topic: Sea Levels

topic: Sea Levels

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U.S. East Coast adopts ‘living shorelines’ approach to keep rising seas at bay
- Along the U.S. East Coast, communities are grappling with the dual destructive forces of rising sea levels and stronger storms pushed by climate change, resulting in effects ranging from ‘ghost forests’ of saltwater-killed coastal trees in the Carolinas, to inundations of New York City’s subway system.
- While the usual response has been to build higher seawalls and other concrete or rock structures, a natural approach that aims to protect coastal areas with natural assets that also create habitat and are generally cheaper and less carbon intensive — ‘living shorelines’ — is increasingly taking hold.
- State agencies and landowners alike are shoring up the shore with innovative combinations of locally sourced logs, rocks and native plants and shrubs to protect homes, dunes and beaches.
- In Maine, where a trio of powerful winter storms recently pummeled the coast, living shorelines designers are in growing demand.

Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters
- Many of India’s more than 4 million fishers are sailing beyond the country’s exclusive economic zone into the high seas in search of a better catch.
- Rising sea surface temperatures, overfishing near the shore, and the destruction of reefs have decimated nearshore fisheries, forcing India’s fishers farther out to sea where they face greater risk.
- A common danger they run is straying into the waters of another country, which can lead to their boats being seized and the crew being jailed or even killed.
- The Indian government has issued policies to protect and recover nearshore fish stocks, even as it encourages fishing in the high seas.

Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- The 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) took place in Athens from April 15-17.
- Government, NGO and philanthropic delegates made 469 new commitments worth more than $11.3 billion to help protect the oceans, which was lower than in previous years.
- While some conference hosts and attendees celebrated the many successes of the OOC, there was also a shared concern that decision-makers aren’t moving fast enough to secure a sustainable future for the global ocean.

Panama delays promised relocation of sinking island community
- The government of Panama continues to delay the process of relocating almost 1,300 Indigenous Guna inhabitants from an island experiencing rising sea levels due to climate change.
- The lack of space on the tiny Caribbean island of Gardi Sugdub means there’s no room to relocate, and a new site on the mainland for the community has been in the works since 2019.
- But plans for the relocation have been repeatedly delayed due to administrative issues, previous COVID-19 restrictions and poor budgeting, leaving residents skeptical that government promises will be upheld.
- Members of this fishing community have also expressed concern about the relocation site, which is a 30-minute walk from the coast, and about the design of the new homes, for which the government didn’t seek Guna input.

Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
- Due to runaway global demand for sand used in construction, coastal communities say mining of their beaches for sand is accelerating the damage done by waves and wind.
- On Indonesia’s Seram Island, the arrival of a sand mining company has stimulated demand for the commodity, but may have introduced environmental risks.
- The United Nations says around 50 million metric tons of sand is produced every year, while a separate study shows costal erosion is set to “radically redefine” the world’s coastlines this century.

Locals at the mouth of the Amazon River get a salty taste of climate change
- Ocean rise and changes in the Amazon River are ruining the way of life in an archipelago close to where the Amazon River runs into the Atlantic.
- In Bailique, locals are experiencing longer periods of salty water, a natural phenomenon that is becoming more usual due to climate change.
- Açaí berries, the prime economic drive of the community, are becoming saltier, and palm trees are being eaten by the erosion caused by changes in the Amazon River’s flow.
- Part of the population has already left the region, as others struggle to adapt to the new landscape.

The new Arctic: Amid record heat, ecosystems morph and wildlife struggle
- Every species of animal and plant that lives or breeds in the Arctic is experiencing dramatic change. As the polar region warms, species endure extreme weather, shrinking and altered habitat, decreased food availability, and competition from invading southern species.
- A wide array of Arctic organisms that rely on sea ice to feed or breed during some or all of their life cycles are threatened by melt: Over the past 40 years, the Arctic Ocean has lost about 75% of its sea ice volume, as measured at the end of the summer melt season. This translates into a loss of sea ice extent and thickness by half on average.
- Researchers note that the rate of change is accelerating at sea and on land. While species can adapt over time, Arctic ecosystem alterations are too rapid for many animals to adapt, making it difficult to guess which species will prevail, which will perish, and where.
- The only thing that could limit future extinctions, researchers say, is to quickly stop burning fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.

Ocean heating breaks record, again, with disastrous outcomes for the planet
- New research shows that ocean temperatures are hotter than ever in the modern era due to human-driven global warming.
- High ocean temperatures are placing a strain on marine life and biological processes while also increasing extreme weather events on land.
- The world is also seeing an escalation in the frequency and intensity of marine heat waves, events in which sea temperatures exceed a certain threshold for five days or more.

Java’s crumbling coastline and rising tide swamp jasmine flower trade
- Growers of jasmine flowers in lowland areas of Indonesia’s Central Java province are vulnerable to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
- Research published in 2022 showed Central Java’s Semarang was among the fastest-sinking major cities in the world.
- Jasmine grower Sobirin has altered his home on three occasions since 2010, raising the floor to adapt to increasing tidal surges.

