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static; background-color: transparent;">dioxide</span></span><span style="position: relative;" class="preLoadWrap" id="preLoadWrap1"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer1"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> released from the burning of <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40749#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">fossil </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">fuels</span></span></a>. In fact, a recent study suggests that the oceans have absorbed a smaller proportion of fossil-fuel emissions, nearly 10 percent less, since 2000. </p><p>The study, published in the current issue of <a id="KonaLink3" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40749#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">Nature</span></span></a>, is the first to quantify the perceived trend that oceans are becoming less efficient carbon sinks. The study team, led by Columbia University oceanographer Samar Khatiwala, measured the amount of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions pumped into the oceans since 1765.<br /></p><p>Industrial carbon dioxide emissions have increased dramatically since the 1950s, and oceans have until recently been able to absorb the greater amounts of emissions. Sometime after 2000, however, the rise in emissions and the oceans' carbon uptake decoupled. Oceans continue to absorb more carbon, but the pace appears to have slowed. </p><p>The reason is based in part on simple chemistry. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide have turned waters more acidic, especially nearer to the poles. While carbon dioxide dissolves more readily in cold, dense seawater, these waters are less capable of sequestering the gas as the ocean becomes more acidic. The study revealed that the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica, absorbs about 40 percent of the carbon in oceans. </p><p>Article continues: <a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6323">http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6323</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-71732122046946260372009-12-01T19:22:00.000-08:002009-12-01T19:24:55.532-08:00Global Salmon Study Shows 'Sustainable' Food May Not Be So SustainableFrom: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/">Science Daily</a></span> <br /><br /><div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40669">$30.6M in Stimulus Funds Give US Hydroelectric Projects a New Spark</a><br /><i>November 5, 2009 09:28 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40679">Business Execs Plan to Boost Clean-Tech Investments Next Year</a><br /><i>November 9, 2009 09:21 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40671">Clean Energy Legislation Will Boost US Manufacturing Jobs </a><br /><i>November 5, 2009 10:21 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40693">Land Use Change an Overlooked Cause of Global Warming</a><br /><i>November 11, 2009 10:27 AM</i></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40766-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>Popular thinking about how to improve <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40766#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">food</span></span></a> systems for the better often misses the point, according to the results of a three-year global study of salmon production systems. Rather than pushing for organic or land-based production, or worrying about simple metrics such as "food miles," the study finds that the world can achieve greater <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40766#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static; background-color: transparent;">environmental</span></span><span style="position: relative;" class="preLoadWrap" id="preLoadWrap1"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer1"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> benefits by focusing on improvements to key aspects of production and distribution.</p><p>For example, what farmed salmon are fed, how wild salmon are caught and the choice to buy frozen over fresh matters more than organic vs. conventional or wild vs. farmed when considering global scale environmental impacts such as <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40766#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">climate </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">change</span></span></a>, ozone depletion, loss of critical habitat, and ocean acidification.</p><p>he study is the world's first comprehensive global-scale look at a major food commodity from a full life cycle perspective, and the researchers examined everything -- how salmon are caught in the wild, what they're fed when farmed, how they're transported, how they're consumed, and how all of this contributes to both environmental degradation and socioeconomic benefits.</p><p>Article continues: <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124152803.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124152803.htm</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-68099630706822974902009-09-04T06:41:00.001-07:002009-09-04T06:41:59.547-07:00Ribbon Seal Protection Sought by ActivistsFrom: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/09/03/ribbon-seal-protection.html">Dan Joling, AP via Discovery News</a></span> <br /><br /><div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/33640">New protections eyed for ice-dependent Alaska seals</a><br /><i>March 27, 2008 07:50 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/30831">U.S. environmental group seeks protection for walrus</a><br /><i>February 8, 2008 06:49 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27842">Environmental groups sue to protect Alaskan bird</a><br /><i>December 19, 2007 09:34 PM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/3278">Groups Sue to Protect Polar Bears</a><br /><i>December 16, 2005 12:00 AM</i></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40445-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>Ribbon seals should be listed as threatened or endangered because global warming is quickly melting sea ice, which the seals depend on for several months each year, two environmental groups said in a lawsuit filed against the federal government in San Francisco Thursday.</p><p>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in December denied a listing under the Endangered Species Act for the seals found off the coasts of Alaska and Russia.</p><p>The Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace sued in U.S. District Court, claiming the agency ignored the best <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40445#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">science</span></span></a> available on global warming.</p><p><a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/09/03/ribbon-seal-protection.html">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-70559102967950362002009-09-04T06:39:00.000-07:002009-09-04T06:40:36.225-07:00Climate-change technology risks 'catastrophic' outcome<div style="clear: both;"><div class="controls"><div id="related"><ul><li><i>June 17, 2009 07:23 AM</i></li></ul><br /> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40435-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>Risky and unproven climate-changing technologies could have "catastrophic consequences" for the earth and humankind if used irresponsibly, according to a new report.</p><p>Yet without drastic further cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, a geoengineering solution may offer the only hope of saving the world from disastrous run-away global warming, experts warned.</p><p><strong></strong></p><strong></strong><p>A report by the Royal Society, Britain's leading academic institution, looks at the feasibility and potential dangers of technologies designed to cool the earth.</p><p>They include artificial "trees" that suck <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40435#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">carbon </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">dioxide</span></span></a> out of the air, and spraying sulphate particles high in the atmosphere to scatter the sun's rays into space. The scientists concluded that, although some approaches were possible, they had not yet been properly researched and posed serious potential dangers for the planet.</p><p>Professor John Shepherd, who chaired the Royal Society geoengineering working group, said: "It is an unpalatable truth that unless we can succeed in greatly reducing carbon dioxide emissions we are heading for a very uncomfortable and challenging climate future, and geoengineering will be the only option left to limit further temperature increases."</p><p>"Our research found that some geoengineering techniques could have serious unintended and detrimental effects on many people and <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40435#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">ecosystems</span></span></a> — yet we are still failing to take the only action that will prevent us from having to rely on them."</p><p>Article continues: <a href="http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/other-uk-business/2009/09/01/climate-change-technology-risks-catastrophic-outcome-report-65233-24585797/">http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/other-uk-business/2009/09/01/climate-change-technology-risks-catastrophic-outcome-report-65233-24585797/</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-9022389850856721802009-09-04T06:37:00.000-07:002009-09-04T06:39:00.065-07:00Schwarzenegger to Obama cabinet: Water... please!From: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5817FK20090902?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews">Peter Henderson, Reuters</a></span> <br /><span class="date"></span> <h1>Schwarzenegger to Obama cabinet: Water... please!</h1><div style="clear: both;"><div class="controls"><img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40437-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has demanded that President Barack Obama's cabinet rethink federal policy that would divert water from parched farms and cities to threatened fish, his administration said on Wednesday.</p><p>California's rivers used to brim with salmon and sturgeon, but a massive system of canals diverted water that fed farms and cities, now suffering through a third year of drought.</p><p>Schwarzenegger has gained credibility as an environmentalist for his push to curb greenhouse gases but he argued that federal plans to save fish will worsen a water crisis that has cost <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40437#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">farmers</span></span></a> more than $700 million and caused mandatory rationing in cities of the most populous state.</p><p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5817FK20090902?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-32234330738268187082009-09-04T06:34:00.000-07:002009-09-04T06:36:35.581-07:00Abrupt reversal detected in Arctic cooling trend<!