global warming

Climate Change And The Global Food System

December 24, 2015 By WAMC WEB

One of the most troubling aspects of global climate change is its potential impact on the production, distribution and quality of food. A report issued at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference focused on identifying climate change impacts on global food security. Food security is the ability of people to obtain and use sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food. Even without the impact of climate change, food security is a challenge because of increasing population, poverty, and changing eating habits.

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Human Carbon

December 17, 2015 By WAMC WEB

There is a powerful correlation between the rise of the human population and the rise of atmospheric CO₂ during the past few decades. Could the carbon dioxide we emit when we breathe be a factor in global warming? According to biogeochemist Bill Schlesinger, the answer is a resounding no. Here’s why.

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Born On Frozen Lakes

December 16, 2015 By WAMC WEB

The National Hockey League seems like an unlikely environmental ally. But a sport born on frozen lakes stands to lose a lot in a warming world. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is committed to keeping “the air clean and the ponds frozen for future generations.”

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Climate Opinions

December 4, 2015 By WAMC WEB

An international poll of over 45,000 people in 40 countries looked at opinions about climate change and the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The results are quite interesting.

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Cod And Global Warming

December 3, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Atlantic cod has been the basis of a major fishing industry in the Gulf of Maine for centuries and is a key species in the local ecosystem. Overfishing decimated the population of cod and in 2010, fisheries managers imposed a series of restrictions on harvesting the fish in order to try to help the species to rebound.

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Climate Change And Extreme Weather

December 1, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Global climate change is predicted to manifest itself in many ways over the next 100 years as average temperatures increase around the world. But we do not directly experience climate; we experience weather.

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Plugging Methane Leaks

November 23, 2015 By WAMC WEB

Natural gas, also known as methane, is one of several “greenhouse gases” that trap heat radiation trying to leave the Earth. Molecule-for-molecule, methane warms our planet’s atmosphere about 25X more than carbon dioxide.

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The Missing Sink

November 18, 2015 By WAMC WEB

One of the puzzles of atmospheric chemistry is why carbon dioxide concentrations in our atmosphere aren’t rising even faster. Our activities emit some 37 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. About 45% stays in the atmosphere, 25% is taken up by the oceans. The rest is a bit of a mystery.

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Locked In A Pattern Of Arctic Ice Loss

November 5, 2015 By EarthWise

There is no dry land at the North Pole and under much of the Arctic ice pack. There, the ocean is covered with sea ice. When this ice melts, it does not cause a rise in sea level, the same way ice cubes melting in your water glass don’t cause it to overflow.

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Breeding Super Corals

October 19, 2015 By EarthWise

The world’s coral reefs are increasingly threatened by the changing climate. Both warmer ocean temperatures and increasing ocean acidification are damaging coral populations and endangering the very existence of coral reefs.

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Wikipedia: Especially Unreliable for Politically Controversial Science Topics

September 24, 2015 By EarthWise

Wikipedia is world’s most popular online encyclopedia, the sixth most visited website in America, and a source most students rely on. But, according to a recent study, Wikipedia entries on politically controversial science topics can be especially unreliable.

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The Environmental Movement Works

September 17, 2015 By EarthWise

When each day seems to bring more bad news about the health of our planet, it can be easy to wonder if the environmental movement is working. But a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that, at the state level, environmentalism is linked with lower carbon emissions.

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Bumblebees And The Climate Squeeze

September 3, 2015 By EarthWise

Bumblebees face their share of hazards – habitat loss, disease, and harmful pesticides among them. New research shows that climate change is also a significant threat to bumblebee populations in Europe and North America. In fact, University of Ottawa scientists suggest that, for these bumblebees, climate change may be the biggest threat of all.

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