Salty wells and lost land: Climate and erosion take their toll in Sulawesi
- Coastal erosion on the west coast of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island is so advanced that seawater has penetrated the groundwater supply that tens of thousands use for drinking water.
- The communities have yet to be served by utility water provision, so families are resorting to costly supplies of water from private distributors.
- Research shows that rising seas and more frequent and powerful storms will accelerate coastal abrasion, raising burdens shouldered by the world’s coastal communities.

As oceans warm, marine heat waves push deep beneath the surface, study shows
- A new study found that the ocean experiences the most intense marine heat waves at a depth of between 50 and 250 meters (160 and 820 feet), where a large portion of the ocean’s biodiversity can be found.
- It also found that parts of the ocean between 250 and 2,000 m (6,600 ft) had less intense but longer marine heat waves, with a duration twice as long as at the surface.
- The intensity and duration of marine heat waves could have widespread effects on marine biodiversity, increasing the likelihood of species displacement and mortality, the study suggests.

On Jakarta’s vanishing shoreline, climate change seen abetting child marriages
- Marriage before the age of 18 is classified as a form of gender-based violence by the United Nations, but is commonly practiced in low-income communities to mitigate household economic pressures.
- On Jakarta’s northern coastline, child marriage is common in fishing communities responding to inflationary pressures and declining stocks of fish in near-shore waters.
- Janah, now 23, fears she lacks the agency to break a cycle that saw her married at the age of 16.

‘Totally unsustainable’ sand mining harms marine environments, new data suggest
- New data from the newly launched platform Marine Sand Watch suggest that the dredging industry is extracting about 6 billion tons of sand from the marine environment annually.
- Experts say the extraction of sand can have numerous impacts on the marine environment, such as harming biodiversity, polluting water and making coastlines more vulnerable to sea level rise.
- While the sand mining industry is currently operating at unsustainable levels, experts say there are solutions to mitigate its damage.

Can Spain keep the rising sea from washing away a critical delta?
- One of Europe’s most important deltas, a vital wildlife sanctuary and economic engine, is facing a myriad of threats stemming from climate change and water management.
- Rising sea levels and stronger storms are washing away the very sediment that constitutes the Ebro Delta and sending saltwater far inland.
- The government plan to bolster the delta relies heavily on trucking sediment to its exposed outer banks, but it’s a stop-gap measure until researchers can develop a more sustainable long-term solution.
- The question is: Can they find one in time?

Antarctic warming alters atmosphere, ice shelves, ocean & animals
- The world’s latest record-high temperatures are increasingly putting Antarctica’s role in regulating global climate and ocean currents at risk. But so far, most signs indicate that the continent has not yet reached a point of no return. A rapid reduction in fossil fuel extraction and carbon emissions could still prevent the worst outcomes.
- Increased persistence of the Antarctic ozone hole over the past three years could be an indication of climate change, as it cools the south polar stratosphere, though high variability in this phenomenon and its complexity make causality difficult to prove.
- As global warming continues to melt Antarctica’s edges, a modeling study shows that fresh water going into the ocean could result in the next three decades in a more than 40% slowdown in the currents carrying heat and nutrients northward, essential to sustain ocean life as we know it. If ice shelves melt, allowing Antarctica’s ice sheets to flow to the sea, sea level rise will escalate.
- The latest discovery of a new colony of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in a marginal habitat of the Antarctic is good news, but also bad news, as it further highlights the vulnerability of the species as Antarctic ice masses destabilize — volatility that threatens their survival.

Is there a ‘lighter side’ to our possible environmental apocalypse? (commentary)
- Ocean activist and author David Helvarg deals with dark thoughts about the state of the world environment with humor in a new op-ed.
- “As a professional ocean advocate, I try and see the bright side of environmental and climate impacts such as sea level rise. While the ocean today covers 71% of the planet, it could soon cover 75%. More ocean means more ocean to love,” he jokes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Sea level rise looms, even for the best-prepared country on Earth
- The Netherlands, a low-lying European country with more than a quarter of its land below sea level, has been going to great lengths to protect itself from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise and extreme weather events like heavy rain.
- But even for the Netherlands, a country with the wealth and experience to address these issues, the future remains uncertain, mainly because a range of possible scenarios could play out after 2050.
- According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a low-emissions scenario for the greenhouse gases that amplify global warming could elevate sea levels about half a meter (1.6 feet) above present levels by 2100; a higher-emissions scenario could lead to a 2-m (6.6-ft) rise by 2100 and a 5-m (16.4-ft) rise by 2150.
- Experts say that most other countries need to take the threat of sea level rise more seriously, and that engineering challenges, a lack of awareness and education, sociocultural concerns, and financial constraints are hampering their preparation.

