In past bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, the southern region has sometimes been spared worst of the bleaching. Not this time. This year’s intense underwater heat has…Continue readingMore than coral: The unseen casualties of record-breaking heat on the Great Barrier Reef
Tag: biodiversity
Trees more than a century old are barely alive. Some of these giant jarrahs might survive, but some won’t. It’s a scene that’s being replicated in forests and coastal…Continue readingWestern Australia’s eucalypt forests fade to brown as century-old giant jarrahs die in heat and drought
Global heating has pushed the world’s coral reefs to a fourth planet-wide mass bleaching event that is on track to be the most extensive on record, US government scientists…Continue readingGlobal heating pushes coral reefs towards worst planet-wide mass bleaching on record
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for some 2,300km (1,429 miles) off the country’s northeastern coast, is suffering its worst bleaching event on record. The extent of the bleaching…Continue readingAustralia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers worst bleaching on record
Peregrine falcon populations across North America are heavily contaminated with harmful flame retardants–including those that have been phased out for years—according to a new study published in Environmental Science…Continue readingPeregrine falcons expose lasting harms of flame retardant use
The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures…Continue readingGlobal rainforest loss continues at rate of 10 football pitches a minute
On 18 March, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station on the east Antarctic plateau documented a remarkable event. They recorded the largest jump in temperature ever measured at…Continue reading‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe
Experts realised there was a problem: frogs, toads, salamanders and newts were disappearing in their thousands around the world and nobody understood why. A master’s student was looking into…Continue readingI discovered why seemingly healthy amphibians were being wiped out
In recent years, Antarctica has experienced a series of unprecedented heat waves. On 6 February 2020, temperatures of 18.3°C were recorded, the highest ever seen on the continent, beating…Continue readingClimate change is speeding up in Antarctica
Longtime forest advocates have expressed disgust at the ongoing logging of koala habitat in northern New South Wales despite promises the state government would protect the species, with one…Continue readingContinued logging of NSW koala habitat is ‘a profound tragedy’, conservationist says
About 44% of migratory species across the world are in decline while 20% the threat of all-out extinction, according to a new report from the United Nations. About 14%…Continue readingWhy are one-fifth of the world’s migratory species facing extinction?
The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica are increasingly experiencing the impacts of plastic reaching floating ice and land, not solely as larger macroplastics (>5 cm), but as…Continue reading97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics
Geologists on an international subcommission recently voted down a proposal to formally recognize that we have entered the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch representing the time when massive, unrelenting…Continue readingViewpoint: What the Anthropocene’s critics overlook, and why it really should be a new geological epoch
Rain used to be rare in most parts of the Arctic: the polar regions were, and still are, usually too cold and dry for clouds to form and absorb…Continue readingRain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes
Months of record breaking temperatures and the El Niño weather phenomenon pushed the heating up of the world’s oceans to a new peak in February, scientists said. Oceans cover…Continue readingCarbon emissions and El Nino push oceans to record temperatures
The Great Barrier Reef is in the grip of a mass coral bleaching event driven by global heating – the fifth in only eight years – the marine park’s…Continue readingFifth mass coral bleaching event in eight years hits Great Barrier Reef, marine park authority confirms
The quest to declare the Anthropocene an official geological epoch has descended into an epic row, after the validity of a leaked vote that apparently killed the proposal was…Continue readingQuest to declare Anthropocene an epoch descends into epic row
Many traditional Malaysian fishermen have found themselves increasingly affected by the climate crisis, which is changing weather patterns that have long governed when and where they can fish. Such…Continue readingClimate change pushes Malaysia’s coastal fishermen away from the sea
Dozens of koalas have been killed or injured and left for dead during logging of blue gum plantations in South Australia, according to former employees of the harvesting company…Continue readingDozens of koalas allegedly killed or injured during plantation logging on Kangaroo Island
More than 2 million hectares (4.94 million acres) of bushland in Queensland that included large swathes of possible koala habitat has been cleared over a five-year period, new analysis…Continue readingLand clearing: 2 million hectares of Queensland forest destroyed in 5 years
