Clipmarks | JICWyllie's Environment collection

One in four mammals risks extinction

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:55:56 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

A quarter of the world's mammals are threatened with extinction,

nd the destruction of habitats and hunting are the major causes.

The report, the most comprehensive to date by 1,700 researchers, showed populations of half of all 5,487 species of mammals were in decline.

"Mammals are declining faster than we thought -

Of the 4,651 mammals for which scientists have data, 1,139 species were under threat of extinction. Schipper said the data was far broader than the previous review of mammals in 1996.

"Within our lifetime hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions,"

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Five percent of species were recovering because of conservation efforts,

The report focused on mammals but the situation for some other types of animals and plants is even worse, according to the IUCN,

An updated "Red List" said that 16,928 species, or 38 percent, were threatened out of a total of 44,838.

Tags: environment, i-extinction, i-increase, i-record, i-reported, i-forecast

Meltdown: A global warming travelogue

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:25:46 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

For a long time -- the first 15 years that we knew about global warming and did nothing -- there were no pictures. That was one of the reasons for inaction.

Climate change was still "theoretical," the word that people in power use to dismiss anything for which pictures do not exist. It is the reason we don't see shots of coffins coming back from Iraq; it's the reason the only prison abuse we really know about was at Abu Ghraib. Without pictures, no uproar; not in a visual age.

But now the pictures have started to come, and they will not cease.

Hear Braasch describe his photos in an audio slideshow »

Post card from the tipping point

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:23:33 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Did I just say, global mass action made possible by a change of attitude. Here is the attitude changer.

Clip Source: www.architectureweek.com

[Video]

Please take a moment to look at this great short animation

"Most striking is that, despite years of effort, carbon dioxide emissions are increasing at an alarming rate of 3.5% a year — faster than the 2.7% predicted by the IPCC in their worst case scenario, and miles ahead of the 0.9% annual rise in the 1990s. Worst still, current measures have been based on a middle-ground IPCC scenario. Pep Candell from the Global Carbon Budget told me that this was 'astonishing'."

The animation and the latest annual carbon report both highlight this essential truth: climate change is now everyone's problem.

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-extinction, i-increase, i-record, i-consequences

Met Office warns of need for drastic cuts in greenhouse gases from 2010

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:01:29 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: There is no time for hope, only global mass action over the next two years. A change of attitude from "If you don't do it, we won't do it" to "If we can't do it, you can too" is all that is necessary. Attitude drives behaviour.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The world will have to take drastic action within two years to reduce greenhouse gas pollution if it is to avoid the worst effects of climate change, a new study warns.

The study shows that cutting global emissions by 3% a year from 2010 offers the only possible hope of avoiding a global temperature rise of more than 2C - widely recognised as the threshold beyond which the worst impacts of sea level rise and drought become a significant risk.

The warning from the Hadley Centre is likely to cause widespread concern, especially as the Met Office has a reputation for taking a cautious approach.

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-risks

Global carbon emissions rising rapidly

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:37:31 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

The Global Carbon Project said in its report carbon dioxide emissions from mankind are growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the 1990s, despite efforts by a number of nations to rein in emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

India would soon overtake Russia to become the world's third largest CO2 emitter, it says.

"What we are talking about now for the first time is that the absolute value of all emissions going into the atmosphere every year are bigger coming from less developing countries than the developed world," said the project's Australia-based executive director Pep Canadell.

"The other thing we confirm is that China is indeed now the top emitter,"

He said CO2 concentrations could hit 450 ppm by 2030 instead of 2040 as currently predicted. They are just above 380 ppm at present.

The rapid rise in emissions meant the world could warm faster than previously predicted, said professor Barry Brook,

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-emissions, i-increase, i-record

Exclusive: The Methane Timebomb

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:17:51 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: In climate change terms, these releases are 'The Big One'. And it is happening, now.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.

In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age.

