Category Archives: Climate Change

Brain-eating amoebas are spreading—and that’s just as bad as it sounds

Here's everything you never wanted to know about the subject. Nothing strikes fear and paranoia into the public’s heart like the phrase “brain-eating amoeba.” Those ominous words dominated headlines this weekend as news spread ofa 29-year-old man who contracted the disease and died after visiting a surf park in Waco, Texas. Fabrizio Stabile began feeling unwell…

Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040

A landmark report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change paints a far more dire picture of the immediate consequences of climate change than previously thought and says that avoiding the damage requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has “no documented historic precedent.” The report, issued on Monday…

‘Environmentally, we’re in trouble:’ A cry for help for Miami’s coral reefs and mangroves

Mira Lehr’s Tracing the Red Thread is arguably one of the most beautiful cries for help. The exhibition, at The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, is a call to arms. “We’re in trouble,” says the Miami artist. “Environmentally, we’re in trouble.” A disciple of futurist Buckminster Fuller, Lehr has long held that mankind can — and…

There was once a time when the great southern landmass was covered in forests and dinosaurs roamed free. How could such an icy wilderness once have been so warm that it could support Earth’s most gigantic creatures? To understand this we have to go back in geological time. Antarctica was ice free during the Cretaceous Period,…

Death toll from Hurricane Maria estimated to be larger than previously thought

The number of people who died as a result of Hurricane Maria -- which hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 -- may be as high as 1,139, surpassing the official death count of 64, according to researchers. The researchers used official government records to calculate the number, which took into account not just those…

Coastal scientists have developed a new global framework to more accurately assess how mangroves along different types of coastlines from deltas to lagoons store carbon in their soil. They found that previous studies have underestimated the blue carbon levels in mangroves by up to 50 percent in some regions and overestimated levels by up to…

Global warming can turn monarch butterflies’ favorite food into poison

LSU researchers have discovered a new relationship between climate change, monarch butterflies and milkweed plants. It turns out that warming temperatures don't just affect the monarch, Danaus plexippus, directly, but also affect this butterfly by potentially turning its favorite plant food into a poison. Bret Elderd, associate professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences, and…

Hurricanes: Stronger, slower, wetter in the future?

Scientists have developed a detailed analysis of how 22 recent hurricanes would be different if they formed under the conditions predicted for the late 21st century. While each storm's transformation would be unique, on balance, the hurricanes would become a little stronger, a little slower-moving, and a lot wetter. In one example, Hurricane Ike --…

NASA team finds massive Everglades mangrove damage from Irma. Can it recover?

Last spring, a team of NASA scientists looking at South Florida's dwindling wetlands flew over the Everglades hoping to use aerial 3D imaging and data from the planet's longest orbiting satellites to plot changes. Then Irma hit. In a matter of hours, about 40 percent of the mangroves were damaged or flattened. The massive toll…

Climate change is transforming the Great Barrier Reef

A new study published online today in Natureshows that corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016. "When corals bleach from a heatwave, they can either survive and regain their colour slowly as the temperature drops, or they can die. Averaged across the whole Great Barrier…

Category Archives: Climate Change

Brain-eating amoebas are spreading—and that’s just as bad as it sounds

Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040

‘Environmentally, we’re in trouble:’ A cry for help for Miami’s coral reefs and mangroves

When dinosaurs roamed Antarctica

Death toll from Hurricane Maria estimated to be larger than previously thought

How mangroves help keep the planet cool

Global warming can turn monarch butterflies’ favorite food into poison

Hurricanes: Stronger, slower, wetter in the future?

NASA team finds massive Everglades mangrove damage from Irma. Can it recover?

Climate change is transforming the Great Barrier Reef