news main page     more news     food      essential      positive      archive     rss   canaries in the coalmine: Observable impacts of climate change  UK climate is warming despite big freeze Despite the big freeze Britain's climate is getting distinctly warmer " and we may feel it this summerIt may be a hard notion to accept after a week that has seen the nation paralysed by snow and ice. Nevertheless, meteorologists are adamant that our world is still getting warmer. Indeed, many now believe that 2010 may turn out to be the hottest year on record.Britain may be shivering, the Met Office may have issued emergency weather warnings for the entire country and hundreds of trains and flights may have been cancelled, but our future is destined to be a hot and sticky one. 11th January 2010 Arctic Tundra is Being Lost As Far North Quickly Warms The treeless ecosystem of mosses, lichens, and berry plants is giving way to shrub land and boreal forest. As scientists study the transformation, they are discovering that major warming-related events, including fires and the collapse of slopes due to melting permafrost, are leading to the loss of tundra in the Arctic. BY BILL SHERWONIT 11th January 2010 Venezuela drought raises risk of devastating power collapse - Denver Post Venezuela is at risk of a power collapse as drought pushes water levels precariously low in the country's biggest hydroelectric dam, posing a serious political threat for President Hugo Chavez. 10th January 2010 Voyage around the Americas sees evidence of acidic Arctic Scientists aboard the Ocean Watch, a 64-foot yacht on a year-long voyage circling the Americas, are testing the waters as they go. Instruments on the vessel have picked up evidence of ocean acidification, another result of the spewing of carbon dioxide from tailpipes and smokestacks, they say. Much of CO2 pollution ends up in the atmosphere, but some is absorbed in the ocean, where it is converted into carbonic acid. The average pH of the word's oceans is about 8.1 and the lower the reading, the greater the acidity. Scientists are concerned that if pH levels keep falling ocean waters could eat away the shells of organisms large and small. 10th January 2010 Polar bears in southern Beaufort Sea spending more time on land and open water A long-term study showing the changes in habitat associations of polar bears in response to sea ice conditions in the southern Beaufort Sea has implications for polar bear management in Alaska. 10th January 2010 NIGERIA: Lake Communities Left High and Dry DORON-BAGA and KANO, Nigeria, Jan 8 (IPS) - The fittest are fleeing the shores of Lake Chad: Adamu Modu, a young fisherman, is joining a stream of able-bodied men heading south to find work in the southern part of the country. 10th January 2010 Pine Beetle Turns Trees To Carbon Emitters - OfficialWire Canadian researchers say the pine beetle has killed so many trees, the forests of British Columbia now put more greenhouse gases into the air than they store. 10th January 2010 CLIMATE CHANGE: Watch the Birdies TEL AVIV, Jan 8 (IPS) - Ornithologists say that climate change is having a profound effect on bird behaviour and suggest that this phenomenon can act as an early warning system to the dangers posed to Earth. 10th January 2010 Freezing Europe, warming world - The Age People across the northern hemisphere are facing the fact that a warming planet doesn't get rid of winter. 10th January 2010 2009 was our second warmest year ever - Adelaide Now AUSTRALIA'S second warmest year on record 'is consistent with global warming', report finds. 4th January 2010 What's Tipping & What's Toppling ? What's toppling already in the Earth System ? 2nd January 2010 Plants and animals race for survival as climate change creeps across the globe Lowland tropics, mangroves and deserts at greater risk than mountainous areas as global warming spreads, study findsGlobal warming creeps across the world at a speed of a quarter of a mile each year, according to a new study that highlights the problems that rising temperatures pose to plants and animals. Species that can tolerate only a narrow range of temperatures will need to move as quickly if they are to survive. Wildlife in lowland tropics, mangroves and desert areas are at greater risk than species in mountainous areas, the study suggests."These are the conditions that will set the stage, whether species move or cope in place," said Chris Field, director of the department of global ecology at the Carnegie Institution in the US, who worked on the project. 29th December 2009 Mini Hockey Sticks - 3 Yet another vindication for Michael Mann's work on the legendary Hockey Stick comes from an analysis of global warming by decade from the World Meteorological Organisation. Alongside this, some of the research from sea floor sediment drilling has now been published, and it should make you sit up and pay attention. The key issue in Global Warming Science is Climate Sensitivity , and that's not a measure of how prickly you are when someone wants to talk to you about how Climate Change is one big hoax. It is essentially defined by the results of research that look into how the Earth would respond to a doubling of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. 29th December 2009 African leaf-eating monkeys are 'likely to be wiped out' by climate change (PhysOrg.com) -- Monkey species will become 'increasingly at risk of extinction' because of global warming, according to new research published this week. 21st December 2009 Tibetan Glaciers Are Retreating At An Alarming Rate By James HansenTibetan glaciers have been melting at an accelerating rate over the past decade. Glacier changes depend on local weather, especially snowfall, so glacier retreat or advance fluctuates with time and place. Thus it is inevitable that some Tibetan glaciers advance over short periods, as has been reported. But overall, Tibetan glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate 21st December 2009 Birds staying north for the winter - Parksville Qualicum Beach News There's something odd about some of the local bird life in Oceanside, says Sandra Gray, and she wants volunteers at this weekend's Christmas Bird Count to keep an eye out. 18th December 2009 Global Warming : New Record Just when is November hotter than July ? Well, for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, you would expect November to be warmer than July. But, globally ? This week's NASA GISS update of global temperature anomalies , the difference between now and pre-industrial figures, shows that, worldwide, November 2009 has been the hottest November ever in the instrumental record. What can I say ? It's warming up, folks ! And you d better believe it. And we do know why, whatever the newspapers say to sell editions. 17th December 2009 Loss of ice heralds an emergency - The Age The planet's ''canary in the coal mine'' is showing disturbing symptoms and we have only years, not decades, to save it. 13th December 2009 Governments turn to cloud seeding to fight drought (AP) -- On a mountaintop clearing in the Sierra Nevada stands a tall metal platform holding a crude furnace and a box of silver iodide solution that some scientists believe could help offer relief from searing droughts. 13th December 2009 Inuits need cash for freezers in warming Arctic COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Inuit communities need funds to adapt to climate change in the Arctic, including measures to build communal deep freezers to store game because warming is reducing their hunting season, an Inuit leader said on Friday. 13th December 2009 Scientists tip 2010 as hottest yet - Sydney Morning Herald THE past six months have been Australia's warmest winter-spring period on record and it is likely next year will set global temperature records. Scientists predict that, whatever the outcome at Copenhagen, Australia must adapt to unprecedented heatwaves. David Jones, the head of climate analysis at the Bureau of Meteorology, said yesterday that claims by sceptics the planet was cooling were wrong. Every decade in Australia for the past 70 years had been getting warmer, and this decade has been the globe's warmest so far. 10th December 2009 Acidification rates pose disaster for marine life: major study Report launched from leading marine scientists at Copenhagen summit shows seas absorbing dangerous levels of CO2The world's oceans are becoming acidic at a faster rate than at any time in the last 55m years, threatening disaster for marine life and food supplies across the globe, delegates at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen have been warned.A report by more than 100 of Europe's leading marine scientists, released at the climate talks this morning, states that the seas are absorbing dangerous levels of carbon dioxide as a direct result of human activity. This is already affecting marine species, for example by interfering with whale navigation and depleting planktonic species at the base of the food chain.The report " Ocean acidification ... 10th December 2009 On the climate frontline in Yakutsk Jonathan Watts reports from Yakutsk, where climate change is slowly melting Siberia's permafrost, forcing local people to rebuild their houses to deal with the regular floodingJonathan Watts 10th December 2009 Climate change turns up heat on mushrooms (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered that spring-fruiting fungi, including the morel and St George`s mushroom are fruiting nearly three weeks earlier than they did 50 years ago. 10th December 2009 Oceans' Uptake of Manmade Carbon May Be Slowing (PhysOrg.com) -- The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial era suggests the oceans are struggling to keep up with rising emissions -a finding with potentially wide implications for future climate. 10th December 2009 A changing climate: UNEP maps extreme weather events worldwide | Felicity Carus - Guardian Unlimited From Atlantic hurricanes to Australian droughts, extreme weather events are more frequent and more violent In the run-up to Copenhagen, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published its Climate Change Science Compendium , a summary of 400 peer-reviewed research papers published since 2006. To illustrate some of the extreme weather events " which appear to be happening with increasing ... 10th December 2009 Interactive: effects of ocean acidification around the world A major study from European scientists released at the Copenhagen climate conference shows marine life under threat from increased CO2 in the oceans 10th December 2009 World climate anomalies In the run-up to Copenhagen, the United Nations Environment Programme published a map of extreme weather events around the worldJenny RidleyFelicity Carus 8th December 2009 Feds put $40 million toward pine beetle problem - Summit Daily News DENVER - The U.S. Forest Service will funnel an additional $40 million to Rocky Mountain states where a tiny bug has killed more than 2 million acres of pine trees in what has been called one of the West's biggest natural disasters. 8th December 2009 Last decade 'the warmest on record' The past 10 years have been the warmest decade on record and this year has been one of the five hottest, scientists revealed today as negotiators attempt to make progress on a new international deal to combat climate change. 8th December 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Youth See Their Future in the Balance COPENHAGEN, Dec 6 (IPS/TerraViva) - Young people from 44 countries are demanding that world leaders take decisive action on climate change. The time for talk is over, they declared at the end of a weeklong Children's Climate Forum here. 7th December 2009 'In danger' - BBC News Inuit warn climate change will hit way of life 7th December 2009 Melting Himalayan glaciers threaten 1.3 billion Asians - Channel NewsAsia KATHMANDU: More than a billion people in Asia depend on Himalayan glaciers for water, but experts say they are melting at an alarming rate, threatening to bring drought to large swathes of the continent. 7th December 2009 Yellowstone a petri dish for climate change - Los Angeles Times Los Angeles TimesYellowstone a petri dish for climate changeLos Angeles TimesSpasm Geyser is one of hundreds at Yellowstone -- including Old Faithful -- that may be affected by global warming. Park officials worry that receding ...and more 7th December 2009 The Most Surprising Results of Global Warming - LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News At the United Nations meeting on climate change next week, scientists will be discussing some of the potentially devastating effects of global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth's changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird ways. So gird yourself for such strange effects as savage wildfires, disappearing ... 6th December 2009 Timber line vegetation shifting due to climate change - Press Trust of India Pithoragarh, Dec 5 (PTI) Timber Line (vegetation line) in Uttarakhand is shifting toward Himalaya, a senior state official said today. 6th December 2009 Copenhagen, Climate Files, Hot Sharks - International Herald Tribune A roundup on climate files, the treaty, angry Copenhagen prostitutes and a study claiming sharks are getting more aggressive in warming waters. 6th December 2009 Migration is the only escape from rising tides of climate change in Bangladesh - Guardian Unlimited Some 60% of Bangladesh is at risk of rising sea levels, contaminating fish stock, farmland and drinking water with salt At an impromptu meeting in Moura village on the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh last week, 30 families said that their only hope of survival was to become climate refugees. "The tides come into the village every two weeks. Twenty years ago the sea was far away. Now it's a few ... 6th December 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: "We Are a Harbinger of What Is to Come" COPENHAGEN, Dec 3 (IPS) - A small group of indigenous people have travelled here to the historic Copenhagen climate talks to show negotiators dramatic documentary videos they made about the immediate impacts of climate change on their homelands and way of life. 4th December 2009 Professor foresees rising Antarctic snowmelt The 30-year record low in Antarctic snowmelt that occurred during the 2008-09 austral summer was likely due to concurrent strong positive phases for two main climate drivers, ENSO (El Niño - Southern Oscillation) and SAM (Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode), according to Dr. Marco Tedesco, Assistant Professor of Earth Atmospheric Sciences at The City College of New York. 4th December 2009 One killed in Mumbai water shortage protests MUMBAI (Reuters) - One man was killed and about a dozen injured in a violent protest on Thursday against water cuts in India's largest city after the worst monsoon in nearly four decades left Mumbai authorities scrambling to ration supplies. 4th December 2009 Pressure on primates Several endangered primate species could be adversely affected by climate change, finds a new study. 4th December 2009 In the balance Greenland, home to one-tenth of the world's land ice, is rapidly losing mass, pushing up global sea levels. Approximations of how fast this is happening vary widely, but a study now offers one estimate verified using two independent methods. 4th December 2009 Study measures ocean's CO2 uptake There are substantial variations in the amount of carbon being absorbed by the North Atlantic Ocean, a study shows. 4th December 2009 Glacier threat to Bolivia capital Fears grow for the future of water supplies in Bolivia's sprawling, fast-growing capital of La Paz and its twin El Alto. 4th December 2009 A Review of Michael Mann's Exoneration Hockey sticks.png In the endless - and senseless - assault on Michael Mann and his famous hockey stick graph, it is generally overlooked that the graph has withstood all of the criticism and, still today, stands as a perfectly accurate picture of climate over the past millennia. Most convincingly, its results have been replicated by other methods, using other proxies on more than a dozen occasions. As well, however, Mann's conclusions were vindicated in two independent reviews, the second of which, by Edward Wegman, was particularly hostile in it conception, but ultimately exculpatory. Arie Brand covered this so well in a comment to the next post that I felt compelled to reproduce his note here, for the convenience of those who are too offended by the trolls to pick through all of the excellent comments buried among the mindless criticisms. 4th December 2009 Warmest December day in Moscow history - CNews The meteorological service says Moscow is experiencing its warmest December day in recorded history, preventing bears at the zoo from hibernating. 4th December 2009 U.S. Northeast temps warmest in more than 10 years - Reuters via Yahoo! News This is turning out to be the warmest day in parts of the U.S. Northeast in more than a decade, according to weather forecasters. 4th December 2009 INDIA: Climate Change Fuels Rural Out-Migration, Rising Farm Debt BHUBANESWAR, India, Dec 1 (IPS/IFEJ) - Under a shed made of bamboo and corrugated sheet metal, Purusottam Sur feeds his two bullocks and a cow with a bundle each of dry paddy plant. A fifth of his five-acre paddy harvest will be used only as cattle feed; the rice seeds just did not develop because of untimely rains this monsoon. 2nd December 2009 THE ARCTIC IS MELTING While the politicians fiddle, the world keeps warming. The Arctic may be down to its last few summers of being white. Johann Hari, in Greenland, asks hunters and scientists how climate change really feels ... 2nd December 2009 Nigeria: 'Climate Change May Lead to Civil Unrest' - AllAfrica.com No water, or in excess can mean no agriculture thus resulting to Insufficient harvests mean price escalations Nothing much has been done on rain harvesting and storage. The absence or excess of rain speedily translates into the total absence of water for a long or a short period. 2nd December 2009 Heatwave puts Russian white Christmas on hold - ABC Online Heatwave puts Russian white Christmas on holdABC OnlineThere is no dreaming of a white Christmas in Russia yet, as record temperatures in Moscow ward off any sign of snow. The calendar may show winter has ... 2nd December 2009 California water allocation hits record-low level LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California officials said on Tuesday that drought and environmental restrictions have forced them to cut planned water deliveries to irrigation districts and cities statewide to just 5 percent of their contracted allotments. 2nd December 2009 Climate Changes Impact In Arctic Worse Than Thought By University Of Manitoba Arctic sea ice has duped satellites into reporting thick multiyear sea ice where in fact none exists, a new study by University of Manitoba researcher David Barber has found 30th November 2009 Antarctic to feed major sea rise Melting Antarctic ice is likely to contribute to a sea level rise of about 1.4m by 2100, says a major review of climate change on the continent. 30th November 2009 Mini Hockey Sticks Michael Mann's giant Hockey Stick is backed up by a lot of other reasearch, from proxies to glaciers. Everything appears to be going up :- [link]index.php/archives/2009/09/hey-ya-mal/ I d like here to introduce you to two Mini Hockey Sticks that correlate strongly with the evidence from Michael Mann. A. The National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States of America, plotting record high temperatures in the USA versus record lows :- B. From a research paper by Joelle L. Gergis and Anthony M. Fowler entitled A history of ENSO events since A.D. 30th November 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Angry Greenhouse Gas Victims Demand Action VITERBO, Italy, Nov 28 (IPS) - Angry is not the adjective that comes to mind when you first meet Nelly Damaris Chepkoskei. 28th November 2009 Thirsty camels face bullet after terrorising Australian town Northern Territory officials plan mass cull after 6,000 wild camels run amok in Docker River in search of waterAustralian authorities plan to round up about 6,000 wild camels with helicopters and shoot them after they overran an outback town in search of water, trampling fences, smashing tanks and contaminating supplies.The Northern Territory government announced its plan yesterday for Docker River, a town of 350 residents where thirsty camels have been arriving every day for weeks because of drought conditions."The community of Docker River is under siege by 6,000 marauding, wild camels," the local government minister, Rob Knight, said in Alice Springs, 310 miles (500km) north-east of Docker. 28th November 2009 Right Before Your Eyes If you care to actually spend 10 seconds looking at the NASA GISS Blob Chart (see link above), you will easily detect a continually warming trend. Yes, there are dips and climbs. Yes, there is variability. No, Global Warming did not stop in 1998. This very easy-reading level of visual information, apparently, is not good enough to convince Janet Daley that Global Warming is happening. She just can t make it out amongst all the noise, probably coming from the Climate Change Deniers. Whether she knows it or not, she is not telling the truth. What dodgy dossier did she read ? 26th November 2009 Temps up 4 degrees since 1958, reducing NW snowpack - KGW NewsChannel 8 Portland CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Scientists report that rising temperatures appear to be responsible for cutting the snowpack in Oregon's Cascade Range in half over the past 77 years. The report from Oregon State University released Tuesday found that the warming trend is seen most in the spring. Temperatures are up almost 4 degrees since 1958 in January, March and April. Meanwhile, there has been no significant trend in precipitation. Geosciences professor Julia Jones says the shrinking snowpack has been the most visible impact of global warming, and will continue into the future. The mountain snowpack acts as a natural reservoir for rivers that are crucial to salmon, farming and ranching. 26th November 2009 This year 'in top five warmest' This year will be in the top five warmest years globally since records began, according to the UK Met Office. 24th November 2009 World's last bastion of stable ice now thawing The East Antarctica ice sheet, which was thought to be stable, is losing billions of tonnes of ice a year " climate change may be the culprit 24th November 2009 Victims of climate change tell the world how it's destroying their lives OXFAM's climate hearings are being held in 17 countries around the world, taking the testimonies of real people from all walks of life about how climate change is affecting them. Oxfam will relay these messages to world leaders at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen at the end of the year.Climate change is a huge threat to development in Africa. Despite contributing less than 3% of global emissions the continent will be hit hard. read more 24th November 2009 NSW drought conditions worsening: govt - Brisbane Times Drought conditions in NSW are worsening with the latest figures revealing just 1.9 per cent of the state is in a satisfactory condition. 24th November 2009 Next year may be hottest yet, Met Office says There is a good chance that next year will be the hottest year recorded for the world, according to new forecasts from the Met Office's climate prediction and research branch, the Hadley Centre. 24th November 2009 Melting Arctic: Forget polar bears, worry about humans Climate change is transforming the Arctic so fast that many species could be gone within our lifetimes. But the important thing is to put human self-interest first, says Alun Anderson 24th November 2009 East Antarctica 'is losing ice' - BBC News The massive and apparently stable East Antarctic ice sheet is losing mass, a new study suggests. 22nd November 2009 Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study - AFP via Yahoo! News Thawing permafrost caused by global warming is costing Russian energy firms billions of dollars annually in damage control and shrinking Russia's territory, Greenpeace warned in a new study Friday. 22nd November 2009 Rising sea levels threaten Caribbean region - Los Angeles Times The Colombian city of Cartagena is trying to plan ahead as scientists say cities nearer the equator, where temperatures are already higher, are at greater risk if global warming isn't checked. The effect of climate change is anything but hypothetical to retired Colombian naval officer German Alfonso. Just ask him about the time his neighborhood in this historic coastal city became an island. 22nd November 2009 El Nino intensifies Latin America drought From a devastating food crisis in Guatemala to water cuts in Venezuela, El Nino has compounded drought damage across Latin America this year. 20th November 2009 U.S. group sees worsening coastal flooding threat WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fast-melting ice from Greenland and Antarctica will lead to a much sharper rise in sea levels than previously estimated, touching off flooding that will radically alter U.S. East Coast cities from Miami to Baltimore, according to a new study. 20th November 2009 Melting sea ice dilutes water, endangers sea life HONG KONG (Reuters) - Melting of the Arctic sea ice due to global warming is diluting surface waters and this is endangering some species of shellfish which need minerals in the water to form their shells and skeletons, scientists have found. 20th November 2009 Inferno on Earth: Wildfires spreading as temperatures rise by Lester Brown The following is a Plan B Update by my colleague Janet Larsen, the Director of Research for the Earth Policy Institute, about the connection between the increase of wildfires and rising temperature. Future firefighters have their work cut out for them. Perhaps nowhere does this hit home harder than in Australia, where in early 2009, a persistent drought, high winds, and record high temperatures set the stage for the worst wildfire in the country's history. On Feb. 9, now known as Black Saturday, the mercury in Melbourne topped 115 degrees F as fires burned over 1 million acres in the state of Victoria"destroying more than 2,000 homes and killing more than 170 people, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, and 1 million native animals.Even as more people move into fire-prone wildlands around the world, the intense droughts and ... 20th November 2009 In Kiribati, a way of life is being washed away - The Age Each year, villagers need to head further inland to find fresh food and water. 20th November 2009 Dutch build more dunes against rising seas - SpaceDaily MONSTER, Netherlands, Nov 20 (AFP) Nov 20, 2009 On the beach at Monster, bulldozers painstakingly turn sand dredged from the bottom of the North Sea bed into dunes in an ambitious effort to safeguard the Netherlands from flooding. 20th November 2009 'Catastrophic' warnings as bushfires flare in Australia - The New Straits Times SYDNEY, Fri: Australian firefighters battled dozens of bush blazes today as record-breaking hot weather sparked catastrophic warnings in two states, just months after the country's worst ever wildfire disaster. 20th November 2009 A 3700-year old bristlecone pine cannot lie - Salon.com Rising temps are forcing plants to adapt, whether they want to or not. But humans have brains -- let's use them! 19th November 2009 Sharks under threat as environmental change bites hard (PhysOrg.com) -- Their size and fearsome appearance have made them the stuff of nightmares, but new research just published suggests that sharks may not be as tough as they appear. 18th November 2009 Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world - Boston Globe A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass. 17th November 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Signs and Portents of a Hostile New World MéRIDA, Mexico, Nov 12 (IPS) - Lawrence Amos travelled from the Arctic at the top of the world to the tropical middle to recite in a soft voice the ongoing destruction of his home by climate change. 14th November 2009 Record-high U.S. temps outpace record lows: study WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In another sign of a warming planet, there were twice as many record-high temperatures in the United States as record lows over the last decade, climate scientists reported on Thursday. 14th November 2009 Greenland ice loss 'accelerating' - BBC News Satellites, models and ground stations give scientists a better view than ever before of how the Greenland icecap is melting. 14th November 2009 AGRICULTURE-ARGENTINA: Desperately Dry BUENOS AIRES, Nov 12 (IPS) - The persistent drought affecting some 90 percent of Argentine territory has slain cattle in the hundreds of thousands and caused forest fires, drastic restrictions on water use and local disputes over water. 14th November 2009 Bolivian Glacier Melting Faster Than Experts Projected - redOrbit Image Caption: The world's highest ski resort at the Chacaltaya glacier in La Paz, Bolivia. Courtesy Ville Miettinen - Wikipedia 14th November 2009 Global warming a growing threat to Arctic reindeer - AFP via Yahoo! News On Norway's border with Russia, the consequences of climate change are affecting the reindeer population as rising temperatures hit food stocks and industry growth eats into vital grazing land. 14th November 2009 Turtles Are Casualties of Warming in Costa Rica - International Herald Tribune Global warming may deal the fatal blow to an animal that has dwelt in the Pacific for 150 million years. 14th November 2009 Warming drives off Cape Cod's namesake, other fish (AP) -- Fishermen have known for years that they've had to steam farther and farther from shore to find the cod, haddock and winter flounder that typically fill dinner plates in New England. 12th November 2009 W Australia sea level rising fast Rising sea levels in Australia are worst in the west, where they are double the world average, new figures reveal. 10th November 2009 Is Pine Island Glacier the Weak Underbelly of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? Guest post by Mauri Pelto 10th November 2009 Gabura: a terrifying vision of a world devastated by climate change In Gabura global warming is a bleak reality as villagers face rising sea levels, failed crops and devastating cyclonesWhat would your world look like if it were devastated by climate change? In the small, impoverished community of Gabura in Bangladesh, the concept of global warming, often only words on a screen or in a newspaper to us, is an all too bleak reality. The inhabitants face danger from rising sea levels, devastation of crops and the increased likelihood of devastating cyclones.Oxfam's remarkable new online interactive documentary " Gabura, from daily life to disaster - launched in conjunction with the Guardian yesterday, allows you both to bear witness to the impact of climate change and to choose your own journey through the story.We enable you to see vividly how livelihoods have been ruined, crops destroyed, and families torn apart. 10th November 2009 Surface Permafrost Likely to Vanish in Alaska - US News & World Report The unstable thawing of permafrost could cause serious damage to infrastructure in the state. 8th November 2009 Electricity blackouts in Ecuador - BBC News Two cities suffer blackouts as rationing is brought in following water shortages at an Ecuadorean hydro-electric plant. 8th November 2009 State of Emergency When is Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister going to appear on TV and tell it to us straight ? Climate Change is real, and it's happening now, and the sceptics, deniers, delayers and cynics are all wrong. And somebody with some kind of respect needs to be saying that, regularly, with backup, in all the media channels. It's time that scepticism, denialism, delayism and cynicism were ruled out of order. [link]environment/2009/nov/04/network-climate-change-scepticism It has almost reached the point at which Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband could state that the colour red has a wavelength of about 650 nanometres and a large group would immediately rise up to contradict him. 6th November 2009 Atlantic Fish Stocks Are Moving North as Ocean Warms, NOAA Finds About half of 36 fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean have shifted north over the last four decades as ocean temperatures have warmed, according to a new U.S. study. Comparing data for dozens of fish stock from 1968 to 2007 " and using ocean temperature records from the same period " researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that many species in the waters from Cape Hatteras, N.C., to the Canadian border have shifted northward or migrated farther offshore. Some species have nearly disappeared from U.S. waters altogether. They all seem to be adapting to changing temperatures and finding places where their chances of survival as a population are greater, said Janet Nye, a NOAA researcher and lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. 6th November 2009 Overwhelming Disaster A couple of weeks ago I was in discussion with some people considering what would trigger urgent global action on reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. Not just words and forms of words, but serious practical action to re-figure the global Economy around Low Carbon principles. Someone mentioned Katrina. And someone else mentioned that despite the estimations showing that the damage from Hurricane Katrina was probably partly due to global warming (or, rather, ocean warming), it hasn t been a wake-up call. I suggested that we should look to the international disaster relief agencies. All the big players, including Christian Aid and Oxfam, have a very strong message on Climate Change and how it impacts their work. 6th November 2009 Multiyear Arctic ice is effectively gone: expert OTTAWA (Reuters) - The multiyear ice covering the Arctic Ocean has effectively vanished, a startling development that will make it easier to open up polar shipping routes, an Arctic expert said on Thursday. 29th October 2009 Australia's coastal lifestyle under threat Australian government environmental committee report warns that thousands of miles of coastline are under threat from rising sea levels and suggests banning people from living in vulnerable areasA new report into the effects of climate change on Australia's vast coastline is forcing the country to consider the unthinkable: life away from the surf.Beach culture is a large part of the nation's identity, with some 80% of people living along the coast. But an Australian government environmental committee warns that thousands of miles of Australia's coastline are under threat from rising sea levels.The report, issued to parliament late Monday after an 18-month study, suggests officials consider the possibility of banning people from living in vulnerable areas."The committee agrees that this is an issue of national importance and that the time to act is now," wrote the House of Representatives standing committee on climate change, water, environment 28th October 2009 'Melting fast' Time running out for Kyrgyzstan's retreating glaciers 28th October 2009 Putting the recent Antarctic snowmelt minimum into context Guest Commentary by Andrew Monaghan and Marco Tedesco Our study published in mid October in Geophysical Research Letters (Tedesco and Monaghan, 2009) documents record minimum snowmelt for Antarctica during austral summer 2008-2009 and lower-than-normal melt for several recent years, based on a 30-year satellite microwave record. Numerous blogs have cited the results as a challenge to previous studies reporting Antarctic warming, while also steadfastly ignoring other studies with similar results (e.g. Barrett et al., 2009). They have overlooked that these studies show that Antarctic warming has occurred mostly in winter and spring, whereas melting of course occurs in summer. 28th October 2009 In pictures An inventory of species threatened by climate change 28th October 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE-BOLIVIA: Climbing a 'Dead' Glacier CHACALTAYA, Bolivia, Oct 28 (IPS) - The rapid disappearance of glaciers and the subsequent exhaustion of water sources are pushing indigenous communities in the Bolivian highlands even further into poverty, Bolivian experts told IPS, adding that an increase in awareness about climate change is desperately needed. 28th October 2009 To protect penguins, protect krill -marine experts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To protect penguins on the rapidly warming Antarctic peninsula, regulators need to ensure the survival of shrimp-like krill, the base of the food chain at the bottom of the world, marine experts said on Wednesday 28th October 2009 Insurance companies say climate change causing spike in claims - Investment Executive Harsh weather whipped up by climate change has caused insurance claims to surge as more and more flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes wallop the Canadian landscape, industry experts say. 28th October 2009 Tea shortage to widen as drought in India, Kenya hurts crops - Business Standard India A global tea shortage may increase by 10 per cent next year as drought in Kenya, Sri Lanka and India, the top exporters, damage crops and propel prices to a record, the world's biggest tea plantation company said. 28th October 2009 Mongolia: Global Warming Hits Mongolia's Nomads Hard - EurasiaNet BY JOSHUA KUCERA Global warming is having a harsh effect on Mongolia's nomadic herders, who comprise about 40 percent of the country's overall 3 million inhabitants. Since 1940, the mean air temperature in the country has increased 1.6 degrees Celsius. Heat waves are longer, and rain patterns have shifted. The Gobi Desert, in the south of the country, is creeping northward. 27th October 2009 Large parts of North Korea hit by forest fires: NASA SEOUL (Reuters) - Vast forest fires have hit a large part of central North Korea, sending plumes of smoke over most of the country's central and eastern regions, images provided by NASA show. 22nd October 2009 Climate: When the ice melts - Nature Deep in the Himalayas, the disappearance of glaciers is threatening the kingdom of Bhutan. Anjali Nayar trekked through the mountains to see how the country is adapting to a warming world. 22nd October 2009 Impacts of glacier retreat on hydropower - Interactive Investor Oct 22 (Reuters) - Retreating glaciers from the Alps to the Andes are likely to disrupt hydropower generation in coming decades. 22nd October 2009 ENVIRONMENT-US: Greatest of Lakes Hit by Climate Change MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, Oct 22 (IPS/IFEJ) - The weather was right for swimming this summer along the shores of Lake Michigan, but on many days, the only living things seen on the beach were gulls, picking away at zebra mussels ensnared in a thick, green slime that covered every rock, pebble and grain of sand for miles. 22nd October 2009 Bark Beetle Infestation Spreads in Monarch Butterfly Reserve The world's largest reserve for migrating Monarch butterflies, located in the Mexican highlands, is suffering from an infestation of bark beetles similar to outbreaks that have killed millions of acres of evergreens in the U.S. and Canada. In an effort to stem the spread of the infestation, Mexican officials have cut down 9,000 fir trees and buried them or shipped them out of the reserve. So far, the infestation has affected only a small portion of the 33,000-acre core mountaintop wintering grounds, but the outbreaks are occurring in widespread patches, which could indicate a spread of the disease. 22nd October 2009 Nomadic herders: 'Our reindeer go hungry' For 1,000 years the indigenous Nenets people have herded their reindeer along the Yamal peninsula. But their survival in this remote region of north-west Siberia is under serious threat from climate change as Russia's ancient permafrost meltsIt is one of the world's last great wildernesses, a 435-mile long peninsula of lakes and squelching tundra stretching deep into the Arctic Ocean. For 1,000 years the indigenous Nenets people have migrated along the Yamal peninsula. In summer they wander northwards, taking their reindeer with them, across a landscape of boggy ponds, rhododendron-like shrubs and wind-blasted birch trees. 