The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average temperatures over recent decades

Tags: environment, methane, i-climate change, i-risks, i-increase

Catastrophic fall in numbers reveals bird populations in crisis throughout the world

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:06:59 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

The birds of the world are in serious trouble, and common species are in now decline all over the globe, a comprehensive new review suggests today.

From the turtle doves of Europe to the vultures of India, from the bobwhite quails of the US to the yellow cardinals of Argentina, from the eagles of Africa to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean, the numbers of once-familiar birds are tumbling everywhere, according to the study from the conservation partnership BirdLife International.

Their falling populations are compelling evidence of a rapid deterioration in the global environment that is affecting all life on earth – including human life, BirdLife says in its report, State of The World's Birds.

The report

identifies many key global threats, including the intensification of industrial-scale agriculture and fishing, the spread of invasive species, logging, and the replacement of natural forest with monocultural plantations.

Tags: environment, birds, i-extinction, i-risks, i-record, i-crisis

August the cruellest month for bugs

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:32:26 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

The combined effect of low temperatures and rain has presented Britain's invertebrates with a double whammy. As insects are cold-blooded they need the warmth of the sun to raise their body temperatures in the morning and allow their muscles to work. A cool day means this cannot happen and they are unable to forage for food, such as nectar from flowers and plants, or other smaller insects as prey – and a succession of such days can be fatal.

Tags: environment, insects, i-extinction, i-risks, i-ncrease

A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:24:10 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Eating locally raised food is a growing trend. But who has time to get to the farmer’s market, let alone plant a garden?

That is where Trevor Paque comes in. For a fee, Mr. Paque, who lives in San Francisco, will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back porch when he leaves.

“The highest form of luxury is now growing it yourself or paying other people to grow it for you,” said Corby Kummer, the food columnist and book author. “This has become fashion.”

the shift toward it is being driven by the increasingly popular view that fast food is the enemy and that local food tastes better.

Last year, the New Oxford American Dictionary picked locavore as its word of the year.

For a growing number of diners, a food’s provenance is more important than its brand name,

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

“I can’t tell you how joyful it makes me to hear that it’s trendy for people in Manhattan to own a part of a cow.”

Barbara Kingsolver,

said,

Tags: environment, food, i-localisation, i-sustainability, i-trend

Index Research: On The Road To Extinction

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:49:20 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: indexresearch.blogspot.com

A history lecturer recently said that if one doesn’t believe in ‘global warming’ one is put in the same category as those who do not believe in the Nazi holocaust. This research of summer 2008 articles is not only about global warming but also about species that have become extinct or are an endangered species.

1. Planet Earth: General; Air pollution; Biofuels; Coral Reefs; Dead Zones; Depleted Uranium Contamination; “Democracy,” Food (corn, rice, wheat, famine); Lakes (extinct: Greenland Lake: endangered Baikal); Nuclear Holocaust; Oil (Peak Oil, U.S. exploitation, The Car); Polar Ice; Rainforest; Water; Wetlands

2. Towards Extinction: General; Amphibians (frogs); Bees; Birds; Deer; Elephant; Fish (salmon, shark, sturgeon, tuna) Flora and Fauna (Lichen, Orchid); Mammals (deer, (elephant, lynx, kangaroo, mustang, polar bear, seal, tiger, whale, wolf, wolverine); Mammoth rhino), Primates (Great Ape, Homo Sapiens, Lemur, Monkey, Orangutan); Reptiles (lizard, turtle, tortoise.

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-consequences, i-extinction

Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:25:08 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Le coup de grace, tabernaque. Meme moi, j'ai peur, colis.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Climate change could release unexpectedly huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic soils, which would in turn fuel a vicious circle of global warming, a new study warned

current models of climate change have not taken this extra source of greenhouse gas into account.

The study, published in the British journal Nature Geoscience, found that the stock of organic carbon "is considerably higher than previously thought" -- 60 percent more than the previously estimated.

This is roughly equivalent of one sixth of the entire carbon content in the atmosphere.