On Lombok, rising sea levels force fishers into different jobs
- Residents of the Indonesian island of Lombok say sea levels are rising at alarming levels, swallowing seaside towns.
- People are abandoning their family trade of fishing to instead grow seaweed or leave the island for stable employment.
- The provincial government created a climate adaptation task force to address the compounding problems of climate change, as families send their children to school and hope they choose a life different from fishing.

‘Not a good sign’: Study shows Greenland temperatures at 1,000-year high
- New research shows that north-central Greenland experienced the highest temperatures between 2001 and 2011 over a 1,000-year period.
- Scientists came to this conclusion after reconstructing climate conditions over the last millennium by analyzing ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet.
- This study can provide a foundation for future studies on ice melt and sea level rise, the authors say.

In wake of ‘natural’ disasters, not reducing biodiversity loss is a big missed opportunity (commentary)
- Following the progress of the COP15 biodiversity summit, it’s time to come together to fully leverage the power of nature to build a prosperous, disaster-resilient future, a new op-ed argues.
- “Working with – and making full use of – the power of nature, and taking advantage of much existing knowledge, would prove a major step forward,” writes a NOAA senior scientist.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay or NOAA.

2022’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2022.
- Hopeful developments this past year include the launch of negotiations on the world’s first legally binding international treaty to curb plastic pollution, a multilateral agreement to ban harmful fisheries subsidies and a massive expansion of global shark protections.
- At the same time, the climate crises in the ocean continued to worsen, with a number of record-breaking marine heat waves and an accelerated thinning of ice sheets that could severely exacerbate sea level rise, underscoring the need for urgent ocean-climate actions.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Global study reveals widespread salt marsh decline
- The world lost 1,453 square kilometers (561 square miles) of salt marsh between 2000 and 2019, an area twice the size of Singapore, according to a new study based on satellite imagery.
- In addition to providing wildlife habitat and numerous ecosystem services, salt marshes store a great deal of carbon.
- Salt marsh loss resulted in 16.3 teragrams, or 16.3 million metric tons, of carbon emissions per year, according to the study. That’s the rough equivalent of the output of around 3.5 million cars.
- Climate change is one of the greatest threats to marshes. Other contributors to their global decline include conversion to aquaculture, coastal erosion, eutrophication, drainage, mangrove encroachment and invasive species.

In Sierra Leone’s fishing villages, a reality check for climate aid
- In April, Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo visited the Sherbro estuary, a sprawling riverine ecosystem of mangroves and coastal fishing villages on the Sierra Leonean coastline.
- Like other coastal areas in West Africa, the Sherbro estuary is already suffering the impacts of climate change, including flooding and higher temperatures.
- Between 2016 and 2021, USAID financed mangrove replanting and the construction of makeshift seawalls in villages here as part of a coastal climate resilience aid project.
- The project’s struggles here are an example of the difficulties that climate aid efforts can face when they meet the economic and social needs of people in vulnerable areas.

Will FTX’s demise shift sinking Miami’s crypto embrace? (commentary)
- Encouraged by a Bitcoin-friendly mayor, Miami has become a cryptocurrency capital, of sorts.
- This seems ironic because low-lying city is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, and the crypto industry has one of the heaviest carbon footprints, thereby hastening that rise due to climate change.
- Before FTX imploded recently, the crypto investor Sam Bankman-Fried hoped to turn Miami into a hub for global cryptocurrency. “Hopefully, the demise of FTX will derail such vainglorious fantasies,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Arctic sea ice loss to increase strong El Niño events linked to extreme weather: Study
- The frequency of strong El Niño events could increase by 35% by the end of the century as Arctic sea ice begins to melt out completely in the summer, according to a recent modeling study. El Niños — buildups of especially warm water in the eastern Pacific off of Peru — often trigger ‘devastating’ droughts, floods and cyclones around the globe.
- The findings provide more evidence that Arctic warming is affecting weather in other parts of the world — not only in the mid-latitudes, but as far away as the tropics.
- Other recent studies have found that sea ice loss is causing rapid acidification of the Arctic Ocean and more extreme precipitation and flooding in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located between mainland Norway and the North Pole.

Agulhas Current enigma: An oceanic gap in our climate understanding
- Comprehending the workings of western boundary ocean currents, like those of the Agulhas Current off the South African coast, may hold a key to Earth’s climate system. But understanding this particular current is hampered by a major lack of in-situ data. This gap leaves us in the dark about local, regional and global climate impacts.
- The Agulhas Current, located in the Indian Ocean, is one of the most energetic ocean current systems in the world. Changes to it can impact local weather in South Africa and elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, and perhaps influence large-scale climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere and globally as well.
- However, it is not clear how and what these impacts may be, or when they may occur. With climate change escalating rapidly due to unabated human carbon emissions, it is now more important than ever that we understand the impacts of Southern Hemisphere ocean currents, and integrate their actions into climate models.
- But attempts at long-term monitoring of the Agulhas Current System have not been fully successful. Accomplishments and failures to date have underscored significant local research capacity challenges, and differences in the approach to, and financing of, ocean science in the Global North as compared to the Global South.

