20 July 2015, Science Daily, Changing climate lengthens forest fire season: Over a 35-year period, the length of forest fire seasons worldwide increased by 18.7 percent due to more rain-free days and hotter temperatures, according to research. The study examined weather data from 1979 through 2013 to determine how a changing climate impacts forest ecosystems. Over a 35-year period, the length of forest fire seasons worldwide increased by 18.7 percent due to more rain-free days and hotter temperatures, according to South Dakota State University professor Mark Cochrane, a senior scientist at the Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence. The wildfire expert is part of a team of researchers led by W. Matt Jolly of the U.S. Forest Service Fire Science Laboratory that examined weather data from 1979 through 2013 to determine how a changing climate impacts forest ecosystems. “For things to burn, they have to have the proper conditions,” he explained. Four independent environmental factors increase the likelihood of wildfires — hotter temperatures, decreased relative humidity, more rain-free days and higher wind speeds. The researchers combined fire danger indexes from the United States, Canada and Australia with three global climate databases to create what Cochrane calls “an ensemble model.” They looked at the length of time and areas where conditions were conducive to fires. Their findings are published in Nature Communications. “Ecosystems are designed to withstand the normal climate situation, but we suspect that things aren’t normal anymore,” Cochrane said. On all the forested continents, except Australia, the fire seasons are getting longer, Cochrane explained. South America had the largest increase — 33 days in 35 years. In addition, the area affected by the longer fire season has doubled. Read More here
Category Archives: Ecosystem Stress
20 July 2015, WRI, An opportunity not to be wasted: The waste sector permeates almost every aspect of our society, and its mismanagement can lead to serious problems. Worldwide, we generated 1.3 billion tons of waste in 2012, which accounted forabout 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This volume is project to rise to 2.2 billion tons by 2025, with most of the increase expected in cities in the so-called emerging economies like Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. The waste management utility sector is in the eye of the storm, and its evolution will be crucial to humanity’s response to various environmental challenges. As discussed in my previous blog in this series, the utility ecosystem is unable to respond to our social and environmental challenges because of entrenched interests, archaic infrastructure, systemic rigidities, and corporate inertia—all of which are painfully evident in the solid waste sector. Read More here
15 July 2015, The Telegraph, How native Australian birds like the laughing kookaburra are in ‘drastic’ decline: Study based on 427,000 surveys by birdwatchers and researchers in Australia found serious declines in native bird sightings, possibly due to feral predator, habitat loss and climate change. Some of Australia’s best-known native birds – including the magpie and the laughing kookaburra – are in serious decline and at risk of becoming endangered in some parts of the country, according to a study of national sightings. The study, based on 427,000 surveys conducted by thousands of birdwatchers and researchers across Australia over the past 15 years, found sightings of the well-known laughing kookaburra declined by about 30 per cent in the country’s east and by 50 per cent in the south-east. Magpie numbers declined less consistently, but dropped in four of seven regions including a 31 per cent reduction on the heavily-populated east coast. The study, by Birdlife Australia, a conservation organisation, found some parrots, lorikeets and cockatoos also showed strong declines. There were also reduced numbers of sightings of the willie wagtail, the tawny frogmouth and the brown goshawk. Read more here
14 July Washington Post, Human impact on the oceans is growing — and climate change is the biggest culprit: The world’s oceans have suffered a lot at the hands of humans — ask any marine conservationist. Unsustainable fishing, pollution and the effects of climate change are just a few of the issues that worry scientists and environmentalists. While we have a good idea of which activities are causing harm to the ocean, scientists have been less clear on which ones are the most damaging and which regions of the ocean are getting the worst of it. Now, new research has allowed scientists to map the impacts of 19 different types of human activity that have harmed the ocean over a span of five years. The study was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers used global-scale data to map the cumulative impacts of human activities between 2008 and 2013, pinpointing which areas are under increasing stress, which areas are experiencing a decrease and which human activities are having the biggest impacts in which areas. They found that nearly two-thirds of the ocean in experiencing an increase in these man-made impacts — and climate change is the worst of all, driving the majority of the changes the researchers observed. Read More here – access research maps here