-- end types/article/articletools.tmpl --> <div id="bodytext_top" class="bodytext bodytext_top"><div id="fontprefs_top" class="georgia md"><p><a href="mailto:dperlman@sfchronicle.com">David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor</a></p><p>The Arctic climate has been warmer over the past decade than during any 10-year period in 2,000 years, according to a study by an international research team that adds powerful new evidence that human-generated greenhouse gases have speeded the pace of the planet's recent warming.</p></div></div><div id="articlebox"><div class="sfg_art001"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/09/04/MNB219HIRT.DTL&o=0" target=""><img class="thumb" src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/09/03_t/mn-climate04_ph1_0500551458_t.gif" alt="A late 19th century postcard shows the Muir glacier in Al..." /></a><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/09/04/MNB219HIRT.DTL&o=1" target=""><img class="thumb" src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/09/03_t/mn-climate04_ph1_0500551459_t.gif" alt="But a 2005 photo of the area shows water." /></a><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/09/04/MNB219HIRT.DTL&o=2" target=""><img class="last-thumb" src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/09/03_t/mn-climate04_ph5_0500551461_t.gif" alt="Photographs of the Toboggan glacier in the Chugach Nation..." /></a> <a class="view" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/09/04/MNB219HIRT.DTL&o=" target=""><img class="plus" src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/graphics/utils/plus-green.gif" alt="" /> View More Images</a> </div> <!-- /multiobjects --> <div class="hr"><br /></div><div class="sfg_art004 clearfix"><ul><li style="display: none;" id="rl_news_rl_last_row"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/02/national/a200029D67.DTL">Kennedy denies affair with Kopechne in new memoir</a> <span>09.03.09</span></li></ul> <script type="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ sfg_hideoneorlast('rl_news_rl'); //]]> </script> </div> <!-- end related_links/news/index.html --> <!-- end: /templates/types/widgets/pages/related_links/rss.tmpl --> <!-- /related links --> <div class="hr"><hr /></div> </div><!--/articlebox --> <p>The report from an international team of climate scientists concludes that climate change in the Arctic has accelerated since the Industrial Revolution, abruptly reversing a long-term worldwide cooling trend.</p> <p>"The study provides a clear example of how increased greenhouse gases are now changing our climate," said Caspar Ammann of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., a co-author of the report published Thursday in the journal Science.</p> <p>To deduce the Arctic's decade-by-decade climate trend over the centuries, the leading scientists in the international study analyzed sediment cores in 14 Arctic lakes that revealed the varied growth rates of long-buried plants. They also studied Arctic tree rings to determine their growth rates and ages as well as ice cores from glaciers across the Arctic that showed patterns of relative warm and cold. </p> <p>Researchers at other institutions, seeking to look for patterns of climate change even further back in time, used astronomical records to study the well-known wobble of the globe as it spins on its axis. They found that the Northern Hemisphere has long been moving away from the sun's warmth. During the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is now a million kilometers - about 621,000 miles - farther away from the sun than it was 2,000 years ago, according to the scientist's computer models. </p> <p>The result was a global period of relative cold that would have continued, the scientists found. But about 1850, at the beginning of the Industrial Age, the planet's climate began overcoming the cooling trend, and the Arctic climate has warmed decade by decade ever since as greenhouse gas emissions have increased, the scientists say.</p> <p>Stephen Schneider, a Stanford climate expert and biologist who did not participate in the study, called the seven-year study, involving seven major research institutions in three nations, "a heroic effort." </p> <p>The study, he said, "shows that nature has been, unfortunately, cooperating with theory and showing us on a long-time scale of millennia that the mainstream view is once again bolstered."</p> <p>It is clear again, Schneider said, that anthropogenic influences - the increasing emission of greenhouse gases into the Earth's atmosphere - are the prime cause of global warming.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the rest of the article go to:</p><p>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/04/MNB219HIRT.DTL&tsp=1<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-80844829971655694582009-08-11T13:05:00.002-07:002009-08-11T13:11:13.551-07:00Vast expanses of Arctic ice melt in summer heat<span style="font-weight: bold;">From Japan Today</span> <p class="article_date">Monday 10th August, 05:38 AM JST</p> <p id="article_credit">TUKTOYAKTUK, Northwest Territories — </p> <p>The Arctic Ocean has given up tens of thousands more square kilometers of ice on Sunday in a relentless summer of melt, with scientists watching through satellite eyes for a possible record low polar ice cap.<br /> <br />From the barren Arctic shore of this village in Canada’s far northwest, 2,414 kilometers north of Seattle, veteran observer Eddie Gruben has seen the summer ice retreating more each decade as the world has warmed. By this weekend the ice edge lay some 128 kilometers at sea.<br /> <br />“Forty years ago, it was 40 miles (64 kilometers) out,” said Gruben, 89, patriarch of a local contracting business.<br /> <br />Global average temperatures rose 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degree Celsius) in the past century, but Arctic temperatures rose twice as much or even faster, almost certainly in good part because of manmade greenhouse gases, researchers say.<br /> <br />In late July the mercury soared to almost 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) in this settlement of 900 Inuvialuit, the name for western Arctic Eskimos.<br /> <br />“The water was really warm,” Gruben said. “The kids were swimming in the ocean.”<br /> <br />As of Thursday, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center reported, the polar ice cap extended over 6.75 million square kilometers after having shrunk an average 106,000 square kilometers a day in July—equivalent to one Indiana or three Belgiums daily.<br /> <br />The rate of melt was similar to that of July 2007, the year when the ice cap dwindled to a record low minimum extent of 4.3 million square kilometers in September.<br /> <br />In its latest analysis, the Colorado-based NSIDC said Arctic atmospheric conditions this summer have been similar to those of the summer of 2007, including a high-pressure ridge that produced clear skies and strong melt in the Beaufort Sea, the arm of the Arctic Ocean off northern Alaska and northwestern Canada.<br /> <br />In July, “we saw acceleration in loss of ice,” the U.S. center’s Walt Meier told The Associated Press. In recent days the pace has slowed, making a record-breaking final minimum “less likely but still possible,” he said.<br /> <br />Scientists say the makeup of the frozen polar sea has shifted significantly the past few years, as thick multiyear ice has given way as the Arctic’s dominant form to thin ice that comes and goes with each winter and summer.<br /> <br />The past few years have “signaled a fundamental change in the character of the ice and the Arctic climate,” Meier said.<br /> <br />Ironically, the summer melts since 2007 appear to have allowed disintegrating but still thick multiyear ice to drift this year into the relatively narrow channels of the Northwest Passage, the east-west water route through Canada’s Arctic islands. Usually impassable channels had been relatively ice-free the past two summers.<br /> <br />“We need some warm temperatures with easterly or southeasterly winds to break up and move this ice to the north,” Mark Schrader, skipper of the sailboat Ocean Watch, e-mailed The Associated Press from the west entrance to the passage.<br /> <br />The steel-hulled sailboat, with scientists joining it at stops along the way, is on a 40,232-kilometer, foundation-financed circumnavigation of the Americas, to view and demonstrate the impact of climate change on the continents’ environments.<br /> <br />Environmentalists worry, for example, that the ice-dependent polar bear will struggle to survive as the Arctic cap melts. Schrader reported seeing only one bear, an animal chased from the Arctic shore of Barrow, Alaska, that “swam close to Ocean Watch on its way out to sea.”</p><p><br />(The rest of the article is available at: http://www.japantoday.com/category/world/view/vast-expanses-of-arctic-ice-melt-in-summer-heat)<br /> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-77471930614442256142009-08-11T13:05:00.001-07:002009-08-11T13:05:39.213-07:00Arctic Ocean may be polluted soup by 2070From: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327204.800-arctic-ocean-may-be-polluted-soup-by-2070.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news">Kate Ravilious, NewScientist</a></span> <br /><br /><div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39882">Survey Of Ocean Climate May Improve Climate Predictions</a><br /><i>May 11, 2009 06:14 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/4497">UAF Gets $1M to Study Sea Ice in Arctic</a><br /><i>June 19, 2006 12:00 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/35206">Ministers to discuss Arctic claims in Greenland</a><br /><i>April 23, 2008 03:53 PM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40082">New Russian Arctic Park to protect key polar bear habitat</a><br /><i>June 17, 2009 10:34 AM</i></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40320-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>WITHIN 60 years the Arctic Ocean could be a stagnant, polluted soup. Without drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40320#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">emissions</span></span></a>, the Transpolar Drift, one of the Arctic's most powerful currents and a key disperser of pollutants, is likely to disappear because of global warming.</p><p>The Transpolar Drift is a cold surface current that travels right across the Arctic Ocean from central Siberia to Greenland, and eventually out into the Atlantic. It was first discovered in 1893 by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who tried unsuccessfully to use the current to sail to the North Pole. Together with the Beaufort Gyre, the Transpolar Drift keeps Arctic waters well mixed and ensures that pollution never lingers there for long.</p><p>To better understand the dispersal of pollution in the Arctic Ocean, Ola Johannessen, director of the Nansen <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40320#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">Environmental</span></span></a> and Remote Sensing Center in Bergen, Norway, and his colleagues studied the spread of radioactive substances such as strontium-90 and caesium-137 from nuclear testing, bomb factories and nuclear power-plant accidents. Measurements taken between 1948 and 1999 were plugged into a high-resolution ocean circulation model and combined with a climate model to predict Arctic Ocean circulation until 2080.