In Sumatra, rising seas and sinking land spell hard times for fishers
- Fishers operating near the port of Belawan on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are reporting declining catches and a hit to their livelihoods from tidal flooding.
- The flooding has grown more frequent and severe, exacerbated by rising seas and the clearing of mangrove forests for oil palm plantations.
- Traders who buy local catches have also been affected by the flooding, which can cut off commercial transport routes.
- This region of northern Sumatra is one of the areas targeted by the Indonesian government for mangrove restoration, but until that yields results, the fishers say they’re essentially helpless.

As stronger storms hit Bangladesh farmers, banks are climate collateral damage
- Farmers in coastal areas of Bangladesh are increasingly defaulting on their loans due to climate change-driven storms that are destroying the farms they put up as collateral.
- Agricultural loans for the year to May 2022 amounted to the equivalent of $3 billion, or a fifth of the value of all loans distributed in Bangladesh.
- Increasingly frequent and severe storms therefore pose as much of a threat to the country’s financial sector as to farming communities and the environment.
- The warming of the sea in the Bay of Bengal as a result of climate change is supercharging storms, giving them more energy, helping them to drive tidal surges farther inland and dump larger volumes of rain than before.

Sea life may downsize with ocean warming — bringing challenging impacts
- A new model predicts that marine microbes could shrink by up to 30% in the future due to climate change, impacting bigger organisms that eat them including fish, potentially disrupting the food chain from the bottom up. Smaller fish would mean impacted fisheries. Smaller microbes could mean less carbon sequestration.
- Warmer oceans hold less oxygen, and the model predicts that sea life will get smaller in response to more limited oxygen. But scientists have long debated why this downsizing occurs, and some say that other factors not considered in the model could impact oceanic microbes in unexpected ways.
- Accurately predicting warming impacts on marine life could improve ocean resource management.

For women on Bangladesh’s coast, rising seas pose a reproductive health dilemma
- In coastal areas of Bangladesh, where poor families often can’t afford menstrual pads, women and adolescent girls are compelled to use cloth rags that they wash in water that’s becoming increasingly saline.
- This has led to a spate of uterine diseases, prompting many women and girls to misuse birth control pills in an effort to stop their menstrual cycles altogether.
- Health experts say this practice, carried out without medical advice, poses both short- and long-term risks to their reproductive and mental health.
- The root of the problem is the ever-worsening intrusion of saltwater into the water table, driven by a combination of rising sea levels, seepage from shrimp farms, and falling levels of the Ganges River.

Robot revolution: A new real-time accounting system for ocean carbon
- Oceans are key to understanding climate change, seeing as they take up and store 25% of the carbon that human activities add to Earth’s atmosphere. But there are big gaps in our knowledge regarding ocean carbon storage and release, and how it is evolving as climate change unfolds, a problem scientists are now addressing.
- An international deployment of thousands of robotic floats, fitted with sophisticated biogeochemical sensors, is underway and already providing real-time data that scientists can integrate into ocean carbon budgets and climate models. Many more floats are coming, with the capacity to operate in remote regions.
- One such place is the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, which accounts for almost half of the worldwide oceanic carbon sink. Windier conditions there, caused by climate change, are churning up more carbon-rich waters from the depths, releasing stored carbon and introducing unforeseen variability into ocean carbon emission estimates.
- Robots are starting to monitor these emissions in real time. More accurate ocean carbon budgets will improve accounting of land-based carbon dioxide emissions, help create more accurate assessments of how well global carbon agreements such as the Paris Agreement are meeting goals, and will help assess ocean carbon dioxide removal plans.

As rising seas destroy Ghana’s coastal communities, researchers warn against a seawall-only solution
- Some 37% of Ghana’s coastal land was lost to erosion and flooding between 2005 and 2017.
- Severe storm surges flooded several communities in 2021, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people.
- Research indicates around 340 million people worldwide will be affected by global warming-fueled sea level rise by the middle of the century. Ghana’s government is responding to the growing crisis by fortifying some coastal areas with seawalls, but researchers say relying on seawalls alone may do more harm than good.
- This story was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center.

Between land and sea: Agrobiodiversity holds key to health for Melanesian tribes
- Residents of Baniata village on the Solomon Islands’ Western province practice an ancient agroforestry system that intercrops 20 edible species and features the ngali nut, a delicacy sold in domestic and international markets.
- The community’s traditionally self-sufficient and biodiverse diet features 132 species, notably the fe’i banana, a Melanesian specialty that contains 100 times the vitamin A of a typical banana.
- The resilient food system and diet is increasingly affected by climate change, imported crops, processed foods, and the loss of traditional knowledge in younger generations.
- This article is one of an eight-part series showcasing Indigenous food systems covered in the most comprehensive FAO report on the topic to date.