The world generated 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal waste last year and the pile of trash is set to grow another two-thirds by 2050, the UN said Wednesday, warning…Continue readingWorld must act to stem surge of polluting trash, UN warns
Wind project costs in Europe have risen by 30-35% since before the pandemic, according to one senior banker who works in renewables. The profitability of new projects in Spain,…Continue readingThe problem with Europe’s ageing wind farms
Dr Stuart Rowland, a retired principal research scientist who worked for NSW Fisheries for 36 years and remains a mentor to scientists in the agency, says there is a…Continue reading‘The river has been destroyed’: expert says agriculture has overshadowed science in the Murray-Darling Basin
Fipronil and imidacloprid are highly toxic pesticides that are no longer approved for use in outdoor agriculture, but continue to be widely used in pet flea treatments, typically applied…Continue readingHandwashing is a major source of pet pesticide pollution in UK rivers
The EPA told stakeholders it was ditching specific search requirements for glider den trees, which must currently be retained with a 50-metre logging exclusion zone around each one. Instead,…Continue readingGreater glider put on path to extinction by NSW environmental watchdog
The Queensland government approved the Vulcan South coalmine in the Bowen Basin earlier this month without requiring an environmental impact statement (EIS). But the project still needs approval from…Continue readingTanya Plibersek urged to block ‘climate-wrecking’ Queensland coalmine that would raze koala habitat
The world’s main system for warning about heat stress on the planet’s coral reefs has been forced to add three new alert categories to represent ever-increasing temperature extremes. Underlying…Continue reading‘Literally off the charts’: global coral reef heat stress monitor forced to add new alerts as temperatures rise
Plastic microparticles released into the environment from common road tires should be treated as a “high concern” pollutant that may exceed chronic safety limits in some heavily contaminated environments,…Continue readingMicroparticles from road tires are ‘high concern’
Despite strict EU regulations on plastic recycling, there is little oversight on plastic waste shipped from the EU to Vietnam. About half of Europe’s plastic waste is exported to…Continue readingA large percentage of European plastic sent to Vietnam ends up in nature
The climate crisis turned the drought that struck the Amazon rainforest in 2023 into a devastating event, a study has found. The drought was the worst recorded in many…Continue readingDevastating drought in Amazon result of climate crisis
Rainfall has been lower than the average in Catalonia for the past three years, with the drought lasting more than twice as long as the previous dry spell of…Continue readingHeavens remain shut over Catalonia as three-year drought persists
A total of 144 animals, plants and ecological communities were added to the list, five times more than the yearly average and double the previous record year (2009). “The…Continue readingMore Australian wildlife added to threatened species list in 2023 than ever before
A team of researchers at the University of Sassari, in Sardinia, used GPS collars equipped with motion sensors to track the activity of the Alpine ibex, a species of…Continue readingGlobal heating pushes mountain goats into more nocturnal lifestyle
Tropical raptor species including the martial eagle, the bateleur and the dark chanting goshawk have vanished from swathes of the African continent over the past 40 years, new analysis…Continue readingBirds of prey in Africa experiencing population collapse
Warm-water coral reefs are facing unprecedented Anthropogenic driven threats to their continued existence as biodiverse, functional ecosystems upon which hundreds of millions of people rely. We draw upon a…Continue readingAssessment of warm-water coral reef tipping point thresholds
Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the Amazon’s rivers and streams for food, transportation and income. But the historically low water levels have forced residents to reimagine their…Continue reading‘Everything is dead’: How record drought is wreaking havoc on the Amazon
Flowers are “giving up on” pollinators and evolving to be less attractive to them as insect numbers decline. A study has found the flowers of field pansies growing near…Continue readingFlowers ‘giving up’ on scarce insects and evolving to self-pollinate
My colleagues and I overlaid the projections of climate models with data on the geographic distributions of more than 35,000 species on land and in the ocean. We found…Continue readingClimate change research: If warming approaches 2°C, a trickle of extinctions will become a flood
Leaders of the IUCN updated their Red List of Threatened Species, a tracker of biodiversity around the globe. It was mainly bad news. The list includes information on 157,000…Continue readingEndangered species list grows by 2,000. Climate change is part of the problem.