21st October 2009 September Global Surface Temperature Second Warmest Since 1880 - Environmental News Network The northeast is getting snow already, and low temperatures. Does this mean global warming is a myth? Not necessarily. A new analysis of global temperatures show that the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the second warmest September on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Based on records going back to 1880, the monthly National ... 20th October 2009 Baffin Island reveals dramatic scale of Arctic climate change A frozen lake on a remote island off Canada's northern coast has yielded remarkable insights into how the Arctic climate has changed dramatically over 50 years. 20th October 2009 'Climate refugees' add strain to seething Bangladesh capital - SpaceDaily DHAKA, Oct 18 (AFP) Oct 18, 2009 When a cyclone destroyed her home two years ago, Shahana Begum joined the swelling ranks of Bangladeshi "climate refugees" who, experts say, could one day overwhelm the capital Dhaka. 18th October 2009 Global warming blamed for aspen die-off across the West - Los Angeles Times The trees, which were already under duress, are being killed by insects that thrive as the climate changes. Scientists call it Sudden Aspen Decline. From the hillsides of extinct volcanoes in Arizona to the jagged peaks of Idaho, aspen trees are falling by the tens of thousands, the latest example of how climate change is dramatically altering the American West. 18th October 2009 Southern California to bask in 'summer-like heat' - 89.3 KPCC Southern California to bask in 'summer-like heat'89.3 KPCC... we should get some clarity about what sort of winter California has in store." Yesterday was probably the peak in the heatwave, he said. 18th October 2009 Rick strengthens to Cat 5 storm off Mexico Pacific MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Rick intensified to a top Category 5 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday as it headed toward resorts on the Baja California peninsula next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. 18th October 2009 Some Canadian rivers at risk of drying up (PhysOrg.com) -- Some Canadian rivers are at risk of drying up as impacts of climate change intersect with growing water demand from the country's cities, industries and agriculture, a new WWF report has found. 17th October 2009 Arctic to be ice-free in summer in 20 years: scientist LONDON (Reuters) - Global warming will leave the Arctic Ocean ice-free during the summer within 20 years, raising sea levels and harming wildlife such as seals and polar bears, a leading British polar scientist said on Thursday. 17th October 2009 Global warming opens new Arctic shipping lane - The Christian Science Monitor Northeast Passage through the Arctic slashes time and money for mariners and could be a boom for Russia. But it raises concerns about ice loss induced by global warming. 17th October 2009 Earth's critical stabiliser on wane - Otago Daily Times Andy Mahoney, a member of the sea-ice group at the University of Otago, submits the group's summary of the role of sea ice in climate change. See also: Explorers: North Pole summers ice free in 10 years - CNews 14th October 2009 BIODIVERSITY: Earth's Life Support Systems Failing UXBRIDGE, Canada, Oct 13 (IPS) - The world has failed to slow the accelerating extinction crisis despite 17 years of national and international efforts since the great hopes raised at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. 14th October 2009 Pacific Ocean temps exceed El Nino levels: Australia SYDNEY (Reuters) - Central and eastern Pacific Ocean temperatures are exceeding El Nino levels and will remain at levels typical of an El Nino weather event until early 2010, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday. 14th October 2009 David Frey: National Parks are a climate change canary - Snowmass Sun Online News David Frey: If nothing else reminds us of the real threats of climate change, a visit to the national parks, while they're still around, ought to. 14th October 2009 New fears for species extinctions Scientists warn of an alarming increase in the extinction of animal species due to loss of biodiversity. 13th October 2009 Himalayan sherpas bugged by 5,000m flies House flies at Everest basecamp are another sign of climate change that is melting glaciers with worrying speedEarlier this year Dawa Steven Sherpa was resting at Everest base camp when he and his companions heard something buzzing. "What the heck is that?" asked the young Nepali climber. They searched and found a big black house fly, something unimaginable just a few years ago when no insect could have survived at 5,360 metres."It's happened twice this year - the Himalayas are warming up and changing fast," says Dawa, who only took up climbing seriously in 2006, but in a few years has climbed Everest twice as well as two 8,000m peaks in Tibet."What I do is climb. 13th October 2009 Melting glaciers bring 1980s pollution revival Alpine glaciers are now releasing nasty chemicals that settled on them decades ago and have since been banned 13th October 2009 Kashmir's main glacier "melting at alarming speed" SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian Kashmir's biggest glacier, which feeds the region's main river, is melting faster than other Himalayas glaciers, threatening the water supply of tens of thousands of people, a new report warned on Monday. 13th October 2009 Will Congress chicken out on climate change? - seattlepi.com Have doubts about global warming? Listen to the premier, the photographer, the scientist and the innkeeper. 13th October 2009 Global warming to triple rain over Taiwan: scientist Global warming will cause the amount of heavy rain dumped on Taiwan to triple over the next 20 years, facing the government with the urgent need to beef up flood defences, a scientist warned Tuesday. 13th October 2009 Thaw scars are widespread across the northland - Anchorage Daily News One month ago, I wrote about a dramatic landscape feature in Western Alaska called the Selawik Slump. There are also many of these beacons of change in the Yukon Territory, according to Doug Davidge of Whitehorse. 11th October 2009 Flood victims in Burkina Faso illustrate the effects of climate change - SpaceDaily OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 11 (AFP) Oct 11, 2009 A world away from the heated negotiations for a critical deal on stopping climate change at the UN summit in Copenhagen, Burkina Faso inhabitants are suffering the direct consequences of global warming. 11th October 2009 Melting Arctic poses new challenges, naval powers say - Independent (AFP) International piracy and the challenges of new Arctic Ocean corridors opening up as a result of global warming topped the agenda Wednesday at a gathering of world maritime powers. 11th October 2009 Ocean dead zones are new normal for the Pacific Coast - The World The ocean dead zone that formed this summer off Oregon was less severe than in years past, but it looks like the phenomenon apparently linked to global warming is here to stay. 11th October 2009 Last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago, scientists report You would have to go back at least 15 million years to find carbon dioxide levels on Earth as high as they are today, a UCLA scientist and colleagues report Oct. 8 in the online edition of the journal Science. 9th October 2009 September in California ties for warmest ever recorded - Orange County Register Western U.S. showed warmest September in 115 years of record-keeping. 9th October 2009 Even the Camels Are Dying Millions face starvation in a broad stretch of Kenya and Somalia scorched by drought. 9th October 2009 Why is there a drought in central England? Chunks of the country have been reduced to basins of cracked mud. But the expected rain might not solve the problemBillowing dust rose from the fields, cars were covered in a film of dry grit, and verges of grass were brittle and scorched yellow. This was not the Australian outback, however, but Suffolk, which has experienced an unusually dry September. And it is not just Suffolk. These drought-stricken scenes have been repeated across central England in recent weeks. Rain may be forecast for today, but last weekend dozens of football matches were postponed in Norwich and Great Yarmouth because grass pitches were so hard they were deemed dangerous. 7th October 2009 Beetle-killed trees change fire behavior - The Montana Standard What Tyler Brothers saw out his helicopter window last week sounds like the plot of an old melodrama. 6th October 2009 High-tech monitors track methane on seabed - Victoria News Photo contributed This probe is designed to measure the temperature at various points along the methane mounds at Barklay Canyon. It was manufactured by A.G.O. Environmental Electronics in Vic West and it is designed for use at ocean depths of 3 km. 6th October 2009 Arctic Seas Turn to Acid, Putting Vital Food Chain at Risk - CommonDreams.org by Robin McKie Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an unprecedented rate, scientists have discovered. Research carried out in the archipelago of Svalbard has shown in many regions around the north pole seawater is likely to reach corrosive levels within 10 years. The water will then start to dissolve the shells of mussels and other shellfish and cause ... 4th October 2009 Walruses Suffer Substantial Losses as Sea Ice Erodes - International Herald Tribune Half a century after they began recovering from industrial-scale hunting, walruses are facing a new threat. 4th October 2009 Vanishing Arctic ice shows no sign of returning - The Star ON BOARD COAST GUARD FLIGHT ABOVE BEAUFORT SEA (Reuters) - Out in the Arctic Ocean, about 200 miles (322 km ) north of the nearest human settlement, the future of the world's climate is written in the patterns of ice patches on the water's surface. 4th October 2009 Mighty caribou herds dwindle, warming blamed - The Associated Press The Associated PressMighty caribou herds dwindle, warming blamedThe Associated Press... crash: "Climate change is changing the way they're interacting with their food, directly and indirectly." Global warming has boosted temperatures in the ...and more 4th October 2009 Dust storms spread deadly diseases worldwide - Guardian Unlimited Dust storms like the one that plagued Sydney are blowing bacteria to all corners of the globe, with viruses that will attack the human body. Yet these scourges can also help mitigate climate change 30th September 2009 Prolonged Drought and Salinity Threaten Water Supplies in Australian City Portions of Australia's largest river are running so low and have become so salty because of a crippling drought and increased consumption that the nation's fifth-largest city may soon have to deliver bottled water to its residents. Government officials warn that some stretches of the Murray River could be undrinkable by next week, particularly in 11 rural townships east of the city of Adelaide. Salinity levels in parts of the river already are higher than the World Health Organization's recommended drinking water standard. Experts point to population growth, increased agriculture use, and a decade-long drought as contributing factors. See also: The Great Repatriation 30th September 2009 Climate link to rise of parasite - BBC News Vets are warning warmer and wetter weather is leading to an increase of a parasite that can be fatal to livestock. 30th September 2009 Unusual Arctic Warmth, Tropical Wetness Likely Cause for Methane Increase - NOAA Unusually high temperatures in the Arctic and heavy rains in the tropics likely drove a global increase in atmospheric methane in 2007 and 2008 after a decade of near-zero growth, according to a new study. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, albeit a distant second. 25th September 2009 Ancient glaciers are disappearing faster than ever Melting ice is pouring off Greenland and Antarctica into the sea far faster than was previously realised because of global warming, new scientific research reveals today. 25th September 2009 Droughts, melts signal climate change quickening: U.N. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Droughts from Australia to the U.S. Southwest, acidic ocean water and melting glaciers are signs that the pace of climate change is surpassing the worst-case scenarios scientists predicted in 2007, a U.N. report said on Thursday. 25th September 2009 New 'flavour' of El Nino under global warming - Scoop.co.nz Research published today in Nature has identified a new type of El Niño climate anomaly that is occurring with more and more frequency as a consequence of human-induced global warming. 25th September 2009 Thinning glaciers driving polar ice loss Satellite survey of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets reveals extensive network of rapidly thinning glaciers that is driving ice loss in the regionsA comprehensive satellite survey of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has revealed an extensive network of rapidly thinning glaciers that is driving ice loss in the regions.The most profound loss of ice was seen along the continental coastlines, where glaciers speed up as they slip into the sea. In some regions, glaciers flowing into surrounding waters were thinning by nearly 10m a year.Scientists used data from Nasa's ICESat (Ice, Cloud and and land Elevation Satellite) to piece together a picture of the changing fortunes of glaciers on the ice sheets. 23rd September 2009 India heading for worst drought since 1972 - AFP via Yahoo! News India's monsoon was about 20 percent below strength just over a week before the official end of the rainy reason, putting the country on course for its worst drought since 1972, weather data showed Wednesday. 23rd September 2009 Natural disasters displacing millions: U.N. study LONDON (Reuters) - Floods, storms, drought and other climate-related natural disasters drove 20 million people from their homes last year, nearly four times as many as were displaced by conflicts, a new U.N. report said Tuesday. 23rd September 2009 Dust storm blankets Sydney as drought bites SYDNEY (Reuters) - A huge outback dust storm swept eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, forcing people indoors and stripping thousands of tonnes of valuable farmland topsoil. 23rd September 2009 Not enough ice to make a margarita Scientists aboard the Russian research vessel Professor Khromov spent the weekend collecting samples of water, sealife and ocean-floor mud at a spot in the western Arctic Ocean that in most years would be covered with sea ice. The ship, carrying researchers for the six-week RUSALCA expedition, was in its most northerly planned sampling stop, or station, a location nearly 350 miles (563 km) northwest of Barrow, Alaska. During the mission s last cruise in 2004, the most northerly accessible location was 345 miles (555 km) south of the weekend s station. Mission coordinator Kevin Wood, of the U.S. 22nd September 2009 Pine beetle infestation continues to spread - Ravalli Republic Montana s mountain pine beetle infestation is continuing to spread steadily and could reach two million acres, according to a preliminary review of information from the Forest Service s summer monitoring flights. See also: Beetle attack will change our world - Wyoming Tribune-Eagle 21st September 2009 Drought-stricken streams threaten California salmon - Greenwich Time California's third year of drought has worsened the already dire outlook for endangered coho salmon, as coastal creeks used for spawning dwindle into disconnected pools where fish get trapped and die. 20th September 2009 Sea Stars Grow Faster as Water Warms - LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News Climate change will deal clams, mussels, and other marine bivalves a double whammy. Biologists already expect them to have trouble making their shells because elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels will acidify seawater. Now it seems they'll also have to contend with brawnier predatory starfish. 19th September 2009 NOAA Reports World's Oceans Had Warmest Summer Temperatures on Record Surface temperatures of the world's oceans were warmer this summer than for any Northern Hemisphere summer since records were first kept in 1880, according to data released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. From June to August, ocean temperatures reached an average of 62.5° F worldwide, about 1.04° warmer than the 20th century average of 61.5°. NOAA s National Climatic Data Center also reported that the average global land and ocean temperature for August was the second-warmest on record, behind only 1998. 18th September 2009 Volcanoes stirred by climate change - Nature Impact of global warming on geological hazards 'poorly understood', experts warn. 18th September 2009 Invasive species on the march: variable rates of spread set current limits to predictability - EurekAlert! ( National Science Foundation ) Whether for introduced muskrats in Europe or oak trees in the United Kingdom, zebra mussels in United States lakes or agricultural pests around the world, scientists have tried to find new ways of controlling invasive species by learning how these animals and plants take over in new environs. 18th September 2009 Siberian thaw - BBC News Mercury rising in one of the coldest places on Earth 17th September 2009 Polar bears run riot as ice melts Hungry bears raid towns for food as climate change reduces their hunting season 17th September 2009 Pine beetle infestation continues to spread - Ravalli Republic Montana s mountain pine beetle infestation is continuing to spread steadily and could reach two million acres, according to a preliminary review of information from the Forest Service s summer monitoring flights. 17th September 2009 Arctic ice third smallest on record OSLO (Reuters) - Ice on the Arctic Ocean has started to expand after a summer thaw to the third smallest area on record allowed ships to test a new sea route past north Russia. 17th September 2009 Warming Arctic 'halts migration' Milder winters in the Arctic region means fewer Pacific brants - a species of goose - are migrating southwards, say researchers. 17th September 2009 Northwestern United States could face more tamarisk invasion by century's end If the future warming trends that scientists have projected are realized, one of the country's most aggressive exotic plants will have the potential to invade more U.S. land area, according to a new study published in the current issue of the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management. The study found that tamarisk -prevalent today in some parts of the region, but generally limited to warm and dry environments -could expand its range into currently uninvaded areas. 16th September 2009 One in six Mediterranean mammals face extinction One in six Mediterranean mammals is threatened with extinction at the regional level, mainly due to the destruction of their habitat from urbanization, agriculture and climate change, nature body IUCN said Tuesday in a new study. 16th September 2009 Le réchauffement climatique rend l'Arctique méconnaissable Année après année, les symptômes de fièvre de notre planète sont de plus en plus évidents 15th September 2009 Cost of fighting L.A. wildfire tops $92 million - Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The financial cost of battling a deadly arson fire in the mountains above Los Angeles topped $92 million on Monday, with full containment of the stubborn blaze expected by week's end, fire officials said. 15th September 2009 Birds In Sierra Nevada Seek Out Warmer, Wetter Climate - redOrbit Image 1: This adult male Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, is an urban-adapted species. Unlike many other bird species in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Anna's Hummingbird did not track its climatic niche. Instead, it moved away from it. Credit: Morgan TingleyImage 2: Here, Morgan Tingley (right) and Pascal Title (left) are conducting a point count in the field for a resurvey of wildlife in ... 15th September 2009 Forest Ecologist Sees Climate Consequences - redOrbit Climate Central's climate characters: Now appearing on TIME.comMany people worry about the link between rising bark-beetle infestations and an increase in western wildfires. But Dr. Susan Prichard, a Research Scientist at the University of Washington, adds another concern: what happens after the fires go out?Prichard's story is the latest in a series of video shorts featured on TIME.com and ... 15th September 2009 Social tensions rise as Mexico suffers worst drought in 60 years - The Scotsman MEXICO is enduring its worst drought in 60 years, with crops drying up in the fields and water being rationed in the capital. See also: Warming may cut risky states' GDP by a fifth: study - Reuters 15th September 2009 Humpback whale found dead in Thames 28ft carcass of juvenile off Gravesend was first ever found in riverA juvenile male humpback whale has been found dead in the Thames near Dartford Bridge, Kent, the first ever to be stranded in the river.The 9.5m (28ft) carcass of the humpback had been spotted by members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) off Gravesend on Thursday, who had initially guessed it was a minke whale, but no further sightings were reported until the animal was found dead on Saturday. It was subsequently recovered by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat.A postmortem examination indicated the whale had died of starvation, and was estimated to be about two years old. 15th September 2009 The last nomads: drought drives Kenya's herders to the brink - Guardian Unlimited In the isolated border lands between Kenya and Somalia, families have always clung to a precarious existence. Now a decade of droughts has tested their endurance 13th September 2009 The last nomads: drought drives Kenya's herders to the brink - Guardian Unlimited In the isolated border lands between Kenya and Somalia, families have always clung to a precarious existence. Now a decade of droughts has tested their endurance 13th September 2009 Dramatic biological responses to global warming in the Arctic "The Arctic as we know it may soon be a thing of the past," says Eric Post, associate professor of biology at Penn State University. Post leads a large, international team that carried out ecosystem-wide studies of the biological response to Arctic warming during the fourth International Polar Year, which ended in 2008. The team's results will be reported on 11 September 2009 in the journal Science. 12th September 2009 Arctic thaw brings boom in reindeer population - Times Online Climate change may be bad for polar bears but one type of reindeer and several other species are thriving in the rising temperature, according to a comprehensive study of the impact of global warming in the Arctic. 12th September 2009 German ships blaze Arctic trail Two German merchant ships negotiate the North East passage in the Russian Arctic, which was ice-bound until recently. 12th September 2009 Dramatic biological responses to global warming in the Arctic "The Arctic as we know it may soon be a thing of the past," says Eric Post, associate professor of biology at Penn State University. Post leads a large, international team that carried out ecosystem-wide studies of the biological response to Arctic warming during the fourth International Polar Year, which ended in 2008. The team's results will be reported on 11 September 2009 in the journal Science. 12th September 2009 Grizzlies starve as salmon disappear As salmon numbers drop, bears are also few and far between along B.C.'s wild central coast - signalling what conservationists say is an unfolding ecological disaster. 10th September 2009 Walruses congregate on Alaska shore as ice melts (AP) -- Thousands of walruses are congregating on Alaska's northwest coast, a sign that their Arctic sea ice environment has been altered by climate change. 10th September 2009 Kenya's elephants dying amid drought - AP via Yahoo! News A drought in Kenya has gotten so bad that it is felling even the giants of the animal kingdom the country's famed elephants which are dying as rivers dry up and grasslands shrivel in parched game reserves. 10th September 2009 German ships navigate Northeast Passage - but is it a good thing? Two German ships have successfully navigated their way through the fabled Northeast Passage on the first commercial journey by a western shipping company on the Northern Sea Route along Russia s Arctic-facing northern shore a new cost-cutting passageway from Asia to Europe made possible by climate change. The MV Beluga Fraternity and the MV Beluga Foresight (pictured above) arrived safely at Novvy Port/Yamburg in Russia at the delta of the river Ob on Monday after a 17-day trip through the icy cold but briefly ice-free Arctic Ocean after departing from Vladivostok on Aug. 10th September 2009 Warmest August to date melts away winter that came early - The New Zealand Herald This year's winter was a season of extremes, starting off early and extra frosty and ending unusually warm. A summary shows the cold season arrived in May and was extra chilly this year, but also ended earlier with the warmest... 8th September 2009 Ozone: Climate change boosts ultraviolet risk for high latitudes Climate change will disrupt Earth's precious ozone layer, boosting ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the deep southern hemisphere and reducing UV in far northern latitudes, a study warned on Sunday. 8th September 2009 Seas 'threaten 20m in Bangladesh' - BBC News Up to 20 million people in parts of Bangladesh are at risk from sea-level rise in the coming decades, says new research. 8th September 2009 SOUTH AMERICA: Glaciers - Going, Going Gone? BUENOS AIRES, Sep 6 (IPS) - South America is perhaps most often associated with the Amazon jungle, the world's largest tropical rainforest. But along its western edge, from Ecuador to southern Chile and Argentina, it also harbours huge glaciers which are rapidly melting due to global warming. 8th September 2009 Methane Gas Could Increase From Oceanic Vents - Environmental News Network New MIT research by Denise Brehm, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy looked at the potential for a compound affect of warming global temperatures on the level of methane being released by oceanic vents. The premise is that rising global temperatures could be accompanied by melting permafrost in arctic regions and that this could initiate ... 8th September 2009 Methane gas likely spewing into the oceans through vents in sea floor - w/ Video - PhysOrg Scientists worry that rising global temperatures accompanied by melting permafrost in arctic regions will initiate the release of underground methane into the atmosphere. Once released, that methane gas would speed up global warming by trapping the Earth's heat radiation about 20 times more efficiently than does the better-known greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. 5th September 2009 Summer Sea Ice in Arctic Could Disappear by 2016, Scientists Say Summer sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean could disappear by 2016 and the thawing of the Greenland ice sheet is occurring so rapidly that the meltwater from Greenland alone could raise sea levels by one meter this century. Meeting in Greenland, scientists from the Danish Meteorological Institute, the Greenland Climate Center, and other organizations said that the thickness and volume of Arctic ice is decreasing at an even more rapid rate than the precipitous decline in ice extent; Arctic Ocean winter ice thinned by 2.2 feet from 2004 to 2008. As a result, the Danish researchers said it is quite likely that much of the Arctic ocean could be NASA ice-free in summer by 2016. 5th September 2009 Arctic 'warmest in 2,000 years' The Arctic region cooled for two millennia, research reveals, before warming abruptly in the last century. 5th September 2009 Australia's warm winter a record Australia records its warmest ever winter - partly caused by climate change - and fears the coming bush fire season. 5th September 2009 Fall colors fade in U.S. west as aspen trees die SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The American West is losing its autumn colors as global warming begins to bite and there is far more at stake than iconic scenery. 5th September 2009 Climate will cost much more than UN thinks Adapting to climate change will cost at least two to three times more than claimed by the UN climate change convention, says a new study 5th September 2009 'Climate change is here, it is a reality' As one devastating drought follows another, the future is bleak for millions in east Africa. John Vidal reports from Moyale, KenyaWe met Isaac and Abdi, Alima and Muslima last week in the bone-dry, stony land close to the Ethiopia-Kenya border. They were with five nomad families who have watched all their animals die of star vation this year in a deep drought, and who have now decided their days of herding cattle are over.After three years of disastrous rains, the families from the Borana tribe, who by custom travel thousands of miles a year in search of water and pasture, have unanimously decided to settle down. 5th September 2009 Why coral reefs face a catastrophic future Destroyed by rising carbon levels, acidity, pollution, algae, bleaching and El Niño, coral reefs require a dramatic change in our carbon policy to have any chance of survivalAnimal, vegetable and mineral, a pristine tropical coral reef is one of the natural wonders of the world. Bathed in clear, warm water and thick with a psychedelic display of fish, sharks, crustaceans and other sea life, the colourful coral ramparts that rise from the sand are known as the rainforests of the oceans.And with good reason. Reefs and rainforests have more in common than their beauty and bewildering biodiversity. Both have stood for millions of years, and yet both are poised to disappear.If you thought you had heard enough bad news on the environment and that the situation could not get any worse, then steel yourself. 5th September 2009 No rain on roof of the world - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Himalayan nations have held talks about mounting concern over the impact of global warming. 2nd September 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Earth's Fridge Defrosting, With Dire Results GENEVA, Sep 2 (IPS) - The rapidly warming Arctic region is destabilising Earth's climate in ways science is just beginning to comprehend. 2nd September 2009 Greenland offers a chilling view 'We all live on the Greenland ice sheet now. Its fate is our fate'It is calving season in the Arctic. A flotilla of icebergs, some as jagged as fairytale castles and others as smooth as dinosaur eggs, calve from the ice sheet that smothers Greenland and sail down the fjords. The journey of these sculptures of ice from glaciers to ocean is eerily beautiful and utterly terrifying.The wall of ice that rises behind Sermilik fjord stretches for 1,500 miles (2,400km) from north to south and smothers 80% of this country. It has been frozen for 3m years. 1st September 2009 California wildfire more than doubles on sixth day LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A massive wildfire roaring through mountains north of Los Angeles forced some firefighters to retreat Monday as it menaced foothill homes and Mount Wilson, a broadcasting hub and site of an historic observatory. 1st September 2009 Human Impacts and Environmental Factors Are Changing the Northwest Atlantic Ecosystem (PhysOrg.com) -- Fish in U.S. waters from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border have moved away from their traditional, long-time habitats over the past four decades because of fundamental changes in the regional ecosystem, according to a new report by NOAA researchers. 1st September 2009 Hippos Hurt By Kenyan Drought - redOrbit According to an AFP report, Kenya's drought is having an impact on the country's wildlife, causing the Kenya Wildlife Service to feed hippos to keep them alive. In Tsavo West national park hippos are dying in large numbers, and other species are being forced to change their diet. 1st September 2009 It's officially our warmest ever winter - Perth Now WEATHER records have been smashed from one end of the country to the other as Australia swelters through its warmest-ever winter. 27th August 2009 Steamy heat more common in California: study LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bouts of extreme muggy heat lasting for days, once rare in California, are becoming more frequent and intense due to ocean patterns altered by climate change, scientists said in a study released on Tuesday. 27th August 2009 More natural disasters due to climate change? - Deutsche Welle Natural disasters have become extremely commonplace all over the world. It is not clear if climate change has a role in this but we may have to adapt to catastrophes striking more often, say experts. 27th August 2009 Trees advance in a warming world Trees around the world are colonising new territories in response to higher temperatures, a new global analysis reveals. 25th August 2009 Research finds higher acidity in Alaska waters (AP) -- Erosion threatens to topple coastal Alaskan villages. Melting ice threatens polar bears. Now, a marine scientist says the state's marine waters are turning acidic from absorbing greenhouse gases faster than tropical waters, potentially endangering Alaska's $4.6 billion fishing industry. 25th August 2009 Climate change doubles tundra plant life - CNews Climate change is already having a dramatic effect on plants in the High Arctic, turning the once rocky tundra a deep shade of green and creating what could be another mechanism speeding up global warming. 24th August 2009 Climate change opens Arctic s Northeast passage Two German ships set off on Friday on the first commercial journey from Asia to western Europe via the Arctic through the fabled Northeast Passage a trip made possible by climate change. Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Bremen-based Beluga Shipping, said the Northern Sea Route will cut thousands of nautical miles off the ships journey from South Korea to the Netherlands, reducing fuel consumption and emissions of greenhouse gas. I had the chance to ask Stolberg a few questions about the Arctic expedition: Question: What s the status of the voyage? Stolberg: MV Beluga Fraternity and the MV Beluga Foresight have just started to sail from Vladivostok (on Friday) with the destination Novyy Port at the river Ob. 24th August 2009 Billions of beetles, wildfire spread imperil the northern forests of a warmer world - The San Francisco Examiner HAINES JUNCTION, YUKON TERRITORY A veil of smoke settled over the forest in the shadow of the St. Elias Mountains, in a wilderness whose spruce trees stood tall and gray, a deathly gray even in the greenest heart of a Yukon summer. 24th August 2009 World Ocean Temperatures Set Record High in July, U.S. Agency Says The world s oceans were warmer in July than at any time in the 130 years of record-keeping, averaging 62.6 degrees F (17 C), according to the U.S. National Climate Data Center. July s temperature was 1.1 degrees F warmer than the 20th century average. Scientists say the high ocean temperatures are primarily the result of global warming and an El Nino climate cycle in the Pacific, which boosts ocean temperatures. Unusually warm sea temperatures were recorded from the Gulf of Mexico where temperatures hovered near 90 degrees F to the Arctic, where ocean temperatures as much as 10 degrees F above normal were measured in some places. 24th August 2009 Hundreds flee wildfire burning homes near Athens - Reuters ATHENS (Reuters) - Wildfires burned scores of homes and thousands of acres of forest near Athens as flames raged out of control for a second day on Sunday, sending huge clouds of smoke over the Greek capital, authorities said. 24th August 2009 Firefighters battle wildfires in Portugal, Spain - Channel NewsAsia LISBON : Hundreds of firefighters struggled to control raging wildfires in northern Portugal and Spain Wednesday, as the flames cut off an international train route and sparked the evacuation of a village. 21st August 2009 Lloyd's Assesses Impact of Heat Waves and Wildfires - Insurance Journal The recent series of wildfires that ravaged parts of Spain, France, Greece and Italy in late July may well be symptomatic of the warming trend in global weather patterns according to experts at ... 21st August 2009 China's central government allocates 182 mln yuan for drought relief - People's Daily The central Chinese government has so far allocated 182 million yuan (26.65 million U.S. dollars) as of Wednesday to fight the ongoing drought, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday. The fund has been allocated to the provincial and regional governments of Liaoning and Jilin provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the ministry. About 182 million mu (12.13 million hectares) ... 21st August 2009 New report shows record drought, heat - KXAN 36 Austin With 60th day of triple-digit heat this summer expected, State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon releases a new drought report. Nielsen-Gammon says any place south of Waco, Llano or Del Rio is suffering from severe to exceptional drought. Adding this summer is "one for the history books." Austin area farmers agree. 21st August 2009 Half of India affected by drought - BBC News Nearly half of India's districts have been hit by drought that could affect the production of rice, a minister says. 21st August 2009 Victorian Fires Fanned by Record Heat... - Bloomberg Brisbane TimesVictorian Fires Fanned by Record Heatwave, Panel SaysBloomberg... southeastern state of Victoria were the result of a record heatwave and a failed warning system, a panel examining the causes of the blazes said. ...Protection plans boosted ahead of fire seasonABC OnlineCool heads in Black Saturday studyNEWS.com.auall 383 21st August 2009 Montreal in midst of longest heatwave... - CJAD Montreal in midst of longest heatwave in yearsCJADIf we get just one more day of 30-plus on Tuesday, we will have had the longest unbroken heatwave since august, 2005. Ed figures we'll be more comfortableby ... 21st August 2009 Heatwave sweeps Italy - iAfrica.com iAfrica.comHeatwave sweeps ItalyiAfrica.comA heatwave stifled Italy on Wednesday, with temperatures up to 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) and civil protection authorities issuing warnings for ...and more 21st August 2009 Heatwave drives French into fountains - Sky News Australia Heatwave drives French into fountainsSky News AustraliaFrench citizens and tourists alike are diving into fountains and taking cold showers to try to cope with a heat wave hitting the country. ...and more 21st August 2009 London to enjoy scorching temperature... - the london paper London to enjoy scorching temperatures in one-day heatwavethe london paperA MINI heatwave is set to hit London today as forecasters predict scorching temperatures and wall-to-wall sunshine. The mercury is tipped to reach a ... 21st August 2009 Ocean Temperature Record and Other Clues: What Is Your Response? In this report we look at recent news on global warming, the positioning of denialists (the bad cop) and the more insidious "limited-measure-ists" (the good cop), and lastly the direct action approach. The news on global climate change does not get better, but patterns are emerging right now that may help us cut through the obstacles to acting forthrightly. 21st August 2009 Warming Of Arctic Current Over 30 Years Triggers Release Of Methane Gas - Science Daily The warming of an Arctic current over the last 30 years has triggered the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from methane hydrate stored in the sediment beneath the seabed. Scientists have found that more than 250 plumes of bubbles of methane gas are rising from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin in the Arctic. 