</p><p><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327204.800-arctic-ocean-may-be-polluted-soup-by-2070.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-66942454864078889652009-08-11T13:02:00.000-07:002009-08-11T13:03:43.409-07:00Flying frogs and the world's oldest mushroom: a decade of Himalayan discoveryFrom: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/10/himalayas-new-species">Felicity Carus, The Guardian UK</a></span> <br /><br /><div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39854">Some Himalayan Glaciers Growing Despite Warming</a><br /><i>May 6, 2009 07:25 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/6919">Package Pilgrims Destroying the Himalayas</a><br /><i>July 12, 2007 12:00 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/38627">Himalayan glaciers may disappear by 2035</a><br /><i>November 11, 2008 09:37 AM</i></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37182">Rare rhino numbers in Nepal fall due to poachers</a><br /><i>June 1, 2008 09:59 AM</i></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40336-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>A pretty ultramarine blue flower which changes colour in response to temperature, a flying frog and the world's oldest mushroom preserved in amber are among the 350 new species discovered in the Eastern Himalayas over the past 10 years. But experts warn the new discoveries are under pressure from demand for land and <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/40336#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">climate </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">change</span></span></a>.</p><p>A report published today by the WWF, The Eastern Himalayas — Where Worlds Collide, lists 242 new types of plants, 16 amphibians, 16 <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/40336#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">reptiles</span></span></a>, 14 fish, two birds and two mammals and 61 new invertebrates. The cache, quality and diversity of species newly discovered between 1998 and 2008 make the mountainous region one of the world's most important biological hotspots.</p><p>The WWF is asking the governments of Bhutan, India and Nepal to commit to cooperate on <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/40336#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">conservation</span></span></a> efforts in the geographic region that transcends the borders of the three countries to protect the landscape and the livelihoods of people living in the Eastern Himalayas.</p><p>Population growth, deforestation, overgrazing, poaching, the <a id="KonaLink3" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/40336#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">wildlife</span></span></a> trade, mining, pollution, and hydropower development have all contributed to the pressures on the fragile ecosystems in the region, the report says. Only 25% of the original habitats in the region remain intact and 163 species that live in the Eastern Himalayas are considered globally threatened.</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/10/himalayas-new-species">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-42076581945429833242009-08-08T08:40:00.000-07:002009-08-08T08:41:22.947-07:00More wildfire, more bad airFrom: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/08/wildfire-smoke-air-pollution-carbon-particles.html">Bettina Boxall, LA Times</a></span> <br /><br /><div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37952">Current climate models 'ignoring brown carbon'</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39454">Growing pollution leads to 'global dimming'- study</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/25351">Local sources major cause of US near-ground aerosol pollution</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37751">Northern Wildfire Smoke May Cast Shadow on Arctic Warming</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40327-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>Harvard University scientists are predicting some forms of air pollution could increase significantly across the West as more of the region's wildlands burn as a result of rising temperatures.</p><p>Smoke from wildfires contains two main kinds of carbon particles: black soot, or elemental carbon, and lighter-colored particles, called organic carbon aerosols, which are a mix of chemicals.</p><p>"In large quantities, downwind of fires, organic carbon aerosols are hazardous," said senior research fellow Jennifer Logan, who led a study examining rising wildfire rates and the impact on <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40327#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">air </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">quality</span></span></a>. "The particles irritate lung tissue and the chemicals they carry are toxic. But even at low concentrations, these aerosols may be dangerous. We don't know. There is no known threshold where damage begins."</p><p><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/08/wildfire-smoke-air-pollution-carbon-particles.html">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-36128312642904150582009-08-08T08:39:00.000-07:002009-08-08T08:40:09.330-07:00Can national parks be saved from global warming?From: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/08/national-parks-global-warming.html">Margot Roosevelt, LA Times</a></span> <br /><br /><div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5966">Bush Proposes Large Increase for Parks Leading up to 100th Birthday Bash</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/4745">Global Warming Puts Twelve U.S. Parks at Risk</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/22769">Congressional Report: Climate Change Hitting Federal Lands And Waters Hard</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/2912">Scientists Draft Blueprint To Protect World Oceans</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40323-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>The federal government must take decisive action to avoid "a potentially catastrophic loss of animal and plant life," in the national parks, according to a new report that details the effect of <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/40323#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">global </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">warming</span></span></a> on the country's most treasured public lands.</p><p>The 53-page report from the National Parks <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/40323#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">Conservation</span></span></a> Assn., a Washington-based advocacy group, contains a litany of concerns related to climate change in the parks, from the bleaching of coral reefs in Florida to the disappearance of high-altitude ponds that nurture yellow-legged frogs in California.</p><p>The group, which has offices in California and 10 other states, called on the National Park Service to come up with a detailed plan and funding to adapt to temperature-related ecosystem changes.</p><p>"Right now, no national plan exists to manage wildlife throughout their habitat, which often is a patchwork of lands managed by multiple federal agencies, states, tribes, municipalities and private landholders," wrote Tom C. Kiernan, president of the group.</p><p><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/08/national-parks-global-warming.html">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-51062705074341048852009-08-08T08:37:00.000-07:002009-08-08T08:38:15.857-07:00How to Get Cancer: Move to the United States<h1><span style="font-size:100%;">From: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.livescience.com/health/090806-cancer-hispanics.html">Live Science</a></span></span> </h1> <div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/31492">Birth control pills may lower colon cancer risk</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27506">Report sees 7.6 million global 2007 cancer deaths</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/26715">U.S. childhood cancer death rate declines sharply</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/36004">Firefighters show higher risks of certain cancers</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40321-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>he risk of cancer for Hispanics living in Florida is 40 percent higher than for those who live in their native countries, a puzzling new study finds.</p><p>The finding holds even after researchers corrected for the increase detection rates in the United States. And access to <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/health/article/40321#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static; background-color: transparent;">health </span><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static; background-color: transparent;">care</span></span><span style="position: relative;" id="preLoadWrap0"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer0"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> did not make things better.</p><p>"This suggests that changes in their environment and lifestyles make them more prone to develop cancer," said Dr. Paulo S. Pinheiro, a researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.</p><p>Cancers of the colon and rectum among Cubans and Mexicans who moved to the United States was more than double that in Cuba and Mexico. <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/health/article/40321#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">Lung </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">cancer</span></span></a> among Mexican and Puerto Rican women living in Florida was also double the rates in their countries of origin. </p><p><a href="http://www.livescience.com/health/090806-cancer-hispanics.html">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-91417219414422283862009-08-08T08:35:00.000-07:002009-08-08T08:36:58.109-07:00Alaskan Glaciers REALLY are Shrinking<div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40324">Alaska Glaciers Shrinking Fast</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40190">Ice Volume Of Switzerland’s Glaciers Calculated</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/3221">Scientists Say Greenland Glaciers Retreating</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/21987"> Hundreds Pose Naked on Shrinking Swiss Glacier</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40329-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>"Fifty years of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research on glacier change shows recent dramatic shrinkage of glaciers in three climatic regions of the United States. These long periods of record provide clues to the climate shifts that may be driving glacier change."