a bevy of climate charge stories

[Guest guest]

Warming waters threaten seabirds and marine species of all sizes

 

The problem with cold-water phytoplankton is that they prefer cold

water. When climate change makes their home waters too warm for

comfort, the tiny plant organisms move north in search of cooler

climes. As the miniscule photosynthesizers migrate, all of the

little organisms that depend on them for food are out of luck, as are

the small fish that depend on those small critters, as are the

seabirds and other larger predators that eat the small fish -- well,

you get the picture. And scientists say the cause-and-effect story

is only getting grimmer. Audrey Schulman investigates the ripple

effect that may carry a tidal wave of consequences -- today on the

Grist Magazine website.

 

today in Grist: Seabirds suffer as climate change unravels North Sea

food web -- by Audrey Schulman

<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4121>

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drought is up, and climate change seems partly to blame, report says

 

The proportion of the planet's land area suffering from drought has

more than doubled since the 1970s, to about 30 percent, according to

a recent study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Researchers attribute about half of that change to rising

temperatures caused by global warming rather than to a lack of

precipitation. The drying has been widespread in Europe, Asia,

Canada, western and southern Africa, and eastern Australia, said

Aiguo Dai, the study's lead author. Climate models predict that

rising temperatures will lead to most of earth's land masses

experiencing more warm-season drying in coming decades. " Our

analyses suggest that this [greenhouse-related] drying may already

have begun, " said Dai.

 

straight to the source: New Scientist, 22 Jan 2005

<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4111>

 

straight to the source: Rocky Mountain News, Jim Erickson, 11 Jan 2005

<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4120>

 

 

 

 

Report warns of major climate catastrophe in as few as 10 years

 

A task force of leading politicians, academics, and business leaders

from around the world has quantified global warming's so-called

" point of no return. " And it's bloody soon! In as little as 10

years, says a report by the task force, the global average

temperature could rise 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit from its pre-industrial

level. At that point, the authors contend, the tipping point will

have been reached and major droughts, sea-level rise, and widespread

crop failures are all but certain. So far, global average

temperature has risen about 1.4 degrees since 1750, meaning we've

still got a couple of degrees before the threshold is reached. To

help beat the clock, the report calls on all G8 nations to produce a

quarter of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and

double their expenditures on low-carbon energy technologies by 2010.

" There is an ecological time bomb ticking away, " said British Member

of Parliament Stephen Byers, who co-chaired the task force with U.S.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

 

straight to the source: The Independent, Michael McCarthy, 24 Jan 2005

<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4114>

 

straight to the source: CNN.com, Associated Press, 24 Jan 2005

<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4119>

 

 

 

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