15th August 2009 Climate change already visible on Greenland - Deutsche Welle Many scientists and governments are talking about what will happen once climate change begins to occur, but on the great island of Greenland global warming isn't just a future problem - it's happening now. 15th August 2009 Trees are going up in the world Trees are living further and further uphill, thanks to warmer winters caused by climate change. It's good news for them, says Michael Marshall, but is it good news for us? 15th August 2009 Antarctic glacier 'thinning fast' One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is thinning four times faster than 10 years ago, according to research seen by the BBC. 14th August 2009 Atlantic hurricanes 'at 1,000-year high' - BBC News Hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean are more frequent than at any time in the last 1,000 years, scientists say. 14th August 2009 Vast expanses of Arctic ice melt in summer heat (AP) -- The Arctic Ocean has given up tens of thousands more square miles (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. 12th August 2009 Hundreds of New Species Found in Warming Eastern Himalayas - Environment News Service The world's smallest deer, a new species of monkey, and a flying frog are among the 353 new species that have been identified in the Eastern Himalayas between 1998 and 2008, but conservationists warn that global warming is threatening to alter the native habitats of these unique plants and animals. 12th August 2009 Forests fall to beetle outbreak MEDICINE BOW NATIONAL FOREST, Wyoming (Reuters) - From the vantage point of an 80-foot (25 meter) tower rising above the trees, the Wyoming vista seems idyllic: snow-capped peaks in the distance give way to shimmering green spruce. 7th August 2009 Earth's Cycles, Once in Concert, Falling Out of Sync - US News & World Report Climate change, land-use patterns are culprits, scientists report. 7th August 2009 B.C. to burn 'until the snow comes': Official - Victoria Times Colonist Though the fight against fires in British Columbia is looking promising, the struggle is far from over, an official said Friday. 7th August 2009 Vanishing Bolivian Glacier Ends Highest Ski Run - Bloomberg Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- When the Chacaltaya glacier vanished six years sooner than scientists predicted, a victim of global warming, so too did the world s highest ski run. 7th August 2009 Alaska glaciers shrinking fast: survey ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Three major glaciers in Alaska and Washington state have thinned and shrunk dramatically, clear signs of a warming climate, according to a study released Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey. 7th August 2009 Global Warming Could Be To Blame For Tick Surge - CattleNetwork.com MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Deer ticks are expanding their range in the Upper Midwest and southern Canada, new ticks are moving into the area and existing ticks are picking up new diseases, increasing the threat of illness to hikers tramping through the region's woods. 7th August 2009 Huge Bolivian glacier disappears - BBC News Scientists in Bolivia say that one of the country's most famous glaciers has almost disappeared as a result of climate change. 3rd August 2009 Climate change a present threat to Pacific nations Speakers from Micronesia, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Torres Strait Islands described how climate change affects their everyday lives at meetings of 180 people in Brisbane on July 28 and 170 people in Melbourne on July 30 3rd August 2009 Alaska's biggest tundra fire sparks climate warning A charred region of the Arctic is pumping large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, finds an ecological assessment 1st August 2009 Climate concerns Are monsoon seasons becoming weaker? 1st August 2009 Rodent size linked to human population and climate change You probably hadn't noticed -- but the head shape and overall size of rodents has been changing over the past century. A University of Illinois at Chicago ecologist has tied these changes to human population density and climate change. 1st August 2009 US satellites reveal true extent of melting polar summer ice Photos from US spy satellites declassified by the Obama administration provide the first graphic images of how the polar ice sheets are retreating 30th July 2009 Climate change clouds fate of ancient Polish woods BIALOWIEZA, Poland (Reuters) - Europe's last ancient forest, home to its largest herd of bison, faces an uncertain future because of climate change, but residents worry that tougher conservation efforts will damage the local economy. 30th July 2009 Melting hopes Bolivian community fears loss of mountain glaciers 30th July 2009 Lucky find of undersea methane bubbles - Nature While testing equipment off the Californian coast last month, a newly refitted research vessel stumbled across plumes of methane gas rising 1,400 metres from the sea floor. 30th July 2009 Poisonous Portuguese man o' war washed up on Cornish coast Conservationists warn beach-goers in the south-west to look out for jellyfish-like creatures that can deliver potentially deadly stingConservationists are warning beach-goers in the south-west to look out for poisonous Portuguese man o'war that are washing up on beaches on the south coast of Cornwall and Devon.The translucent pink and purple floating creatures, which look like jellyfish, can deliver a painful sting which can potentially trigger a deadly allergic reaction.Tom Hardy, marine conservation officer with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said the organisation was still pulling together information of beach sightings. "They are popping up along the south coast of Cornwall," he said. 30th July 2009 Colorado river running on empty by 2050 There is a one-in-two chance of fully depleting reservoir storage by 2050, says University of Colorado study. From the Ecologist, part of the Guardian Environment NetworkThe lifeblood of the American west, the Coloradoc river, is running dry under current usage, according to a study from the University of Colorado.Travelling almost 1,500 miles, the river supplies drinking and irrigation water for about 30 million people from Colorado to the Gulf of California.The study looked at how water supplies would be affected by climate fluctuations and water demand. Reservoirs lowIn 2000 reservoirs fed by the river were at 95 per cent of capacity. 30th July 2009 Global warming pushes up building insurance costs Flash floods and giant hailstones help increase claims by 15% and insurance premiums by 10%Householders face higher building insurance premiums after a sharp increase in property damage blamed on climate change. A rise in insurance claims has been caused by flash floods and storms in areas of Britain previously immune to severe weather events.The AA, which produces an insurance premium index monitoring costs, reports a 15% rise in claims in the first six months of 2009 over the same period in 2008 "in the number and cost of payments for buildings damaged by flash floods and storms in areas with little or no previous record of such claims."It cited one village, Carbrooke in Norfolk, where homes were damaged by giant hailstones during an ice storm in late spring. 30th July 2009 Earth bears scars of human destruction: astronaut - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A Canadian astronaut aboard the International Space Station said on Sunday it looks like Earth's ice caps have melted a bit since he was last in orbit 12 years ago. 27th July 2009 Caribou populations fall sharply - The Christian Science Monitor Scientists look at why the numbers of caribou are declining. 27th July 2009 Melting Ice Off Baffin Island A rare cloudless day in the Arctic summertime allowed a NASA satellite to capture this image of melting sea ice off the coast of Canada s Baffin Island. Coastal eddies Click to EnlargeNASAIce melt during Arctic summer create the swirling patterns as ice, which clings to the shore during the winter, begins to melt and retreat in the summer sunshine. While this summertime melt, captured by NASA s Terra satellite on July 11, is typical for the season, satellite imagery shows that the extent of Arctic sea ice has declined sharply in recent decades, with this year's Arctic sea ice extent expected to be the second-lowest ever recorded. 27th July 2009 Scientists plant trees where they don t belong - Corvallis Gazette-Times LOS ANGELES On naked patches of land in western Canada and United States, scientists are planting trees that don t belong there. It s a bold experiment to move trees threatened by global warming into places where they may thrive amid a changing climate. 21st July 2009 Fish Getting Smaller as Their Habitats Become Warmer - Update1 - Bloomberg July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Fish in French rivers and the Baltic Sea are getting smaller as their habitats warm up, more evidence that climate change is forcing species from bacteria to sheep to adapt to a hotter planet, a new study said. 21st July 2009 Bye Bye, Birdie: Global Warming Pushes Migratory Species North - Bloomberg July 21 (Bloomberg) -- My guide risks his fingers and our canoe by reaching into the water and pulling a fat snapping turtle weighing maybe 25 pounds out of the marsh bottom s muck. 21st July 2009 Texas drought losses reach $3.6 billion - Texas A&M AgNews COLLEGE STATION Lack of rainfall and record triple-digit temperatures have scorched crops and rangeland throughout parts of Texas causing drought losses to reach $3.6 billion, Texas AgriLife Extension Service economists reported Monday. By the end of the year, losses could exceed $4.1 billion, the loss estimated in Texas in 2006, if sufficient rainfall isn't received to revive crops and forage, ... 21st July 2009 Western Reservoirs Could Be Dry By 2050 - LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News There's a one-in-two chance that the water reservoirs of the Colorado River will dry up by 2050 if water management practices remain unchanged in our warming world, a new study finds. 21st July 2009 B.C. fire forces 10,000 to evacuate - Toronto Star Firefighters in B.C. were hoping that predictions of dying winds and cooler temperatures today would mean they could get the upper hand in fighting a forest fire that has forced 10,000 to flee their homes. 19th July 2009 At risk from rising seas, Tuvalu seeks clean power OSLO (Reuters) - The Pacific island state of Tuvalu set a goal Sunday of a 100 percent shift to renewable energy by 2020, hoping to set an example to industrialized nations to cut greenhouse gases it blames for rising sea levels. 19th July 2009 Denmark plans forces for Arctic - BBC News Denmark plans to create an Arctic military command and task force as global warming fuels rivalry in the region. 17th July 2009 U.S. releases unclassified spy images of Arctic ice WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States released more than a thousand intelligence images of Arctic ice to help scientists study the impact of climate change, within hours of a recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences. 17th July 2009 In Montana, The Retreat of Glaciers - CBS News Warmer Temps Mean Glacier National Park May be "Glacier-free by 2030;" Wildlife in Peril 17th July 2009 San Diego menaced by jumbo squid Scuba divers off the Californian city of San Diego report unnerving encounters with large numbers of Humboldt squid. 17th July 2009 World's Ocean Temperatures Reach Warmest on Record for June - Bloomberg By Jim Efstathiou Jr. July 17 (Bloomberg) -- The world s ocean temperature in June rose to the warmest since 1880, breaking the previous record set in 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. 17th July 2009 Sea ice minimum forecasts One of the interesting things about being a scientist is seeing how unexpected observations can galvanize the community into looking at a problem in a different way than before. A good example of this is the unexpectedly low Arctic sea ice minimum in 2007 and the near-repeat in 2008. What was unexpected was not the long term decline of summer ice (this has long been a robust prediction), but the size of 2007 and 2008 decreases which were much larger than any model had hinted at. This model-data mismatch raises a number of obvious questions were the data reliable? 17th July 2009 Arctic glacier to lose Manhattan-sized 'tongue' A vast chunk of ice is about to detach from the biggest glacier in the Arctic researchers worry that it could be a result of a warming climate 15th July 2009 Northwest Passage Crew Hopes to Tell Global Warming Tale - Alaska Public Radio Network Sailors like adventures, but some want adventures with a greater purpose. Another sailboat passed through Unalaska recently to attempt the Northwest Passage. This time, the crew of the 40-foot sailboat want to educate people about climate change in the Arctic. Anne Hillman, KUCB - Unalaska Download Audio (MP3) 15th July 2009 Assam declares 14 districts drought-hit - The Times of India The Assam government has declared more than half of the state as drought-hit, saying agriculture was badly hit due to scanty monsoon rains, officials said. 15th July 2009 Cricket replace skylark as sound of English summer - Daily Telegraph The sound of the English summer is changing due to global warming as the song of the skylark is overwhelmed by the chirrup of crickets. 15th July 2009 Iraq's Euphrates River Dries Up, Adding to Drought, NYT Reports - Bloomberg July 14 (Bloomberg) -- The Euphrates River in Iraq is drying up because of upstream dams in Syria and Turkey, adding to a drought that s lasted two years, the New York Times reported , citing local residents and officials. 14th July 2009 Wild weather ahead, scientists predict - Guardian Climate scientists have warned of wild weather in the year ahead as the start of the global "El Niño" phenomenon exacerbates the impact of global warming. As well as droughts, floods and other extreme events, the next few years are also likely to be the hottest on record, scientists say.In the UK, a Met Office spokesman said yesterday that the El Niño event was likely to cause a hot, dry summer following a warm June, but said it could have other unpredictable effects on weather in Britain and north-west Europe. "Much depends on how much the El Niño deepens in the next few months."El Niño - "the child" in Spanish - was named by fishermen in Peru and Ecuador because the phenomenon arrives there at Christmas. 13th July 2009 Water wars turn deadly as wells run dry - Guardian The monsoon is late, the wells are running dry and in the teeming city of Bhopal, water supply is now a deadly issue. Gethin Chamberlain reportsIt was a little after 8pm when the water started flowing through the pipe running beneath the dirt streets of Bhopal's Sanjay Nagar slum. After days without a drop of water, the Malviya family were the first to reach the hole they had drilled in the pipe, filling what containers they had as quickly as they could. Within minutes, three of them were dead, hacked to death by angry neighbours who accused them of stealing water.In Bhopal, and across much of northern India, a late monsoon and the driest June for 83 years are exacerbating the effects of a widespread drought and setting neighbour against neighbour in a desperate fight for survival.India's vast farming economy is on the verge of crisis. 13th July 2009 Thousands of plant species likely to go extinct in Amazon As many as 4,550 of the more than 50,000 plant species in the Amazon will likely disappear because of land-use changes and habitat loss within the next 40 years, according to a new study by two Wake Forest University researchers. 10th July 2009 Nasa satellites reveal extent of Arctic sea ice loss - Guardian The Earth is going thin on top. A new study has revealed that the Arctic Ocean's permanent blanket of ice around the North Pole has thinned by more than 40% since 2004. Scientists said the rapid loss was "remarkable" and could force experts to reassess how quickly the Arctic ice in the summer may disappear completely. They blame the loss on global warming, which has driven temperatures in the Arctic to record highs and summer ice extent to recent lows. The study, based on satellite measurements, is among the first to estimate the thickness of the Arctic ice, rather than just its surface area. Ron Kwok, senior research scientist at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said: "Even in years when the overall extent of sea ice remains stable or grows slightly, the thickness and volume of the ice cover is continuing to decline, making the ice more vulnerable to continued shrinkage." 9th July 2009 Jellyfish are swarming in the warm weather, say marine experts - BBC Marine experts say warm weather has prompted reports of large numbers of jellyfish in the waters around Scotland. 9th July 2009 Global warming shrinks glacier at alarming rate - Daily Telegraph One of the world's largest glaciers on the west coast of Greenland is shrinking at an alarming rate as a result of global warming with potentially dire consequences. 9th July 2009 Warming arctic could teem with life by 2030 - New Scientist An influx of tiny organisms could lead to an Arctic rich with life during the summers in the next few decades, a study of ice cores suggests 9th July 2009 Fish suffering in heatwave - TeleText UK: Efforts are underway to save fish in South Yorkshire which are suffering from the effects of the warm weather. The recent heatwave has been causing problems for fish in watercourses across Yorkshire. A combination of low water flows and high temperatures are thought to have reduced oxygen levels in some areas, making it harder for fish to breathe. 8th July 2009 Arctic ice thinned dramatically since 2004: NASA - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arctic sea ice has thinned dramatically since 2004, with the older, thicker ice giving way to a younger, thinner kind that melts in the northern summer, NASA scientists reported on Tuesday. 7th July 2009 CO2 levels already condemns coral to extinction, warns Attenborough - Guardian Coral is the canary in the cage as damage can be seen most quickly, veteran naturalist tells Royal SocietyDavid Attenborough joined scientists yesterday to warn that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already above the level which condemns coral reefs to extinction in the future, with catastrophic effects for the oceans and the people who depend upon them.Coral reefs support a quarter of all marine life including more than 4,000 species of fish. They also provide spawning, nursery, refuge and feeding areas for creatures such as lobsters, crabs, starfish and sea turtles. This makes them crucial in supporting a healthy marine ecosystem upon which more than 1bn people depend for food. 7th July 2009 Central Texas farmers struggle in drought - KVUE-TV Austin 7th July 2009 Drought threat looms over north India - The Times of India 7th July 2009 Assam flooding 'strands 500,000' - BBC News 7th July 2009 Mumbai faces acute water shortage - BBC News 7th July 2009 Benin declares state of emergency over floods - Reuters 7th July 2009 A House in the Woods, After the Woods Are Gone 7th July 2009 Tropical zone expanding due to climate change: study - SpaceDaily MELBOURNE, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2009 Climate change is rapidly expanding the size of the world's tropical zone, threatening to bring disease and drought to heavily populated areas, an Australian study has found. 6th July 2009 Reefs could perish by end of century, experts warn - Reuters LONDON (Reuters) - Increasingly acidic oceans and warming water temperatures due to carbon dioxide emissions could kill off the world's ocean reefs by the end of this century, scientists warned on Monday. 6th July 2009 Explorer sure of climate change after historic trek - China Daily "I'm not a politician. I'm not a scientist. I'm a polar explorer," said Ousland. "So when it comes to the global warming issue, I'm a rough diamond. But I've of course seen the changes and would like to express my concerns about global warming because these beautiful areas are disappearing, and it affects the whole world." 6th July 2009 Preparing for a Sea Change - Washington Post It is not only scientists who are ahead of the politicians. So are their military establishments, which realize that "warfare enterprises" will also be transformed by rising oceans, expanding deserts and shifting topography. 5th July 2009 Heatwave prompts surge in massive basking sharks off British shores - Guardian Record numbers of basking sharks have been spotted off the coast of Britain and Ireland after the recent hot weather boosted levels of their favourite food: zooplankton. Last year there were only 26 sightings of the 11-metre sharks in two and a half months off the most southerly headland of Cornwall. This year more than 900 sightings have been recorded since the beginning of June. 5th July 2009 Drought in Prairies after driest weather in 50 years - CNews Albertans are crossing their fingers that predicted cloudy patches turn into bouts of rain later this week to wash away what has become a dry spring of sunburnt misery. 3rd July 2009 New type of El Nino could mean more hurricanes make landfall - Physorg El Niño years typically result in fewer hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean. But a new study suggests that the form of El Niño may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater chance of hurricanes making landfall, according to climatologists at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The study appears in the July 3, 2009, edition of the journal Science. See also: El Niño Is Changing for the Stormier 3rd July 2009 Incredible shrinking sheep blamed on climate change - New Scientist The mysterious size reduction of Scottish sheep over the last 20 years can be explained by shorter winters, researchers say 3rd July 2009 RWANDA: Water rationing warning as drought bites - IRIN KIGALI, 3 July 2009 (IRIN) - Electrogaz, Rwanda's public utility, is considering water rationing due to shortages caused by a prolonged drought in parts of the country, officials said. 3rd July 2009 China torn by heatwave, rainstorm - Xinhua China: The heatwave continues in Beijing and several other northern provinces Thursday, while rainstorms drench at least half of the country. The maximum temperature reached 36 degrees Celsius Thursday in Beijing, at least 10 days after the heatwave began. The city's weather bureau said Thursday Beijing had experienced the hottest June since 1951, with the average temperature climbing3.7 degrees Celsius higher than that of last year. In June, the mercury climbed above 35 degrees Celsius on eight days, compared with the normal 2.5 days. Scorching heat during the day drove the average temperature in the last 10 days to 28.8 degrees, though the low temperature rarely exceeded 22 degrees. 2nd July 2009 The least sea ice in 800 years - PhysOrg 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 scientific journal, Climate Dynamics. 2nd July 2009 North America faces beetle plague - BBC  An epidemic of mountain pine beetles, which has devastated forests in British Columbia, is threatening to spread. 1st July 2009 Britain's heatwave set to continue - BBC News Britain's heatwave is expected to go on until the weekend, raising the possibility that the official "watch level" could be raised to protect vulnerable people. See also: Have the climate change deniers abandoned us during the heatwave? 1st July 2009 Seagrass losses reveal global coastal crisis - Reuters SYDNEY (Reuters) - Mounting loss of seagrass in the world's oceans, vital for the survival of endangered marine life, commercial fisheries and the fight against climate change, reveals a major crisis in coastal ecosystems, a report says. 1st July 2009 Czech Met Office says June storms are exceptional - Radio Prague The weather is the subject on the tip of everyone s tongue just now following violent floods over the last week in the Czech Republic. Forecasters warn that there is still a risk of storms causing more deaths and damage. But just how exceptional has the recent weather been and is climate change partly to blame? 1st July 2009 Climate Most Significant Factor In Fanning Wildfires' Flames, In The Warming West - redOrbit Study finds that climate's influence on production, drying of fuels -- not higher temperatures or longer fire seasons alone -- critical determinant of Western wildfire burned areaThe recent increase in area burned by wildfires in the Western United States is a product not of higher temperatures or longer fire seasons alone, but a complex relationship between climate and fuels that varies among ... 28th June 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: India's Monsoon Predictions More Uncertain - IPS NEW DELHI, Jun 27 (IPS) - Predicting the monsoons - a risky proposition despite the deployment of satellites and supercomputers - appears to have become iffier thanks to climate change. 28th June 2009 Ozone hole has unforeseen effect on ocean carbon sink - News Scientist The Southern Ocean has lost its appetite for carbon dioxide, and now it appears that ozone levels could be partly to blame 28th June 2009 Dolphin 'super pod' shifts north - BBC Environmental charity Earthwatch says a massive migration of short-beaked common dolphins are a sign of climate change. 26th June 2009 Hot Summers, Calm Seas Are Tipping Point for Tatoosh Island's Red Alga - UBC Faculty of Science Hot Summers, Calm Seas Are Tipping Point for Tatoosh Island's Red AlgaUBC Faculty of Science, Canada"If we take predicted temperature increases related to global warming and apply them to our study system, lethal combinations of environmental conditions which previously occurred only about once per decade will begin to happen once every two to four ... 25th June 2009 Ozone Hole Reduces Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Uptake In Southern Ocean - Science Daily Does ozone have an impact on the ocean s role as a carbon sink ? Yes, according to researchers. Using original simulations, they have demonstrated that the hole in the ozone layer reduces atmospheric carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean and contributes to the increase in ocean acidity. These results should have a considerable impact on future models of the IPCC, which do not currently take ozone ... 25th June 2009 Himalayan glaciers feared to be swelling dangerously due to global warming - Smash Hits Himalayan glaciers feared to be swelling dangerously due to global ...Smash Hits, IndiaLondon, June 24 (ANI): Scientists in Nepal have embarked on the first field studies of Himalayan glacial lakes, some of which are feared to be swelling dangerously due to global warming. In May, they completed the field visit to the first location, ... 24th June 2009 Swiss glaciers melting faster than ever before: study - Reuters ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's glaciers shrank by 12 percent over the past decade, melting at their fastest rate due to rising temperatures and lighter snowfalls, a study by the Swiss university ETH showed Monday. 23rd June 2009 Driest spring in 50 years sparks wheat fears in Prairies - National Post The worst drought in 50 years for Western Canada s grain-growing region means farmers will likely reap smaller crops than the Canadian Wheat Board estimated a week ago, the Wheat Board said on Friday. 20th June 2009 Tibet drought worst in 30 years: Chinese state media A drought in Tibet has intensified into the region's worst in three decades, leaving thousands of hectares parched and killing more than 13,000 head of cattle, China's state media said Saturday. 20th June 2009 Rising ocean temperatures near worst-case predictions - The Age The ocean is warming about 50 per cent faster than reported two years ago, according to an update of the latest climate science. A report compiling research presented at a science congress in Copenhagen in March says recent observations are near the worst-case predictions of the 2007 report by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the case of sea-level rise, it is happening at an even greater rate than projected - largely due to rising ocean temperatures causing thermal expansion of seawater. 19th June 2009 2.1 Million-Year High Measured for Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere - Bloomberg June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Carbon dioxide in the earth s atmosphere has risen to its highest level in at least 2.1 million years, according to a new investigation of the greenhouse gas s role in ice ages over the millennia. 19th June 2009 Alaska polar bear numbers declining: U.S. agency - Reuters ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 19th June 2009 Pine Beetle Infestation Threatens Water Source for U.S. Southwest - Yale e360 The destruction of 2.5 million acres of Rocky Mountain forest because of a pine beetle infestation could threaten the water supplies of 33 million people, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Rick Cables, chief forester for the Rocky Mountain region, told a congressional committee that the dead and dying forest at the headwaters of the Colorado River could burn extensively and reduce water supplies to residents in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and Tucson, Ariz. Roughly 25 percent of the water piped to these cities originates in national forests in the Rockies that have suffered extensive damage from infestations of pine bark beetles, Cables said. 18th June 2009 Oyster Die-Off in Pacific May Be Linked to Ocean Acidification - Yale e360 The oyster industry in parts of Washington state in the Pacific Northwest is experiencing its fifth year of a massive die-off of oyster larvae, a condition that may be linked to increasing acidification of ocean waters from high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. The Seattle Times reports that the larvae have been dying before they have a chance to attach to hard surfaces, such as rocks or other oyster shells, and grow their own shells made from calcium carbonate. Researchers have noticed periodic drops in the pH of the surrounding ocean waters, apparently linked to upwellings of deep, more acidified water. 17th June 2009 7 American Species Threatened By Global Warming - SLIDESHOW - The Huffington Post Global warming is already starting to have a severe effect on our environment. The Environment Defense Fund has picked seven "ambassador species" -- living plants and animals - who are already struggling to survive. 17th June 2009 World disaster toll faces new threat from global warning: Red Cross - Space Daily Natural and man-made disasters killed nearly a quarter of a million people in 2008 and warnings about looming disasters, particularly climate change, are not being heeded, the Red Cross said Tuesday. 16th June 2009 U.S. faces security threat from climate change: Kerry - Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global warming threatens U.S. security by leaving important military hubs vulnerable to rising seas and possibly fomenting anti-American sentiment, U.S. Sen. John Kerry said on Monday. 16th June 2009 Climate change divides the Alps down the middle - Independent The dramatic effect of climate change on the Alps comes into focus as never before this week with the publication of a major report which reveals that the mountain range is rapidly dividing into two contrasting climatic zones, each posing new problems. 16th June 2009 Water supply shifts as global climate changes - PhysOrg Many of the world's great rivers are becoming less so. Yet in the Midwest, the wet is getting wetter. So says a study that finds global climate change shifting weather and water patterns around the planet. 16th June 2009 Silk Road threatened by melting glaciers - New Scientist Climate change seems to be causing glaciers to retreat in Gansu province, bringing floods now, and if predictions are right chronic water shortages in the future 15th June 2009 Lifestyle melts away with Uganda peak snow cap - PhysOrg In 1906, Mount Speke, one the highest peaks of Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains was covered with 217 hectares (536 acres) of ice, according to the Climate Change Unit at Uganda's ministry of water and environment. In 2006, only 18.5 hectares remained. Uganda's National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) believes that if melting continues at the current rate the ice will be gone by 2023. For the people of Bundibugyo who rely on agriculture to survive, temperature increases have changed their lives dramatically. "I used to be able to plant beans down here at around March," said Nelson Bikalwamuli, 45, referring to his garden at the base of the mountain. "But now it has changed." Beans serve as both a food crop and a crash crop for Bikalwamuli, so he can?t afford to lose them. He?s had to secure a plot of land part way up the mountain, where he says temperatures are still cool enough to yield a descent crop, but the trek up is hard, and competition for space is growing increasingly fierce. "People just keep moving up, up, up," he said. "I fear soon we may be on top of each other." 15th June 2009 Korea moving toward a subtropical climate - Korea Herald Global warming has increased temperature and precipitation and widened regional and seasonal weather differences on the Korea Peninsula, changing it closer to a subtropical climate, the state meteorological agency said yesterday. The Korea Meteorological Administration yesterday released its analysis on climate change that occurred for the past 10 years. 14th June 2009 Jellyfish head for UK in bumper numbers - Daily Telegraph Dangerous and even deadly jellyfish are poised to enter British waters in bumper numbers this summer scientists are warning. 14th June 2009 New signs of climate change: shifting seasons, warmer Antarctica - FOX2now.com The news might seem welcome in the middle of a long, cold winter: Scientists have shown that the start of spring has moved almost two days earlier in the last 50 years. But scientists say the finding, one of two papers released today on climate change, is actually a warning sign. Together, the studies bolster the argument that the planet's temperatures have shifted significantly in the last half-century, with many of the potential consequences likely to be negative. Reporting in the scientific journal Nature, two teams of scientists presented evidence that all seasons are occurring earlier worldwide and that more of Antarctica is showing signs of warming than had been thought. 14th June 2009 Arctic Sea Ice Extent Trending Below Record 2007 Melt - Daily Green The annual melting of Arctic sea ice is trending toward another record-low. While it's still too early to say whether the 2009 melt will exceed the record 2007 melt -- the annual low-point isn't reached until September -- the trend line for 2009 for the first time has dipped below 2007, according to the latest data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. 13th June 2009 Winds of change - RealClimate Gavin Schmidt and Michael Mann There was an interesting AP story this week about possible changes in wind speed over the continental US. The study (by Pryor et al (sub.)), put together a lot of observational data, reanalyses (from the weather forecasting models) and regional models, and concluded that there was some evidence for a decrease in wind speeds, particularly in the Eastern US. However, although this trend appeared in the observational data, it isn't seen in all the reanalyses or regional models, leaving open a possibility that the trend is an artifact of some sort (instrumental changes, urbanization etc.). 12th June 2009 Bird numbers decline 'worrying' - BBC Scotland's seabird numbers plunged by 19%, with the Northern Isles and east coast badly hit, a new report says. 12th June 2009 Reindeer herds in global decline - BBC Reindeer numbers are falling everywhere as they struggle to survive in a warming, developed world, a new survey reveals. 12th June 2009 Jane Lubchenco: “Ocean acidity has increased by 30%” thanks to human emissions Jane Lubchenco Obama s terrific choice for administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discusses the threat to the ocean from global warming. See also: Scientists: Global warming has already changed oceans - McClatchy Newspapers via Yahoo! News 10th June 2009 Not so windy: Research suggests winds dying down - AP WASHINGTON (AP) — The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming — the very problem wind power seeks to address. The idea that winds may be slowing is still a speculative one, and scientists disagree whether that is happening. But a first-of-its-kind study suggests that average and peak wind speeds have been noticeably slowing since 1973, especially in the Midwest and the East. "It's a very large effect," said study co-author Eugene Takle, a professor of atmospheric science at Iowa State University. In some places in the Midwest, the trend shows a 10 percent drop or more over a decade. That adds up when the average wind speed in the region is about 10 to 12 miles per hour. 10th June 2009 African Bird Species Could Struggle To Relocate To Survive Global Warming - Science Daily African bird species could struggle to relocate to survive global warming because natural features of the landscape will limit where they can move to, according to new research. 10th June 2009 Caribbean reefs 'flattened' in just 40 years - New Scientist In just 40 years, spectacular branched Caribbean corals have been replaced by fleshy, stumpy rivals, research reveals and climate change is at least partly to blame 10th June 2009 Is the daddy-longlegs doomed? Is the humble daddy-longlegs in trouble? The RSPB thinks so, at least in the uplands. Its research suggests that, because of hotter summers, that is to say, because of global warming, the peat bogs are drying out. It is suggested that, since the larvae prefer moist conditions, their numbers are falling, which in turn spells trouble for those birds, such as golden plover, that feed on them.My first memories of daddy-longlegs, or crane flies, are from school: Redcar in the 60s, a gang of us huddled next to the brick wall of the playground, and several daddy-longlegs blundering against the wall. 8th June 2009 Weeds damage homes as the climate warms - Guardian A combination of a warmer climate, increased rainfall and a ban on the use of chemicals has created an epidemic of weeds causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage to homes and public buildings.Homeowners are facing large bills due to weeds damaging pipes and buildings as climate change produces an explosion in plant life.According to Peter Brownless, horticulturalist at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, long periods of warm and wet weather combined with increasing volumes of detritus in gutters and drains is encouraging plants to grow out of control at a faster rate than ever before."A recent change in European legislation means there are far less herbicides available for local authorities and home gardeners to use to control weeds," he said.According to Brownless many problems are caused by alien species which are thriving in Scotland's increasingly mild climate. 8th June 2009 Jellyfish threaten to 'dominate' oceans - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Giant jellyfish are taking over parts of the world's oceans due to overfishing and other human activities, researchers say. 8th June 2009 An amphibious assault - Globe and Mail Around the world, frogs and toads are falling victim to a loss of habitat, pesticides, pollution and an insidious, quick-acting fungus. And now they are going extinct faster than any other animals since the dinosaurs. We need to deal with every single issue at once: climate change, excessive use of agricultural fertilizers and pesticides, depletion of the ozone layer and, above all, habitat degradation. 8th June 2009 Strange sights under northern lights - Kitchener - Waterloo Record PANGNIRTUNG, NUNAVUT (Jun 6, 2009) -- The fish changed colour. Different bird species were spotted. Two bridges were wiped out by a once-in-a-lifetime flood that forced villagers to dump sewage into their pristine waters. 