</p><p>Beginning in 1957, the USGS has taken annual measurements of the South <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40329#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">Cascade</span></span></a> Glacier in Washington state, and followed shortly thereafter monitoring the Gulkana Glacier on the coast of Alaska and <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40329#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">Wolverine</span></span></a> Glacier in Alaska's interior.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><div id="left_column"> <strong> </strong><div class="squaread"> <strong> </strong><h4><strong></strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">All three glaciers have shrunk and thinned, the report says, with the mass loss rapidly accelerating over the past 15 years. The South Cascade Glacier has lost nearly 25% of its weight, and the two Alaskan glaciers about 15%.</span></h4> <strong> </strong><p><!--/* OpenX iFrame Tag v2.6.1 */--> <strong> <br /></strong></p></div></div><p>Between 1987 and 2004 all three glaciers consistently lost more snow and ice each summer as compared to years prior, the report says. Combined with less snowfall the loss has led to the net decline of the glaceirs.<br />The study raises concerns about diminishing freshwater runoff and the future availability for fresh drinking water in areas that depend on the glaciers for water supply as they continue to shrink - some possibly disappearing entirely. The shrinkage also changes water temperatures, effecting the habitat of fish, insects, and other <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40329#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2333px; position: static;">animals</span></span></a> downstream, says USGS scientist Shad O'Neel.</p><p>Photo shows the South Cascade Glacier in 1928 (top) and now (bottom).</p><p>Article continues: <a href="http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/2009/08/07/usgs-report-shows-a-dramatic-decline-in-us-glaciers/">http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/2009/08/07/usgs-report-shows-a-dramatic-decline-in-us-glaciers/</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-70482176788653324632009-07-25T11:11:00.000-07:002009-07-25T11:12:31.010-07:00Greenwash: easyJet's carbon claims written on the wind<div id="main-article-info"> <p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone">EasyJet says its flights have a smaller carbon footprint than a Toyota Prius hybrid car. Let's do the maths…</p> </div> <div id="content"> <ul class="article-attributes"><li class="byline"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/fredpearce" name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{Fred Pearce}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{1}">Fred Pearce</a> </li><li class="publication"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/" name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{guardian.co.uk}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{2}">guardian.co.uk</a>, Thursday 23 July 2009 08.00 BST </li></ul> <div id="article-wrapper"> <div class="image"> <img src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/7/22/1248259068912/easyjet-001.jpg" alt="easyjet" height="276" width="460" /> <p class="caption">EasyJet claims its flights have smaller carbon footprints than a Toyota Prius. Photograph: Philippe Hays/Rex Features</p> </div> <p>You probably weren't watching BBC3 at 4am on Monday morning. Not if you had a job to go to in the morning, anyhow. So you probably missed a nice little programme called <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lnd13/Mischief_Series_4_Britains_Embarrassing_Emissions/" title="Britain's Embarrassing Emissions">Britain's Embarrassing Emissions</a>.</p><p>It door-stepped the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jan/14/george-monbiot-andy-harrison" title="budget airline Easyjet">budget airline easyJet</a> about claims on the company's website that it is greener than a hybrid car. Or, more particularly, that its emissions were less than those of a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/29/energyefficiency.greentech?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront" title="Toyota Prius">Toyota Prius</a>. It's greenwash, of course. As, I discovered, are several of its other environmental claims.</p><p>The crux of the matter is the company's website, which highlights a graph showing that <a href="http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Environment/carbon_emissions_calculator.asp" title="its emissions " based="" on="" one="" person="" are="" 7="" grams="" per="" kilometre="">its emissions "based on one person" are 95.7g/km</a>, whereas those for a Prius are 104g/km. As the programme pointed out, this is not comparing like with like. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/easyjet">EasyJet</a> doesn't say so, but its "typical comparison" is very atypical. It assumes that the plane is full and its emissions are shared out among all the passengers, while the Prius is presumed to have only one occupant.</p><p>EasyJet may succeed in its aim of completely filling up every flight (though it is not true in my experience). But all British official stats on car emissions reckon on an average of 1.6 passengers in a car. Eastjet presumably didn't follow this convention, because it would show even a full easyJet flight emitting 47% more per passenger-kilometre than an averagely full Prius. And of course a full easyJet flight would emit close to for four times as much per passenger as a full Prius carrying four people.</p><p>In the programme, which I'm guessing was filmed recently, the hapless easyJet spokesman appeared to promise to try and get the website changed to reflect reality. Not so far, it hasn't. The greenwash persists. And if the claims are repeated in any of easyJet's advertising perhaps someone fancies contacting the <a href="http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/" title="Advertising Standards Authority">Advertising Standards Authority</a>...</p><p>But the <a href="http://www.easyjet.com/en/news/response_to_air_transport_white_paper.html" title="environment pages">environment pages</a> of <a href="http://www.easyjet.com/EN/About/Information/infopack_environmentalpolicy.html" title="Easyjet's site contain other slippery claims">easyJet's site</a> contain <a href="https://www.easyjet.com/EN/environment/green_in_the_air.shtml" title="other slippery claims">other slippery claims</a>. They repeatedly proclaim that "aviation's carbon dioxide emissions... only account for 1.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions", citing as the source Lord Stern's famous review of the economics of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change">climate change</a>. But the company ignores the next sentence in Stern's text, which says that "the impact of aviation on climate change is greater than these figures suggest because of other gases released by aircraft... for example water vapour". These emissions roughly double the effect, says Stern. So make that 3.2%.</p><p>Oddly enough, easyJet's seems seems not to trust its headline claims. Its own report on corporate and social responsibility <a href="http://www.easyjet.com/common/img/easyJet_CRS.pdf" title="quotes a figure of 3.5 per cent">quotes a figure of 3.5%</a> contained in a report from the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ipcc" title="Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> in 1999.</p><p>In any event, both Stern and the IPCC report are out of date. <a href="http://pdf.wri.org/navigating_numbers.pdf" title="Stern's data come from someone else's report in 2005">Stern's data come from someone else's report in 2005</a>, which in turn cites data for 2002. Since when global aircraft emissions have grown by about 40%. And IPCC scientists now quote a figure for <a href="http://www.mmu.ac.uk/news/news-items/news-detail.php?id=1066" title="aviation's contribution to global warming of almost 5 per cent">aviation's contribution to global warming of almost 5%</a>.</p><p>Whatever aviation's true contribution to global warming, it is not 1.6%.</p><p>What else does easyJet offer to reassure its growing number of passengers that it is green to fly? Naturally, since it doesn't fly to the US, the company flags up how flying to Europe is better. So it says in big letters: "<a href="http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Environment/carbon_emissions_calculator.asp" title="Flying from London to Nice produces 10 times fewer carbon dioxide emissions">Flying from London to Nice produces 10 times fewer CO2 emissions than flying London to Miami.</a>"</p><p>Leaving aside the ugly English, I am not sure this stands up. Since easyJet doesn't fly to Miami, we can't check the stat on its own carbon calculator. But <a href="http://www.jpmorganclimatecare.com/" title="a couple of others I went to, including Climate Care">a couple of others I went to, including Climate Care</a>, show the difference at a bit over eight times.</p><p>The comparison is misleading in a more important way, however. If I need to get to Miami, I have little choice other than to fly. Whereas if i need to get to Nice, I can catch a train. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/22/greenwash-train-travel" title="It might take a bit longer, but it will save on carbon">It might take a bit longer, but it will save on carbon</a>. Thanks to the nuclear power-running Eurostar and the French railways, my emissions would be, very roughly, one-tenth those of flying. With easyJet or anyone else.</p> </div> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-48897387171199034672009-07-25T11:08:00.001-07:002009-07-25T11:08:51.593-07:00China dust cloud circled globe in 13 days<h1>China dust cloud circled globe in 13 days</h1> <div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5219">Study Shows Africa Dust May Hamper Hurricanes</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/36607">African dust forecast could be new hurricane tool</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27285">Asian desert dust found over western United States</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/2127">Hazy Cloud of Saharan Dust Nearing U.S.</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40241-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <br /><p>Dust clouds generated by a huge dust storm in China's Taklimakan desert in 2007 made more than one full circle around the globe in just 13 days, a Japanese study using a NASA satellite has found.</p><p>When the cloud reached the <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40241#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">Pacific </span><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">Ocean</span></span><span style="position: relative;" id="preLoadWrap0"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer0"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> the second time, it descended and deposited some of its dust into the sea, showing how a natural phenomenon can impact the <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40241#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">environment</span></span></a> far away.