The elephants are gone. The trees are logged out. The Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary in central Cambodia is largely destroyed, after being handed over by the government to a…Continue readingHow Mounting Demand for Rubber Is Driving Tropical Forest Loss
Nearly a quarter of the world’s freshwater fish are at risk of extinction due to global heating, overfishing and pollution, according to an expert assessment. Nearly a fifth of…Continue readingQuarter of world’s freshwater fish at risk of extinction
Most people expect that if a system, like someone’s body, an ecosystem, or part of the climate system, becomes stressed, it’ll respond fairly predictably—double the pressure, double the impact,…Continue readingClimate tipping points are nearer than you think. Our new report warns of catastrophic risk.
Norway has secured a parliamentary majority for its plans to open up for deep-sea mining despite opposition from environmentalists and the fishing industry, who warn the move risks further…Continue readingNorway’s parliament backs deep-sea mining plans
In the ocean, tropical species are moving from the equator towards the poles as sea temperatures rise. Meanwhile, temperate species are receding as it gets too warm, they face…Continue readingGlobal marine life is on the move due to sea temperature rises
Haiyan was one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall. More than 6,300 people were killed as the storm swept across the island of Leyte, flattening homes and…Continue reading10 years after Haiyan, are mangroves protecting Philippine coastal areas?
The number of listed threatened species in Australia’s world heritage northern rainforests has increased by 25% since 2020, as ecologists say they are now clearly observing the long-predicted impacts…Continue readingQueensland’s wet tropics see 25% rise in threatened species in three years as climate change bites
US industry disposed of at least 60m pounds of PFAS “forever chemical” waste over the last five years, and did so with processes that probably pollute the environment around…Continue readingUS industry disposed of at least 60m pounds of PFAS waste in last five years
Germany’s finance minister, withdrew his party’s support for a crucial agreement between the governing parties to phase out the nation’s coal-burning power plants by 2030. “Until it is clear…Continue readingShifting Political Winds Threaten Progress on Europe’s Green Goals
More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date. Some species…Continue readingMore than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline
All aquatic species in the river mouths flowing into the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean are contaminated with microplastics, with mollusks being the most affected due to their ability…Continue readingAll aquatic species in river mouths are contaminated by microplastics
Fire ravaged Canada in 2023 like no other year, by a stupendous margin. A record 45.7m acres (18.5m hectares) went up in flames, an area about twice the size…Continue readingAfter a record year of wildfires, will Canada ever be the same again?
Populations of the hazel dormouse, perhaps the most elusive native British mammal, have plummeted by 70% this century. The nocturnal, tree-dwelling animals are now extinct in 20 counties in…Continue readingHazel dormice becoming endangered in UK amid 70% decline
UK forests are heading for “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” within the next 50 years due to multiple threats including disease, extreme weather and wildfires, researchers have warned, with trees dying…Continue readingUK forests face catastrophic ecosystem collapse within 50 years
October, November and December are usually a period of transition. By now, the dry season would normally have peaked, and rivers and aquifers would start to replenish. But the…Continue reading‘Everything is parched’: Amazon struggles with drought amid deforestation
Unprecedented in Greece in its intensity, the Dadia fire has been classed by the European Commission as the largest ever recorded in the EU. Burning for three weeks, the…Continue readingDesolation in Greece’s Dadia park after Europe’s biggest fire
Elkhorn corals are already considered “functionally extinct” in the upper Keys, and other elkhorn and staghorn populations in the Florida Reef are following suit, according to Liv Williamson, an…Continue readingCoral researchers see ‘mass mortality’ amid Florida Reef bleaching crisis
An unprecedented rise in ocean temperatures off the coast of Florida early in the summer made headlines as it caused countless dead fish to wash ashore. But the impact…Continue readingResearchers report mass bleaching of coral reefs in warming Florida oceans: ‘Like a forest without trees’
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has assumed Nordhaus is to be trusted. The integrated assessment models used at the IPCC are based on Nordhausian visions of adaptation to…Continue readingWhen Idiot Savants Do Climate Economics
Global destruction of forests increased by 4% last year, compared to 2021, according to a new report. A total of 6.6 million hectares of forests were lost in 2022—an…Continue readingDestruction of forests gathered pace in 2022, despite global promises
The Interconnected Disaster Risks Report identifies thresholds it calls “risk tipping points,” defined as “the moment at which a given socioecological system is no longer able to buffer risks…Continue readingUN report warns of catastrophic risks to Earth systems