Inland mangroves reveal a tumultuous climatic past — and hint at our future
- A new study concludes that the presence of inland mangroves along a river in southern Mexico was the result of climate change-driven sea level rise during the Pleistocene Epoch, some 115,000 to 130,000 years ago.
- The researchers’ analysis of the genetic history of the mangrove trees suggests that they are closely related to trees found on the coastline, and sediments nearby are similar to those found in ocean environments.
- Publishing their work Oct. 12 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team notes that their research highlights the impacts of global climate change.

Women on storm-hit Philippine island lead Indigenous effort to restore mangroves
- Residents of low-lying coastal areas in archipelagic countries like the Philippines are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including the increase of powerful storms like 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan.
- Mangrove forests can buffer the impact of storm surges and high winds, but many of the Philippines’ mangrove ecosystems are severely degraded and efforts to restore them often fail.
- Busuanga Island, in the western province of Palawan, has a particularly effective mangrove restoration program, one that is spearheaded by Indigenous women who play a key role in planting, monitoring and protecting the forests.

Cost of wetlands: Free. Storm damage they prevent: $38 million per estuary.
- A new study has put a value on property damage from storms that can be prevented by coastal wetlands: $38 million per estuary.
- In all storm scenarios modeled by the study authors, wetlands reduced both the extent of flooding as well as damages from floods, providing the greatest benefits during the most powerful storm scenarios.
- Experts say there’s growing appreciation among policymakers and planners about the importance of nature-based engineering solutions, such as maintaining healthy estuaries, but this hasn’t translated into real action on the ground.

To save salt marshes, researchers deploy a wide arsenal of techniques
- Salt marshes sequester significant carbon in their sediment — more per hectare than tropical rainforests.
- They protect the land from storm surges and sea level rise, and they shelter a variety of birds, fish and crustaceans.
- However, salt marshes are being lost quickly to erosion and development.
- Governments, institutions and researchers around the world are looking into low-cost ways to protect and restore these vulnerable and valuable habitats.

Coastal Indonesian village adapts to life amid rising tidal floodwaters
- Cars once drove along the road in front of residents’ homes in coastal Timbulsloko village on the northern coast of Indonesia’s Java Island. Now, only canoes can pass; when the tide recedes, the water is knee-deep.
- Timbulsloko experiences severe tidal flooding caused by land subsidence, abrasion, nearby major construction, and climate change.
- Residents are starting to respond: A network of interlocking boardwalks now connects the submerged hamlets to dry land, and the village has designated a protected coastal area and prohibited the clearing of mangroves.
- The goal is to prevent further coastal damage and ensure the safety of residents’ settlements. The community is also beginning to discuss sustainable aquaculture.

From Flores to Papua: Meet 10 of Indonesia’s mangrove guardians
- Indonesia is home to 3.2 million hectares (7.9 million acres) of mangroves, more than any other country.
- These coastal forests, which serve as nurseries for countless fish species and help mitigate tidal flooding and tsunami waves, are being cleared for fish farms, charcoal production, and other commercial activities.
- The Indonesian government in 2020 announced a plan to replant 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of mangroves on degraded coastline by 2024.
- But an unsung army of ordinary Indonesians has been toiling around the country for decades to save and grow mangrove forests. These are some of their stories.

The U.S. reptile most at risk from rising seas is one you likely haven’t heard of
- The Florida reef gecko is the most vulnerable reptile to sea level rise in the U.S, according to biologists at the University of Miami.
- The Florida reef gecko is the only native gecko in the eastern United States and one of the few reptiles native to Florida, the state with the largest number of invasive species.
- Researchers have submitted a petition to the state of Florida to list the species as endangered or threatened, but its success may hinge on the question of whether the species is truly native to Florida.
- While climate change and habitat destruction remain imminent threats to the gecko’s Florida populations, little is known about the species as a whole, including other populations that inhabit the Caribbean.

Rivers can be climate change solutions, too (commentary)
- The usual avenues for addressing and adapting to climate change–like protecting forests and ramping up clean energy sources–typically overlook one powerful solution: rivers.
- Rivers and their floodplains have the potential to act as shock absorbers to climate change, and are powerful agents for keeping wildlife and communities healthy and resilient.
- The most effective climate action plans will account for this and incorporate rivers into their plans for a climate-resilient future, argues Michele Thieme, a freshwater scientist at World Wildlife Fund.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

New study warns that sea levels will rise faster than expected
- A new study has found that sea level rise may happen faster than current models project.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that the sea level will rise about a meter (39 inches) by the century’s end, but this study finds that estimate to be conservative.
- The results suggest that sea levels will rise about 25 centimeters (10 in) more per century if carbon emissions are not curbed and the Earth continues to heat up.

The glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet are running away
- Greenland’s massive ice sheet will continue shrinking even if snowfall rates return to the higher levels of decades ago, when the ice sheet was stable, a new study shows.
- Rates of ice loss climbed dramatically in the early 2000s before settling at a higher, sustained state of decline.
- For each kilometer that Greenland’s glaciers retreat, their rate of ice loss speeds up by 4 to 5 percent—a bleak trend that will accelerate sea-level rise.