6th June 2009 New NSIDC director on “death spiral” Arctic ice I interviewed by email Dr. Mark Serreze, recently named director of The National Snow and Ice Data Center. Partly I wanted him to explain his death spiral metaphor for Arctic ice. And partly I wanted his reaction to the blog WattsUpWithThat, the quintessential victim of anti-science syndrome (ASS), who called his appointment Bad News. 6th June 2009 US urged to abandon ageing flood defences in favour of Dutch system The US must adopt an integrated model of water management like the Netherlands, says New Orleans senator Mary LandrieuAmerica, now entering its hurricane season, was today urged to abandon the outmoded "patch and pray" system of levees whose failure magnified the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and borrow from the Dutch model of dykes and water management.Mary Landrieu, a senator from New Orleans who was brought to tears during a helicopter tour of the destruction of 2005, said America needed to rethink its entire approach to low-lying coastal areas and adopt an integrated model of water management like that of the Netherlands.The US has budgeted $14bn since Katrina to shore up the flood defences of Louisiana and other low-lying areas. 6th June 2009 Soaring temperatures smash records - The Powell River Peak UPDATED JUNE 5, 9:40 AM Summer arrived on BC's south coast this week as an unseasonable heat wave broke records across the province. 6th June 2009 Giant jellyfish wash up on shores of Wales as temperatures soar - Daily Telegraph Sea bathers are being warned that the hot weather is causing an invasion of dangerous giant jellyfish in Wales. 4th June 2009 Summer arrives early in B.C. with record temperatures - Vancouver Province It's about a month early, but summer will stumble into B.C. with record-breaking temperatures today. 4th June 2009 160 Syrian villages deserted due to climate change: study - Zawya DAMASCUS, Jun 02, 2009 (AFP) - Some 160 villages in northern Syria were deserted of their residents in 2007 and 2008 because of climate change, according to a study released on Tuesday. 3rd June 2009 Hurricane barriers floated to keep sea out of NYC - Guardian As a new hurricane season starts Monday, some scientists and engineers are floating an ambitious solution: Barriers to choke off the surging sea and protect flood-prone areas. The plan involves deploying giant barriers and gates that would move into place and in some cases rising out of the water and for storms. One proposal calls for a 5-mile-long barrier between New Jersey and Queens. 2nd June 2009 The Dutch strive to make their country 'climate proof' - New York Times AMSTERDAM -- "Can we actually save the Netherlands? Or should we abandon part of the country?" This is the basic question Dutch leaders were asking themselves within the context of global warming after witnessing Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow to New Orleans in 2005. 1st June 2009 The seldom-seen devastation of climate change - Salon.com A NASA climatologist explains why global warming is more than starving polar bears, and skeptics are simplistic. 31st May 2009 Mysterious green meanies - Financial Times It’s been a strange year in Harlem. The robins didn’t migrate. The hyacinths popped up in the snow. And then tropical intruders took over the garden. This global warming is getting out of control. 30th May 2009 El Nino odds rising with warming Pacific - Reuters SYDNEY (Reuters) - The chances of a 2009 El Nino, a warming of eastern Pacific waters that often brings drought to Australia's farmlands, has risen and is above a 20 percent probability, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday. 29th May 2009 Refugees Join List of Climate-Change Issues - New York Times A debate has begun over the world?s responsibilities to the millions of people likely to be displaced by climate change. 29th May 2009 Melting Greenland ice sheets may threaten Northeast United States ... - PhysOrg.com Melting of the Greenland ice sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United States and in Canada, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). 28th May 2009 Cyclone Aila - a grim reminder of climate change - Thaindian.com Kolkata, May 26 (IANS) Cyclone Aila, that hit the east coast of India Monday devastating over 100,000 people in the Sundarbans delta region of crops and lifestock, was a grim consequence of climate change, say experts. NGOs who work in the area said the main dykes in major islands such as Sagar, Patharpratima, Sandeshkhali I and II, Hingalganj, Kultoli, Mousuni and many small islands in the Gosaba area had been breached, and brackish water had entered farmlands and freshwater ponds during the cyclone Monday, ruining the crops and killing the fish. See also: Why global warming means killer storms worse than Katrina and Gustav, Part 1 - Grist 27th May 2009 China on high alert of forest fire - China Daily HARBIN -- China faces a tough test in preventing forest fires, with key wooded areas reporting a surge in blazes during the past month, a forestry official said Monday. 27th May 2009 Jeepers Creepers! Climate Change Threatens Endangered Honeycreepers - USGS Today, native Hawaiian birds face one of the highest rates of extinction in the world. Of 41 honeycreeper species and subspecies known since historic times, 17 are probably extinct, 14 are endangered, and only 3 are in decent shape. Pox and malaria transmission in Hawaii depends on climatic conditions, especially seasonal changes in temperature and rainfall that increase or decrease mosquito populations. “ Although most disease transmission now occurs in these mid-elevation forests, this will change if the projected 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Centigrade) raise in temperature occurs. “With this kind of temperature change, about 60 to 96 percent of the high-elevation disease refuges would disappear,” said Atkinson. For example, available high-elevation forest habitat in the low-risk disease zone would likely decline by nearly 60 percent at Hanawi Natural Area Reserve on Maui to as much as 96 percent at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on Hawaii Island. On other islands, such as Kauai, with lower elevations and no low-risk zones even now, predicted temperature changes would likely be catastrophic for remaining honeycreeper species. 27th May 2009 Brazil floods displace thousands - BBC News Brazilian authorities say 380,000 people cannot return home after floods that began last month in the Amazon basin. 26th May 2009 Climate change amplifying animal disease - PhysOrg Climate change is widening viral disease among farm animals, expanding the spread of some microbes that are also a known risk to humans, the world's top agency for animal health said on Monday. 26th May 2009 Climate change making Everest ascent harder: sherpa - Reuters KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A Nepali sherpa who holds the world record for climbing Mount Everest said on Monday rising temperatures were melting snow and turning the slopes barren, making it even harder to scale the world's tallest peak. 26th May 2009 NZ 'must prepare for warmer climate' - The New Zealand Herald New Zealand should be stamping out rock snot and stepping up efforts to beat rats and possums to prepare for global warming. 25th May 2009 Appearance of Himalayas are changing due to climate change, garbage - Xinhua KATHMANDU, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The mountainous range of Himalayan nation Nepal are gradually changing their appearance as they are caught with severity of global warming and garbage. Apa Sherpa, also known as Nepal's "Super Sherpa" who had climbed Mt. Qomolangma 8848 meters 19th time beating his own previous record said on Monday, "White part of the Mt. Qomolangma is melting exposing its rocky parts." 25th May 2009 Droughts drain northern lakes - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Scientists and property owners say they are worried about the long-term effects of a prolonged drought on fishing and water quality in northern Wisconsin as they've watched some lakes drop to their lowest point in 70 years. As people flock to the north this weekend, drought conditions also are evident in tinder-dry forests that experienced a surge in fires last week. 24th May 2009 Insurer blames climate change - Sydney Morning Herald AS FLOODS lash northern NSW, insurance companies say they are revising their estimates due to climate change. Damage from severe weather has increased significantly in the past few years, while other forms of natural disasters have remained static, said the head of geo risks research at the global insurance giant Munich Re, Peter Hoeppe. "If you calculate the trends in weather-related natural catastrophes you find a distinct difference in recent years," Dr Hoeppe told the Herald. 23rd May 2009 Data on global warming - Atlanta Journal Constitution If I’m watching a baseball game and the guy in the next seat says “He’s gonna hit to shortstop,” and then the player hits it to shortstop, I’m intrigued. If he gets it right batter after batter, I’m really impressed. And that’s pretty much what climate scientists have achieved. 23rd May 2009 Yosemite's giant trees disappear - BBC News The oldest trees within California's Yosemite National Park are disappearing, and climate change appears to be a cause. 23rd May 2009 Now, you can hear global warming - Economic Times WASHINGTON: A new study has determined that it's now possible to hear the rise of global warming, in the form of more larger and more intense storms , which are signs of climate change. 23rd May 2009 Thousands evacuate Australian floods, one dead SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thousands more people in Australia's flood-hit east were told to leave their homes on Saturday as gale-force winds lashed the coast and emergency services said up to 20,000 people had been cut off. 23rd May 2009 Study: Michigan mammals rapidly migrating north - WTOL Scientists say some of Michigan's mammal species are migrating rapidly northward, probably because of climate change. Researchers studied records of 9 common mammals such as opossums, white-footed mice and eastern chipmunks. They found that species historically from the South are gaining ground in northern Michigan. Meanwhile, historically northern species are declining. 21st May 2009 In Brazil, extreme weather stokes climate worries ILHA GRANDE, Brazil (Reuters) - No one could say they hadn't seen it coming. 21st May 2009 Global warming is sending Britain's moths northwards, experts say - BBC News Britain's moth populations are heading northwards, almost certainly as a result of climate change, according to experts. 20th May 2009 Disappearance of Aral Sea In a dramatic series of satellite photos, NASA has documented one of the great environmental disasters of the last century: the disappearance - and near death - of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea became the victim of a grand Soviet public works project that diverted the water bound for the inland body of water and pumped it into the desert to grow cotton and other crops. By 2000, when the first photograph in this series was taken by NASA's Terra satellite, the Aral Sea had already shrunk by more than half since the diversion projects began in 1960. 20th May 2009 Bahrain has driest 'rainy season' in 40 years - Trade Arabia Bahrain has driest 'rainy season' in 40 yearsTrade Arabia, Bahrain'We are certain this dry spell can be attributed to the effects of global warming and climate change,' Isa said. 'There have also been high velocity winds at times when they are not supposed to be there.' Isa said the unsettling weather in the last ... 19th May 2009 Your world in maps: climate change edition Incendiary graphic from the The Lancet shows who causes climate change (the North) and who will suffer (Africa and Southeast Asia). read more 19th May 2009 Vancouver has the rainy day blues as it struggles with more precipitation - The Globe and Mail It's not your imagination - it is raining more in Vancouver than it used to.A recent Metro Vancouver report on climate change has found that the average annual rainfall has risen by 20 per cent since the 1930s, when it averaged around 1,000 millimetres. 19th May 2009 NOAA: Fifth Warmest April for Globe - NOAA The combined average global land and ocean surface temperatures for April 2009 ranked fifth warmest since worldwide records began in 1880, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. 19th May 2009 As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It's Land That's Rising - The Ledger As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It's Land That's RisingThe Ledger, FLJUNEAU, Alaska - Global warming conjures images of rising seas that threaten coastal areas. But in Juneau, as almost nowhere else in the world, climate change is having the opposite effect: As the glaciers here melt, the land is rising, causing the sea ... 19th May 2009 Drought worsening across NSW: data - ABC via Yahoo!7 News New figures show the big dry is getting worse across New South Wales - with 60 per cent of the state being classified as in drought. 18th May 2009 Land clearances turned up the heat on Australian climate - New Scientist Thanks to deforestation by European settlers, Australia's droughts are more extreme than they would be otherwise, models suggest 17th May 2009 Disaster risk increasing, says UN - BBC News Poor disaster planning is increasing the risks of disaster impact around the world, a UN report says. 17th May 2009 Native songbirds under threat - The Cornishman Native songbirds under threatThe Cornishman, UKExperts believe there are two main culprits – intensive land use and global warming. "The way that land is managed is very intensive, such as the cropping regimes how we treat crops with pesticides and fertilisers," said Mr Exley. ... 17th May 2009 Arctic explorers find more evidence of global thaw VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A team of British adventurers measuring ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic said on Wednesday they did not find the thicker, older ice that scientists expected to be there. 14th May 2009 Efforts to save salmon may be undone by climate change - PhysOrg The Pacific Northwest has spent two decades retooling dams, rebuilding damaged watersheds and restoring stream flows to keep salmon from disappearing. 13th May 2009 Scientist issues warning over dying coral reefs - Russian Information Agency Novosti Leading marine biologist Thomas J. Goreau tells RIA Novosti how overfishing and waste dumping have brought the world's largest area of coral reefs to the brink of collapse, with devastating consequences to fish stocks and biodiversity. 12th May 2009 Climate change displacement has begun – but hardly anyone has noticed - Guardian The first evacuation of an entire community due to manmade global warming is happening on the Carteret IslandsJournalists – they're never around when you want one. Two weeks ago a momentous event occurred: the beginning of the world's first evacuation of an entire people as a result of manmade global warming. It has been marked so far by one blog post for the Ecologist and an article in the Solomon Times*. Where is everyone? The Carteret Islands are off the coast of Bougainville, which, in turn, is off the coast of Papua New Guinea. They are small coral atolls on which 2,600 people live. 10th May 2009 Getting Warmer Rapidly - Korea Times It's only early May, but summer is already here, almost one month earlier than in previous years. But summer's early arrival is increasingly becoming the norm. That is, summer is getting longer, while winter is getting shorter. This phenomenon unquestionably stems from climate change driven by global warming. Climate change is taking place at an alarming rate worldwide. But what's more noteworthy is that the pace is much faster in Korea than any other place around the world. According to the National Institute of Meteorological Research, the average temperate on the Korean Peninsula climbed 1.7 degrees Celsius during the 1912-2008 period. 10th May 2009 Why are cicadas emerging off schedule? - The Indianapolis Star A Cincinnati entomologist suspects global warming sending wrong signals to insects. 9th May 2009 Deadly fire spreads in California - BBC News Firemen in California struggle to contain a raging wildfire that has forced tens of thousands from their homes. 9th May 2009 South Florida now under extreme drought - Sun-Sentinel Because of the lack of significant rain in recent weeks, most of South Florida now is under extreme drought conditions, the National Weather Service in Miami said today. 9th May 2009 Scientists expecting massive iceberg from glacier crack - ABC Online A massive iceberg with enough freshwater in it to fill Sydney Harbour 135 times over is about to break off the Mertz glacier in Antarctica. The iceberg will be 75 kilometres long and contains 750,000 gigalitres of ice which is apparently quite a lot. 9th May 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Snow Cover Turning to Lakes in the Himalayas UXBRIDGE, Canada, May 7 (IPS) - As climate change takes hold, even the mighty Himalayas and Hindu Kush mountain ranges are now losing their snow and ice. 8th May 2009 Brazil drought staunches famed Iguazu falls - AFP via Yahoo! News An acute drought in Brazil has hit the famed horseshoe-shaped Igauzu falls which straddle two countries, cutting back the tumbling waters to reveal the rocky sides. 8th May 2009 Pine beetle, snowpack, factors in forest fires - CTV British Columbia The day after 70 Mile House residents were allowed to return to their homes, officials say pine beetle devestation and a low snowpack may be contributing to an early fire season. 6th May 2009 Global warming threatens Tibet railway: report BEIJING (Reuters) - China's controversial railway to the remote and restless mountainous region of Tibet could be threatened by global warming, which may melt the permafrost on which the tracks are built, state media said Wednesday. 6th May 2009 Thousands flee as Calif. wildfires spread - MSNBC Helicopters soaked hillsides in the darkness early Wednesday in an attempt to hold off a wildfire looming in the foothills above the city. 6th May 2009 Bolivia's Chacaltaya glacier is gone - MiamiHerald.com CHACALTAYA, Bolivia -- -- If anyone needs a reminder of the on-the-ground impacts of global climate change, come to the Andes mountains in Bolivia. At 17,388 feet above sea level, Chacaltaya, an 18,000 year-old glacier that delighted thousands of visitors for decades, is gone, completely melted away as of some sad, undetermined moment early this year. ''Chacaltaya has disappeared. It no longer exists,'' said Dr. Edson Ramirez, head of an international team of scientists that has studied the glacier since 1991. 4th May 2009 Natural disasters killed 220000 in 2008 - Canada.com BERLIN — Natural disasters killed over 220,000 people in 2008, making it one of the most devastating years on record and underlining the need for a global climate deal, the world's number two reinsurer said Monday. "This continues the long-term trend we have been observing. Climate change has already started and is very probably contributing to increasingly frequent weather extremes and ensuing natural catastrophes," Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said. 3rd May 2009 All we do now to save salmon could mean nothing - The Idaho Statesman "The only salmon that are going to survive the century mark are the ones in the large populations in the higher elevations that are still going to have snow and cold water," said Jim Martin, a former chief of fisheries for the state of Oregon. But even these runs and those as far north as Alaska would be threatened if the world does not reduce gases like carbon dioxide over the next 50 years. 3rd May 2009 Climate change threatens Lake Baikal's unique biota - PhysOrg Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest and most biologically diverse lake, faces the prospect of severe ecological disruption as a result of climate change, according to an analysis by a joint US-Russian team in the May issue of BioScience. 2nd May 2009 Sea Salt Holds Clues to Climate Change - PhysOrg (PhysOrg.com) -- We know that average sea levels have risen over the past century, and that global warming is to blame. But what is climate change doing to the saltiness, or salinity, of our oceans? 2nd May 2009 Hundreds of miles of ice drop from Antarctic shelf New satellite images from the European Space Agency show massive amounts of ice are breaking away from a shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, researchers said today. 30th April 2009 Germany Sees Hottest Weather Ever as 'Climate Train' Speeds Up - Bloomberg April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is experiencing the warmest weather since record-keeping began in 1890, the country's weather agency said. 30th April 2009 Tibet experiencing higher temperature - Times of India Hit by global warming, excessive grazing and human activities, temperature in Tibet has risen continuously over the past 48 years, triggering snow melting, glacial shrinking and rising water levels in the fragile Himalayan region. The study, based on data from 38 weather stations under the Tibet Autonomous Regional Meteorological Bureau, indicated that the average temperature in the landlocked region rose 0.32 degree Celsius every 10 years between 1961 to 2008. 30th April 2009 Mercury levels in Arctic seals may be linked to global warming Researchers in Canada are reporting for the first time that high mercury levels in certain Arctic seals appear to be linked to vanishing sea ice caused by global warming. Their study, a new insight into the impact of climate change on Arctic marine life, is scheduled for the May 1 issue of ACS` Environmental Science Technology. 30th April 2009 Climate change menaces Galapagos: scientists WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands -- penguins, fur seals, swimming iguanas and flightless birds -- is profoundly threatened by climate change, scientists said on Wednesday. 30th April 2009 Climate change 'hitting entire Arctic' - Guardian Extensive climate change is now affecting every form of life in the Arctic, according to a major new assessment by international polar scientists. In the past four years, air temperatures have increased, sea ice has declined sharply, surface waters in the Arctic ocean have warmed and permafrost is in some areas rapidly thawing. In addition, says the report released today at a Norwegian government seminar, plants and trees are growing more vigorously, snow cover is decreasing 1-2% a year and glaciers are shrinking. Scientists from Norway, Canada, Russia and the US contributed to the Arctic monitoring and assessment programme (Amap) study, which says new factors such as "black carbon" – soot – ozone and methane may now be contributing to global and arctic warming as much as carbon dioxide. 29th April 2009 Galapagos Penguins Need 'Condos' as Shelter From Global Warming - Bloomberg April 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Galapagos Islands, renowned for rare animals that inspired Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution, may have to create special shelters to save species from global warming and rising sea levels. 28th April 2009 Bangladesh feels the heat, clocks 14y highs - Bangladesh News 24 hours Bangladesh feels the heat, clocks 14y highsBangladesh News 24 hours, BangladeshMannan said the mounting temperature was an impact of global warming. "Bangladesh has been witnessing climate change," he said. Records of the Department of Environment's Climate Change Cell from 1985-1998, show average May temperatures to have 'risen' ... 28th April 2009 Hurricanes reduce ability of forests to store carbon - New Scientist The destruction of trees by hurricanes and tropical storms could turn forests into net emitters of carbon dioxide 28th April 2009 The Truth Behind Global Jellyfish Swarms - US News & World Report Large swarms of jellyfish and other gelatinous animals--sometimes covering hundreds of square miles of ocean--have recently been reported in many of the world's prime vacation and fishing destinations. 28th April 2009 Forest fires rage across Nepal - Republica Forest fires rage across NepalRepublica, Nepal... as a direct effect of global warming, the winter months remained extremely dry thereby drying up the moisture content of vegetation and land and leading to widespread forest fires. “From a climate change perspective, this dryness is very natural ... 28th April 2009 CHILE: Scientist Warns of Threats to Rock Glaciers - IPS SANTIAGO, Apr 24 (IPS) - A new government policy on glaciers adopted by Chile "is a step forward, but it doesn't resolve all of the problems," German geographer Alexander Brenning, who blames mining companies for threats to this South American country's rock glaciers, told IPS. 25th April 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Native Peoples Sound Dire Warning - IPS ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Apr 22 (IPS) - Humanity's hot carbon breath is not just melting the planet's polar regions, it is disrupting natural systems and livelihoods around the world, indigenous people reported this week at a global meeting on climate change in Anchorage, Alaska. 24th April 2009 Bolivia: water people of Andes face extinction - Guardian Climate change robs Uru Chipaya of lifeline that had sustained them for millennia. Its members belong to what is thought to be the oldest surviving culture in the Andes, a tribe that has survived for 4,000 years on the barren plains of the Bolivian interior. But the Uru Chipaya, who outlasted the Inca empire and survived the Spanish conquest, are warning that they now face extinction through climate change. The tribal chief, 62-year-old Felix Quispe, 62, says the river that has sustained them for millennia is drying up. His people cannot cope with the dramatic reduction in the Lauca, which has dwindled in recent decades amid erratic rainfall that has turned crops to dust and livestock to skin and bones. 24th April 2009 Owls Getting Redder as Climate Warms - Discovery Channel Like living thermometers, some owls are turning a deep shade of red as the climate warms. 22nd April 2009 As world warms, water levels dropping in major rivers - ScienceBlog.com As world warms, water levels dropping in major riversScienceBlog.com, CAThe research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water. 21st April 2009 Lack of permanent Arctic ice surprises explorers OTTAWA (Reuters) - British explorers walking to the North Pole on a mission to gauge how fast Arctic ice sheets are melting say they are surprised by how little permanent ice they have found so far. 18th April 2009 Polar bears in Russian Far East threatened by extinction - WWF - RIA Novosti The population of polar bears in Russia's Far Eastern republic of Chukotka has dwindled to the point of being vulnerable to extinction, according to research carried out by World Wildlife Fund experts. "In the 1990s large numbers of bears were shot in Chukotka when most villages were on the brink of starvation. Now the bear population faces a negative influence from climate change." 18th April 2009 Swimmers feel sting as jellyfish thrive - San Francisco Chronicle Schools of creepy brownish jellyfish known for their painful stings are lurking in San Francisco Bay waving their long, poisonous tentacles like they own the place. 18th April 2009 EU greenhouse emissions fall - because it's warmer OSLO (Reuters) - European Union emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for stoking global warming fell by 1.2 percent in 2007, paradoxically aided by a mild winter that cut heating demand, EU data showed on Friday. 18th April 2009 Australia's largest river nearly dry - Guardian Murray river level so low that Adelaide, Australia's fifth biggest city, could run out of water in next two years. 17th April 2009 Earth's temperature 8th-warmest on record so far in 2009 - The News-Press The Earth's temperature from January-March 2009 was the 8th-warmest on record, according to data released Thursday from the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The global temperature of 55.04 degrees for the year's first three months was almost a full degree above the 20th-century average of 54.1 degrees. 17th April 2009 Up, up, and away - Guardian Swifts may also be facing problems on their long journey to and from their winter quarters in Africa. Climate change is leading to unpredictable weather patterns across much of that continent, while increased desertification may pose a problem for swifts on their twice-yearly crossing of the Sahara desert, by reducing the insect food available on their journey. 17th April 2009 Tiny warbler at risk from longer African migration - Independent They are some of the world's most remarkable and improbable journeys – vast odysseys across desert, mountain and sea by creatures often no bigger than a Mars bar. But the annual flights of Europe's migratory birds to and from sub-Saharan Africa are set to get even longer. Climate change, shifting the breeding range of many European bird species northwards, is likely to lengthen the migrants' marathon journeys substantially, in some cases by hundreds of miles, a new scientific study predicts. The added distance is likely to make what are already hazardous and chancey long-distance flights even more risky, with possible fatal consequences for many birds. 16th April 2009 The Dire Fate of Forests in a Warmer World - TIME It's not easy to kill a full-grown tree — especially one like the piñon pine. The hardy evergreen is adapted to life in the hot, parched American Southwest, so it takes more than a little dry spell to affect it. In fact, it requires a once-in-a-century event like the extended drought of the 1950s, which scientists now believe led to widespread tree mortality in the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. So, when another drought hit the area around 2002, researchers were surprised to see up to 10% of the piñon pines die off, even though that dry spell was much milder than the one before. The difference in 2002 was the five decades of global warming that had transpired since the drought in the 1950s. 14th April 2009 Historic drought in Mexico suggests human influence - Science Centric University of Arkansas researchers and their colleagues have examined recent climate patterns in Mexico and determined that the country underwent severe drought conditions between 1994 and 2008, and that human changes related to land use and global warming may have aggravated the dry, warm conditions. 14th April 2009 Warming is wearing on Australia - Chicago Tribune Climate scientists say Australia - beset by prolonged drought and deadly bush fires in the south, monsoon flooding and mosquito-borne fevers in the north, widespread wildlife decline, economic collapse in agriculture and killer heat waves-epitomizes the "accelerated climate crisis" that global warming models have forecast 13th April 2009 Retreat of Andean Glaciers Foretells Global Water Woes - AlterNet Bovlia will soon be paying a disproportionately high price from global warming: the rapid loss of glaciers and a decline in vital water supplies. 13th April 2009 Warming is wearing on Australia - Chicago Tribune Climate scientists say Australia - beset by prolonged drought and deadly bush fires in the south, monsoon flooding and mosquito-borne fevers in the north, widespread wildlife decline, economic collapse in agriculture and killer heat waves-epitomizes the "accelerated climate crisis" that global warming models have forecast 13th April 2009 Retreat of Andean Glaciers Foretells Global Water Woes - AlterNet Bovlia will soon be paying a disproportionately high price from global warming: the rapid loss of glaciers and a decline in vital water supplies. 13th April 2009 Breaking the silence about Spring - RealClimate Did you know that in 1965 the U.S. Department of Agriculture planted a particular variety of lilac in more than seventy locations around the U.S. Northeast, to detect the onset of spring - in turn to be used to determine the appropriate timing of corn planting and the like? The records the USDA have kept show that those same lilacs are blooming as much as two weeks earlier than they did in 1965. April has, in a very real sense, become May. This is one of the interesting facts that you'll read about in Amy Seidl's book, Early Spring, a hot-off-the-press essay about the impacts of climate change on the world immediately around us – the forest, the birds, the butterflies in our backyards. 12th April 2009 More of NSW is now in drought | Environment | Lismore Northern Star - Northern Star New drought statistics show more of NSW is desperately in need of rain, with the south and west of the state worst affected. The April figures show the area affected by drought has increased to 59.6 per cent, from 56.5 per cent in March, NSW Primary Industries minister Ian Macdonald says. 10th April 2009 Obama looks at climate engineering - PhysOrg (AP) -- The president's new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth's air. [No surer sign that climate change is upon us...] 9th April 2009 Half Canada's boreal caribou herds in decline: report - CNews OTTAWA - The federal government plans to release a report Thursday that finds half Canada's boreal caribou herds are in decline and may die out in the next century without changes to their habitats, The Canadian Press has learned. 9th April 2009 Climate change cause of mass invert die-offs - environmentalresearchweb Increasing temperatures are causing a higher level of stratification in the coastal waters of the northwest Mediterranean and bringing about mass die-offs of suspension-feeders such as gorgonians and sponges, according to researchers from Spain. The stratification acts to prolong summertime conditions, in which temperature rises and food becomes scarce, leading the invertebrates to go into a state of "summer dormancy". 8th April 2009 Climate Change to Cause Major Shifts in Global Wildfire Patterns - Newswise New research helps scientists predict wildfire hotspots as global warming changes weather patterns. 8th April 2009 UK butterfly numbers plunge after worst year since 1976 - Guardian Wet summers and changes to countryside behind dramatic fall, leaving some species threatened with extinction. Wildlife Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: "Climate change is having a detrimental effect on a number of our butterfly species and in parts of England we're in danger of losing some species all together. 8th April 2009 Climate Change Leads to Major Decrease in CO2 Storage - Newswise The 'carbon sink' in the North Atlantic is the primary gate for carbon dioxide (CO2) entering the global ocean and stores it for about 1500 years. The oceans have removed nearly 30 per cent of anthropogenic (man-made) emissions over the last 250 years. However, several recent studies show a dramatic decline in the North Atlantic Ocean's carbon sink. 8th April 2009 Climate change in Lake Superior ice - Minneapolis Star Tribune What started as a high school science fair project is the latest piece of evidence that global warming is affecting Lake Superior. Forrest Howk, now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, studied 150 years of data in his hometown of Bayfield, Wis., and found that the harbor's frozen season has shrunk from about 120 days to 80 days. 8th April 2009 Cuckoo may soon be on endangered species list as result of global warming - Mirror.co.uk The cuckoo may soon be classed as an endangered species - partly because of global warming. Numbers have dropped by 59 per cent since the late 60s, say experts. And they are now so rare they could be placed on the red list of threatened birds within a month. 8th April 2009 Polar bears and penguins 'just tip of climate change iceberg' - WWF International New evidence from the North and South Poles indicates that time is running out for the world’s leaders to respond to climate change. 8th April 2009 Satellite data shows Arctic on thinner ice - Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arctic sea ice, a key component of Earth's natural thermostat, has thinned sharply in recent years with the northern polar ice cap shrinking steadily in surface area, government scientists said on Monday. 7th April 2009 Our sick seas - Ottawa Citizen Scientists are documenting drastic, disturbing changes in the oceans. 7th April 2009 Ice bridge ruptures in Antarctic - BBC News An ice bridge linking a shelf of ice the size of Jamaica to two islands in Antarctica has snapped. Scientists say the collapse could mean the Wilkins Ice Shelf is on the brink of breaking away, and provides further evidence or rapid change in the region. 5th April 2009 Warming takes center stage as Australian drought worsens - Energy Bulletin With record-setting heat waves, bush fires and drought, Australians are increasingly convinced they are facing the early impacts of global warming. Their growing concern about climate change has led to a consensus that the nation must now act boldly to stave off the crisis. read more 5th April 2009 Climate clock is ticking - The Gazette - Montreal “Some people are saying we have already crossed this threshold (into unstoppable, jarring changes),” Ford, who is also an IPCC contributor, said. “Others are saying … we haven’t crossed it yet, but it’s pretty close. The climate is definitely changing faster than we thought, especially the Arctic. Globally as well. This really caught the scientific community by surprise. In 2002, what was involved was this idea of gradual climate change: We may see dramatic changes but towards the end of the century, not today. “That is now changing, we are now thinking these changes are occurring quite rapidly today. Quite a few people are speculating that we are going to see even more dramatic changes quite soon.” 4th April 2009 Wordie Ice Shelf has disappeared: scientists - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One Antarctic ice shelf has quickly vanished, another is disappearing and glaciers are melting faster than anyone thought due to climate change, U.S. and British government researchers reported on Friday. See also: Rising CO2 to trigger ice sheet collapse - BigPond News 4th April 2009 CLIMATE CHANGE: Seals in the Baltic Left without Ice - IPS BERLIN, Apr 3 (Tierramérica) - Ringed seals in the Baltic Sea are finding fewer and fewer ice caves in which to raise their young. Rising global temperatures are the problem, and in turn are depleting the main food source of the giant polar bear, say scientists. 4th April 2009 Last stand - The National Having once covered much of Lebanon’s rugged terrain, the country’s cedar tree, prized throughout history and the unifying emblem of a divided nation, is under threat from a warming world. 4th April 2009 Ice-free Arctic Ocean possible in 30 years, not 90 as previously estimated - UW News A nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer may happen three times sooner than scientists have estimated. New research says the Artic might lose most of its ice cover in summer in as few as 30 years instead of the end of the century. 3rd April 2009 Small islands urge deep CO2 cuts, fear rising seas - Reuters BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Small island states have sharpened their calls for the rich to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, saying low-lying atolls risk being washed off the map by rising ocean levels. 3rd April 2009 Global warming forecast says Spain will run dry - Times Online The rain in Spain no longer falls mainly in the plain. 3rd April 2009 Climate change fans Nepal's fires - BBC News Longer and drier seasons, combined with freak precipitation, may point a finger towards a climate impact. 