</p><p>"Asian dust is usually deposited near the Yellow Sea, around the Japan area, while Sahara dust ends up around the Atlantic Ocean and coast of Africa," said Itsushi Uno of Kyushu University's Research Institute for Applied Mechanics.</p><p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE56J3YH20090720?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-83980479345415532222009-07-25T11:07:00.000-07:002009-07-25T11:08:13.370-07:00Ocean current switch due to warming could be slower than feared<div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40216">Global Warming: Scientists' Best Predictions May Be Wrong</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5561">Gulf Stream Slowed Ten Percent in Little Ice Age</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37827">Climate chill came exactly 12,679 years ago: study</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39984">Water from Melting Greenland Ice Sheath May Impact Northeast US Coast</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40234-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>CHICAGO — The nightmare global warming scenario which provided the plot for a Hollywood blockbuster -- the Atlantic Ocean current that keeps Europe warm shuts down and triggers rapid <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40234#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">climate </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">change</span></span></a> -- has long worried scientists.</p><p>But a study published Thursday in the <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40234#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">journal </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Science</span></span></a> found it may not occur as quickly as previously feared.</p><div id="left_column"> <div class="squaread"> <h4><br /></h4></div> </div><p>There is evidence that this current has shut down with some regularity in the past -- and sometimes quite rapidly -- in response to large influxes of fresh water from melting glaciers.</p><p>However, it appears as though the current rate of glacial melt is occurring at a more gradual pace which will "give ecosystems more time to adjust to new conditions," said study coauthor Peter Clark, a professor of geosciences at Oregon State University.</p><p><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gsWQZj8wMAtHElZeloaOzmJvBspA">Article continues</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-86817207524202174422009-07-25T11:06:00.000-07:002009-07-25T11:07:23.233-07:00NOAA Reports Record Ocean Surface Temperatures for JuneFrom: <span class="name">, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/">Global Warming is Real</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.enn.com/editorial_affiliates/67">More from this Affiliate</a></span> <br />Published <span class="date">July 21, 2009 07:30 AM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/6203">This Was World's Warmest Recorded Winter, U.S. Government Says</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/2843">Planet Sees Warmest September on Record</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27221">Land temperatures seen warmest in 2007</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/38970">2009 to be one of warmest years on record: researchers</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40239-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported findings of preliminary analysis from the agency's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina that shows global ocean surface temperatures for June broke the previous record set in 2005.</p><p>The combined average global/land and ocean surface temperature for June was the second warmest on record, 1.12 degrees <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40239#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Fahrenheit</span></span></a> (0.62 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average of 59.9 degrees F.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p>Ocean surface temperatures for June '09 were the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degrees C) above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F.</p><p>The global land surface temperature for June was 1.26 degrees F above the 20th century average, and the sixth warmest June on record.</p>Article continues: <a href="http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/2009/07/20/noaa-reports-record-ocean-surface-temperatures-for-june/">http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/2009/07/20/noaa-reports-record-ocean-surface-temperatures-f</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-3309742295033291102009-07-25T11:05:00.000-07:002009-07-25T11:13:15.194-07:00How Clouds Over the Oceans Affect Our Climate<div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/38926">Warmer oceans would fuel more thunderstorms</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27043">New study increases concerns about climate model reliability</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/22307">Scientists: Polar ice clouds may be climate change symptom</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/26829">New research may lead to better climate models for global warming, El Nino</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40260-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>How clouds over the ocean affect our climate, and how <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40260#"><span style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-weight: 400; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#0000e0;" >climate </span><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-weight: 400; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#0000e0;" >change</span></span><span style="position: relative;" id="preLoadWrap0"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer0"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> may be affecting THEM, is not well known. There is no network of observing stations like on land, and <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40260#"><span style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" ><span class="kLink" style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" >climate </span><span class="kLink" style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" >models</span></span></a> have not been shown to really simulate clouds well. They may be just too fine a detail for models that cover such large scale phenomenon as oceanic circulation. But clouds over the oceans have been thought be important in our understanding of what drives our climate.</p><p><br />In a study published in the July 24 issue of Science, researchers Amy Clement and Robert Burgman from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and Joel Norris from Scripps Institution of <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40260#"><span style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" ><span class="kLink" style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" >Oceanography</span></span></a> at UC San Diego begin to unravel this mystery. Using observational data collected over the last 50 years and complex climate models, the team has established that low-level stratiform clouds appear to dissipate as the ocean warms, indicating that changes in these clouds may enhance the warming of the planet.<br />The result of their analysis was a surprising degree of agreement between two multi-decade datasets that were not only independent of each other, but that employed fundamentally different measurement methods. One set consisted of collected visual observations from ships over the last 50 years, and the other was based on data collected from weather <a id="KonaLink3" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40260#"><span style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" ><span class="kLink" style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" >satellites</span></span></a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><br />"The agreement we found between the surface-based observations and the satellite data was almost shocking," said Clement, a professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami and winner of the American <a id="KonaLink4" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40260#"><span style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" ><span class="kLink" style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12;color:#000000;" >Geophysical</span></span></a> Union's 2007 Macelwane Award for her groundbreaking work on climate change. "These are subtle changes that take place over decades. It is extremely encouraging that a satellite passing miles above the earth would document the same thing as sailors looking up at a cloudy sky from the deck of a ship."<br />Together, the observations and the Hadley Centre model results provide evidence that low-level stratiform clouds, which currently shield the earth from the sun's radiation, may dissipate in warming climates, allowing the oceans to further heat up, which would then cause more cloud dissipation.</p><p><br />"This is somewhat of a vicious cycle potentially exacerbating global warming," said Clement. "But these findings provide a new way of looking at cloud changes. This can help to improve the simulation of clouds in climate models, which will lead to more accurate projections of future climate changes. "</p><p>For more information:<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/21575"> http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/21575</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-79474282931227982862009-07-03T10:39:00.000-07:002009-07-03T10:40:15.512-07:00Drax protesters found guilty of obstructing coal train<div id="article-header"> <div id="main-article-info"> <p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone">Climate change protesters face community service after judge rejects justification defence</p> </div></div> <div id="content"> <ul class="article-attributes no-pic"><li class="byline"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/martinwainwright" name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{Martin Wainwright}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{1}">Martin Wainwright</a> </li><li class="publication"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/" name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{guardian.co.uk}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{2}">guardian.co.uk</a>, Friday 3 July 2009 16.00 BST </li></ul> <div id="article-wrapper"> <span class="inline embed embed-media"> <script id="omnitureVideoData_1604920405" type="text/javascript"> function getOmnitureAccount_1604920405(){ return "guardiangu-environment,guardiangu-network,guardiandev2"; 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insertVideoObject(460, 370, "http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/26396137001?isVid=1&isUI=1&publisherID=281851582", flashVars) }) (); </script><object id="flashObj" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="370" width="460"> <param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/26396137001?isVid=1&isUI=1&publisherID=281851582"> <param