For nesting hawksbill turtles, this Philippine community is a sanctuary
- For centuries, hawksbill sea turtles have returned to a shoreline in the eastern Philippines to lay their eggs, even as the human community has expanded along the same stretch of beach.
- Hawksbill sea turtles’ low survival rates in the wild are caused by natural predators and, recently, exacerbated by rising sea levels. Another key threat is poaching for their meat and shells.
- Despite the lack of financial support, locals continue to look after the eggs, coming up with their own ways to protect them until the hatchlings are ready to be released back into the sea.

US economy will take biggest hit if we continue with business as usual: report
- New research finds that if humans carry on with business as usual and the environmental degradation that results, we will pay a steep price — quite literally.
- Researchers found that if we simply continue under the status quo, the global economy will lose at least $479 billion a year, adding up to nearly $10 trillion in losses by 2050, as compared to the “baseline” scenario in which there is no change in ecosystem services over the next 30 years.
- Of the 140 countries included in the study, the United States stands to take the biggest economic hit, losing $83 billion per year by 2050 under this “business as usual” scenario that includes intense consumption of energy and raw materials, widespread land-use change, ongoing rises in greenhouse gas emissions, and continued loss of biodiversity.

On the front line of climate change in India’s Sundarbans
- The sea level has risen by an average of 3 centimeters a year over the past two decades in the Sundarbans, the vast mangrove delta at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, leading to one of the fastest rates of coastal erosion in the world.
- Residents of the dozens of islands in the Indian part of the Sundarbans have seen their homes swallowed up by the sea and their farmland poisoned by saltwater, forcing many to relocate.
- The fast-encroaching sea, driven by climate change, has also eaten away at the hunting grounds of the Sundarbans’ famous Bengal tigers, pushing them to target the villagers’ livestock — and, increasingly, the villagers themselves.
- At the same time, villagers unable to farm and experiencing dwindling fish catches are venturing deeper into tiger territory to look for crabs and collect honey, putting them at even greater risk of being attacked by the big cats.

IPCC special report finds oceans and cryosphere changing rapidly due to global warming
- As a massive expanse of unusually warm water spreads across the northeastern Pacific Ocean for the second time in the past five years, the latest special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released today, finds that marine heatwaves have “very likely” become twice as frequent and increasingly intense over the past four decades.
- The report focuses on the benefits of taking action to limit global warming — and the costs of delaying that action — for the world’s oceans and cryosphere (the parts of Earth’s surface that are frozen, such as ice sheets and frozen ground). It is the work of more than 100 authors from 36 countries who assessed 7,000 scientific publications to assemble the latest scientific findings on the current and future impacts of global climate change.
- Conservationists characterized the report as a dire wake-up call for world leaders. “With today’s release of the Special Report… international leaders are confronted by the stark and immediate consequences of failing to adequately address greenhouse gas emissions, as they impact the oceans,” Jason Patlis, executive director of the Marine Conservation Program at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), said in a statement.

In India’s Sundarbans, communities shrink as their island sinks
- In India and Bangladesh, millions of people live in the Sundarbans islands and face losing their homes to rising seas caused by climate change.
- The region was the first in the world to record an unfolding climate refugee crisis as people fled an island lost to the sea. More islands remain at risk of succumbing to the rising waters.
- The government has long relied on building embankments to keep the seawater out, but in a report it co-wrote in 2014 it acknowledges that this measure is no longer sufficient.
- One expert calls for restoring the Sundarbans’ original mangrove habitats to both mitigate the impacts of rising seas and storm surges, and to serve as a carbon sink in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions.

Ocean winds, wave heights have increased around the world
- An analysis of 33 years’ worth of data finds that ocean winds and wave heights are becoming more extreme worldwide, with the Southern Ocean seeing the largest increases.
- In order to examine long-term trends, Ian Young and Agustinus Ribal of Australia’s University of Melbourne combined nearly 4 billion measurements of wind speeds and wave heights collected from 31 satellite missions between 1985 and 2018 and data from 80 ocean buoys deployed around the globe into a single, extensive dataset.
- The researchers found that there have been small increases in mean wind speed and wave height over the past 33 years, but they found stronger increases in extreme conditions, which they define in the paper as wind speed and wave height measurements that fall in the 90th percentile or above

Antarctica now shedding ice six times faster than in 1979
- Antarctica’s ice is melting about six times faster than it was in the late 1970s.
- Between 1979 and 2017, melting ice caused the global sea level to rise by around 14 millimeters (0.55 inches).
- The pace at which ice is melting is also increasing: Through 1990, the continent lost 40 billion metric tons (44 billion tons) per year; between 2009 and 2017, that figure jumped to 252 billion metric tons (278 tons) annually.

