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Story Archives of 'climate change'
Climate Change Refugees
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, November 5, 2009.From the coast of Australia to the shores of the Maldives public officials are looking out at the ocean with increasing alarm.
A report presented at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change predicts that sea level could rise as much as three feet by the year 2100. If these predictions come to pass, entire cities and even countries would be wiped out, turning citizens into refugees. Some researchers predict that 75 million Pacific Islanders will be forced to relocate by 2050.
Last week, an Australian parliamentary committee recommended a ban on coastal development. One official there said bans would be necessary if the government wanted to prevent, “a major loss of life” if erratic weather patterns and rising seas continue.
Joining us with more is geophysicist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Pollack. Pollack is the author of A World Without Ice which delves into what the rapid disappearance of ice would mean for millions on the planet.
(Drawing by Oxfam International via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Campaign Waged For Climate Change Legislation
By Amy Quinton on Thursday, October 8, 2009.Last week, US Senate Democrats introduced a climate change bill aimed at cutting the nation’s greenhouse gases. Whether the Senate will take up the legislation this year is still up in the air.
Several organizations in New Hampshire have been waging a campaign to push for congressional action. But with all the debate focused on health care, it’s been a challenge to capture the headlines.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.
Dust Storms May Help Mitigate Climate Change
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 8, 2009.
Citizens of Sydney, Australia described it like this: an immense orange wave charging in from the distance. Thick with dust... roiling... billowing up from the horizon. And then dust, choking dust, coating everything in a layer of orange soot.
Dust storms form all over the world, especially East Africa, China, the Middle East, and the American Southwest. Within the thick storm cloud are harmful particulates, bacteria, viruses and plant pathogens that can travel huge distances and can easily be inhaled. Although some point to the Sydney storm as evidence of climate change, some scientists also believe that dust storms can help mitigate climate change. The dense, iron-rich dust blocks the sun’s rays, and provides nutrients for ocean phytoplankton and rainforests in Brazil.
Bill Sprigg is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona, and he joins us to talk about the choking and fertilizing effects of dust storms.
Guardian: Dust storms spread deadly diseases worldwide
Videos from the Australian dust storms:
Video from a 2007 dust storm in Phoenix, Arizona:
(Photo courtesy NSW Maritime via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Global Warming, Without the Warming
By Avishay Artsy on Tuesday, September 22, 2009.
World leaders are gathering at the United Nations today to discuss climate change, but progress on global warming is facing a hurdle – things don’t feel any warmer. In fact, temperatures have been stable for a decade, and may even drop in the next few years.
Losing Beer to Climate Change
By Avishay Artsy on Monday, September 21, 2009.
What does it take to get the public mobilized against climate change? If rising ocean levels won’t do it, perhaps losing a classic beer will.
Deep-Sea Robot
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, September 16, 2009.
Join me for an adventure deep under the sea, into the depths to the ocean floor where creatures lurk and mysteries flourish. Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo plummeted 20,000 leagues into the dark sea, where others fear to plunge. Now scientists have built a machine to explore the bottom of the ocean while they remain safely ashore. It’s called the Benthic Rover -- think Mars Rover, except this one goes under water.
The Benthic Rover recently returned from a voyage off the coast of California, where it gathered information about the effects of climate change on deep sea life. Alana Sherman tells us about it as part of our “next green thing” series. Alana led the team of engineers that built the robot at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
Wired: Deep-Sea Robot Roves the Unexplored Ocean Depths
(Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
Is China addressing its output of greenhouse gases?
By EarthTalk on Sunday, August 30, 2009.
EarthTalk®
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Climate Change May Be Driving Evolution
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.
According to Charles Darwin, natural selection is a slow and gradual process. He believed that evolution doesn’t advance through sudden leaps, and that species require several decades and hundreds of generations to adapt.
Now some scientists believe that climate change may be speeding up evolution, causing plants and animals to adapt more quickly. As part of our next green thing series, we’re taking a look at how species like field mustard and red squirrels are responding to changing temperatures.
Carl Zimmer writes about science for The New York Times and Discover Magazine, and he joins us to talk about how these plants and animals may be adapting to climate change.
Yale Environment 360: First Comes Global Warming, Then An Evolutionary Explosion
(Photo by Keith Barlow via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Greening Your Mail
By Todd Bookman on Tuesday, July 28, 2009.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat could stop the U.S. Postal Service from unveiling a new two-and-a-half acre green roof last week.
