Are we in the first 'hyperthermal' for 40 million years?

Posted Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:57:00 GMT by Martin Leggett

Starting 50 million years ago, repeated spikes in temperature pushed life on earth to the brink. Now new research published in Nature has shown that these hyperthermals were more common at that time than originally thought. With these events being linked to massive outpourings of CO2, they may have much to teach us, as we head into the first hyperthermal in tens of millions of years.

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If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen; how global warming impacts Corn yields

Posted Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:30:00 GMT by Nicolette Smith

It's actually happening; after years of forewarnings Global Warming is now demonstrably affecting the way that we live and adversely impacting certain regions of the world. A recent study conducted by research scientists based at Stanford University, California was reported at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the results showed how increased temperatures have proved harmful to Corn crops in Africa.

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A worrying rate of ozone depletion is found above the Arctic

Posted Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:03:46 GMT by Nikki Bruce

New data illustrates the rapid rate of ozone loss above the Arctic. The ozone is destroyed when products from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are converted into aggressive substances, this happens when they come into contact with extremely cold conditions and there has long been a link between climate change and the loss of the ozone. Filed in environmental issues: ozone/climate change.

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Hottest hit hardest - Africa's maize vulnerable to warming climate

Posted Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:16:00 GMT by Martin Leggett

The impact of global warming on maize yields in the tropics has not been fully appreciated, according to new research in the inaugural issue of Nature Climate Change. Yields can fall by more than 20% for most areas, when subject to a drought plus a 1 degree C rise in temperature. But the new research also offers a potential avenue for fast-tracking such crop studies, in other climate-change prone areas. Filed in environmental issues: climate change.

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Communities warned to prepare for effects of climate change along the UK coastline

Posted Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:50:00 GMT by Nikki Bruce

A recent report had warned communities of the impending disruption that will be caused by rising sea levels and stormy conditions. The report, titled 'Impacts of Climate Change on Disadvantaged UK Costal Communitites' examines the current impact that the changing climate has already had on the coastline and predicts the effects that it will have by 2080. Filed in environmental issues: climate change.

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UN report backs green farming for the future

Posted Sat, 12 Mar 2011 13:57:01 GMT by Colin Ricketts

Large scale agricultural production is not the answer to food shortages and climate change says a UN report which backs smaller producers and green farming methods. Environmentalists everywhere will welcome the news that the United Nations is backing more ecological agriculture; not just for its green benefits but in order to produce an estimated doubling of yields in areas affected by food shortages. Filed in environmental issues: food/agriculture/climate.

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More ice leaving polar ice sheets than ever before

Posted Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:34:01 GMT by Louise Murray

A new NASA-funded satellite study of the polar ice sheets shows an alarming accelerating trend of ice loss from both Greenland and Antarctica. Combined with losses from mountain glaciers and ice caps this could result in a global sea level rise of 32cm as early as 2050. Filed in environmental issues: Sea Levels/Climate

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Projected California megastorm given added edge by climate change

Posted Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:00:00 GMT by Martin Leggett

Recurring mega-storms hit California every 200 years, and the impact of the next one could be huge, according to a USC economist. At $1 trillion in economic loss, a potential megastorm could easily exceed the damage from the projected San Andreas earthquake - and climate change is boosting their destructive potential.

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Of human frailty; how susceptible are we to the dangers of climate change?

Posted Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:33:00 GMT by Nicolette Smith

The comparative geographical long-term effects of global warming, and the issues of responsibility and accountability of those who are arguably the worst offenders. Climate change-related headlines always carry with them a terrible sense of impending doom, and the latest news is no more palatable than the rest. The latest developments highlight the fact that the populations least responsible for the problem of Global Warming are taking the most significant environmental hit.

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No hiding for cattle methane culprits

Posted Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:50:01 GMT by Martin Leggett

Tracking cattle methane directly has taken a step forwards, with new research using GPS and laser technology. With scientists able to point fingers at each methane emission in a herd, there is now potential for measuring the best ways to reduce such emissions. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and reducing releases from cattle is important for knocking back risks from climate change.

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Is The Great Green Wall The End Of The Line For Desertification?

Posted Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:46:00 GMT by Kieran Ball

Africa's Great Green Wall gets the go-ahead. The Great Green Wall is an initiative that has been planned for many years by a partnership of eleven African countries in a bid to prevent further desertification by the Sahara. The good news is the project has just got the go-ahead at an international summit in Germany at a review of the efforts of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

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Greening of the Arctic as trees march north

Posted Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:10:01 GMT by Colin Ricketts

As the earth warms through this century forests will move north into tundra regions while Greenland's ice cover will shrink. Forests will spread north into areas of previously bleak tundra and ice cover once thought to be permanent will retreat uncovering new tundra by the end of this century according to climate scientists from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and South Korea.

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Building from beneath - ice-sheets in Antarctica flip glaciologist's ideas on their head

Posted Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:40:01 GMT by Martin Leggett

The miles-thick ice-sheets of Antarctica continue to surprise scientists, as they attempt to prise out the secrets from deep within the southern hemisphere's giant ice locker. Now a survey of the completely ice-submerged Gamburtsev Mountains has glaciologists rethinking ideas of ice-sheet dynamics. The Antarctic ice-sheets form the largest body of freshwater on the planet, making up 60% of all water outside the oceans.

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New evidence confirms manifestation of ancient mega-drought

Posted Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:48:00 GMT by Nicolette Smith

Evidence of ancient mega-drought may help to predict future climatory developments. international Scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory are to be believed, our hunter-gatherer ancestors were experiencing something of an ecological disaster during this time - a large-scale environmental 'Mega-drought'- which left animal and human lifeforms fighting for survival in an unforgiving climate amidst an agriculturally-redundant landscape.

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Global Warming; the early warning signs

Posted Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:32:01 GMT by Nicolette Smith

If you thought Winter 2010 was cold, think again. Over 56,000,000 years ago, our world experienced Arctic conditions which even the warmest, hardiest of UGG boots wouldn’t have weathered, but after many years of glacial temperatures the Arctic experienced a sudden change. Global warming occurred in the Arctic many years before it became the go-to cause for modern-day environmental activists.

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Recent report finds 68% of New England and Mid-Atlantic beaches eroding

Posted Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:04:00 GMT by Nikki Bruce

A recent report has found that 68% of New England and Mid-Atlantic beaches are eroding. A report titled 'National Assessment of Shoreline Change: Historical Shoreline Change along the New England and Mid-Atlantic Coasts', the fifth report of its kind, has recently been issued by the U.S Geological Survey.

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