name="flashVars" value="playerID=26396137001&@videoPlayer=1604920405&domain=embed&adServerURL=http%3A%2F%2Fads.guardian.co.uk%2Fhtml.ng%2Fspacedesc%3Dvideo%26system%3Dvideo%26title%3D1604920405%26site%3DEnvironment%26url%3D%25252Fenvironment%25252Fvideo%25252F2008%25252Fjun%25252F13%25252Ftrain.coal.protest%26comfolder%3DEthicalLiving%26keywords%3DActivism%252B%2528Environment%2529%252CCarbon%252Bemissions%252B%2528Environment%2529%252CFossil%252Bfuels%252B%2528Environment%2529%252CEnvironment%252CCoal%252B%2528environment%2529%26bandwidth%3Dcable%26tile%3D4538184"> <param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com"> <param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="swLiveConnect" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <embed id="flashObj" src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/26396137001?isVid=1&isUI=1&publisherID=281851582" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="playerID=26396137001&@videoPlayer=1604920405&domain=embed&adServerURL=http%3A%2F%2Fads.guardian.co.uk%2Fhtml.ng%2Fspacedesc%3Dvideo%26system%3Dvideo%26title%3D1604920405%26site%3DEnvironment%26url%3D%25252Fenvironment%25252Fvideo%25252F2008%25252Fjun%25252F13%25252Ftrain.coal.protest%26comfolder%3DEthicalLiving%26keywords%3DActivism%252B%2528Environment%2529%252CCarbon%252Bemissions%252B%2528Environment%2529%252CFossil%252Bfuels%252B%2528Environment%2529%252CEnvironment%252CCoal%252B%2528environment%2529%26bandwidth%3Dcable%26tile%3D4538184" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="370" width="460"></embed> </object> </div> <span class="caption"> <a name="&lid={inBodyVideo}{Link to this video}&lpos={inBodyVideo}{1}" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/jun/13/train.coal.protest"></a> </span> </span> <p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change">Climate change</a> protesters who <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/13/activists.climatechange" title="ambushed and hijacked a power station coal train">ambushed and hijacked a power station coal train</a> failed to convince a jury today that their actions were justified by the "imminent threat" of devastation from global warming.</p><p>The 22 men and women, including a senior university lecturer, teachers and film-makers, were convicted - after less than two hours of deliberation - of obstructing the service carrying 42,000 tonnes of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/coal">coal</a> to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/draxgroup">Drax</a> in North Yorkshire last June.</p><p>Their hopes of repeating the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/11/activists.kingsnorthclimatecamp" title="'Kingsnorth Six' judgment last September">"Kingsnorth Six" judgment last September</a>, when <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/may/31/nick-broomfield-kingsnorth" title="activists who daubed a power station chimney">activists who defaced a power station chimney</a> were <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/may/31/kingsnorth-climate-change?picture=348147042" title="acquitted by a Kent jury">acquitted by a Kent jury</a>, were dashed by a judge, who refused to admit arguments that the hijack was "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/12/activists.kingsnorth" title="necessary and proportionate to prevent the greater crime of carbon pollution">necessary and proportionate to prevent the greater crime of carbon pollution</a>".</p><p>Although he eventually allowed an unexpectedly large amount of evidence about climate change to be heard, Judge James Spencer refused to let expert witnesses such as Nasa scientist, Prof James Hansen, address the seven women and five men on the jury at Leeds crown court. In a pre-trial ruling he said that to do so would allow the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/01/drax-protesters-climate-change-jury" title="protesters " to="" hijack="" trial="" process="" surely="" as="" they="" hijacked="" the="" coal="" train="">protesters "to hijack the trial process as surely as they hijacked the coal train</a>".</p><p>He did however compliment the group, who conducted their own defence, on making an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/02/drax-protester-trial-jury-retires" title="" moving="" and="" engaging="" case="" to="" the="" court="">"eloquent, sincere, moving and engaging" case to the court</a>. After the verdicts, he said that sentencing in early September would definitely not include jail terms, but was likely to be community service.</p><p>The 22, plus a further five protesters who earlier pleaded guilty and two who are ill but expected to submit guilty pleas in due course, will however face hefty financial penalties. The crown is applying for both its costs and £36,000 compensation for cleaning up coal shovelled on to the tracks during a 16-hour standoff with police.</p><p>After the verdict, one of the 22, Dr Louise Hemmerman, 31, said: "The judge declared from day one that climate change was irrelevant to the trial, despite the fact <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/30/drax-train-trial-protest" title="that it was the sole reason for doing what we did">that it was the sole reason for doing what we did</a>."</p><p>Another of the group, Jonathan Stevenson, 27, who works for a development charity, said: "This won't be the last case where climate protesters are in court for taking peaceful direct action, and while <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/02/drax-protesters-defence-sum-up" title="some judges may think climate change is irrelevant, they won't be able to hold back the tide forever">some judges may think climate change is irrelevant, they won't be able to hold back the tide forever</a>."</p><p>Stevenson asked the judge after the verdicts if an order banning the defendants from power stations would apply more widely, to include roads. Judge Spencer replied with a smile: "I would steer clear of demonstrations, all of you, until this case is completely over. Try to find some other activities to do on your holidays."</p><p>Hansen, head of <a href="http://www.giss.nasa.gov/" title="Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies">Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies</a>, whom the defendants had intended to call to the stand to speak about the science of climate change, said: "Civil resistance is not an easy path, but given abdication of responsibility by the government, it is an essential path."</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/24/james-hansen-daryl-hannah-mining-protest" title="Hansen was arrested last week">Hansen was arrested last week</a> for his part in a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest">protest</a> over mountaintop coalmining in West Virginia. He has previously said that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/24/james-hansen-daryl-hannah-mining-protest" title="direct action is necessary">direct action is necessary</a> because the democratic process is not bringing about policy change fast enough.</p><p>The chief crown prosecutor for North Yorkshire, Rob Turnbull, said: "While the CPS [crown prosecution service] respects the rights of individuals to lawfully protest, it takes a serious view of criminal activity which targets those carrying out lawful activities." He defended Judge Spencer's pre-trial ruling on the grounds that no one was in such immediate danger from global warning that hijacking a coal train was "proportionate".</p><p>"The judge said that if the power station contributed to global warming, and all that entailed, it was for the government to attend to and not the protesters. He also said that no reasonable jury could conclude that the crime these defendants allegedly committed was either reasonable or proportionate when there were democratic processes available in this country for political change."</p><p>The 22 were acquitted of actually stopping the train, after evidence that no one knew which of them had donned fake railwaymen's uniforms and used red flags to bring it to a halt. The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/03/drax-protest-coal-trial" title="ambush stopped the train right on a bridge over the river Aire">ambush stopped the train right on a bridge over the river Aire</a>, whose girders gave protesters the means to clamber up and use 15 shovels to start unloading coal.</p><p>Passenger and freight services in the area were disrupted for two days, but Drax generated power normally throughout.</p><p>Those convicted were: Theo Bard, 24, Amy Clancy, 24, Brian Farelly, 32, Grainne Gannon, 26, Bryn Hoskins, 24, Jasmin Karalis, 25, Ellen Potts, 33, Bertie Russell, 24, Alison Stratford,26, Jonathan Stevenson, 27 and Felix Wight, all of London, Melanie Evans,25, Matthew Fawcette, 34, Robin Gillett, 23, Kristina Jones 22, Oliver Rodker, 40 and Thomas Spencer,23, all of Manchester, Paul Chatterton, 36, and Louise Hemmerman, 31, of Leeds, Melanie Evans, 25, of Stockport, Paul Morozzo, 42, of Hebden Bridge, Christopher Ward, 38, of Newport Pagnell and Elizabeth Whelan of Glasgow.</p><p>The five who pleaded guilty earlier were: Theo Brown, 22 and Clemmie James, 24, of London, Malcolm Carroll, 53, of Stafford, Thomas Johnstone, 25, of Liverpool and Paul Mellett, 29, of Colerne, Wiltshire. The two have indicated they will plead guilty when well are Caroline Williams, 25, of London and Sam Martingell, 24, of Leeds.</p> </div> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-3089388081215760552009-07-03T10:36:00.000-07:002009-07-03T10:38:10.930-07:00Great Lakes wolves returning to endangered listFrom: <span style="font-weight: bold;" class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31661847/ns/us_news-environment/">AP via MSNBC</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div style="font-weight: bold;" class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/3883">Great Lakes Gray Wolves No Longer Endangered</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39842">Grey Wolf Taken Off Endangered List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39569">Federal rule 'delisting' gray wolves is issued</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5925">U.S. Plans to Remove Gray Wolves from Endangered List</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40149-2.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p style="font-weight: bold;">The federal government on Monday agreed to put <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40149#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">gray </span><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">wolves</span></span><span style="position: relative;" id="preLoadWrap0"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer0"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> in the western Great Lakes region back on the endangered species list — at least temporarily.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">The decision came less than two months after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discontinued federal protection for about 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The agency acknowledged Monday that it erred by not holding a legally required public comment period before taking action.