1st April 2009 Costly cuppa - BBC News Tea prices to soar as drought hits major producers 1st April 2009 Canada's winter sports melting away, report warns - Globe and Mail Future winter Olympics may have a hard time finding snow and ice to play on, says a study being released today that details the impact of global warming on winter sports in Canada. "If heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly cut, global warming stands to wipe out more than half of Canada's ski season later this century with few exceptions," states the study by the David Suzuki Foundation, released in conjunction with the 8th World Conference on Sport and the Environment, being held as part of pre-Olympic activities in Vancouver this week. 31st March 2009 The Exploding Squid Population - CBS News It's been said there are not so many fish in the sea as there used to be. However, John Blackstone reports on a proliferation of Humboldt squid that is even more than enough for modern fishing boats to handle: 31st March 2009 Reporters Miss The Boat - Again on Fargo Flood, Fail to Mention It Fits Global Warming Trends - DeSmogBlog fargo-flood-global-warming.jpg In an interview with reporters last week, President Barack Obama correctly raised the point that global warming could lead to more severe flooding events in the future. Although it's impossible to link a specific event to global climate change – as Obama was careful not to do – the record-breaking flooding of the Red River in Fargo, North Dakota is consistent with the trend towards increased frequency and severity of extreme precipitation events predicted by the climate science community.“I actually think the science around climate change is real. It is potentially devastating,” Obama told the reporters. 31st March 2009 Geese decline 'caused by climate' - BBC News A decline in Hampshire's population of brent geese may be due to climate change and predation, the RSPB warns. 27th March 2009 Global warming hits Japan's cherry blossom season - Telegraph.co.uk Global warming hits Japan's cherry blossom seasonTelegraph.co.uk, United KingdomHowever, climate change experts warned that the increasingly early arrival of the cherry blossoms, known as sakura, reflected steadily rising global temperatures. "A rise in temperatures is one of the key elements prompting cherry trees to bloom," said ... 27th March 2009 Global warming 37 percent to blame for droughts: scientist - Reuters SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Global warming is more than a third to blame for a major drop in rainfall that includes a decade-long drought in Australia and a lengthy dry spell in the United States, a scientist said on Wednesday. 26th March 2009 Melting snow prompts border change between Switzerland and Italy - Independent Global warming is dissolving the Alpine glaciers so rapidly that Italy and Switzerland have decided they must re-draw their national borders to take account of the new realities. 25th March 2009 Scientists: The trend is less ice on Great Lakes - Chicago Tribune Scientists at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory say there has been more than a 30 percent ice decline on the lakes since the 1970s. The drop attributed to global climate change leaves the largest system of freshwater lakes on Earth open to evaporation that can lead to lower lake levels. 24th March 2009 Fish numbers drop as reefs take a bashing - New Scientist The damage suffered by Caribbean coral reefs from human activity and climate change is finally taking its toll on the fish that dwell in them 20th March 2009 Global warming leaving its mark on polar bears - SpaceDaily TROMSOE, Norway, March 19 (AFP) Mar 19, 2009 Potentially fatal to the polar bear, global warming has already left its mark on the species with smaller, less robust bears that are increasingly showing cannibalistic tendencies. 19th March 2009 Signs of global warming in Iran - Payvand Iran News This winter, temperatures in Iran were much warmer than in previous years, to the point that people sought out the shade to protect themselves from getting sunburns. It's really amazing how warm this past winter has been. People have even begun to turn on their air conditioners in some cities, which they had never before used at this time of the year. -M.A. Saki, MNA 19th March 2009 Early spring has its down side - Toronto Star Spring might be celebrated as a new beginning, but when it comes this early, it is the beginning of the end. At least for the wildlife. 18th March 2009 Carbon sinks losing the battle with rising emissions - EurekAlert! ( CSIRO Australia ) The stabilizing influence that land and ocean carbon sinks have on rising carbon emissions is gradually weakening, scientists who attended the international Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. 17th March 2009 Spring to emerge earlier than ever - Daily Telegraph Spring is likely to arrive ever earlier as a result of climate change a survey by nature watchers suggests after they spotted birds nesting and plants flowering across the UK already. 14th March 2009 Spring to emerge earlier than ever - Daily Telegraph Spring is likely to arrive ever earlier as a result of climate change a survey by nature watchers suggests after they spotted birds nesting and plants flowering across the UK already. 14th March 2009 Climate change already shaping society - New Scientist Climate change already shaping societyNew Scientist, UKHuman society is already, in small but significant ways, being shaped by global warming. So said a climatologist at the climate change congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Thursday. Jean Palutikof of the University of East Anglia, UK, ... 13th March 2009 Carbon Dioxide, Methane Rise Sharply in 2007 - NOAA Last year alone global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, increased by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons. Additionally methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. 13th March 2009 International Scientists Find ‘Acidified' Water on the Continental Shelf from Canada to Mexico - NOAA Evidence of corrosive water caused by the ocean's absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) was found less than 20 miles off the west coast of North America during a field study from Canada to Mexico last summer. This was the first time “acidified” ocean water has been found on the continental shelf of western North America. 13th March 2009 NOAA: Global Temperature Seventh Warmest for Spring, Eighth Warmest for May - NOAA The combined average global land and ocean surface temperatures for spring (March-May) ranked seventh warmest, while May was the eighth warmest since worldwide records began in 1880 according to an analysis by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. 13th March 2009 Changing wind patterns linked to global warming alter food chain in Antarctica - CNews WASHINGTON - Scientists say changing wind patterns linked to global warming are altering the food chain in Antarctica and may also lead to further increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 13th March 2009 "Mad" microplants show Antarctic climate change - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Because atmospheric circulation patterns are shifting over the peninsula -- probably due to climate change -- there are now cloudy skies where there used to be sunshine and vice versa, said study co-author Martin Montes-Hugo of Rutgers University. In the southern part of the peninsula, the clouds are decreasing and sunlight is melting the sea ice, freeing up more open water that sunlight can shine through, Montes-Hugo said by telephone. "You have more open water and so you have light penetration, so the phytoplankton is happy in the south," he said, because like most plants, phytoplankton need sunlight for photosynthesis. In the northern part of the peninsula closer to the warm equator there are more clouds, and sea ice is even more reduced than in the south. Changing atmospheric patterns are whipping up increasing winds in the area, churning the ocean water, which enables the phytoplankton to go deeper. At these deeper levels, the little plants can catch less sunshine. 13th March 2009 Global warming reaches the Antarctic abyss - New Scientist Even water in the chilly depths of the Southern Ocean is getting warmer, according to results announced at the Copenhagen climate change congress 12th March 2009 Witness a journey to the bottom of an ice sheet - New Scientist Unprecedented video from deep inside Greenland's ice sheet reveals the internal plumbing of glaciers, and how it might help them move 12th March 2009 Climate change reduces nutritional value of algae - PhysOrg Micro-algae are growing faster under the influence of climate change. However, the composition of the algae is changing, as a result of which their nutritional value for other aquatic life is decreasing. And because algae are at the bottom of the food chain, climate change is exerting an effect on underwater life. This is the conclusion of researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Ecology and the Universiteit van Amsterdam. 12th March 2009 Sea levels rising twice as fast as predicted - Independent Sea levels are predicted to rise twice as fast as was forecast by the United Nations only two years ago, threatening hundreds of millions of people with catastrophe, scientists said yesterday in a dramatic new warning about climate change. Rapidly melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are likely to push up sea levels by a metre or more by 2100, swamping coastal cities and obliterating the living space of 600 million people who live in deltas, low-lying areas and small island states. 11th March 2009 ENVIRONMENT: Pine Beetle Kill No Longer Just Dead Wood - IPS VANCOUVER, Canada, Mar 10 (IPS/IFEJ) - The sheer magnitude of the devastation left by this tiny beetle is shocking on its own. See also: Canada's carbon sink has sprung a leak - Christian Science Monitor 11th March 2009 Carbon emissions creating acidic oceans not seen since dinosaurs - Guardian Chemical change placing 'unprecedented' pressure on marine life and could cause widespread extinctions, warn scientistsHuman pollution is turning the seas into acid so quickly that the coming decades will recreate conditions not seen on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, scientists will warn today.The rapid acidification is caused by the massive amounts of carbon dioxide belched from chimneys and exhausts that dissolve in the ocean. The chemical change is placing "unprecedented" pressure on marine life such as shellfish and lobsters and could cause widespread extinctions, the experts say.The study, by scientists at Bristol University, will be presented at a special three-day summit of climate scientists in Copenhagen, which opens today. 10th March 2009 Is the U.S. West going the way of parched Australia? - Reuters The drought-induced infernos which ravaged parts of Australia earlier this year may be a harbinger of the water challenges coming to the American West.  ”Think of that (Australia) as California's future,” water researcher Heather Cooley of California's Pacific Institute told my colleague Peter Henderson. You can see his report, part one of our series on water scarcity in the U.S. West, here. Plush green golf courses in the desert, verdant boulevards in Los Angeles and fountains that dance 20 stories high in Las Vegas are very much part of today's landscape and life in the American West. See also: Climate change accelerates water hunt in U.S. West 10th March 2009 Ranchers sell up as pampas turn to dust - Guardian Ranchers are being forced to sell their cattle as a drought converts much of the Argentinian pampas into a dry and desolate wasteland.The sweeping grasslands are a key part of Argentinian identity, stretching for 1 million sq km. It was once one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. But as a result of the drought an estimated 1.5 million cattle have died. Many farmers are simply giving up on cattle altogether, and switching to growing wheat or soy."I've sold my entire herd," said Hector Gómez, a sixth-generation cattle farmer. "Next year I will plant soy." It's a sad end for a country that was built on the cattle trade. 9th March 2009 Proof on the Half Shell: A More Acid Ocean Corrodes Sea Life - Scientific American The shells of tiny ocean animals known as foraminifera--specifically Globigerina bulloides--are shrinking as a result of the slowly acidifying waters of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. The reason behind the rising acidity: Higher carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere, making these shells more proof that climate change is making life tougher for the seas' shell-builders. 8th March 2009 Adapting to climate change in Archangel - BBC News Warmer winters worry those in Russia's far north 8th March 2009 Arctic summer ice could vanish by 2013, expert says - Reuters OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Arctic is warming up so quickly that the region's sea ice cover in summer could vanish as early as 2013, decades earlier than some had predicted, a leading polar expert said on Thursday. 6th March 2009 Urchins in peril - Nature Ocean warming, but not acidification, could significantly hinder reproduction in purple sea urchins. Previous studies have shown that a decrease in ocean pH could impair shell formation in adult urchins, but few urchin larvae may survive to the adult stage under plausible climate change scenarios, according to a new study. 6th March 2009 Drought grips Afghanistan - UPI KABUL, Afghanistan, March 4 (UPI) -- Afghanistan is experiencing its worst drought in a decade and its food crisis is deepening as a result, experts said. 5th March 2009 Climate 'hitting Europe's birds' - BBC News Climate change is already having an impact on European bird species, according to British scientists. 4th March 2009 California snow not enough to overcome drought - Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's mountain snowpack is only at 80 percent of normal, despite recent snowstorms, and is far from enough to ease a prolonged drought, making water conservation measures a necessity, state officials said on Monday. 3rd March 2009 China plans 59 reservoirs to collect meltwater from its shrinking glaciers - Guardian China is planning to build 59 reservoirs to collect water from its shrinking glaciers as the cost of climate change hits home in the world's most populous country. The far western province of Xinjiang, home to many of the planet's highest peaks and widest ice fields, will carry out the 10-year engineering project, which aims to catch and store glacier run-off that might otherwise trickle away into the desert. 3rd March 2009 Britain's birds facing extinction as climate change leaves them with nowhere to go - Guardian As temperatures rise and European breeds arrive, native species such as the lapwing and Scottish crossbill are being forced out. Soon, say the RSPB and Durham University, many of our rare birds will disappearBritain's birds are being driven northwards to extinction at an accelerating rate because of global warming. Scientists have calculated that the average range of British birds will move 550 kilometres (340 miles) to the north by 2100 as the climate heats up.Birds with ranges in Scotland or in mountain regions will be wiped out - such as the snow bunting, which today survives only on the Cairngorm plateau. 2nd March 2009 Large fish going hungry as supplies of smaller species dwindle: report - CNews HALIFAX, N.S. - Dolphins, sharks and other large marine species around the world are going hungry as they seek out dwindling supplies of the small, overlooked species they feed on, according to a new study that says overfishing is draining their food sources. Climate change is also taking its toll on prey fish, which are more sensitive to warming ocean temperatures than their larger predators. So, if the world's waters continue to warm, scientists worry stocks will have even more difficulty recovering. 2nd March 2009 Hong Kong records warmest February in 125 years - China Economic Net Hong Kong recorded a monthly mean temperature of 20.5 degrees Celsius at the Hong Kong Observatory in February, making it the warmest February in Hong Kong since records of the local temperature began in 1884. 2nd March 2009 California in drought emergency - BBC News California's governor declares a state of emergency because of a severe drought and warns of possible water rationing. 28th February 2009 Study finds hemlock trees dying rapidly, affecting forest carbon cycle - EurekAlert! New research by U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists and partners suggests the hemlock woolly adelgid is killing hemlock trees faster than expected in the southern Appalachians and rapidly altering the carbon cycle of these forests. SRS researchers and cooperators from the University of Georgia published the findings in the most recent issue of the journal Ecosystems. The authors suggest that infrequent frigid winter temperatures in the southern Appalachians may not be enough to suppress adelgid populations. 27th February 2009 Scientists find bigger than expected polar ice melt - SpaceDaily GENEVA, Feb 25 (AFP) Feb 25, 2009 Icecaps around the North and South Poles are melting faster and in a more widespread manner than expected, raising the sea level and fuelling climate change, a scientific survey revealed Wednesday. 25th February 2009 Climate change hits Spain's glaciers - Guardian Spain loses 90% of its glaciers thanks to global warming, threatening drought as rivers dry upThe Pyrenees mountains have lost almost 90% of their glacier ice over the past century, according to scientists who warn that global warning means they will disappear completely within a few decades.While glaciers covered 3,300 hectares of land on the mountain range that divides Spain and France at the turn of the last century, only 390 hectares remain, according to Spain's environment ministry.The most southerly glaciers in Europe are losing the battle against warming and look set to be among the first to disappear from the continent over the coming decades. 25th February 2009 Is global warming confusing pelicans? - Daily Breeze Climate change might have fooled thousands of California brown pelicans, who stayed north later than usual last year and encountered harsh winter storms on their trip south, researchers now believe. 24th February 2009 Iraq marshes face grave new threat - BBC News Iraq's famed southern marches are shrinking again because of record low rainfall and dam and irrigation systems upstream. 24th February 2009 Methane risk from a thawing Arctic | Video - Chicago Tribune As permafrost thaws in the Arctic, huge pockets of methane -- a potent greenhouse gas -- could be released into the atmosphere. Experts are only beginning to understand how disastrous that could be. 23rd February 2009 HEALTH: Warmer Climate Gives Malaria New Hunting Grounds - IPS CHICAGO, U.S., Feb 19 (IPS) - Climate change is bringing malaria to regions of Africa where the disease was previously unknown, researchers report from the conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago this week. 20th February 2009 Linking the climate-ecology attribution chain - RealClimate Guest commentary by Jim Bouldin, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis Linking the regional climate-ecology attribution chain in the western United States Many are obviously curious about whether certain current regional environmental changes are traceable to global climate change. There are a number of large-scale changes that clearly qualify-rapid warming of the arctic/sub-arctic regions for example, and earlier spring onset in the northern hemisphere and the associated phenological changes in plants and animals. But as one moves to smaller scales of space or time, global-to-local connections become more difficult to establish. This is due to the combined effect of the resolutions of climate models, the intrinsic variability of the system and the empirical climatic, environmental, or ecological data-the signal to noise ratio of possible causes and observed effects. 20th February 2009 Singapore bushfires hit nearly decade high in January - Reuters SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Island-state Singapore faced the largest number of bushfires in nearly a decade in January, thanks to an unusually long dry spell, the government's anti-fire agency said Wednesday. The tropical nation saw 182 vegetation fires in January, mostly due to the dry spell, which the Singapore Civil Defense Force said was "unprecedented." 18th February 2009 Firestorms and Deep Freeze: Climate Change May Bring Both - Alternet Global warming deniers keep pointing to snowstorms as proof that climatologists are wrong. But both extreme heat and cold are on tap. See also: A cold winter doesn't mean climate change isn't happening 18th February 2009 Butterfly colony trial hints at novel climate fix - Reuters OSLO (Reuters) - An experiment relocating butterfly colonies in Britain shows that animals and plants can be moved to new, cooler habitats to help them survive global warming, scientists said on Wednesday. 18th February 2009 Bleak forecast on fishery stocks - BBC News Changing ocean temperatures will force many fish species to migrate towards the poles, hitting fish stocks, scientists warn. 13th February 2009 'Climate refugees' headed to Washington - Seattle Post Intelligencer 'Climate refugees' headed to WashingtonSeattle Post Intelligencer. "We know that people are already dying of heat waves, even before the effects of global warming can be felt, and interestingly, most of this is happening in ... 13th February 2009 Fish seen shifting 125 miles by 2050 due to warming OSLO (Reuters) - Global warming will push fish stocks more than 200 km (125 miles) toward the poles by mid-century in a dislocation of ocean life, a study of more than 1,000 marine species projected. 13th February 2009 U.S. to mull protection for alpine rabbit on warming - Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government has agreed to study whether the American pika, a tiny cold-loving relative of the rabbit, should be protected under the Endangered Species Act due to warmer temperatures, scientists said on Thursday. 13th February 2009 Penguins in peril as food search turns into marathon - Times Online Penguins from the largest colony on mainland South America are being forced to swim the equivalent of two marathons farther to find food because of the effects of climate change. 13th February 2009 Marine biologists perplexed by jellyfish in Baltic Sea - AFP via Yahoo! News Marine biologists have in recent years rung alarm bells over the invasion in the Baltic Sea of what they believed was a devastating jellyfish, but experts said Thursday they were wrong about the species. 13th February 2009 More of NSW affected by drought - Perth Now HOT weather and little rainfall last month has increased the area in NSW affected by drought. See also: Millions of animals dead in Australia fires - AP via Yahoo! News Australia bushfires: Aerial views of devastation 13th February 2009 Audubon Society study: Birds are shifting north; global warming cited - CNews WASHINGTON - When it comes to global warming, the canary in the coal mine isn't a canary at all. It's a purple finch. 11th February 2009 Australian bushfires: When two degrees is the difference between life and death - Guardian The day after the great fire burned through central Victoria, I drove from Sydney to Melbourne. For much of the way – indeed for hundreds of miles north of the scorched ground - smoke obscured the horizon, entering my air conditioned car and carrying with it that distinctive scent so strongly signifying death, or to Aboriginal people, cleansing.It was as if a great cremation had taken place. I didn't know then how many people had died in their cars and homes, or while fleeing the flames, but by the time I reached the scorched ground just north of Melbourne, the dreadful news was trickling in. 11th February 2009 Plants take a hike as temperatures rise Plants are flowering at higher elevations in Arizona's Santa Catalina Mountains as summer temperatures rise, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. 11th February 2009 Australia fires a climate wake-up call - experts Weekend bushfires in Australia that killed 173 people are a climate change wake-up call for the public and politicians and a window to the future, experts said on Tuesday. 11th February 2009 Salamander losses in Mexico, Guatemala cause worry - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many salamander species in Mexico and Guatemala have suffered dramatic population declines since the 1970s, driven to the brink probably by a warming climate and other factors, U.S. scientists said on Monday. 11th February 2009 5 things we've recently learned about the climate - Greenpeace UK 11th February 2009 Kiribati Islanders Seek Land to Buy as Rising Seas Threaten - Bloomberg Kiribati, a Pacific island-nation in danger of being submerged because of global warming, may purchase land elsewhere to relocate its people, President Anote Tong said. “We would consider buying land,” Tong said in an interview in New Delhi. “The alternative is that we die, we go extinct.” Kiribati, between Hawaii and Australia, is the second island-nation after the Maldives that’s floated the idea of buying land should their islands be swamped by rising seas and more powerful storms. 9th February 2009 Bushfires and global warming: is there a link? - Guardian Scientists are reluctant to link ­individual weather events to global warming, because natural variability will always throw up extreme events. However, they say that climate change loads the dice, and can make severe episodes more likely. Some studies have started to say how much global warming contributed to severe weather. Experts at the UK Met Office and Oxford University used computer models to say man-made climate change made the killer European heatwave in 2003 about twice as likely. In principle, the technique could be repeated with any extreme storm, drought or flood – which could pave the way for lawsuits from those affected. See also: Australia's deadliest bushfire, 84 dead - Reuters via Yahoo! News 'Horror movie' - BBC News Fires follow floods as wild weather hits Australia - TODAYonline 8th February 2009 Drought starts to bite in northern Kenya - Reuters WAREGADUD, Kenya (Reuters) - Clouds of dust rising above the harsh scrub herald the arrival of more livestock at a borehole in northeastern Kenya, the end for some of a 45-km (28-mile) trek for water that must be repeated every few days. 8th February 2009 China creates rains in drought-hit provinces - People's Daily China employed artificial means to create rains in at least seven provinces on Saturday to alleviate rare drought, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said Sunday. 8th February 2009 Ocean Acidification from CO2 Is Happening Faster Than Thought - Scientific American Marine ecologist J. Timothy Wootton of the University of Chicago and his colleagues spent eight years compiling measurements of acidity, salinity, temperature and other data from Tatoosh Island off the northwestern tip of Washington State. They found that the average acidity rose more than 10 times faster than predicted by climate simulations. 6th February 2009 Snow is consistent with global warming say scientists - Daily Telegraph Britain may be in the grip of the coldest winter for 30 years and grappling with up to a foot of snow in some places but the extreme weather is entirely consistent with global warming claim scientists. 5th February 2009 Drought in Australia food bowl continues - Reuters CANBERRA (Reuters) - Drought in Australia's main food growing region of the Murray-Darling river system continues, with water stores near record lows despite recent rains, the head of the government's oversight body for the system said on Wednesday. 5th February 2009 Severe drought expected this time in Kerala - Business Standard India Kerala will face a severe drought this summer as there has been a 20-25 per cent drop in rainfall from normal, forcing the government to draw up contingency plans to supply drinking water, water resources minister N K Premachandran said here today. 5th February 2009 Time running out for Turkish wetlands, warn NGOs - Today's Zaman Three Turkish nongovernmental organizations have issued a joint call to action, saying that Turkey's lifelines are drying up as a result of faulty policies, climate change and poor ecological awareness. 5th February 2009 Arctic storms seen worsening; threat to oil, ships - Reuters OSLO (Reuters) - Arctic storms could worsen because of global warming in a threat to possible new businesses such as oil and gas exploration, fisheries or shipping, a study showed on Wednesday. 5th February 2009 Antarctic warming is robust - RealClimate The difference between a single calculation and a solid paper in the technical literature is vast. A good paper examines a question from multiple angles and find ways to assess the robustness of its conclusions to all sorts of possible sources of error - in input data, in assumptions, and even occasionally in programming. If a conclusion is robust over as much of this as can be tested (and the good peer reviewers generally insist that this be shown), then the paper is likely to last the test of time. Although science proceeds by making use of the work that others have done before, it is not based on the assumption that everything that went before is correct. 5th February 2009 China declares an emergency amid worst drought in 50 years - Times Online The worst drought in half a century has parched fields across eight provinces in northern China, leaving nearly four million people without proper drinking water and forcing the government to declare an emergency. See also: China's Drought May Make Birds More Susceptible to Avian Flu - Bloomberg 5th February 2009 Global warming makes predatory crabs return to Antarctic waters and threaten sea life - Smash Hits Washington, Feb 5 (ANI): Predatory crabs are poised to return to warming Antarctic waters and disrupt the primeval marine communities, a major upheaval that is a result of global warming. 5th February 2009 Rising sea salinates India's Ganges: expert - Reuters KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Rising sea levels are causing salt water to flow into India's biggest river, threatening its ecosystem and turning vast farmlands barren in the country's east, a climate change expert warned Monday. 3rd February 2009 Kenya: Drought Exacerbating Conflict Among Pastoralists - AllAfrica.com Isiolo - Clashes over water and pasture have significantly increased in the drought-affected pastoralist areas of north-eastern Kenya, officials said. 3rd February 2009 Drought threatens peace in Iraq's marsh Eden - Reuters MARSHES, Iraq (Reuters) - Miles of reed stalks and baked mud are all that can be seen of much of Iraq's ancient marshes this year, as a lack of water threatens to turn one of the world's most important wetlands to wasteland. 3rd February 2009 South Florida in midst of a record dry spell - Miami Herald Despite several cold fronts that have chilled South Florida, very little rain has fallen in recent months, leading to a moderate drought and an increased risk of wildfires. 3rd February 2009 Climate change may be stoking stronger winds, altered oceans - PhysOrg The specter of an ocean floor littered with dead shellfish, rock fish, sea stars and other marine life off the Oregon coast spurred Mark Snyder, a climate change expert, to investigate whether California's coast faced a similar calamity. 3rd February 2009 Australia Faces Collapse as Climate Change Kicks in: Are the Southwest and California Next? - Alternet Australia is the canary in the coal mine for climate-driven desertification 3rd February 2009 A global glacier index update - RealClimate Guest commentary by Mauri Pelto For global temperature time series we have GISTEMP, NCDC and HadCRUT. Each has worked hard to assimilate global temperature data into reliable and accurate indices of global temperature. The equivalent for alpine glaciers is the World Glacier Monitoring Service's (WGMS) record of mass balance and terminus behavior. Beginning in 1986, WGMS began to maintain and publish the collection of information on ongoing glacier changes that had begun in 1960 with the Permanent Service on Fluctuations of glaciers. This program in the last 10 years has striven to acquire, publish and verify glacier terminus and mass balance measurement data from alpine glaciers the world over on a timely basis. 1st February 2009 Possum first climate victim? - The Courier Mail SCIENTISTS fear the world's first localised climate change extinction of a major mammal species might have already occurred in north Queensland. 31st January 2009 Snow study shows California faces historic drought SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A new survey of California winter snows on Thursday showed the most populous state is facing one of the worst droughts in its history, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. See also: California heads for a third dry year in a row - The Christian Science Monitor 31st January 2009 Under the ice - Grist By Joseph RommArctic sea ice extent just dipped below January 2007 levels in the last few days, according to the daily time series from the National Snow and Ice Data Center: The NSIDC notes that they are showing the data from 2007 on this figure since that year "went on to reach the lowest summer minimum in the satellite record." The NSIDC also has an interesting 2008 Year-in-Review for cryosphere buffs. It explains why the ice stopped growing for a week in mid-December. It also has an interesting graphic comparing the Arctic sea ice extent in 2008 with 2007:The day by day meanderings of Arctic sea ice extent are not overly meaningful yet, but I think they are worth reporting because it bugs the deniers to see any evidence whatsoever that the world is not undergoing global cooling. 31st January 2009 Global glacier melt continues - PhysOrg Glaciers around the globe continue to melt at high rates. Tentative figures for the year 2007, of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, indicate a further loss of average ice thickness of roughly 0.67 meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Some glaciers in the European Alps lost up to 2.5 m w.e. 31st January 2009 Q&A: Water Pushed to the Limit SANTIAGO, Jan 30 (Tierramérica) - When it comes to water, "humanity does not have the full awareness of the danger it is facing and will only act under extreme circumstances. The bad news is that those extremes are drawing near," Manuel Baquedano, president of the Chilean non-governmental Institute of Political Ecology, told Tierramérica. See also: World heads for 'water bankruptcy' - Philippine Daily Inquirer 31st January 2009 Southern Australia feels the heat - BBC Residents of south-eastern Australia are being warned to expect the worst heatwave in a century. Temperatures went up to 45.5C (114F) in Adelaide, its hottest day in 70 years. In Melbourne, two people died in the searing heat, including a 75-year-old man who collapsed while walking to his car, the AFP news agency said. Some train and tram services were cancelled as rail lines buckled in the heat. There were also power outages, as people turned on their air-conditioning units to cool down. See also: Train tracks buckle under record heat - ABC 29th January 2009 Climate change forces moths to higher ground - Guardian Global warming is forcing tropical species uphill to escape the rising temperatures at a rate of more than a metre a year, a new study from the mountains of Borneo suggests.More than four decades after a group of undergraduate students visited the south-east Asian island in 1965, a team of British scientists returned to the same sites on Mount Kinabalu to repeat their survey of moths.The group of six, including a member of the original trip, found that on average the insects had raised the altitude of their range by 67m.Although the trip had only been repeated once so far, they did everything possible to repeat the original survey, travelling at the same time of year in July and August, using photographs to identify exact sites for moth traps, and even carrying out the work at the same phases of the moon. 29th January 2009 Climate change leaves emperor penguins 'facing extinction' - Times Online If rising temperatures continue to melt sea ice at current rates, the population of a large emperor penguin colony in Terre Adelie, Antarctica, will shrink from 3,000 to just 400 breeding pairs, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). The prediction is based on evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). If replicated in other colonies the species could be devastated. 27th January 2009 Predator Jumbo Squid Feasting On NorCal Fish - CBS 5 Bay Area In Mexico, they are called the "red devil" and "the beast" in Central America. They are jumbo squid: deadly, fast moving creatures with tentacles that can suck the life out of a human being. The squid are devouring parts of large populations of native fish in Northern California. 27th January 2009 Heavy weather: What climate change really means for Britain - Independent In 1992, Tom Clarke became an apprentice gardener with the National Trust. He was a bright student, but he didn't want to be stuck in an office job: he wanted to use his hands, and he loved the outdoors. He didn't know exactly what he would be doing at the age of 35, some 17 years later, but it's safe to assume that he might have hoped to have graduated past the intricacies of lawn mowing. 26th January 2009 Global warming impacting monsoon trend in India: Study - Times of India Global warming impacting monsoon trend in India: StudyTimes of India, India. The fourth Assessment Report of the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had also given an account of ongoing Global Warming scenario and its ... 26th January 2009 Record warm temperatures hit Russia - BBC Over the past few weeks, several records have been broken in Russia for unseasonably mild weather, including the warmest ever December temperature on record. In Moscow, a temperature of 9.4 degrees Celsius (49F) was recorded on Saturday, the highest December temperature in the history of meteorological observations. Strangely, this record occurred at 3 o’clock in the morning, when usually the temperature would be plummeting towards its minimum. During Russia’s long, harsh winters, the temperature in Moscow rarely rises above freezing, and the average December temperature ranges between minus 10 and minus 5 degrees C (14 to 23F). This recent warm spell has brought temperatures 15 to 20 degrees above normal, with some climate meteorologists claiming this is further evidence of global warming. 7th December 2008 Native hunters say climate affecting herds - Yahoo Chief Bill Erasmus of the Dene nation in northern Canada brought a stark warning about the climate crisis: The once abundant herds of caribou are dwindling, rivers are running lower and the ice is too thin to hunt on. Erasmus raised his concerns in recent days on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference, seeking to ensure that North America's indigenous peoples are not left out in the cold when it comes to any global warming negotiations. 7th December 2008 Drought forces Australian state to purchase water - AP via Yahoo! Finance Australia's driest state has been forced to purchase water for the first time to ensure adequate supplies in the midst of a drought, a government official said Friday. 6th December 2008 'I didn't see one cube of ice' By Joseph Romm CBC News reports: The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that in a major first, a commercial ship travelled through the Northwest Passage this fall to deliver supplies to communities in western Nunavut.The MV Camilla Desgagnés, owned by Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak in September."We did have a commercial cargo vessel that did the first scheduled run from Montreal, up through the eastern Arctic, through the Northwest Passage to deliver cargo to communities in the west," Brian LeBlanc of the Canadian Coast Guard told CBC News."That was the first -- that I'm aware of anyway -- commercial cargo delivery from the east through the Northwest Passage."NEW ERA IN ARCTIC SHIPPING? 3rd December 2008 Florida's elkhorn coral nears extinction - CDNN Florida's elkhorn coral nears extinctionCDNN, New Zealand. Global warming is not only accelerating problems that already have sickened and shrunken coral reefs, it has created a new, potentially more lethal threat: 3rd December 2008 Soot darkens ice, stokes runaway Arctic melt: study POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - Soot is darkening ice in the Arctic and speeding a melt that could make the ocean around the North Pole ice-free in summer well before 2050, experts said on Tuesday. 