And that is just for North America.

And the danger of a thaw is real, note climate scientists.

the climate change models upon which future projections are based, do not include the potential impact of the gases trapped frozen Arctic soils.

"Releasing even a portion of this carbon into the atmosphere, in the form of methane or carbon dioxide, would have an significant impact on Earth's climate," he noted

Tags: environment, forest, taiga, water, i-climate change, i-melting, i-heating, i-consequences

Revealed: the massive scale of UK's water consumption

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:09:32 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Each Briton uses 4,645 litres a day when hidden factors are included

The scale of British water consumption and its impact around the world is revealed in a new report today, which warns of the hidden levels needed to produce food and clothing.

The UK has become the sixth largest net importer of water in the world,

Only 38% of the UK's total water use comes from its own resources; the rest depends on the water systems of other countries, some of which are already facing serious shortages.

Average household water use for washing and drinking in the UK is about 150 litres a person daily, but we consume about 30 times as much in "virtual water", used in the production of imported food and textiles;

People in poorer countries typically subsist on 1,000 litres of virtual water a day;

A meat and dairy-based diet consumes about 5,000 litres of virtual water a day while a vegetarian diet uses about 2,000 litres.

Tags: environment, fresh water, i-demand, i-increase, i-record, i-consequences

The oxygen crisis

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:53:06 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Compared to prehistoric times, the level of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere has declined by over a third and in polluted cities the decline may be more than 50%. This change in the makeup of the air we breathe has potentially serious implications for our health. Indeed, it could ultimately threaten the survival of human life on earth, according to Roddy Newman, who is drafting a new book, The Oxygen Crisis.

the planet's forest cover was at least twice what it is today, which means that forests are now emitting only half the amount of oxygen.

Desertification and deforestation are rapidly accelerating this long-term loss of oxygen sources.

The story at sea is much the same. Nasa reports that in the north Pacific ocean oxygen-producing phytoplankton concentrations are 30% lower today, compared to the 1980s. This is a huge drop in just three decades.

This oxygen starvation is reducing regional fish stocks and diminishing the food supplies of populations that are dependent on fishing.

Tags: environment, oxygen, i-climate change, i-decrease

Climate change: Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:49:16 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Like so many other things, the trend seems to be towards accelerating change in an unpleasant direction. It's almost like time is speeding up.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In policy areas such as flood protection, agriculture and coastal erosion Professor Bob Watson said the country should plan for the effects of a 4C global average rise on pre-industrial levels. The EU is committed to limiting emissions globally so that temperatures do not rise more than 2C.

"There's no choice here between adaptation and mitigation, we have to do both."

Other experts were concerned that Watson's comments might be seen as defeatist and an admission that emissions reductions were impossible to achieve.

"There is no science on how we are going to adapt to 4 degrees warming. It is actually pretty alarming,"

said Prof Neil Adger

Watson's plea to prepare for the worst was backed up by the government's former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King. He said that even with a comprehensive global deal to keep carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere at below 450 parts per million there is a 50% probability that temperatures would exceed 2C and a 20% probability they would exceed 3.5C

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-warming, i-increase, i-forecast, i-record

More Acidic Ocean Could Spell Trouble For Marine Life's Earliest Stages

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:09:06 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.terradaily.com

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,

Levels of acidification predicted by the year 2100 could slash the fertilization success of sea urchins by an estimated 25 percent, the study shows.

"If other marine species respond similarly-and there's no evidence yet that they don't-then we're in trouble," said Jon Havenhand of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

we observed a 25 percent reduction in fertilization success at reduced pH, which is equivalent to a 25 percent reduction in the spawning stock of the species. Apply equivalent changes to other commercially or ecologically important species, such as lobsters, crabs, abalone, clams, mussels, or even fish, and the consequences would be far-reaching. It could be enough to "tip" an ecosystem from one state to another."

Tags: environment, oceans, i-acidifaction, i-consequences, i-extinction, i-risks