</p><div id="left_column"> <div class="squaread"> <h4 style="font-weight: bold;">Under a settlement with five environmental and <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40149#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">animal </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">protection</span></span></a> groups that had sued the agency earlier this month, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it would return Great Lakes wolves to the list while considering its next move.</h4> <p><!--/* OpenX iFrame Tag v2.6.1 */--> <iframe id="adbbd5fd" name="adbbd5fd" src="http://www.enn.com/openx/www/delivery/afr.php?n=adbbd5fd&zoneid=8&cb=%3C%=%20rand%20%%3E&ct0=INSERT_CLICKURL_HERE" framespacing="0" frameborder="no" height="250" scrolling="no" width="300">&lt;a href='http://www.enn.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a30c42f2&amp;amp;cb=&lt;%= rand %&gt;' target='_blank'&gt;&lt;img src='http://www.enn.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=8&amp;amp;cb=&lt;%= rand %&gt;&amp;amp;n=a30c42f2&amp;amp;ct0=INSERT_CLICKURL_HERE' border='0' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</iframe> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.enn.com/openx/www/delivery/ag.php"></script> <!--/* End OpenX iFrame Tag v2.6.1 */--> </p> </div> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-18056574637486329722009-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:002009-07-03T10:36:02.620-07:00Sea Ice At Lowest Level In 800 Years Near Greenland<div style="clear: both;"> <div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39882">Survey Of Ocean Climate May Improve Climate Predictions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/38066">Global warming greatest in past decade</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39575">Ice-free Arctic Ocean Possible In 30 Years, Not 90 As Previously Estimated</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27715">The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40153-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40153#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">scientific </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">journal</span></span></a>, Climate Dynamics.There are of course neither <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40153#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">satellite </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">images</span></span></a> nor instrumental records of the climate all the way back to the 13th century, but nature has its own 'archive' of the climate in both ice cores and the annual growth rings of trees and we humans have made records of a great many things over the years - such as observations in the log books of ships and in harbour records. Piece all of the information together and you get a picture of how much sea ice there has been throughout time.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p>"We have combined information about the climate found in ice cores from an <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40153#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">ice </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">cap</span></span></a> on Svalbard and from the annual growth rings of trees in Finland and this gave us a curve of the past climate" explains Aslak Grinsted, geophysicist with the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.</p><p>In order to determine how much sea ice there has been, the researchers needed to turn to data from the logbooks of ships, which whalers and fisherman kept of their expeditions to the boundary of the sea ice. The ship logbooks are very precise and go all the way back to the 16th century. They relate at which geographical position the ice was found. Another source of information about the ice are records from harbours in Iceland, where the severity of the <a id="KonaLink3" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40153#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">winters</span></span><span style="position: relative;" id="preLoadWrap3"><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 4000; top: -32px; left: -18px; display: none;" id="preLoadLayer3"><img style="border: 0px none ;" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" /></div></span></a> have been recorded since the end of the 18th century.</p><p>Article continues: <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701102900.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701102900.htm</a></p> </div> <!-- sharethis Button BEGIN --> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://w.sharethis.com/widget/?tabs=web%2Cpost%2Cemail&charset=utf-8&style=default&publisher=cb928748-4a06-4a28-a5d6-78457d60fff0&headerbg=%234762b3&inactivebg=%23f8fcd9&linkfg=%23000000"></script><span id="sharethis_1"><a st_page="home" href="javascript:void(0)" title="ShareThis via email, AIM, social bookmarking and networking sites, etc." class="stbutton stico_default"><span st_page="home" class="stbuttontext">ShareThis</span></a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-44129443618907400712009-06-02T10:17:00.000-07:002009-06-02T10:19:00.049-07:00UK carbon offset schemes 'failing to reduce emissions'<div id="article-header"> <div id="main-article-info"> <p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone">Expansion of carbon offsetting and clean development mechanism is locking developing nations into a high-carbon path, report warns</p> </div> </div> <div id="content"> <ul class="article-attributes no-pic"><li class="byline"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnvidal" name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{John Vidal}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{1}">John Vidal</a>, environment editor </li><li class="publication"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/" name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{guardian.co.uk}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{2}">guardian.co.uk</a>, Tuesday 2 June 2009 17.59 BST </li></ul> <div id="article-wrapper"> <p>Britain is the world centre of a multibillion dollar "carbon offset" industry which is failing to lower global greenhouse gas emissions, <a href="http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/dangerous_distraction.pdf" title="a major report from Friends of the Earth">a major report from Friends of the Earth</a> claimed today.</p><p>The authors urged governments meeting this week in <a href="http://unfccc.int/meetings/sb30/items/4842.php" title="Bonn for UN climate change talks">Bonn for UN climate change talks</a> to drop plans to expand offsetting schemes, which allow rich countries to invest in projects that reduce emissions in poor countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries.</p><p>Offsetting is set to expand enormously if the 192 governments meeting in Bonn allow forests, nuclear power and other sources of "clean energy" to count towards emissions reductions as part of a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen" title="UN climate treaty expected to be agreed in Copenhagen">UN climate treaty expected to be agreed in Copenhagen</a> this December..</p><p>The problem, said the report, is that offset schemes are delivering much lower greenhouse gas cuts than the science says are needed to avoid catstrophic <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change">climate change</a>. Offsetting supports the idea that the cuts can be made in either rich or in poor countries " ... when it is clear that action is needed in both," said the report. "Offsets are a dangerous distraction ... It is almost impossible to prove that offsetting projects would not have happened without the offset finance. Nor is it possible to calculate accurately how much carbon a project is saving," it added.</p><p>Offsetting has been promoted heavily by the UK government in Europe and the UN as a painless way of reducing global emissions. The idea has mushroomed in the last five years with the rapid growth of the UN's clean development mechanism (CDM) which attracts investment money to poorer countries in new projects. These are expected to deliver more than half of the EU's planned carbon reductions to 2020.</p><p>"The clean development mechanism is supposed to be a way of making the same level of carbon cuts as would otherwise happen, but more cost effectively. At best it shifts a cut in a developed country to one in a developing one. In practice, it does not even do this," said <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/12/climate-change-poznan" title="Andy Atkins">Andy Atkins</a>, executive director of Friends of the Earth UK.</p><p>Moreover, said the report, the CDM is locking in poor countries to a high-carbon path, with some big CDM projects approved for even major fossil fuel power stations. "A large part of CDM revenues are subsidising carbon intensive industries or projects building fossil fuel power stations."</p><p>Two previous analyses of the CDM <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/26/climatechange.greenpolitics" title="suggested that companies routinely abuse the UN-backed offsetting scheme">suggested that companies routinely abuse the UN-backed offsetting scheme</a>, wasting billions of pounds.</p><p>The UK government has already used offsetting as a way to justify high carbon investments in major projects like the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/15/bbaaviation-theairlineindustry" title="expansion of Heathrow">expansion of Heathrow</a>, it said. "Offsetting makes it far more likely that developed countries will continue on a high-carbon path, choosing to buy cheap permits rather than invest in low-carbon infrastructure," said the report's authors.</p><p>Nearly 30% of the world's 2,500 CDM projects originate in London, although not all the projects offset UK emissions.</p> </div> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-89813067288603495612009-06-02T10:16:00.000-07:002009-06-02T10:17:26.137-07:00NASA Satellite Detects Red Glow to Map Global Ocean Plant HealthFrom: <span class="name">Editor, ENN</span> <br />Published <span class="date">June 1, 2009 10:28 AM</span> <div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5600">Crucial Marine Food Chain Link Withers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/26277">Global Warming Warrior</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39519">Hungry shrimp eat climate change experiment </a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27482">Saharan Dust Has Chilling Effect on North Atlantic</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40004-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>A study published by NASA uses satellite remote sensing technology to measure the amount of fluorescent red light emitted by ocean phytoplankton and assess how efficiently the <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40004#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">microscopic</span></span></a> plants are turning sunlight and nutrients into food through <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40004#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">photosynthesis</span></span></a>. They can also study how changes in the global <a id="KonaLink3" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40004#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">environment</span></span></a> alter these processes, which are at the center of the ocean <a id="KonaLink4" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40004#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">food </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">web</span></span></a>.