3rd December 2008 White possum said to be first victim of global warming - Courier Mail SCIENTISTS say a white possum native to Queensland's Daintree forest has become the first mammal to become extinct due to man-made global warming. 3rd December 2008 2008 saw record-breaking hurricane season: US agency - PhysOrg The record-breaking 2008 hurricane season, which officially ends on Sunday, has been one of the most active since comprehensive reports began 64 years ago, a US government agency said Wednesday. 27th November 2008 Marine life faces 'acid threat' - BBC Man-made pollution is raising ocean acidity at least ten times faster than previously thought, a study says. 26th November 2008 United Nations says greenhouse gases are at new record highs - CNews GENEVA - The United Nations weather agency says the three main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere have reached new record highs. 26th November 2008 Climate change, starfish hit Fiji reefs: study - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Climate change and a starfish outbreak have shrunk coral reefs near Fiji, forcing locals to change their lifestyle. 25th November 2008 Ocean growing more acidic faster than once thought - PhysOrg University of Chicago scientists have documented that the ocean is growing more acidic faster than previously thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a paper published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 24. 25th November 2008 Global warming is changing organic matter in soil - PhysOrg New research shows that we should be looking to the ground, not the sky, to see where climate change could have its most perilous impact on life on Earth. 25th November 2008 Climate change pushes hundreds of birds further north - KARE 11 Minneapolis-St. Paul There's new evidence wildlife is adapting to a warmer climate. 18th November 2008 CO2 Seeping Into Water Supply - Discovery Channel CO2 levels in groundwater are going up faster than atmospheric levels, according to a new study. 18th November 2008 Global warming causes winter migratory birds to shun UK - guardian.co.uk Fewer birds will migrate to the UK each year as warmer temperatures caused by climate change will encourage them to spend winters closer to home, a report warned today. Research from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) has shown a big drop in the numbers of ducks, geese, swans and wading birds migrating to UK wetlands in winter. 17th November 2008 'Unprecedented' warming drives dramatic ecosystem shifts in North Atlantic - PhysOrg While the planet has experienced numerous changes in climate over the past 65 million years, the most significant climate change of the last 5,000 years has been in recent decades. That change is global warming. 7th November 2008 Turtles alter nesting dates due to temperature change - PhysOrg Turtles nesting along the Mississippi River and other areas are altering their nesting dates in response to rising temperatures, says a researcher from Iowa State University. 7th November 2008 Manx sea water temperature rises - BBC News A report on the quality of sea water around the Isle of Man shows its temperature has risen by one degree. 6th November 2008 Lemmings in Norway hit by global warming - Reuters OSLO (Reuters) - Lemming numbers are dwindling in Norway because of climate change, ending a historic cycle of population booms and busts that inspired a myth of mass suicides by the rodents, scientists said on Wednesday. 6th November 2008 Climate may force pandas to move - BBC News Climate change could force pandas to move to different parts of China as bamboo growth patterns shift. 6th November 2008 Extreme weather postpones the flowering time of plants - PhysOrg Extreme weather events have a greater effect on flora than previously presumed. A one-month drought postpones the time of flowering of grassland and heathland plants in Central Europe by an average of 4 days. With this a so-called 100-year drought event equates to approx. a decade of global warming. 6th November 2008 In hot water - Nature The ocean's enormous capacity for soaking up greenhouse gases has gone some way toward softening the blow of escalating emissions; over the last century, the upper ocean has soaked up over 500 billion tonnes of fossil fuel carbon. But in acting as a buffer for the planet, the ocean itself has begun to suffer. Some of the harm is obvious; some is more obscure. Most notably, the seas are warming, having taken up around 20 times more heat than the atmosphere since 1960. For some time, it has been realized that the ocean will also become more acidic in a carbon-rich world. Now studies show it will become saltier and, rather surprisingly, noisier too. If, as predicted under some scenarios, the ocean's pH drops 0.3 units from its current value of 8.1 units by 2050, sound waves at one kilohertz and below could travel up to 70 per cent further underwater. 5th November 2008 Chilean glacier will vanish in 50 years: study - PhysOrg Chile's official water authority warned Saturday that the Echaurren glacier near Santiago, which supplies the capital with 70 percent of its water needs, could disappear in the next half century. 3rd November 2008 Warning as seabird breeding fails - BBC Kittiwakes, Arctic terns and Arctic skuas suffer a breeding season which could see them wiped out, it is claimed. Changes in food supply, which may be linked to climate change, could threaten the future of these species. RSPB Scotland said recent reports of significant declines in plankton biomass point to major changes to ocean ecosystems in the Atlantic, which could be affecting seabirds. It said that although direct evidence was still lacking, increased winter sea surface temperatures disrupting the food chain are thought to be driving the declines. Douglas Gilbert, an ecologist with RSPB Scotland, said: "The outlook for some species such as Arctic skua, kittiwake and Arctic tern is dire, and there are problems with other species like guillemots and puffins in some areas too. "Unless conditions change to allow these birds the chance of successful breeding, the long-term future for them is bleak. "The evidence that this is linked to changes in sea surface temperatures is now growing." 30th October 2008 Climate-warming methane levels rose fast in 2007 - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Levels of climate-warming methane -- a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide -- rose abruptly in Earth's atmosphere last year, and scientists who reported the change don't know why it occurred. Arctic ice thickness 'plummets' - BBC News Arctic sea ice thickness "plummeted" last winter, thinning by as much as 49cm in some regions, data shows. 29th October 2008 Climate change making seas more salty, research finds - Guardian Unlimited Experts at the UK Met Office and Reading University say warmer temperatures over the Atlantic Ocean have significantly increased evaporation and reduced rainfall across a giant stretch of water from Africa to the Carribean in recent years. The change concentrates salt in the water left behind, and is predicted to make southern Europe and the Mediterranean much drier in future. 29th October 2008 Earth on course for eco 'crunch' - BBC The planet is headed for an ecological "credit crunch", according to a report issued by conservation groups. The document contends that our demands on natural resources overreach what the Earth can sustain by almost a third. The Living Planet Report is the work of WWF, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network. "The events in the last few months have served to show us how it's foolish in the extreme to live beyond our means," said WWF's international president, Chief Emeka Anyaoku. "Devastating though the financial credit crunch has been, it's nothing as compared to the ecological recession that we are facing." He said the more than $2 trillion (£1.2 trillion) lost on stocks and shares was dwarfed by the up to $4.5 trillion worth of resources destroyed forever each year. The report's Living Planet Index, which is an attempt to measure the health of worldwide biodiversity, showed an average decline of about 30% from 1970 to 2005 in 3,309 populations of 1,235 species. An index for the tropics shows an average 51% decline over the same period in 1,333 populations of 585 species. See also: FAQ: Planet's capacity - Guardian Unlimited 29th October 2008 Yellowstone amphibians in decline due to climate change - Mongabay.com Climate change appears to be responsible for a "marked drop" in the population of three of four species of amphibian once common to Yellowstone National Park, the world's oldest national park, report researchers writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using surveys and remote sensing to monitor and record changes in wetlands in northern Yellowstone National Park, Sarah McMenamin of Stanford University and colleagues linked declining amphibian populations to drier and warmer conditions over the past 60 years, including a four-fold increase in the number of number of permanently dry ponds over the past 16 years. 28th October 2008 Wildflowers disappear from Walden Pond as earth heats up - Boston Globe In the 1850s, a few years after he had gone to “live deliberately” in a cabin in the woods at Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau began to compile detailed records on hundreds of species of plants in his beloved Concord. That same data is now being used to measure the effect of climate change and, according to researchers, the news is not good. Scientists from Harvard and Boston University reported today that the mean annual temperature has climbed by 4 degrees since Thoreau's time in Concord, and over that same period, 27 percent of the species documented by Thoreau have disappeared. 28th October 2008 Swans stay in 'warm' Siberia - The Independent UK: The late arrival in Britain of migratory birds from Russian region is being blamed on global warming. Wildlife experts are reporting that the swans' 1,800-mile mid-October migration has so far failed tomaterialise, with climate change turning the once famously harsh Russian region into a more inviting winter haven for the majestic birds. 28th October 2008 Emissions kill off coral larvae: study - AAP via Yahoo!7 News Carbon dioxide emissions have the potential to kill off coral larvae used to build the Great Barrier Reef, a new study has found. 28th October 2008 Methane rise reminds us of climate change feedback loop - Gather.com The total methane in the air is now around 5.6 billion tons. Scientists are concerned that we may be seeing the beginning of a feedback loop in the arctic in terms of methane release. For perspective on this, ask yourself, smugly and complacently, "what's the worst thing that could happen?" Then search your memory from the year 2005, when you asked yourself that same question about the subprime mortgage problem. 27th October 2008 Sea levels to rise a metre this century, German experts warn - EARTHtimes.org Sea levels around the world will rise one metre this century, according to German scientists who warn that global warming is happening much faster than hitherto predicted. Citing UN date on climate change, two senior German scientists say that previous predictions were far too cautious and optimistic. 27th October 2008 Primeval ice melts in Finnish Lapland - Helsingin Sanomat The primeval ice in an ice cave on the isle of Korkia-Maura in Lake Inari has melted, turning into a pond of crystal water. Recent years’ mild winters as well as longer summer and autumn periods have been too much for the ice cover of the cave, which began to grow in the Little Ice Age some 500 to 1,000 years ago. 27th October 2008 Climate Change Seeps into the Sea - PhysOrg Good news has turned out to be bad. The ocean has helped slow global warming by absorbing much of the excess heat and heat-trapping carbon dioxide that has been going into the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution 25th October 2008 Oceans may provide clues to future rainfall - PhysOrg Changes in the salinity of our oceans are being brought about by man's influence on our climate, suggests new research conducted by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at the University of Reading, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters next month. 25th October 2008 Ice cap threat to migrating birds - BBC News Some of Britain's most treasured bird species face extinction because of melting polar ice, a Cumbrian wildlife expert warns. Dr Roy Armstrong from Cumbria University said shrinking polar ice may lead to droughts which could threaten the wintering grounds. "We're expecting a severe drought to hit West Africa at any time." 23rd October 2008 Data show US riding out worst storms on record - The News-Press More frequent and powerful hurricanes from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico since the mid-1990s have created one of the most dangerous and costliest storm eras in recorded history, a USA TODAY analysis of weather data shows. Since 1995, there have been 207 named storms in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Gulf of Mexico � a 68% increase from the previous 13 years, according to statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Of those storms, 111 were hurricanes, a 75% increase over the previous period. 23rd October 2008 Climate change accelerating far beyond the IPCC forecast, WWF says - Telegraph.co.uk Climate change is happening much faster than the world's best scientists predicted and will wreak havoc unless action is taken on a global scale, a new report warns. 22nd October 2008 Global warming leads India tigers to village attacks - Reuters KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - The number of tiger attacks on people is growing in India's Sundarban islands as habitat loss and dwindling prey caused by climate change drives them to prowl into villages for food, experts said Monday. 22nd October 2008 Scientists raise alarm as Britain's seals disappear - Guardian Unlimited 'Massive decline' mirrors other marine population falls and baffles scientists. 20th October 2008 Yosemite glacier on thin ice - Sacramento Bee As signals of climate change begin to come into focus in the Sierra Nevada, its melting glaciers spell trouble in bold font. Not only are they in-your-face barometers of global warming, they also reflect what scientists are beginning to uncover: that the Sierra snowpack – the source of 65 percent of California's water – is dwindling, too. 20th October 2008 Bad news for arachnophobics - gair rhydd Global warming hasn’t just affected the icebergs but the UK’s increasingly mild climate has also caused spiders to hitch a ride on the country’s food and plant imports and manage to survive. Some new residents include the False Widow spider and scientists believe it’s only a matter of time before the poisonous Black Widow spiders invade. 20th October 2008 A failing grade - Gristmill NOAA's arctic report card shows stronger effects of warming in Greenland and permafrost. 19th October 2008 Southern drought creeps northward - MSNBC The drought that  plagued the Deep South for more than a year is creeping north, and officials in multiple states are restricting outdoor burning in the face of water shortages and forest  fire risks. 17th October 2008 Arctic air temperatures climb to record levels - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fall air temperatures have climbed to record levels in the Arctic due to major losses of sea ice as the region suffers more effects from a warming trend dating back decades, a report released on Thursday showed. 17th October 2008 POVERTY: Water Wars Hit Rural Zimbabwe - IPS PLUMTREE, Oct 16 (IPS) - When water experts warned at the turn of the millennium that soon wars will be fought not over oil anymore but over water, little did Zimbabweans know that they would be some of the first people affected by this dire prediction. 17th October 2008 Alaska village faces eroded future - BBC News The BBC's Stephen Chittenden visits an Alaska village where climate change is being blamed for eating away the land. 15th October 2008 2008 tornado season could blow away records - USA Today The 2008 tornado season is on track to set a record for the number of tornadoes in the USA, according to National Weather Service data. 14th October 2008 Warmer water devastates reef's seabirds - The Australian GLOBAL warming has been blamed for dramatic declines in seabird populations on the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding waters. Tens of thousands of seabirds are failing to breed because warmer water from more frequent and intense El Nino events means there is insufficient food to raise their young, according to research compiled by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Warm water near the surface forces fish, plankton and other prey into deeper water, where it cannot be reached by seabirds. 14th October 2008 Massive Wildfires Rage In California - WSB-TV 2 Atlanta Two people are reported dead and dozens of homes are in ruins as several wildfires scorch California. 14th October 2008 Antarctic Krill study projects damage from carbon emissions - ABC Radio Australia Australian scientists say a study on the effect increased carbon dixide has on Antarctic Krill has uncovered some worrying signs for the future. 14th October 2008 BC birds at risk: populations plummet - Vancouver Sun Surveys show massive reductions in Fraser River estuary's birds that feed on insects 13th October 2008 SOUTHERN CHILE GLACIAL LAKE DISAPPEARS - AGAIN - Santiago Times The Cachet 2 glacial lake, located in the southern Chilean region of Aysén (Region XI), disappeared last week for the second time in six months. The lake spilled into the nearby Baker River, possibly due to a phenomenon some say is related to global warming. 13th October 2008 Drought the hottest ever - Queensland Country Life The current and on-going drought ranks along side the Federation and World War II droughts as one of Australia's worst, but new figures show it has also been the hottest of all the big dries. 12th October 2008 Climate change ground zero - Sydney Morning Herald The earth is disappearing from under the feet of millions of impoverished Bangladeshis. Increased temperatures mean a torrent of additional melt-water from Himalayan glaciers is gushing down the great rivers of India - the Ganges and the Brahmaputra - into the Bangladeshi delta, causing savage erosion. At the same time coastal areas are being gradually flooded by rising sea levels. If that wasn't enough, Bhola is cyclone-prone and likely to experience more frequent and extreme storms as sea temperatures rise because of global warming. 12th October 2008 Longest, hottest drought on record - The Australian THE long drought affecting southern Australia is officially the worst on record. 11th October 2008 Sierra climate change puts range's species on the run - Sacbee YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: One century ago, alpine chipmunks owned the upper half of Yosemite. They skittered under logs and darted across rocks from the rugged Sierra crest down to the conifer forests at 7,800 feet. Today, they are missing in action below 9,800 feet. "It's lost half its geographic range," Patton said. "Climate is the culprit. I don't think there is any iota of reason not to think that." See also: Climate change may threaten biodiversity in tropics 10th October 2008 Birds' decline shows wider damage to nature: study - Reuters BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Dwindling numbers of birds worldwide are a sign that governments are failing to keep promises to slow damage to nature by 2010, an international report said on Thursday. 10th October 2008 What links the retreat of Jakobshavn Isbrae, Wilkins Ice Shelf and the Petermann Glacier? - RealClimate Guest commentary from Mauri Pelto Changes occurring in marine terminating outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet and ice shelves fringing the Antarctic Peninsula have altered our sense of the possible rate of response of large ice sheet-ice shelf systems. There is a shared mechanism at work that has emerged from the detailed observations of a number of researchers, that is the key to the onset and progression of the ice retreat. This mechanism is shared despite the vastly different nature of the environments of Jakobshavns Isbrae, Wilkins Ice Shelf and the Petermann Glacier. We reviewed in a previous post the first mechanism for explaining the change in velocity of Greenland's large outlet glacier - the Zwally effect - and why it is not the key. 8th October 2008 Early birds get to survive changing climate - New Scientist Birds that haven't adjusted to the realities of a warming world are worse off than their more flexible counterparts, suggests a first-of-a-kind study 8th October 2008 Disease warning on climate change - BBC News Climate change may hasten the spread of diseases that can move from wild animals to humans, researchers warn. 8th October 2008 Climate change poised to devastate penguins: WWF - SpaceDaily BARCELONA, Oct 8 (AFP) Oct 08, 2008 Half to three-quarters of major Antarctic penguin colonies could be damaged or wiped out if global temperatures are allowed to climb by more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a report released Wednesday. 8th October 2008 Seas turn to acid as they soak up CO2 - Guardian Unlimited Waters near Naples have seen plant and fish biodiversity drop by 30% due to 'ocean acidification' 5th October 2008 Beaches once thick with birds quiet thanks to Ike - PhysOrg (AP) -- One of North America's renowned bird migration and bird watching areas is strangely silent. Blame Hurricane Ike. 5th October 2008 2008 probably represents the lowest volume of Arctic sea ice on record - National Snow and Ice Data Center NSIDC Research Scientist Walt Meier said, �Warm ocean waters helped contribute to ice losses this year, pushing the already thin ice pack over the edge. In fact, preliminary data indicates that 2008 probably represents the lowest volume of Arctic sea ice on record, partly because less multiyear ice is surviving now, and the remaining ice is so thin. 4th October 2008 Species die-off may be underway - Sky News Australia Earth's animal and plant species are vanishing at unprecedented rates, evidence that the planet is facing a tsunami of mass extinction, experts have warned. 3rd October 2008 Climate change threat to haggis - BBC News Warmer temperatures may be to blame for an increase in a parasite affecting sheep's lungs - an ingredient of haggis. 3rd October 2008 NASA data show Arctic saw fastest August sea ice retreat on record - PhysOrg Contributing to the near-record sea ice minimum in 2008 was a month-long period in the summer that saw the fastest-ever rate of seasonal retreat during that period. From August 1 to August 31, NASA data show that arctic sea ice extent declined at a rate of 32,700 square miles per day, compared to a rate of about 24,400 square miles per day in August 2007. Since measurements began, the arctic sea ice extent has declined at an average rate of 19,700 miles per day at the point when the extent reaches its annual minimum. 29th September 2008 Europe warms fast: Med drier, north ever wetter - Reuters Europe's mountains, coasts, the Mediterranean and the Arctic were most at risk from global warming, according to the report by the European Environment Agency and branches of the World Health Organization and the European Commission. "Global average temperature has increased almost 0.8 C (1.4 F) above pre-industrial levels, with even higher temperature increases in Europe and northern latitudes," it said. Europe had warmed by 1.0 C. Northern Europe would get wetter this century while more of Europe's Mediterranean region might turn to desert, based on trends already under way, it said. European heatwaves like in 2003, during which 70,000 people died, could be more frequent. 29th September 2008 Bleak outlook for Europe's toads - BBC News More than half of Europe's amphibians could be extinct by 2050, due to climate change and disease, UK research warns. See also: In Pictures - Europe's amphibians at risk 26th September 2008 Forest fires 'pushing Lebanon toward desertification' - Daily Star - Lebanon Devastating fires caused by climate change are threatening forests in Lebanon, in turn accelerating the pace of global warming, an environmental activist has warned. "We are witnessing a rise in temperature which leads to the dryness of forest soil and pushes it toward desertification," Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine, director general of the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation (AFDC), a Lebanese NGO, told IRIN. 26th September 2008 Methane release off Siberian coast prompts concern over runaway climate change - Guardian Unlimited Scientists claim to have discovered evidence for large releases of methane into the atmosphere from frozen stores off the northern coast of Siberia 23rd September 2008 Greenland's ice cap melting faster than expected: experts - PhysOrg Greenland's ice cap, which covers more than 80 percent of the island, is melting faster than expected because of global warming, a Danish researcher said on Monday. See also: Greenland: roar of melting glacier sounds climate change alarm - Space Daily 23rd September 2008 Planet in debt at earliest day ever - Metro The world slides into 'ecological debt' today, having used up all the natural resources the planet can provide this year, according to the New Economics Foundation. The think-tank said humans were using up resources such as forests and fisheries faster than they can be regenerated and producing more waste, mainly carbon dioxide, than the planet can absorb. 23rd September 2008 Birds decline seen sign of biodiversity crisis - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many of the world's most common birds suffered steep population drops over recent decades, a sign of a deteriorating global environment and a biodiversity crisis, BirdLife International said on Monday. 23rd September 2008 Bringing Oceans to a Boil - RedOrbit Scientists have known for a long time that the ocean plays a huge role in climate. Covering 70% of the globe, it stores 1,000 times more heat than the atmosphere, but often overlooked in the public debate on climate change is the ocean's synergistic role-how it responds to the growing amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. 22nd September 2008 Glaciers vanish in North Cascades - Sierra Sun Nearby, Spider Glacier has already passed away. The scientist who pronounced it dead three years ago believes that one-third of the glaciers in the North Cascades — including Lyman — are doomed. 20th September 2008 'Fish in the forest': Rising seas push PNG coast dwellers inland - Reuters AlertNet To lose your territory is to lose a significant part of your identity - and your freedom. To be displaced onto somebody else's puts you entirely at their mercy. That is the bleak prospect facing the world's first sea level-rise "refugees". Although PNG's Carteret Islanders hold the dubious honour of being the first to permanently lose their land to sea levels, in fact they are just the most vocal of three or four atoll populations in PNG who are today's vanguard among the environmentally displaced. When sea levels rise, loss of land will displace tens of thousands in PNG. The contamination of fresh-water lenses, poisoning of crops and flooding of low-lying settlements is a trend that will only continue, not just on outlying island chains but increasingly, on mainland coastal communities as well. 19th September 2008 Beijing taps "emergency" water supplies - Reuters BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital started pumping "emergency" water from its long-parched neighboring province on Thursday, officials said, weeks after the Beijing Olympics when they declared the city had enough supply. "Owing to continuous drought in recent years, the water situation in the capital Beijing is grim and water sources are quite strained," said a statement on the website, adding that the two government had reached an agreement on the supplies. 19th September 2008 The clams are nearly gone - Daily Express Giant clams in Sabah waters have been severely depleted by overfishing - Another threat that is hastening their extinction is global warming or climate change through excessive carbon dioxide in the sea making the water acidic and lessening the ability of giant clams to build their skeleton. The rise in sea temperature is also known to disturb the symbiotic relationship that the clams have with zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae), which nourished them. 19th September 2008 The escalator effect - Nature Rising temperatures are changing mountain ecosystems as the heat forces some species upwards — until there is nowhere left to go. Emma Marris reports on the 'escalator effect', which is threatening species worldwide. 19th September 2008 Arctic ice melts to second-lowest level: scientists - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arctic sea ice melted to its second-lowest level this summer, rising slightly from 2007's record but still showing a downward trend that is a key symptom of climate change, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday. Saa also: Arctic Ice Growing: Record NOT Set! 18th September 2008 Seabird chicks 'killed over food' - BBC Food shortages are forcing Scotland's seabirds to attack and kill chicks from neighbouring nests, experts say. 18th September 2008 Arctic ice melts to second-lowest level: scientists - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arctic sea ice melted to its second-lowest level this summer, rising slightly from 2007's record but still showing a downward trend that is a key symptom of climate change, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday. See also: Are humans to blame for Arctic meltdown? - New Scientist 17th September 2008 Ozone Hole Above Antarctica Grew in 2008, Meteorologists Say - Bloomberg.com Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The ozone hole over Antarctica , a doorway for harmful solar radiation, is bigger than last year, a worrying sign to scientists studying global warming, the World Meteorological Organization said. See also: CLIMATE CHANGE: Chemical Lobby Weakening Ozone Treaty - IPS 17th September 2008 Climate change may prompt need for grapes rethink - ABC Online A viticulture expert says the days of solely growing traditional French varieties in Western Australia's south-west and great southern may be drawing to a close. Melbourne University Professor Snow Barlow says growers may have to consider more Mediterranean wines, like Spanish or Italian grape varieties, due to global warming. 17th September 2008 Lowest ever sea ice in Arctic - WWF International Arctic sea ice may well have reached its lowest volumes ever, as summer ice coverage of the Arctic Sea looks set to be close to last year’s record lows, with thinner ice overall. Final figures on minimum ice coverage for 2008 are expected in a matter of days, but they are already flirting with last year’s record low of 1.59 million square miles, or 4.13 million square kilometres. “If you take reduced ice thickness into account, there is probably less ice overall in the Arctic this year than in any other year since monitoring began,” said Martin Sommerkorn, WWF International Arctic Programme’s Senior Climate Change Advisor. 15th September 2008 Lyman Glacier: Frozen reservoir above Lake Chelan is dying - The Wenatchee World Lyman Glacier, sitting just below 8,459-foot Chiwawa Peak, is dying. 15th September 2008 Traditional almanacs ponder change in the air - Boston Globe Prognosticators create long-range weather charts for the handful of surviving farmer's almanacs - an old job, done an old way. They eschew Doppler radar and weather satellites and look for clues in the timeless rhythms of nature. But now, the world and the weather don't look as timeless as they used to. Scientists say the planet is warming, threatening to make droughts more widespread, heat waves more punishing and hurricanes more severe. So one of the country's most fervently unmodern subcultures has had to confront climate change. Prognosticators are deciding how - or if - they should factor greenhouse gases into weather-predicting formulas that are two centuries old. "Global warming has kind of messed it up." 13th September 2008 Antarctic winter ice gets bigger; Arctic shrinks - Reuters OSLO (Reuters) - The amount of sea ice around Antarctica has grown in recent Septembers in what could be an unusual side-effect of global warming, experts said on Friday. 13th September 2008 Wet August prompts climate fears - BBC News Conservation charity WWF Scotland warns of 'climate chaos' after a dull, wet and warmer August. 12th September 2008 The diary of an Arctic explorer - BBC News BBC environment correspondent David Shukman travels to Alaska, to find out how Arctic ecosystems are coping with the change to a warmer climate. Watch video 11th September 2008 'Extreme waves' worry Australia - BBC News Australia's coastline is being battered by extreme waves that are driven in part by climate change, scientists say. 11th September 2008 Walruses: The friendly, fun-loving, musically talented creatures are under threat from climate change - Independent The future is far from rosy for these musical beasts, as the threat of global warming looms over their icy habitat. The most disturbing signs of climate change surfaced in 2004, when a team of climate-change researchers cruising through the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, saw walrus calves swimming alone in deep water, far from either ice or land. Crying loudly, they had, it seemed, been separated or abandoned by their mothers as the sea ice retreated north to deeper water. Summer ice cover has been declining since 1980 and last September shrunk to just 1.65 million square miles – almost 40 per cent less than the average since 1979, when satellite records began. This lack of sea ice is causing walruses "to look further afield for places to 'haul out' – pull themselves on to the ice – and this means we are getting more crowding in areas which can have more interference from humans, trampling and frightening, leading to more deaths," Dr Schusterman says. As walruses come ashore earlier, they congregate in extremely large herds, as big as 40,000 in one location last year, and as many as 4,000 are thought to have been killed in stampedes in Arctic Russia. 11th September 2008 Australia buys huge farm to save dying river - elEconomista.es An irrigation farm larger than Singapore and sucking up billions of liters of water each year has been bought by Australia's government to help save one of the country's most vital rivers from a slow death and climate change. 11th September 2008 September of fires - iafrica.com Fire-fighting services in Pietermaritzburg have already dealt with 165 fires in September. 10th September 2008 Michael McCarthy: Another summer of sodden misery. Is it bad luck - or worse? - The Independent It's getting wearisomely familiar, isn't it? Last summer's toll of sodden misery is with us again as people are flooded out of their homes from one end of the land to the other and, for the second year running, a famous medieval abbey is an island. You could be forgiven for thinking, is this really all just coincidence? 9th September 2008 As Andean glacier retreats, tiny life forms swiftly move in, study shows - PhysOrg A University of Colorado at Boulder team working at 16,400 feet in the Peruvian Andes has discovered how barren soils uncovered by retreating glacier ice can swiftly establish a thriving community of microbes, setting the table for lichens, mosses and alpine plants. 9th September 2008 Bark beetles are feasting on Utah forests - Deseret Morning News A vicious cycle is brewing in Utah: Bark beetles are killing a lot of trees in the state. Dead trees are fuel for wildfires, which experts say contributes to global warming. And climate change is now being blamed for an increased population of bark beetles. 8th September 2008 Pyrenees glaciers will melt by 2050: Spanish study - PhysOrg Climate change will melt the 21 remaining glaciers in the Pyrenees mountains before 2050, a group of Spanish researchers said Friday. 7th September 2008 Ribbon Seal Endangered - LiveScience.com The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering placing the Bering Sea’s ribbon seal under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. In late December 2007, the San-Francisco-based Center for Biological Diversity petitioned NOAA’s Fisheries Service to list the ribbon seal as threatened or endangered, citing current and future destruction of their icy habitat in Alaska’s Bering Sea due to climate change. 7th September 2008 Spanish wine makers fight climate change - BBC News Some wine makers in Spain are already taking steps to protect their vineyards against the effects of climate change, Danny Wood finds. See video interview with Miguel Torres. 7th September 2008 Indian cyclones soar - Nature The frequency and intensity of summer tropical cyclones forming in the north Indian Ocean could increase in the coming century, according to scientists. 5th September 2008 Warming boosts strongest storms - BBC News As temperatures rise globally, strong storms in the tropics are getting stronger with faster winds, scientists show. 4th September 2008 Major ice-shelf loss for Canada - BBC News Canada's Arctic ice shelves have lost a colossal area this year, scientists report, with one 50 sq km shelf breaking off completely. See also: A planet on thin ice - Boston Globe MANY SCIENTISTS worry that there will be tipping points in global warming, as changes in the delicate balance of the earth's ice, land, water, and air cause sudden accelerations in average temperatures. One focus of concern is the Arctic, where ice annually expands and recedes with the seasons. Just as the data on Arctic summer ice came in, researchers also reported alarming releases of methane gas in the Arctic. As a greenhouse gas, methane is 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Scientists have long feared that gigantic burps of this gas would be a result of warming in the Arctic. 3rd September 2008 Strange Clouds Spotted at the Edge of Space - SPACE.com Clouds are increasingly appearing at the edge of Earth's atmosphere. 2nd September 2008 Kyoto protocol fails to save the Japanese city's famous Zen gardens - Telegraph.co.uk The ancient Zen gardens of Kyoto, the Japanese city made famous for a landmark treaty on tackling climate change, are dying because of global warming. 2nd September 2008 For the first time in human history, the North Pole can be circumnavigated - The Independent Open water now stretches all the way round the Arctic, making it possible for the first time in human history to circumnavigate the North Pole, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. New satellite images, taken only two days ago, show that melting ice last week opened up both the fabled North-west and North-east passages, in the most important geographical landmark to date to signal the unexpectedly rapid progress of global warming. See also: North Pole kayak trip to highlight global warming - BBC 31st August 2008 Gustav grows back into hurricane - Reuters GEORGE TOWN (Reuters) - Gustav strengthened back into a hurricane in the warm Caribbean on Friday as it left flooded Jamaica and churned toward the Cayman Islands, headed for the Gulf of Mexico on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's deadly strike on New Orleans. See also: The storm of the century - so far - Grist Magazine 31st August 2008 Sea-Ice Melt Imperils Walruses, and Economy Based on Them - Washington Post Walrus need to rest on sea ice no more than 400 feet above the ocean floor so they can dive down to eat shellfish and plants. But sea ice is retreating so far north that the waters are too deep for walrus to feed. This forces them to squeeze onto land, and last summer about 4,000 young walruses were trampled to death by males in the crowded conditions. 