Mass Extinction

By Tim Newbold, UCL and Charlie Outhwaite, UCL | – Insects are critical to the future of our planet. They help to keep pest species under control and break down dead material to release nutrients into the soil. Flying insects are also key pollinators of many major food crops, including fruits, spices and – importantly […]

Agriculture

Climate Emergency: Extreme Heat devastates Male Honeybees and threatens Fertilization of Crops

The Conversation

By Alison McAfee, University of British Columbia | – Temperatures soared above 42 C for days in Western Canada in June 2021, with Lytton, B.C., registering 49.6 C, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada. Wildfires scorched the province, sparking a 56-day state of emergency and nearly 600 additional sudden deaths compared to the same […]

Climate Crisis

Climate change triggering global Collapse in Insect Numbers: stressed Farmland shows 63% Decline

The Conversation

By Tim Newbold, UCL; and Charlie Outhwaite, UCL | – Insects are critical to the future of our planet. They help to keep pest species under control and break down dead material to release nutrients into the soil. Flying insects are also key pollinators of many major food crops, including fruits, spices and – importantly […]

Climate Crisis

UN: Pace of Climate Change too fast for many Plant and Animal Species to Adapt

China Dialogue

Shifting seasons, intensifying wildfires and noise pollution are flagged as increasingly urgent environmental issues in a bleak report by the UN Environment Programme. ( China Dialogue ) – The pace of climate change is accelerating too fast for many plant and animal species to adapt, and leading to profound impacts on species’ ability to survive […]

Climate Crisis

If We heat the World 1.5°C (2.7° F.), Essential Coral Reefs are all but Doomed

The Conversation

By Adele Dixon, Maria Beger, Peter Kalmus, and Scott F. Heron | – Coral reefs have long been regarded as one of the earliest and most significant ecological casualties of global warming. In new research published in the journal PLOS Climate, we found that the future of these tropical ecosystems – thought to harbour more […]

Agriculture

With fewer animals to spread their seeds, plants could have trouble adapting to climate change

The Conversation

By Evan Fricke, Alejandro Ordonez, Haldre Rogers, and Jens-Christian Svenning | – Picture a mature, broad-branched tree like an oak, maple or fig. How does it reproduce so that its offspring don’t grow up in its shadow, fighting for light? The answer is seed dispersal. Plants have evolved many strategies for spreading their seeds away […]

Climate Crisis

90% of California’s Precious Joshua Trees are in Danger from the Climate Emergency

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Jude Binkley | – ( Cronkite News) – JOSHUA TREE, Calif. – More than a decade ago, Brendan Cummings was living in this desert town and working to gain federal protections for Arctic polar bears, which can’t survive without the sea ice that’s disappearing because of climate change. A world away from the icy […]

Agriculture

How Climate Change and extreme Weather may lead to Food Shortages and Escalating Prices

The Conversation

By Paul Ekins | – In a world with an increasing human population, climate change may have a serious impact on our ability to grow enough food. Research from as far back as 2007 found that around 30% of year-to-year fluctuations in tonnes of crops grown per hectare were due to changes in the climate. […]

Climate Crisis

Coral reefs are dying as climate change decimates ocean ecosystems vital to fish and humans

Juan Cole

By Sam Purkis | – The Chagos Archipelago is one of the most remote, seemingly idyllic places on Earth. Coconut-covered sandy beaches with incredible bird life rim tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent. Just below the waves, coral reefs stretch for miles along an underwater mountain chain. It’s a […]