Protecting India’s fishing villages: Q&A with ‘maptivist’ Saravanan
- Fishing communities across the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu are fighting to protect their traditional lands as the sea rises on one side and residential and industrial development encroaches on the others.
- To support these communities, a 35-year-old local fisherman is helping them create maps that document how they use their land.
- By creating their own maps, the communities are taking control of a tool that has always belonged to the powerful.
- Their maps allow them to speak the language of the state so they can resolve disputes and mount legal challenges against industries and government projects encroaching on their land and fishing grounds.

Drone 3D models help assess risk of turtle nesting beaches to sea level rise
- In a recent study, researchers took drone-based images to map the structure of sea turtle nesting beaches in northern Cyprus to determine their susceptibility to flooding from sea level rise.
- Automated drone flights with on-board cameras can record sequences of photos of the surface below, which can be merged in a process called photogrammetry to construct three-dimensional models of the survey area.
- The fast pace of innovation and versatility of drones can improve sea turtle conservation efforts through cheaper, more efficient monitoring.

High sea levels thousands of years ago aided island formation
- A recent study has found that high sea levels were critical to the formation of coral reef islands in the Indian Ocean thousands of years ago.
- The findings suggest that rising sea levels driven by climate change might not destroy all coral reef islands.
- However, the authors caution that the same higher-energy waves that help build these islands could also destroy the infrastructure on them that humans depend on.
- They also say that, for coral reef island formation to occur, the reef must be healthy to begin with — something that risks being negated by rising water acidity and temperature, both the result of climate change.

‘Not doing anything is no longer acceptable’: Q&A with Alice Thomas, climate refugee expert
- Mongabay spoke with Alice Thomas, an expert on climate refugees, about the growing impact of climate change on the refugee crisis worldwide.
- To date, no one has been able to claim asylum due to climate change because the official definition of a refugee does not allow for climate-induced migration.
- One of the least-understood aspects of climate migration, however, is that most migrants won’t be leaving their country, but will be moving within their national borders.
- Smarter, better policies could not only mitigate such migrations, but allow communities to adapt to ongoing changes due to climate change, Thomas says.

Here’s how much Antarctica’s melting ice is already contributing to sea level rise
- According to new research, ice-melt in Antarctica has caused global sea levels to rise by as much as 7.6 millimeters since 1992 — and about 40 percent of that, some 3 millimeters, came in just the past five years.
- That’s the finding of a major climate assessment called the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE), the results of which were published in the journal Nature last week.
- The findings of the IMBIE show that Antarctica is losing ice at a rate three times faster than it was just six years ago. Prior to 2012, Antarctica lost ice at a fairly steady rate of 76 billion metric tons annually, contributing about 0.2 millimeters to sea level rise. From 2012 to 2017, however, that rate of loss increased sharply to 219 billion metric tons of ice per year, contributing about 0.6 millimeters to rising sea levels.

Under the sea: Life is the bubbles in newly described deep-reef zone
- Scientists have recently described a layer of the deep ocean zone as the “rariphotic,” calling it home to an array of unidentified reef fish and a refuge for species from shallower waters drive out of their coral habitats by warming waters.
- Nearly 4,500 fishes were observed representing 71 species, nearly half of them new species, the researchers reported.
- The scientists are calling for more exploration into deeper marine ecosystems to better understand the deep-reef ecosystems and the impact of changes taking place in shallower zones.

A tale of two policies: climate change, Trump, and the U.S. military
- The U.S. military is preparing for a changing climate, but not in order to protect the Earth’s environment. The Pentagon’s first and foremost concern is to respond to global warming only in so far as that response enhances the military’s “operational effectiveness” – its ability to fight.
- Jim Mattis, President Trump’s own Secretary of Defense, has spoken out about the dangers of climate change, running contrary to the commander-in-chief whose recently announced National Security Strategy omitted it as a threat. Analysts expect the military to continue with its climate change adaptation and preparedness programs, despite the President’s denialism.
- However, even as the U.S. military takes steps to make itself more fuel and energy efficient, the Department of Defense remains the world’s largest institutional fossil fuel guzzler.
- Critics say the greening of the military is positive, but not if its growth comes at the expense of U.S. climate programs at EPA and the State Department. Big increases in the military’s size, pushed by Trump and Congress, are only going to make the Pentagon’s and the world’s carbon emissions worse – which could ultimately impact national security and “operational effectiveness.”

Scientists say some climate change impacts already unavoidable, but worst can still be averted
- Researchers at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology recently looked at how the Brahmaputra River’s annual flood cycles will be impacted by global warming and determined that the more the world warms, the more common and severe Brahmaputra floods will become.
- The study was carried out as part of the HELIX project, which involves more than 50 scientists from 16 institutions in 13 countries who have spent the past four years examining the potential impacts of global temperatures rising an average of 1.5°C, 2°C, 4°C, and 6°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
- According to HELIX researchers, global temperatures have already risen about 1°C, and at least another 0.5°C of warming is likely given the amount of greenhouse gases we’ve already pumped into Earth’s atmosphere. That means that, even if we do manage to rapidly decarbonize the global economy, some impacts of climate change are probably still unavoidable.