31st August 2008 Arctic ice 'is at tipping point' - BBC News The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic is now the second smallest on record, US scientists say. See also: Now you see it, now you don't - nearly as much - Christian Science Monitor 29th August 2008 As wildfires spread, so does the red ink - The Christian Science Monitor Faced with hundreds of big, hard-to-control blazes, California is struggling with what could be its most expensive wildfire season ever, burning through $285 million in the last six weeks alone and up to $13 million a day. 29th August 2008 Alpine lakes beginning to show effects of climate change - PhysOrg A recent study forecasts that increased climatic variability poses serious consequence for both the biodiversity and ecosystem function of high-elevation lakes. 27th August 2008 A view from the North - Alaska's melting glaciers - PhysOrg Welcome to the front lines of global warming in the United States - the Harding Ice Field in Alaska, the biggest icefield in the United States.    At the Exit Glacier north of Seward - the only glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park reachable by foot - the giant cerulean blue ice sheet gives every sign of staying put.    But one only has to glance at the many signs along the roadway and footpath to the glacier's edge to mark its retreat  - it hit its peak size in 1815 and has been receding ever since. Signs along a footpath leading to the base of the glacier show just how far it has retreated. 27th August 2008 Not-So-Permafrost: Big Thaw of Arctic Soil May Unleash Runaway Warming - Scientific American "Drunken" trees listing wildly, cracked highways and sinkholes--all are visible signs of thawing Arctic permafrost. When this frozen soil warms, it releases carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases as microbes start to thrive on the organic material it contains--a potentially potent source of uncontrollable climate change. 27th August 2008 Scientists Report Further Shrinking of Arctic Ice - Washington Post Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the second-lowest level since record-keeping began three decades ago, a group of international researchers determined yesterday, a revelation underscoring how rapidly climate change is transforming ecosystems in northern latitudes. The extent of Arctic sea ice is now 2 million square miles below the long-term average for Aug. 26, according to the International Arctic Research Center and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, a figure that is within 400,000 square miles of the all-time record low set in September 2007. This figure is already below the long-term average for September ice cover and because the ice traditionally reaches its minimum level in mid-September, researchers warned that a new low might be recorded within weeks. 27th August 2008 Whales lose blubber due to climate change - Telegraph.co.uk Whales are losing weight because of climate change, according to Japanese scientists. 26th August 2008 Rising sea buries village - International Herald Tribune TOTOPE, Ghana: The old shore road to Totope is now under the sea. Developers began carving out another road, but it was washed away so often they abandoned it. Now the road to this village is just a track across the sand. On this southern coast of Ghana, the Atlantic Ocean is rising. Every few years, residents of a string of villages leave their homes and build new ones farther back, abandoning them to the encroaching sand and water. 26th August 2008 Beauty spots to be devoured by sea - Guardian Unlimited National Trust warns of losing battle to save much-loved coastal landmarks from rising sea levels and erosion 24th August 2008 Global warming sign? Major Arctic glacier is cracking - Los Angeles Times In northern Greenland, a part of the Arctic that had seemed immune from global warming, new satellite images show a growing giant crack and an 11-square-mile chunk of ice hemorrhaging off a major glacier, scientists said Thursday. That has led the university professor who spotted the wounds in the massive Petermann glacier to predict disintegration of a major portion of the Northern Hemisphere's largest floating glacier within the year. "As we see this phenomenon occurring further and further north -- and Petermann is as far north as you can get -- it certainly adds to the concern," said Waleed Abdalati, director of the Center for the Study of Earth From Space at the University of Colorado. [Interesting that the element of doubt introduced by the article is based on norms from the 1990's, considering that global warming started showing up in the records some ten years earlier (see diagram). ] 23rd August 2008 Argentina declares state of emergency in five provinces hit by severe drought - People's Daily Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Friday declared a state of emergency in five provinces hit by a months-long drought. 23rd August 2008 Multiple Polar Bears Discovered Swimming Many Miles from Alaska Coast - Centre Daily Times An aerial survey by government scientists in Alaska's Chukchi Sea this week found at least nine polar bears swimming in open water - with one at least 60 miles from shore - raising concern among wildlife experts about their survival. 22nd August 2008 Greenland Glacier Breakup Suggests Imminent Disintegration - LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News New satellite images reveal that a massive ice chunk recently broken away from one of Greenland's glaciers, which researchers say will continue to disintegrate within the next year. Scientists at Ohio State University monitoring daily NASA satellite images of Greenland's glaciers discovered that an 11-square-mile (29-square-kilometer) piece of the Petermann Glacier broke away between July 10 and 24. The chunk was about half the size of Manhattan. 22nd August 2008 Rapid climate change threatens to thaw icy wonderland of Alaska - The Flint Journal Flint Journal staff writer Elizabeth Shaw was in Alaska for 10 days in August on a fellowship to see firsthand the effects of global warming. "I watched massive chunks of glacial ice breaking off into the sea. I fished for salmon from muddy riverbanks where beavers -- once uncommon near the Arctic Circle -- are ravaging trees and blocking spawning streams. I hiked up mountainsides once white with snow year-round. I walked through white spruce forests devastated by pine bark beetle infestations, and peat wetlands drying up for the first time in 14,000 years. I listened to an Aleut leader lament the loss of his native culture to flooded coastlines and vanishing icebound prey. Now put all that in the context of one stark and simple fact: In those same 10 days, Alaska lost an area of sea ice the size of Texas." 22nd August 2008 Methane Discharges In The Arctic Pose Threat To Earth's Climate - Bernama VLADIVOSTOK, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Methane discharges in the permafrost break-up process in the Arctic pose a threat to the entire terrestrial climate, Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported. 21st August 2008 Tibetan meadows emit methane - Nature Field survey confirms that plants can boost levels of the greenhouse gas. 21st August 2008 Global warming pushes Peru to pick coffee earlier - Reuters Global warming pushes Peru to pick coffee earlierReuters. ... a migrant worker who picks coffee on the steamy, lush, green farms near La Merced in central Peru, might not understand the mechanics of climate change, ... 21st August 2008 Birds can't keep up with climate change: study - TODAYonline A bird flies over the sea after sunset. The habitats of wild bird species are shifting in response to global warming, but not fast enough to keep pace with rising temperatures, according to a study released Wednesday. 20th August 2008 Warming Climate Threatens Alaska's Vast Forests - Planet Ark KENAI NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Alaska - Here in a 13,700-year-old peat bog, ecologist Ed Berg reaches into the moss and pulls out more evidence of the drastic changes afoot due to the Earth's warming climate. Altogether more than 3 million acres (1.21 million hectares) of spruce have been killed in south-central Alaska since 1992, the biggest recorded outbreak in North American history. 20th August 2008 Algae could explain dead whales, seals in St. Lawrence - National Post As blue-green algae continues to plague Quebec's lakes, a 500 square kilometre swath of red algae in the St. Lawrence Seaway appears to be causing the deaths of marine animals, including the threatened beluga whale. The "red tide" moved with the current east from Riviere-du-Loup and Tadoussac toward Rimouski, leaving in its wake the carcasses of seven harbour porpoises, nine beluga whales, 35 seals and thousands of seabirds like gulls, loons, ducks and cormorants, said Pierre Beland, a doctor and spokesman for the St. Lawrence National Institute of Ecotoxicology. While patches of red algae are not abnormal in the St. Lawrence Seaway, the severity of the blooms this year could be the result of global warming, Mr. Beland said. "It's not a direct result of human activity, but if climate change is causing more rainfall and higher temperatures, we can expect to see more of these kinds of outbreaks in the future." 20th August 2008 US environmentalists claim global warming threatens small mammal - Guardian Unlimited Lawsuit claims the American pika should be protected by the US Endangered Species Act 20th August 2008 Spain sweats amid 'water wars' - BBC News A severe drought makes Spain's environmental debate more heated than ever, Sue Lloyd-Roberts reports. 19th August 2008 Flooding Hits Ireland After Record August Rainfall - Planet Ark DUBLIN - Ireland faced further flooding on Monday after a second successive weekend of torrential summer rain drove people from their homes, blocked road and rail links and threatened to destroy farmers' crops. 19th August 2008 Drier, warmer springs in US Southwest stem from human-caused changes in winds Human-driven changes in the westerly winds are bringing hotter and drier springs to the American Southwest, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. 19th August 2008 Increased Rainfall Affecting Bees - CCND UK: Torrential summer rains in SW England have destroyed flowers, forcing bees to consume their vital winter food supplies. 19th August 2008 Drought spreads to cities - Adelaide Now THE drought still holds almost two-thirds of NSW in its grip, with hardworking families now feeling the pinch at the supermarket checkout, NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald says. 17th August 2008 Canada seeks historic shipwrecks - BBC A Canadian team is to search for two ships lost in an 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Retreating Arctic ice has made the Northwest Passage much more accessible and Canada is also using the search as a way of asserting its sovereignty over the region. 17th August 2008 Climate 'altering UK bird habits' - BBC News Climate change is altering the egg-laying of many UK birds, and numbers visiting the country's shores, a report concludes. 15th August 2008 Climate Change Is Already Affecting the West's Water - AlterNet By 2020 Glacier National Park will be "Puddles National Park" and the rest of the west won't be much better off. So where's the concern? See also: West bracing for day the wells run dry - The National 15th August 2008 Bats face dark times ahead - BBC News Europe's bat species are facing threats to their survival from climate change and wind farms, says an expert. 15th August 2008 Human activity, El Nino warming W. Antarctic-study - Reuters India Human activity and the El Nino weather pattern over the last century have warmed West Antarctica, part of the world's coldest continent, according to a study based on four years of collecting ice core data. The West Antarctic warmed in response to higher temperatures in the tropical Pacific, which itself has been warming due to weather patterns like a major El Nino event from 1939 to 1942 and greenhouse emissions from cars and factories, according to the study. 13th August 2008 Ice bet - Gristmill The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported Monday that in the first 10 days of August, Arctic sea ice extent declined one million kilometers. Sea ice is now disappearing on a daily basis nearly 50 percent faster than it typically does this time of year. So the race is on again to see whether 2008 can repeat -- or beat -- the record set only last year. The NSIDC explains exactly what is going on in the Arctic this summer:Ice extent has begun to decline sharply. The decline rate surged to -113,000 square kilometers per day on August 7 and as of August 10 was -103,000 square kilometers per day. 13th August 2008 Australian drought hits vineyards - BBC News Winemakers in Australia predict a fall in the grape harvest as the worst drought in a century worsens. 13th August 2008 North Pole could lose summer ice - PhysOrg While the summer of 2007 saw record low sea-ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean, a six-year study of the Arctic's sea ice has confirmed its ongoing, massive shrinking and drastic thinning. 12th August 2008 Climate change caused widespread tree death in California mountain range - PhysOrg Warmer temperatures and longer dry spells have killed thousands of trees and shrubs in a Southern California mountain range, pushing the plants' habitat an average of 213 feet up the mountain over the past 30 years, a UC Irvine study has determined. 12th August 2008 Thousands rally to mark 'death' of Australian river - PhysOrg Thousands of people rallied in southern Australia Sunday to protest the dwindling water levels in one of the country's greatest rivers, claiming the loss was causing an environmental disaster. 12th August 2008 Warming Effects Already Starting To Snowball - Hartford Courant The impacts of global climate change are upon us. There is little time to mitigate our growing emissions of greenhouse gases. There is even less to adapt to the staggering disruptions already permeating our natural world. 11th August 2008 From the Arctic to the Office: Seeing the "Urgent Truth" of Global Warming - Daily Green A Dispatch from the "Students on Ice" Expedition 10th August 2008 Scientists dig into Alaska tundra's effect on warming - Anchorage Daily News TOOLIK LAKE -- Ground here that for tens of thousands of years was frozen solid is terra firma no more. 10th August 2008 Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up - Guardian Unlimited Environment, science technology: Scientists warn that the North Pole could be free of ice in just five years' time instead of 60 10th August 2008 Global warming boosts garden pest - Channel 4 Milder winters caused by climate change are providing a boost to plant-damaging aphids, scientists have warned. Researchers revealed the familiar garden pest was flying earlier and in larger numbers because of warm conditions in winter and spring. 10th August 2008 Hope dries with water in Murray's lower lake - The Australian With publicly controlled water reserves in the Murray-Darling plunging to a new low, the despondency of communities on the dying lower lakes deepened yesterday as river managers warned there was no chance of transferring water within the basin. See also: Australia's Biggest River to Become a Lake - MWC News 9th August 2008 Scientists Flee Landlocked Polar Bear at Arctic Camp - LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News Five scientists had to evacuate a remote research camp in northern Alaska last week to escape a new threat: a polar bear stuck on the land because of the warmer global climate. 9th August 2008 Climate Change in Action in Greenland - Time Magazine Global warming is a slow, almost imperceptible process. On a tour of Greenland's glaciers, a TIME reporter sees it happening 6th August 2008 Indonesia reports more than 500 fire hot spots in Sumatra - AlertNet More than 500 hot spots have been spotted across Indonesia's Sumatra island, signalling the annual dry-season forest fires and the haze it sometimes carries, a Forestry Ministry official said on Monday. Forestry ministry official fear the number of hot spots could exceed last year's record as the current dry season will be marked by less rain than usual, Sonny Partono, the director of forest fire control, told Reuters. 5th August 2008 Indian Ocean Tuna Catch Drops, Experts Differ on Why - Planet Ark VICTORIA, the Seychelles - Tuna catches across the Indian Ocean have fallen sharply in the last two years but experts are split over what is threatening the region's US$6 billion industry. 5th August 2008 Porpoise Deaths Unexplained Off California Waters - Planet Ark SAN FRANCISCO - A wave of porpoise deaths in Northern California has puzzled scientists and more of the dead mammals may wash ashore onto beaches in August, animal researchers said on Sunday. 5th August 2008 Denver reels under record heat - BBC News A number of states across south east USA have been reeling under intense heat, which has broken a number of records. 4th August 2008 Global warming shows itself as trees die out, flowers, glaciers fade - Modesto Bee But while some flowers are suffering, other vegetation is expanding, including desert dwelling sagebrush and Russian thistle, a noxious, heat-loving weed. 4th August 2008 Climate of fear as ice vanishes - Sydney Morning Herald Scientists warn that the Arctic could be ice free as early as 2013. "The Arctic really can feed back into the global climate system," said Dr Macdonald, who has worked with the UN's peak scientific body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "You know what happens when you get feedbacks - you get surprises and we don't like surprises." 4th August 2008 Arctic ice continues to thin - New Scientist Christian Haas of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, and his team estimated the thickness of late summer ice at the North Pole in 2001, 2004 and 2007. They found that the ice was on average 1.3 metres thick at the end of the summer in 2007. By contrast, its depth was 2.3 metres in 2001 and 2.6 metres in 2004. Study links melting ice to increased carbon pollution - Vancouver Sun 3rd August 2008 Best of Times, Worst of Times: Tony Kirkham - Times Online Tony Kirkham, 50, has worked at Kew Gardens for 30 years, and has been head of the arboretum since 2001. He describes the anguish he feels witnessing the dramatic effects of climate change, which is eradicating native British trees 3rd August 2008 Flames engulf woodlands in Turkey's tourist region - Guardian Unlimited Firefighters battle to control major forest fire that has devastated 10,000 acres of woodland in Antalya 3rd August 2008 Arctic tourists evacuated because of global warming - The Province Arctic tourists evacuated because of global warmingThe Province, Canada. Geologists and ice experts will assess what appear to be the latest dramatic effects of climate change in Canada's Arctic. 2nd August 2008 More acidic ocean could spell trouble for marine life's earliest stages Increasingly acidic conditions in the ocean brought on as a direct result of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere could spell trouble for the earliest stages of marine life, according to a new report in the August 5th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. Levels of acidification predicted by the year 2100 could slash the fertilization success of sea urchins by an estimated 25 percent, the study shows. 1st August 2008 Arctic ice continues to thin - New Scientist The North Pole could soon be ice-free during summer, as studies show that the ice cover at the end of last summer was at its thinnest ever 31st July 2008 Birds fly north in climate change vanguard: study - stv.tv Birds have been moving north in Europe over the past 25 years because of climate change in the vanguard of likely huge shifts in the ranges of plants and animals, scientists said on Wednesday. 31st July 2008 Huge chunk snaps off storied Arctic ice shelf - Globe and Mail A four-square-kilometre chunk has broken off Ward Hunt Ice Shelf - the largest remaining ice shelf in the Arctic - threatening the future of the giant frozen mass that northern explorers have used for years as the starting point for their treks. Scientists say the break, the largest on record since 2005, is the latest indication that climate change is forcing the drastic reshaping of the Arctic coastline, where 9,000 square kilometres of ice have been whittled down to less than 1,000 over the past century, and are only showing signs of decreasing further. 30th July 2008 The Last Continent: One hot doc - National Post Although The Last Continent opens with shots of stark, almost lunar beauty, the film also chronicles the effects of one of the region's mildest winters on the crew. Warm temperatures threatened to ruin their food supplies, which they had planned to bury in the ice. Worse, floating ice around the ship prevented most of their mainland expeditions, since boats couldn't navigate the berg-filled waters but sleds were useless without pack ice. 30th July 2008 Forest Service burns through its budgets - SitNews The Forest Service has struggled for years to pay for fighting fires that last year alone scorched almost 10 million acres, mainly in the West. As fire seasons grow longer and the blazes more intense in forests stressed by global warming, the agency's funding woes mount. The Forest Service has already spent roughly $900 million this year, almost 75 percent of its fire-suppression budget, and the season is just nearing its peak. 30th July 2008 Valuable Seagrasses Face Global Warming Threat - Planet Ark GENEVA - Seagrass meadows, which are vital for the survival of much marine life and a source of household materials in Europe and Africa, face a mounting threat from global warming, a report said on Friday. 29th July 2008 Scientists worry as once frozen tundra thaws in Alaska - McClatchy Washington Bureau TOOLIK LAKE, Alaska — Ground here that for tens of thousands of years was frozen solid is terra firma no more. Across the tundra and coast of the Arctic Ocean, land is caving in. Soils loosed by freshly thawed earth set off a new era of rot, and of bloom — dumping a bonanza of nutrients into a top-of-the-world environment that swirls from months of midnight sun to deep-freeze dark. 29th July 2008 As Ocean Warms, Coral Loses Anchor in Acidic Waters - Scientific American Coral reefs can't find a strong purchase in the eastern tropical Pacific thanks to more acidic waters--a potential precursor of what the ocean will be like under global warming 29th July 2008 Orkney seabirds may be victims of Global warming - stv.tv For almost 60 years, scientists have been visiting the uninhabited island of Eynhallow in Orkney to study a seabird called the Fulmar. Their long running research is showing that the birds may well be the victims of climate change. 29th July 2008 'Serious concern' over seabirds - BBC The poor breeding of Scotland's seabirds is giving cause for "serious concern", according to RSPB Scotland. 13th July 2008 Russian ice camp in rapid shrink - BBC Twenty Russian scientists are to be taken off their ice camp in the Arctic because the melt has set in sooner than expected. 13th July 2008 Australia drought withers small towns - Los Angeles Times Life is hard for wheat and livestock farmers in the south, as they face a possible third year of nearly no rain. 13th July 2008 Coral reef deaths bring bleak outlook - The Age Food supplies will run short, tourism will be hit and coastal communities affected as the world's coral reefs gradually decline under climate change, scientists say. The reefs already were dying at an increasing rate because of global warming and acidification of the oceans, said researchers meeting this week at the International Coral Research Symposium (ICRS) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 10th July 2008 How will the Arctic sea ice cover develop this summer? - PhysOrg The ice cover in the Arctic Ocean at the end of summer 2008 will lie, with almost 100 per cent probability, below that of the year 2005 - the year with the second lowest sea ice extent ever measured. Chances of an equally low value as in the extreme conditions of the year 2007 lie around eight per cent. Climate scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association come to this conclusion in a recent model calculation. 10th July 2008 Salmon lesson - Gristmill Atlantic Salmon restoration efforts face grim realities. Stocks of wild salmon in the North Pacific are in trouble. That's news. What isn't news is that the spring has passed us by in Massachusetts again without returning more than a handful of wild Atlantic Salmon. The river closest to me, the Connecticut, saw just 132 salmon return. 10th July 2008 Corals Collapsing in More Acid Oceans - IPS FORT LAUDERDALE, U.S., Jul 8 (IPS) - Coral reefs need to be put on "life support" if they are to survive climate change, but their ultimate survival is dependant on major reductions in fossil fuel emissions, say experts. 9th July 2008 Acidifying Oceans Add Urgency To CO2 Cuts - PollutionOnline Besides loading the atmosphere with heat-trapping greenhouse gases, human emissions of carbon dioxide have also begun to alter the chemistry of the ocean-often called the cradle of life on Earth 8th July 2008 Ice dam to break prematurely on Argentine glacier A huge ice dam on Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier will break apart for the first time in the southern hemisphere winter, likely as a result of global warming, scientists and environmentalists said Monday. Watch Video 8th July 2008 Parasite migration signals climate change - PhysOrg A parasite that thrives on warm conditions has been discovered in Scotland for the first time, supporting theories of climate change. 8th July 2008 Gap Fire: A Sign of Global Warming? - Santa Barbara Independent Climatologists talk causes of California's wildfire onslaught. See also: In pictures: California fires - BBC 6th July 2008 Locusts compound 'drought horror' - News Interactive THE most drought-ravaged areas of NSW have received the cruel double blow of worsening conditions and a looming locust plague. 6th July 2008 Acidifying Oceans Add Urgency To Carbon Dioxide Cuts - Science Daily It's not just about climate change anymore. Besides loading the atmosphere with heat-trapping greenhouse gases, human emissions of carbon dioxide have also begun to alter the chemistry of the ocean. The ecological and economic consequences are difficult to predict but possibly calamitous, warn a team of chemical oceanographers in the July 4 issue of Science, and halting the changes already underway will likely require even steeper cuts in carbon emissions than those currently proposed to curb climate change. 4th July 2008 Deep trouble - Nature Global warming is forcing North Sea fish to head to greater depths. An increasing number of species are migrating in response to global warming; some alpine organisms are climbing to higher altitudes, others animals are moving towards the poles. A new study suggests that as sea temperatures rise, many fish may be electing to move into deeper, cooler waters, rather than moving to higher latitudes as many theorists had previously predicted. 3rd July 2008 After 200 million years, all-male future - Times Online The only survivors in the wild of an order of reptiles that scampered with dinosaurs could be wiped out because climate change will turn them all into males. 3rd July 2008 Penguins setting off sirens over health of world's oceans - PhysOrg Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, penguins are sounding the alarm for potentially catastrophic changes in the world's oceans, and the culprit isn't only climate change, says a University of Washington conservation biologist. 2nd July 2008 Global Warming's Twin Evil: Wildfires and Drought - Alternet The 850 fires burning in California alone, should be a wake up call that we're unprepared for rapid climate change. 1st July 2008 Jellyfish outbreaks a sign of nature out of sync, say - Mindanao Times PARIS (AFP) - The dramatic proliferation of jellyfish in oceans around the world, driven by overfishing and climate change, is a sure sign of ecosystems out of kilter, warn experts. 29th June 2008 Higher temperatures helped new strain of West Nile virus spread - EurekAlert! "The study shows that the warmer the temperature, the greater the advantage of the new strain. 27th June 2008 Lion die-offs in Africa linked to global warming - Mongabay.com Scientists have linked climate shifts in East Africa to die-offs in lion populations in 1994 and 2001. 27th June 2008 HEALTH-KENYA: Malaria Rises to Highland Areas - IPS NAIROBI, Jun 26 (IPS) - The end of June marks the start of the malaria season in East Africa. After the long rains, conditions in lowland swamps and coastal regions are more conducive for mosquito breeding. But in recent years malaria has also appeared in the highland areas where it was previously unheard of. 27th June 2008 Starving fish killing Great Barrier Reef - The New Zealand Herald BRISBANE - Starving fish are killing sections of the Great Barrier Reef already weakened by climate change, an Australian scientist says. And some fish species also face extinction - with potentially serious consequences for commercial fisheries. 23rd June 2008 Ice diary: Science in the fast-changing Arctic - BBC News Liz Kalaugher reports from the High Arctic as she travels aboard the Amundsen, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel. She has joined an expedition investigating the effects of climate change off Banks Island. 23rd June 2008 North Pole Ice May Melt This Summer, Scientists Say - National Geographic The North Pole now contains mostly thin, newly formed ice that is highly vulnerable to the summer heat, according to the latest data from the Arctic. 21st June 2008 Birds migrate earlier, but some may be left behind as the climate warms rapidly - PhysOrg Many birds are arriving earlier each spring as temperatures warm along the East Coast of the United States. However, the farther those birds journey, the less likely they are to keep pace with the rapidly changing climate. 21st June 2008 The Real Story Behind the Midwest Floods? Climate Change Scientists acknowledge an uncomfortable fact long ignored by the media: global warming is the real cause of extreme weather like the Midwest floods. See also: Food prices soar in wake of mid-western US floods - Guardian Unlimited 20th June 2008 Arctic sea ice melt 'even faster' - BBC News After a cold winter, Arctic sea ice has melted quickly, suggesting that summers could be ice-free within five to 10 years. 19th June 2008 Earthquakes Became Five Times More Energetic - Earthtimes Increase in the annual energy of earthquakes is the strongest symptom yet of planetary overheating. "Unless the problem of global warming (the problem of persistent thermal imbalance of Earth) is addressed urgently and comprehensively -- the rapid increase in global seismic, volcanic and tectonic activity is certain. Consequences of inaction can only be catastrophic. There is no time for half-measures." 19th June 2008 Ocean temperatures and sea level increases 50 percent higher than previously estimated - PhysOrg New research suggests that ocean temperature and associated sea level increases between 1961 and 2003 were 50 percent larger than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. 19th June 2008 As Sea Turtles Disappear, Scientists Ponder Climate Change - New America Media A dramatic drop in the nesting population of sea turtles in the Yucatán could be the latest evidence of the domino effect of climate change. The Yucatan Peninsula, home to the largest hawksbill nesting population in the Atlantic, is witnessing a dramatic drop in the nesting population of the hawksbill sea turtle, one of the rarest marine turtles in the world. For more than a month now hundreds of female hawksbill turtles have been arriving to lay their eggs in thousands of nests around the thumb-shaped peninsula. But for unknown reasons, only about one-third of the nests will be laid by the endangered sea creature this year compared to the numbers a decade ago. Almost two decades of conservation efforts - which began in earnest in 1989 after Hurricane Gilbert, the strongest hurricane on record in the area - are now confronting a series of puzzling challenges that suggest the emergence of global warming as a principal factor in declining sea turtle populations. 19th June 2008 Australian rivers 'face disaster' - BBC News Parts of Australia's Murray-Darling river basin will be beyond recovery unless they receive water soon, scientists warn. 19th June 2008 Conflicts fuelled by climate change causing new refugee crisis, warns UN - Guardian Unlimited 'Unprecedented' number of people displaced by conflict and persecution as figure rises by 3m to 37.4m 17th June 2008 INTERVIEW-Disaster-prone deltas next climate risk-ecologist - AlertNet Some of the world's most productive and populous places -- river deltas from the Mekong to the Mississippi -- are ripe for disasters made worse by climate change, an ecological catastrophe expert said. In fact, said marine biologist Deborah Brosnan, these disasters are already occurring. 16th June 2008 Climate change 'to affect coral fish' - The Age Australia: Scientists say coral fish could suffer from climate change just as much as the reefs they live in. Over 400,000 species of fish live in or around coral reefs and the lives of many of them depended on the health of corals, said Dr Philip Munday from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, based at James Cook University in Townsville. "We have already seen episodes of mass die-off of corals as a result of warmer waters associated with global warming," Dr Munday said. 16th June 2008 63pc of NSW drought declared - ABC via Yahoo!7 News More than 60 per cent of New South Wales is now in drought, an increase of more than 14 per cent on last month's official figures. 16th June 2008 Even the Antarctic winter cannot protect Wilkins Ice Shelf - PhysOrg Wilkins Ice Shelf has experienced further break-up with an area of about 160 km² breaking off from 30 May to 31 May 2008. ESA's Envisat satellite captured the event - the first ever-documented episode to occur in winter. 14th June 2008 Seventh warmest spring on record globally - USA Today Planet Earth continues to simmer, with this year's spring the seventh warmest on record. 14th June 2008 Arctic thaw threatens Siberian permafrost - The Independent The permafrost belt stretching across Siberia to Alaska and Canada could start melting three times faster than expected because of the speed at which Arctic Sea ice is disappearing. 14th June 2008 Infested fish may bear scars of global warming A new scourge ... - Los Angeles Times The emergence of disease in Alaska's most prized salmon has come as a shock to fishermen and fisheries managers. Alaskan wild salmon has been an uncommon success story among over-exploited fisheries, with healthy runs and robust catches that fetch ever higher prices at fish markets and high-end restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo and London. Fishermen and regulators who have cooperated to save species from overfishing and local environmental hazards have been caught unprepared to deal with forces beyond their control: how to manage a fishery for climate change. 14th June 2008 Atlas shows vanishing landscape - BBC News A new atlas shows Africa's changing landscape over 30 years including disappearing glaciers and lakes. 11th June 2008 May 'warmest since records began' - BBC News Last month was the warmest May in Scotland since records began in 1914, according to Met Office data. 11th June 2008 Putting sea life to the acid test - Flinders News Putting sea life to the acid testFlinders News, Australia. What happens to all this marine life when rising acid levels combine with the rising sea temperatures caused by global warming? ... 7th June 2008 Dry future well ahead of schedule - The Australian Autumn rains have failed for many farmers and southern rivers are faring even more poorly 7th June 2008 'Big Dry' cranks out C02 - Stuff New Zealand: Greenhouse gas emissions are soaring as coal and gas-fired generators run flat out, day and night, to compensate for fast-emptying hydro storage lakes. 7th June 2008 US on Track to Break Tornado Records This Year - NewsHour "This has nothing to do with global warming. It's just variability in the weather" 7th June 2008 Drought declared in California - CNN.com SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought after two years of below-average rainfall, low snow-melt runoff and a court-ordered restriction on water transfers. 6th June 2008 Kiribati leader warns that it may already be too late - NZPA via Yahoo!Xtra News Kiribati president Anote Tong says his country may already be doomed by global warming. See also: Paradise lost: climate change forces South Sea islanders to seek sanctuary abroad 6th June 2008 Decline at biggest UK puffin site - BBC Puffin numbers at the UK's biggest single colony are declining, scientists report, amid signs of dwindling food. 4th June 2008 Desert is claiming southeast Spain - International Herald Tribune Southern Spain has long been plagued by cyclical drought, but the current crisis reflects a permanent climate change brought on by global warming and it is a harbinger of a new kind of conflict, climate scientists say. 3rd June 2008 China has warmest spring in 57 years - UPI BEIJING, May 31 (UPI) -- China is experiencing the warmest spring temperatures the country has felt in 57 years, weather experts say. 1st June 2008 The Race for Survival - Newsweek Enlisting endangered species in the fight against global warming is either a brilliant tactical maneuver? or an arrogant abuse of the law. 1st June 2008 Federal scientists probe decline of BC salmon runs - CBC.ca The scientists are testing the theory that a one-degree increase in water temperature has effectively reduced the food supply for the salmon that arrive later in the season, such as chinook and coho. 29th May 2008 Antarctic Mega-Iceberg Suffocates Seals - Discovery Channel Scientists follow the trail of a rogue Antarctic iceberg and its effects on wildlife. 28th May 2008 Wasps on the rise in Alaska as climate warms - Times Online Wasps Wasps used to be an uncommon sight in Fairbanks until two years ago. Then huge numbers of them swarmed on the city, ten times more than normal. The number of stings grew so bad that outdoor school events were cancelled, 178 patients were treated in hospital for stings and two people died. A study now reveals that wasp stings across northern Alaska have increased sevenfold over the past few years. And they are also occurring farther north than ever before. In 1994 a wasp was found inside the Arctic Circle of Canada, causing huge excitement among the local Inuit community, who had never seen one before and had no word for wasp. So bizarre was the sight that the local radio station had to broadcast warnings not to touch it. 27th May 2008 Warm winds comfort climate change models: study - PhysOrg Climate change models predicting a dangerous warming of the world's atmosphere got a confirming boost Sunday from a study showing parallel trends at altitudes nearly twice as high as Mount Everest. 26th May 2008 Indian Ocean behind autumn rain decline in Australia - Australian News A new study has determined that there has been a decline in autumn rain in south-eastern Australia, a major reason of which is changing weather systems originating from the subtropical Indian Ocean. The study, carried out by Dr Wenju Cai and Tim Cowan from CSIRO, determines that since 1950, Victoria has suffered a 40 per cent decline in autumn rainfall (March to May) compared to the average recorded between 1961-90. The identified causes show imprints of climate change influences, in part through a reduction in the number of La Nina events, and in part through changing weather systems originating from the subtropical Indian Ocean that are conducive to late autumn rainfall across Victoria. 25th May 2008 Pacific coast turning more acidic - PhysOrg An international team of scientists surveying the waters of the continental shelf off the West Coast of North America has discovered for the first time high levels of acidified ocean water within 20 miles of the shoreline, raising concern for marine ecosystems from Canada to Mexico. Researchers aboard the Wecoma, an Oregon State University research vessel, also discovered that this corrosive, acidified water that is being ? upwelled? seasonally from the deeper ocean is probably 50 years old, suggesting that future ocean acidification levels will increase since atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have increased rapidly over the past half century. 