</p><p>Researchers have conducted the first global analysis of the health and productivity of ocean plants, as revealed by a unique signal detected by a NASA satellite. Ocean scientists can now remotely measure the amount of fluorescent red light emitted by ocean phytoplankton and assess how efficiently the microscopic plants are turning sunlight and nutrients into food through photosynthesis. They can also study how changes in the global environment alter these processes, which are at the center of the ocean food web.</p><p>"This is the first direct measurement of the health of the phytoplankton in the ocean," said Michael Behrenfeld, a biologist who specializes in marine plants at the Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. "We have an important new tool for observing changes in phytoplankton every week, all over the planet."</p><p>The findings were published this month in the journal Biogeosciences and presented at a news briefing on May 28.</p><p>The fluorescence data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) gives scientists a tool that enables research to reveal where waters are iron-enriched or iron-limited, and to observe how changes in iron influence plankton. The iron needed for plant growth reaches the sea surface on winds blowing dust from deserts and other arid areas, and from upwelling currents near river plumes and islands.</p><p>The new analysis of MODIS data has allowed the research team to detect new regions of the ocean affected by iron deposition and depletion. The Indian Ocean was a particular surprise, as large portions of the ocean were seen to "light up" seasonally with changes in monsoon winds.</p><p><a id="KonaLink5" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40004#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Climate </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">change</span></span></a> could mean stronger winds pick up more dust and blow it to sea, or less intense winds leaving waters dust-free. Some regions will become drier and others wetter, changing the regions where dusty soils accumulate and get swept up into the air. Phytoplankton will reflect and react to these global changes.</p><p>The image shows a data-based map of the "fluorescence yield" of phytoplankton in the oceans during 2004. "Fluorescence yield" is the fraction of absorbed sunlight that is given off by the plants as fluorescence and it changes with the health or stress of the phytoplankton. More fluorescence is emitted when waters are low in key nutrients such as iron. Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.</p><p>Interestingly, the regions of highest fluorescence yield are almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. The interactions of Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere oceanic and atmospheric circulations will be important factors in understanding the significance of these new findings.</p><p>For more information: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/modis_fluorescence.html"> http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/modis_fluorescence.html</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-2192091318911609512009-06-02T10:15:00.001-07:002009-06-02T10:15:58.952-07:00Brazilian beef industry blamed for Amazon deforestationFrom: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.mercopress.com/2009/06/01/brazilian-beef-industry-blamed-for-amazon-deforestation">Merco Press</a></span> <br />Published <span class="date">June 1, 2009 09:52 AM</span> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27996">Brazil cracks down on illegal Amazon farm products</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/29978">Brazil's army to help combat Amazon destruction</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/1595">Amazon Destruction Accelerating in Brazil</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37855">Wanted: $21 Billion to Save Brazilian Rainforest</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40000-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>Boots and training shoes are not the first things that spring to mind when you think about the causes of rainforest destruction and climate change, but just because the connection isn’t obvious doesn’t mean it isn’t realm, says Greenpeace in a new report, "Slaughtering the Amazon".</p><p>But it's not only shoes. Products as diverse as handbags and ready meals, and companies as big as Tesco, BMW, IKEA and Kraft also rely on Amazon leather. Practically all Western world consumers have some by-product of Amazon destruction in our homes somewhere, whether we like it or not. Effectively, these brands are driving this destruction by buying beef and leather products from unscrupulous suppliers in Brazil points out the <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40000#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Greenpeace</span></span></a> report.</p><div id="left_column"><div class="squaread"><p> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.enn.com/openx/www/delivery/ag.php"></script> <!--/* End OpenX iFrame Tag v2.6.1 */--> </p> </div> </div><p>The report says the cattle industry is the single biggest cause of deforestation in the world as trees are cleared to make way for ranches. And the Brazilian government is also fuelling the process by offering billions of dollars in loans to support the expansion of the <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40000#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">cattle</span></span></a> industry. President Lula de Silva has pledged to double his country's share of the global beef market by 2018. The report contrasts these investments with Lula da Silva's recent promise to cut deforestation by 72% by the same date and to set up an international fund for protecting the Amazon.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4369693216974758232.post-7847371934880835922009-06-02T10:13:00.000-07:002009-06-02T10:15:04.866-07:00Global Bird Species in Serious DeclineFrom: <span class="name"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6123">Ben Block</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.worldwatch.org/">Worldwatch Institute</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.enn.com/editorial_affiliates/39">More from this Affiliate</a></span> <br />Published <span class="date">June 2, 2009 06:44 AM</span> <div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"> <div class="header">RELATED ARTICLES</div> <ul><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/36511">Climate change hitting bird species, shows study</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/21808">Alert: Preventing Bird Extinctions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/182">Amphibian Extinctions Sound Global Eco-alarm, Says Study</a></li><li><a href="http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/387">Scientists Say More Than 15,000 Species Facing Extinction</a></li></ul> </div> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/40006-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <p>Researchers have known about the speckled brown Sidamo lark for only 40 years. Always a rare sight, the elusive bird may soon vanish from the prairie grasses of Ethiopia forever.</p><p>Its habitat already restricted to less than 100 square kilometers, the lark is rapidly losing territory as local residents, the Borana ethnic group, convert grassland into heavily grazed pasture. Unless the Borana are allowed to resume their nomadic ways, within the next few years the Sidamo lark will likely become the first known bird species to vanish from mainland Africa, researchers say.</p><p>"We estimate there are fewer than 250 adult individuals left," said Claire Spottiswoode, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge. "In the absence of urgent conservation action on the ground, it is only a matter of time before it goes extinct; no other species on the continent seems to face quite such an imminent fate."</p><p>The Sidamo lark is among the most <a id="KonaLink0" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40006#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">endangered </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">birds</span></span></a> included on the Red List of <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40006#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Threatened </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Species</span></span></a>, which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updated last month for global bird species and for European amphibians and reptiles.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The IUCN Red List, considered the authority on the status of the world's plant and animal species, now includes 1,227 bird species (12 percent of known birds) as threatened with extinction - 192 of them critically endangered.</p><p>Habitat loss, <a id="KonaLink2" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40006#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">climate </span><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">change</span></span></a>, and the spread of invasive species are the main threats to avian biodiversity, the conservation organization said.</p><p>"In global terms, things continue to get worse," said Leon Bennun, director of <a id="KonaLink3" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40006#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">science</span></span></a> and policy for BirdLife International, which conducted the updated research. "But there are some real conservation success stories this year to give us hope and point the way forward."<br />IUCN upgraded three bird species from "critically endangered" to "endangered" due to successful habitat protection strategies. Among the advances, a 2007 survey found that the bright blue Lear's macaw of Brazil had expanded to a population size of 750, after being reduced to only 70 wild individuals in the late 1980s.</p><p>The Red List was also updated with a continent-wide assessment of Europe's amphibians and reptiles.</p><p>Amphibians are in particular danger. Habitat loss is threatening nearly all of the continent's species, with nearly 60 percent in decline and 23 percent classified as threatened. <a id="KonaLink4" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40006#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">Pollution</span></span></a>, including climate change, and invasive species are leading causes of biodiversity loss as well. </p><p><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6123">Article continues: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6123</a></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0