23rd May 2008 Alps hit by two-decade decline in snowfall - PhysOrg A forthcoming study has added to worries that the Alpine ski industry will be badly affected by global warming, the British weekly New Scientist reports on Wednesday. 22nd May 2008 Drowning Villages Threaten Ghana's History and Tourist Trade - Bloomberg Along the Gulf of Guinea in northwest Africa, residents blame climate change for accelerating the destruction of homes and beaches. Lawmakers and scientists say a network of sea walls is necessary to stem the destruction and save Ghana's nascent tourism industry. 22nd May 2008 Climate 'accelerating bird loss' - BBC News Climate change is "significantly amplifying" the threats facing the world's bird species, a key study concludes. 20th May 2008 Are We Ready for Water Shortages in Western States? - AlterNet Are We Ready for Water Shortages in Western States?AlterNet, CA. Global warming is already affecting water in western states. The EPA has some proposals on what to do, but will they be enough? 20th May 2008 Sinking without trace: Australia's climate change victims - The Independent Like Kiribati and Tuvalu, the islands of the Torres Strait are slowly being submerged. But unlike their Pacific neighbours, the plight of their inhabitants is being overlooked. 6th May 2008 Russian scientist discovers gassy permafrost - Contra Costa Times Sergei Zimov waded through knee-deep snow to reach a frozen lake where so much methane belches out of the melting permafrost that it spews out from the ice like small geysers. In the frigid twilight, the Russian scientist struck a match to make a jet of the greenhouse gas visible. The sudden plume of fire threw him backward. Zimov stood up, brushed the snow off his parka and beamed. "Sometimes a big explosion happens, because the gas comes out like a bomb," Zimov said. "There are a million lakes like this in northern Siberia." 6th May 2008 Australia needs years of heavy rainfall to crack drought: experts - AFP via Yahoo! News Australia will need several years of heavy rainfall to reverse the devastating effects of a drought that has battered farm production, the Bureau of Meteorology said in a report received Monday. 6th May 2008 Alberta Puts C$55 Million Into Pine Beetle Fight - Planet Ark VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Alberta will spend C$55 million ($54 million) this year to stem the spread of pine beetles, which have ravaged forests in neighbouring British Columbia, the Alberta government said Monday. 6th May 2008 Medieval church re-emerges as Spain experiences a drought - Times of Malta Visitors walk amid the remains of the flooded village Sant Roma as it emerges from the low waters of the Sau reservoir, north of Vic near Barcelona. 18th May 2008 Bird migration at mercy of weather patterns - New Scientist Severe weather conditions as a result of climate change could make it impossible for migratory birds to complete their long-distance flights 17th May 2008 The Ashy Storm-petrel Advances Toward Endangered Species Act Protection - E-Wire ? The ashy storm-petrel is a barometer of the health of California? s coastal waters,? said Dr. Shaye Wolf, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity who has studied the ashy storm-petrel as well as the effects of ocean climate change on California? s seabirds. ? The declines we? ve observed in its numbers and breeding success are indicative of troubling changes we? re seeing throughout the ocean off the West Coast.? 17th May 2008 Britain having warmest May since 1772 - UPI LONDON, May 13 (UPI) -- Raging wildfires and flash floods accompanied the warmest weather recorded in Britain for the first week of the month of May since 1772, weather records show. 14th May 2008 Drought forces Barcelona to ship in water - CNN.com BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Spain's worst drought in decades forced the city of Barcelona to begin shipping in drinking water Tuesday in an unprecedented effort to avoid water restrictions before the start of vacation season. 14th May 2008 Baltic sea ice cover hits an all-time low: meteorologists - PhysOrg The extent of ice covering the Baltic sea this winter reached an all-time low, since measurements began more than a century ago, Swedish meteorologists said. 4th May 2008 California drought fears mount - Contra Costa Times SACRAMENTO - Californians are being asked to water their lawns less, plant native shrubs and install more-efficient irrigation systems to stave off water shortages and mandatory rationing amid growing worries about a possible long-term drought. 3rd May 2008 Federal agency declares West Coast salmon fishery a disaster - PhysOrg (AP) -- Federal authorities have declared the West Coast ocean salmon fishery a failure, opening the way for Congress to appropriate economic disaster assistance for coastal communities in California, Oregon and Washington. 3rd May 2008 Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer - PhysOrg (AP) -- The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday. "The long-term prognosis is not very optimistic," atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University said at a briefing. 3rd May 2008 Murray-Darling woes linked to global warming: report - ABC via Yahoo!7 News A group of Australian researchers claim to have found further evidence that lower rainfall and reduced run-off in the south-east of the country are linked to global warming. See also: Australia Loses 10% of Farm Families During Drought, ABC Says - Bloomberg.com 3rd May 2008 Growing ocean dead zones leave fish gasping - New Scientist Ocean "deserts" containing too little oxygen for animals to breathe are expanding, possibly as a result of rising surface temperatures caused by global warming 2nd May 2008 World's largest lake warming rapidly - Reuters Siberia's Lake Baikal has warmed faster than global air temperatures over the past 60 years, which could put animals unique to the world's largest lake in jeopardy, U.S. and Russian scientists said. The lake has warmed 1.21 degrees Celsius (2.18 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1946 due to climate change, almost three times faster than global air temperatures, according to a paper by the scientists to be published next month in the journal "Global Change Biology." 1st May 2008 Big squid imperil fish, people - Times Colonist Canada, BC: Nightmarish packs of rapacious giant devil squid are hunting off the B.C. coast -- and as their numbers increase, scientists are worrying about an attack on fish stocks. Humboldt squid, called diablos rojos or red devils in Mexico, have been known to attack scuba divers and were once a rarity in B.C. waters. But a changing ocean environment has brought them northward, and they may now be permanently establishing themselves off the B.C. coast. 29th April 2008 Ward Hunt Ice Shelf destined to disappear - Toronto Star New cracks in the largest remaining Arctic ice shelf suggest another polar landmark seems destined to break up and disappear. Scientists discovered the extensive new cracks in the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf earlier this year and a patrol of Canadian Rangers got an up-close look at them last week. 12th April 2008 End of the sequoias? - Scripps News FRESNO, Calif. -- The 2,000-year-old giant sequoias east of Fresno, Calif., have survived warm spells lasting centuries, but in just 100 years, global warming could snuff them out -- along with many Sierra Nevada species. 12th April 2008 Drought brings 'staggering fire behaviour' - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Firefighting authorities say they have been staggered by changes to fire behaviour because of ongoing drought in South Australia. 12th April 2008 Warming trends rise in large ocean areas -study - AlertNet Warming trends in a third of the world's large ocean regions are two to four times greater than previously reported averages, increasing the risk to marine life and fisheries, a U.N.-backed environmental study said. 10th April 2008 East Lancashire pays the price of extreme weather - This Is Lancashire EXTREME weather caused by climate change is leaving local councils facing a multi-million pound bill. Council bosses say things are getting worse after an internal report warned the true cost of bad weather was "grossly underestimated". 10th April 2008 CLIMATE CHANGE: European Mountain Top Vanishes - IPS BERLIN, Apr 7 (IPS) - The peak of the Stubai Mountains in the Austrian Alps has vanished. It was around a couple of months back, but since then no one can say exactly when it disappeared. 8th April 2008 Global warming continues, regardless of La Nina weather pattern - TREND Information The long-term trend of global warming is continuing, despite the current La Nina weather phenomenon that is bringing relatively cooler temperatures to parts of the Equatorial Pacific region, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said yesterday. Worldwide temperatures this year are expected to be above the long-term average, even though La Nina is also likely to persist through to the middle of 2008, WMO said in a press statement issued in Geneva. 6th April 2008 Koalas in danger - Independent The future of the koala, perhaps Australia's best-loved animal, is under threat because greenhouse gas emissions are making eucalyptus leaves – their sole food source – inedible. Scientists warned yesterday that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were reducing nutrient levels in the leaves, and also boosting their toxic tannin content. 6th April 2008 Spanish region may ship water to relieve drought - Environmental News Network MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's northeast Catalonia region will need to import water by ship and train from May to ensure domestic supplies if the current drought persists, the regional government said in a report. The report, sent to Reuters on Friday, said rainfall in all but one of Catalonia's 15 river basins was below emergency levels for the year so far. 6th April 2008 Georgia lawmakers approve request to redraw borders, hoping to alleviate a drought - Boston Herald ATLANTA - Lawmakers in drought-parched Georgia voted Friday to ask mapmakers to redraw their state’s northern boundary in hopes of tapping the Tennessee River, in a vote that potentially escalates a conflict with their neighbor. 6th April 2008 US mulls Pacific salmon fishing ban - BBC News A collapse in Pacific salmon stocks is leading the US government to consider a fishing ban, the BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani reports. 4th April 2008 Canadian Researchers Warn Of New Arctic Worries - Planet Ark Melting ocean ice is apparently allowing larger storm surges to flood into the delta in Canada's far north, a change that could have an impact on energy development plans for the region, said Lance Lesack, who has been tracking environmental changes in the region for more than a decade. "With receding sea ice, suddenly we're seeing bigger storm surges moving into the delta from storms that really aren't any bigger than they have been historically," said Lesack, a geographer from Simon Fraser University near Vancouver. 4th April 2008 Harmful algae taking advantage of global warming - PhysOrg You know that green scum creeping across the surface of your local public water reservoir" Or maybe it`s choking out a favorite fishing spot or livestock watering hole. It`s probably cyanobacteria - blue-green algae - and, according to a paper in the April 4 issue of the journal Science, it relishes the weather extremes that accompany global warming. 4th April 2008 Severe Spanish drought sparks regional fights over water - Channel NewsAsia MADRID: The worst drought in decades in Spain is leading to regional disputes over scarce water resources with areas with more reserves resisting transfers to more parched zones. 4th April 2008 US West Warming Faster Than Rest Of World - Study - Planet Ark LOS ANGELES - The US West is heating up at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the world and is likely to face more drought conditions in many of its fast-growing cities, an environmental group said on Thursday. 31st March 2008 Thai temple fights off encroaching tide as world sea levels rise - Raw Story Thailand: Visanu Kengsamut, 26, has already moved three times in his life, while his mother -- the village chief -- has fled the crumbling coast and rebuilt her home eight times, and each time the village has paid for its own relocation. Khun Samut Chin now sits about one kilometre inland from the temple. "We know that the cause of this is the effects of global warming," says Visanu. 31st March 2008 Time runs out for islanders on global warming's front line - Guardian Unlimited Rising sea levels threaten to flood the Ganges delta, leading to an environmental disaster 30th March 2008 Austrian glaciers shrink the most in five years Austria's glaciers retreated more than 22 metres (24 yards) on average last year, in the biggest shrinking for five years, the country's Alpine Club said Saturday. 30th March 2008 The lesser-spotted butterfly - Independent The lesser-spotted butterflyIndependent, UK. With the losses greater in south-east England, Butterfly Conservation says that suggests the problem may be linked to climate change, because climate ... 29th March 2008 Climate change affecting trees, streams in the West - San Diego Union-Tribune SALT LAKE CITY – Around the same time the American West started heating up five years ago, Colorado started losing its lodgepole pine forests to a beetle infestation. 29th March 2008 Ice shelf collapse video 27th March 2008 Russian, Canadian Winter Days Much Milder - UK Study - Planet Ark OSLO - The coldest winter days in Russia and Canada have become up to 4 Celsius (7 Fahrenheit) milder since the 1950s in an extreme sign of climate change, the British Meteorological Office said on Wednesday. 27th March 2008 Australian industry dying on the vines - Toronto Star MELBOURNE–Australian grape growers reckon they are the canary in the coal mine of global warming, as a long drought forces winemakers to rethink the styles of wine they can produce and the regions they can grow in. 27th March 2008 Western Canadian Pine Beetle Infestation Spreads - Planet Ark VANCOUVER, British Columbia - About half of the marketable pine trees in West Coast Canadian province of British Columbia have been ravaged by a nearly decade-long beetle infestation, according to new government statistics. 27th March 2008 Ice shrinks in Arctic sea - International Herald Tribune Winter sea ice around a Norwegian Arctic island has thinned to less than one metre (3 feet) since the 1960s, according to a study on Tuesday of a region that may be more attractive to oil firms because of climate change. The Norwegian Polar Institute said ice around Hopen island southeast of the Svalbard archipelago had become more than 40 cms (16 inches) thinner in the past 40 years, in what it called the first long-term study of ice thickness in the Barents Sea. 26th March 2008 New Parasite Discovered; Infects Waterfowl, Other Species - PhysOrg.com The findings were just reported in the International Journal for Parasitology, and raise concerns not only about the new parasite but about others that may become more widespread, cause more health problems or possibly even move into new species as a result of global warming and climate change. 26th March 2008 Pine beetle infestation impacting salmon runs - Canada.com If the heat of climate change weren't enough of a danger to Pacific salmon, scientists are cataloging how the effects of the global-warming-aided mountain pine beetle infestation are adding to salmon's woes. Because the enormous pine forests are dead or dying, the tree boughs don't intercept snow and rain, or shade the forest floor to slow the spring snow-melt. The result is bigger snow packs, more rapid snow melts leading to flash flooding and higher peak stream flows that erode streams. Then rapid runoffs mean more summer droughts, combined with higher summer water temperatures, the report notes. 26th March 2008 Sea levels rising too fast for Thames Barrier - The Independent A fear that sea levels will rise far faster than predicted this century has led to a revision of the plan to protect London from a devastating flood caused by the sort of storm surge in the North Sea that resulted in the closure of the Thames Barrier yesterday. 23rd March 2008 Noah's Ark for salmon - Salt Lake Tribune As global warming bears down on our Western rivers and watersheds, it threatens one of the great symbols of Western abundance: wild salmon. With each passing year, their numbers have dropped precipitously. This decline is believed to be in part the result of warming temperatures in streams and rivers. 23rd March 2008 Bat 'die-off' raises alarms - Times Herald-Record US: Unprecedented "die-off" of thousands of cave-dwelling bats across the Northeast - climate change has kept bats flying during fall, winter and spring periods when insects are in short supply or almost nonexistent. 21st March 2008 Icy start, but 2008 may be in top 10 warmest years - Environmental News Network OSLO (Reuters) - After the coldest start to a year in more than a decade, spring will bring relief to the northern hemisphere from Thursday. Bucking the trend of global warming, the start of 2008 saw icy weather around the world from China to Greece. But despite its chilly start, 2008 is expected to end up among the top 10 warmest years since records began in the 1860s. 20th March 2008 Dams: Deep trouble - Independent Are vast dams around the world masking the full extent of sea-level rises? 20th March 2008 Israel suffers worst drought in decade - AP via Yahoo! News Israel is suffering its worst drought in a decade and will have to stop pumping from one of its main sources of drinking water, the Sea of Galilee, by the end of the summer, an official said Wednesday. 20th March 2008 How the blurring of the seasons is a harbinger of climate calamity - Independent Spring, which officially starts today, is starting to dissolve as a distinct season as climate change takes hold. See also: Spring keeps coming earlier for birds, bees, trees, and sneezes because of global warming - Seattle Times 20th March 2008 Arctic losing long-term ice cover - BBC News Despite colder conditions, the Arctic is losing a lot of its old, stable ice, according to satellite data. 19th March 2008 Faster climate change fears - Adelaidenow SOUTH Australians are being warned to brace for harsher and more regular heatwaves amid fears climate change may be occurring faster than forecast. Meteorologists and researchers say timeframes calculated by organisations such as the CSIRO for climate change impacts of higher temperatures, falling rainfall and rising sea levels are now conservative at best. And they warn the normal four seasons will blur as temperatures increase and summer stretches well into the autumn months. 16th March 2008 Global warming is taking a toll on streams - The Daily American Pennsylvania is predicted to lose 50 percent of its trout habitat in the coming decades. Other states such as North Carolina and Virginia could lose up to 90 percent of habitat. Even warmwater species are being impacted by climate alterations. The ongoing concern of the disappearance of and disease infested smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna River watershed is now being seen as result of heavy rains during the spring spawning season that have almost wiped out entire year classes of fish. Then followed by a long dry summer that escalates water temperature further stressing those fish that survive. 16th March 2008 INTERVIEW-Antarctic glacier melted more quickly last year - AlertNet A glacier used as a benchmark to measure global warming's impact on the Antarctic Peninsula melted more than usual in the past year, according to an Argentine glacier researcher. For more than 20 years, Pedro Skvarca has studied the Devil's Bay glacier on Vega Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, a part of Antarctica that is warming five times faster than the average in the rest of the world. 14th March 2008 "It's An Ill Wind" -- Well Not All That Ill! - DeSmogBlog Powerful winter storms sweeping across Europe have boosted wind power, oversupplying the wholesale market for electricity and driving down prices by some 12 percent since Friday. Even though road, rail and ship travel has been disrupted and insurers facing claims from damage brought by high winds, operators of wind turbines have been able to generate and sell more supply of the renewable energy into the power network. 14th March 2008 Sea Level Increase Is Kept Down by Reservoirs, Masking Ice Melt - Bloomberg.com March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Man-made reservoirs have cut sea- level gains by 30 millimeters (1.2 inches), masking the true extent of the contribution from melting ice, scientists said. 14th March 2008 Peru Bets On Desalination To Ensure Water Supplies - Planet Ark LIMA - Peru plans to start desalinating water from the Pacific Ocean to make up for declining supplies from fast-melting glaciers affected by climate change, President Alan Garcia said on Tuesday. 13th March 2008 Amazon's worst-ever drought in 2005 caused by global warming - People's Daily Brazil's drought in 2005, the worst-ever hitting the Amazon, was caused by global warming instead of the El Nino weather phenomenon as previously thought, the country's National Space Research Institute (INPE) announced Sunday. 11th March 2008 Global Warming Alliance warns accident risk due to aircraft design weakness - openPR ‘The maximum crosswind limits have only increased on Boeing aircraft by 7 knots since the beginning of the jet age,’ says Donald Burfitt-Dons, Chairman of the Global Warming Alliance and a former airline pilot. ‘The control systems are designed to cope with a 30 to 35 knot crosswind on landing. That is no longer sufficient’. He is urging an immediate review of safety standards to ensure future aircraft can handle the meteorological conditions of today. Ship engineers also need to look at rudder control limitations in order for vessels particularly high sided ones, to maintain directional control in the hurricane strength winds now being encountered often in straits with limited room to manoeuvre. 11th March 2008 Salmon fishing ban mulled in California as run suffers record plunge - The Sacramento Bee The decline occurred because the jet stream changed course in spring 2005, in turn disrupting ocean currents. The currents drive an upwelling of nutrient-rich waters, touching off a phytoplankton bloom that forms the base of the food chain. That bloom either failed to happen in some places or was delayed, leaving the menu empty when hungry young salmon went looking for food. Scientists have said the disrupted jet stream is consistent with changes likely to be caused by global warming. Salmon guide, J.D. Richey,may be one of Sacramento's first climate change victims. "A lot of people don't realize it's more than just a fish going away. We're losing a significant neighbor," Richey said. "I felt this last year there was something missing – almost at the soul level. I could just feel the salmon weren't anywhere, and it just bummed me out.". 11th March 2008 Seal cubs threatened by global warming, WWF warns Hundreds of newborn seal cubs risk dying of hunger and cold because global warming is making ice in the Arctic Circle melt too fast, the World Wide Fund for Nature in Germany warned Monday. 11th March 2008 Reef Fish Get Lost As Climate Changes - Planet Ark SYDNEY - Climate change might be causing reef fish to get lost, unable to return to breeding grounds from the open ocean, which could have profound implications for the survival of reef ecosystems, Australian scientists say. 11th March 2008 New Research Confirms Antarctic Thaw Fears - Spiegel Online New research confirms that ice sheets in West Antarctica are thinning at a far faster rate than in past millennia. Although scientists are divided as to the cause of the melt, many feel it is directly related to climate change. 8th March 2008 Expanding ‘Deserts,' by Land and Sea - New York Times Scientists have long projected that areas north and south of the tropics will grow drier in a warming world –- from the Middle East through the European Riviera to the American Southwest, from sub-Saharan Africa to parts of Australia. 7th March 2008 Global Warming Means Fewer Flowers in the Rockies - RedOrbit Spring in the Rockies begins when the snowpack melts. But with the advent of global climate change, the snow is gone sooner. Research conducted on the region’s wildflowers shows some plants are blooming less because of it. 6th March 2008 Northern Quebec town mulls relocation as global warming softens ground - CNews MONTREAL - Mudslides, buckled roads and sinking buildings are threatening the northern Quebec village of Salluit, leaving residents with the unwanted prospect of moving their town. 6th March 2008 Drought arrives early this year in the North - Bangkok Post Drought has arrived early this year and it may be a lengthy one as nine northern provinces are already bracing for water shortages. The dry spell has gripped Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Uttaradit, Nan, Phrae, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai and Tak, according to officials. 6th March 2008 Will global warming increase plant frost damage? Widespread damage to plants from a sudden freeze that occurred across the Eastern United States from 5 April to 9 April 2007 was made worse because it had been preceded by two weeks of unusual warmth, according to an analysis published in the March 2008 issue of BioScience. 4th March 2008 Scientists warn of new plague of jellyfish - Guardian Unlimited Scientists in Spain blame over-fishing and global warming for summer invasion of jellyfish 29th February 2008 Winter temperature in Finland hits record high - Xinhua The average temperature in the Finnish capital Helsinki in January was 0.6 degrees Celsius, which was 4.8 degrees higher than that of the period between 1971 and 2000, said the institute. 29th February 2008 Hottest arctic winter ever - Barents Observer This winter might become the mildest winter in Northern Norway ever registered. So far the average temperature in parts of the region has been up to eight degrees Celsius above the normal. 27th February 2008 Antarctic glaciers surge to ocean - BBC News UK scientists working in Antarctica have found some of the clearest evidence yet of instabilities in the ice of part of West Antarctica. 26th February 2008 Nature's in bloomin' chaos as global warming turns the seasons on their head - Daily Mail UK: Early spring brings with it a host of dangers to our flora and fauna. The balance of Nature is being upset and the knock-on effect may be devastating. Some species are able to adapt, while others may vanish, and their disappearance will have a significant effect on the rest of the ecosystem. 26th February 2008 Watching Peru's Oceans for Cholera Cues - NPR Warming oceans were behind Peru's cholera outbreaks in the 1990s, and global warming may cause future outbreaks. Some scientists in Peru are closely watching microscopic marine life, hoping to catch an outbreak before it begins. 26th February 2008 Drought hits more than 2 million in northern China - Houston Chronicle While parts of China have been rocked by record snowfalls this winter, a drought in northern China has left more than 2 million people without sufficient drinking water, a state news agency said. 26th February 2008 Europe's truffle harvests drying up amid drought that farmers blame on global warming - IHT France: Farmers say production is down by 50-75 percent this winter season and they blame global warming. 23rd February 2008 As South American Rivers Dry Up, Miners Tap Ocean - Planet Ark CERRO LINDO - Vast mines in Peru and Chile that supply the world with crucial metals have started to pump water from the Pacific Ocean high into the Andes Mountains because of chronic water shortages exacerbated by climate change. 23rd February 2008 Greenland's rising air temperatures drive ice loss at surface and beyond - PhysOrg A new NASA study confirms that the surface temperature of Greenland's massive ice sheet has been rising, stoked by warming air temperatures, and fueling loss of the island's ice at the surface and throughout the mass beneath. 21st February 2008 Spain suffering worst drought in over a decade - BBC News Spain faces water restrictions widely this summer as it suffers its worst drought in more than a decade. In one of the worst affected areas, Catalunya, the Barcelona government is hoping to pre-empt a summer crisis by importing water by tanker. 21st February 2008 Climate Change Has Major Impact On Oceans - Science Daily Climate change is rapidly transforming the world's oceans by increasing the temperature and acidity of seawater, and altering atmospheric and oceanic circulation, reported a panel of scientists at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston. 18th February 2008 Southern Ocean rise due to warming, not ice melts - AlertNet Rises in the sea level around Antarctica in the past decade are almost entirely due a warming ocean, not ice melting, an Australian scientist leading a major international research programme said. 18th February 2008 Birds choke to death on migrant fish - Guardian Unlimited Baffled scientists warn of a 'catastrophic' impact as snake pipefish flood into British waters 17th February 2008 World Wine Map Changing With Climate - Discovery Channel Climate change is threatening to redraw the world's wine-producing map, and the effects are already being seen in earlier harvests and coarser wines, experts told an international conference Friday. 16th February 2008 Pacific Northwest hypoxic events unprecedented - EurekAlert! CORVALLIS, Ore. – A review of all available ocean data records concludes that the low-oxygen events which have plagued the Pacific Northwest coast since 2002 are unprecedented in the five decades prior to that, and may well be linked to the stronger, persistent winds that are expected to occur with global warming. 15th February 2008 Mosquito invasion threatens a plague on Ulster - Belfast Telegraph Ulster has been invaded by mosquitoes - and the diseases they carry could pose a heightened risk to human health as climate change starts to bite. 14th February 2008 Growers face early start to Myzus pest migration - Farming UK UK: Potato, sugar beet and vegetable growers must be ready for an early attack of Myzus persicae again this year, predicts aphid expert Dr Richard Harrington of Rothamsted Research. And it is a trend that is set to continue with climate warming, he reported. Official forecasts will be issued at the end of February, but the mild conditions so far make early aphid movement look likely. 14th February 2008 Antarctica is Cold? Yeah, We Knew That - RealClimate Guest commentary from Spencer Weart, science historian Despite the recent announcement that the discharge from some Antarctic glaciers is accelerating, we often hear people remarking that parts of Antarctica are getting colder, and indeed the ice pack in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica has actually been getting bigger. Doesn't this contradict the calculations that greenhouse gases are warming the globe? Not at all, because a cold Antarctica is just what calculations predict… and have predicted for the past quarter century. It's not just that Antarctica is covered with a gazillion tons of ice, although that certainly helps keep it cold. 13th February 2008 King Penguins Declining Due to Global Warming - National Geographic Warming seas near Antarctica are making prey scarce for the large birds, which are forced to travel further distances to feed their chicks. 12th February 2008 Super-sized squid may be indicator of climate change - Eureka Times-Standard There's a new squid in town. Southern waters were once the domain of Humboldt squid, but over the course of decades the tentacular jumbos have been gradually ranging farther north. 11th February 2008 Climate change affects Ugandan coffee output - Independent Online The temperature is rising a little too quickly in Uganda - and coffee farmers are getting worried. Growers say that global warming is damaging production of coffee, Uganda's biggest export. Ask coffee farmer Emmanuel Kawesi, who has a "feeling" about the impending danger. "It's hotter now - this is not usual," 9th February 2008 Botanists see winter fading away in U.K. - PhysOrg Climate change is leading some British botanists to conclude that winter is disappearing as a distinct season in the United Kingdom. 9th February 2008 Hottest year on record for Shanghai in 2007: official media - PhysOrg Shanghai may have endured one of its coldest months ever in January but 2007 was the eastern Chinese city's hottest year on record, state press reported on Friday. 9th February 2008 UK 'set for early spring arrival' - BBC Researchers suggest spring is likely to arrive early in the UK. 5th February 2008 Lack of 'good ice' in winter stresses area's water levels - Toledo Blade Tthe Great Lakes, the region's greatest natural resource and the backbone of its economy, take a beating from these on-again, off-again winters. 5th February 2008 Andes glaciers gone in 20 years - Channel 4 News Scientists in Peru have issued a dire warning, claiming that glaciers high in the Andes will all but disappear within two decades. 4th February 2008 California salmon collapse roils West Coast fishing industry - San Francisco Chronicle Humboldt County fisherman Dave Bitts is bracing for another lean year after the sudden collapse of California's most important salmon run. Like many West Coast fisherman, Bitts depends on wild "king" salmon for up to two-thirds of his income. Now, he doesn't know how he's going to pay his bills. "We've never been in this situation before," said the 59-year-old Bitts. "It's my bread-and-butter, as it is for all my pals. And this year, it appears our bread-and-butter is not there." Federal fishery regulators said this past week that the number of chinook salmon returning to the Sacramento River and its tributaries last fall was astonishingly low. 4th February 2008 Ice cores show faster global warming - United Press International Ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica show that Earth warmed faster in the 20th century than at any other time in the past 22 millennia, researchers said. Climatologists from Bern University said their study also showed that concentrations of greenhouse gases are increasing at a faster rate, Swissinfo.com reported. For example, the concentration of carbon dioxide increased by 31 parts per million during one 1,600-year interval in the pre-industrial period -- its fastest growth before the industrial age -- and went up by the same amount in the past 20 years. 2nd February 2008 Greenhouse effect has 'significantly dried' the western United States - Nature.com Stop development in southwestern states, say researchers. Human activity is largely to blame for the worsening water shortages in the western United States over the past half-century, a new study shows. The analysis of climate trends that influence the availability of freshwater shows that humans are responsible for 60% of the observed changes. 1st February 2008 Peat bogs leaking CO2 emissions - Guardian Unlimited Science environment: Scientists drop heather on peat bogs to halt dangerous emitter of carbon dioxide 31st January 2008 Increased hurricane activity linked to sea surface warming - PhysOrg The link between changes in the temperature of the sea`s surface and increases in North Atlantic hurricane activity has been quantified for the first time. The research - carried out by scientists at UCL (University College London) and due to be published in Nature on January 31 - shows that a 0.5°C increase in sea surface temperature can be associated with a ~40 per cent increase in hurricane activity. 31st January 2008 warming exposes ancient vegetation - Canada.com Large tracts of land and ancient vegetation that has not seen the light of day in 1,600 years have been liberated from ice caps on Baffin Island, confirming the unprecedented scale of climate change underway in Canada's North. The "current warming exceeds any sustained warm episode in at least the past 1,600 years," reports a U.S. research team that is dating the landscape reappearing as the island's ice disappears. 31st January 2008 CU study: 'No-ice' alert in Arctic - Boulder Daily Camera "Even with no additional warming, our study indicates that these ice caps will be gone in 50 years or less. That hasn't certainly happened in 1,600 years." 30th January 2008 Calif. Salmon Population Declines - PhysOrg (AP) -- The number of chinook salmon returning to California's Central Valley has reached a near-record low, pointing to an "unprecedented collapse" that could lead to severe restrictions on West Coast salmon fishing this year, according to federal fishery regulators. 30th January 2008 China weather chaos a sign of things to come: experts - AFP via Yahoo! News Don't tell the thousands of Chinese stuck at railway stations or airports, but the chaos caused by a vicious cold spell afflicting much of China could be just a taste of things to come, experts say. 30th January 2008 2007 Was Tenth Warmest For U.S., Fifth Warmest Worldwide - Science Daily The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. in 2007 is officially the tenth warmest on record, according to data from scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The agency also determined the global surface temperature last year was the fifth warmest on record. 28th January 2008 Environment: Will Coffee Be a Casualty of Climate Change? - Alternet Coffee farmers in South America don't need to read the latest IPCC reports; they already know. 26th January 2008 Creepy-crawlies head to Europe thanks to globalisation, climate - PhysOrg Europe now has 1,517 alien species of insects, worms, mussels and other invertebrates, a tally that is growing steadily thanks to globalisation and climate change, French researchers said on Friday. 26th January 2008 Tuvalu struggles to hold back tide - BBC News The nine tiny South Pacific islands of Tuvalu only just break the surface of the ocean - but for how much longer? See also:The ebb and flow of sea level rise - BBC News 23rd January 2008 Red Cross says changing climate worsens disasters - Reuters Climate change is making it harder for many people to access clean water and food, and widening the spread of malaria and dengue fever, the world's largest humanitarian aid agency said on Monday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is asking donors for $292 million per year for 2008 and 2009 to help communities steel themselves for the threats of global warming. 22nd January 2008 Greenhouse gases at new peak in sign of Asia growth - Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News Atmospheric levels of the main greenhouse gas have set another new peak in a sign of the industrial rise of Asian economies led by China, a senior scientist said on Saturday. 20th January 2008 Peninsula flood creates 'islands' - BBC News Regular flooding turns parts of the Lleyn peninsula turn into islands say people living there. 20th January 2008 Ferry study of jellyfish 'threat' - BBC News Experts are organising spotters on ferries for signs of 'glow-in-the-dark' jellyfish heading for the coast. 19th January 2008 Sea adventure: Thoreson saw changes caused by warming - DesMoinesRegister.com Sea adventure: The sea-weary crew of six with Dave Thoreson of Okoboji was halfway into the 73-day trek on the edges of the Earth, trying to become the first American yacht to travel east to west through the Northwest Passage. Thoreson, surprised by the lack of Arctic ice, knew they had made it. 18th January 2008 Dry, polluted, plagued by rats: the crisis in China's greatest river - Guardian Unlimited Ships stranded as China's greatest river reaches 142-year low 18th January 2008 'Big climate impact' on UK coasts - BBC News Climate change is having a major impact on Britain's coasts, coastal seas and sea life, a report concludes.