Photos: Where once were mangroves, Javan villages struggle to beat back the sea
- Mangunharjo, Bedono, Sawah Luhur — these are just some of the communities where clear-cutting mangrove forests has caused environmental disaster.
- Mangroves are removed to make way for shrimp and fish farms. But without the forests’ protection, coastal communities become dangerously vulnerable to erosion and flooding.
- In some places, residents have planted new mangroves, and managed to reclaim their home from the sea. But not everywhere.

A plan to save the Mekong Delta
- The Mekong Delta Plan is the product of several years’ work by Dutch and Vietnamese officials, supported by a platoon of experts from both nations.
- It’s a blueprint for dealing not only with the effects of climate change and upstream dams but also with certain shortsighted activities by the Vietnamese themselves.
- The region’s farmers as well as the relevant branches of government must be persuaded to buy into the plan.

Scientists puzzled by slowing of Atlantic conveyor belt, warn of abrupt climate change
- Limited ocean measurements have shown that “the Atlantic conveyor belt” is far more capricious than models have previously suggested.
- From 2009 to 2010, the average strength of key ocean currents in the North Atlantic dropped by about 30 percent, causing warmer waters to remain in the tropics rather than being carried northward.
- “The consequences included an unusually harsh European winter, a strong Atlantic Basin hurricane season, and — because a strong AMOC keeps water away from land — an extreme sea level rise of nearly 13 centimeters along the North American coast north of New York City,” according to Eric Hand, author of a Science article published this month.

Five Pacific islands have already disappeared due to sea level rise
- According to a study published last week in the journal Environmental Research Letters, five reef islands in the Solomon Islands have been completely lost to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and six more islands have suffered severe erosion.
- This is believed to be the first scientific evidence confirming the impacts climate change is having on Pacific islands.
- Many coastal communities have been forced to relocate to inland villages, often on an ad hoc basis with no support from local government or international climate funds, researchers said.

The week in environmental news – April 01, 2016
- A study recently published by Nature Climate Change, suggests that sea-level rise could disrupt the lives of more than 13 million people in the United States.
- Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration for failing to consider all of the environmental risks involved with the approval of GMO salmon.
- Scientists and environmental groups have asked the Obama administration to designate the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

New research sets doomsday for Indo-Pacific mangroves
- Mangroves are hugely valuable, both ecologically and economically, but many are highly threatened by clearing and rising sea levels.
- This new study finds some mangroves may be able to keep pace with rising seas because of influxes of sediment – but many more may not, and may become submerged in the coming decades.
- The the authors say it’s not too late to turn things around in some areas.

Carbon emissions from Indonesia’s peat fires exceed emissions from entire U.S. economy
- Greenhouse gas emissions from peat fires in Borneo and Sumatra are currently exceeding emissions from the entire U.S. economy, putting Indonesia on track to be one of the world’s largest carbon polluters this year.
- According to the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED) carbon emissions from Indonesia’s fires have just topped the CO2 equivalent of a billion tons.
- The findings bring into sharp focus the importance of ending business-as-usual approaches to land management in Indonesia if the world hopes to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Rising seas, sinking peat to swamp Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil

Forest set alight to clear land for oil palm in Riau’s peatlands June 3, 2015. Photos by Rhett Butler. With global sea levels going up at a rate of about 9 millimeters per year, the livelihoods of many coastal people in the world look increasingly threatened, especially in those parts of the world with limited […]
Artists, musicians, writers protest government plans for massive coal plant in the Sundarbans

Activists stage cultural protest against Rampal coal plant Landsat image of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. Photo by: NASA. Over the weekend, Bangladeshi artists performed plays, sang songs, and recited poetry all in a bid to protect the Sundarbans—the world’s biggest mangrove forest—from the threat of a massive coal plant. Construction is already […]
‘We will win this war’: Yeb Saño speaks out on global warming

Yeb Saño joins Greenpeace Arctic voyage to underline severity of climate change, has hope cooperative efforts can reduce impact Ahead of the upcoming Climate Change Summit to be held in New York, September 23, a Filipino man who last year made headlines around the world on the subject is speaking out. Philippine Climate Commissioner Naderev […]
Tipping point already reached? West Antarctica in slow-motion, unstoppable melt

Two hundred years from now, the planet could look very different. This week two landmark studies revealed that West Antarctica’s ice sheet is in a state of seemingly inevitable collapse linked to climate change. The slow-motion collapse would by itself eventually lead to a rise in global levels of 3.6-4.5 meters (12-15 feet), overrunning many […]
Extinction crisis: rising sea levels will submerge thousands of islands

Sea levels are rising at the highest rate in thousands of years, putting at risk low-lying islands around the world. In a new study published in Nature Conservation, researchers found that projected rises in sea level stand to swamp more than 10,000 islands, displacing human communities and wiping many unique species off the face of […]
Apocalypse now? Climate change already damaging agriculture, acidifying seas, and worsening extreme weather

It’s not just melting glaciers and bizarrely-early Springs anymore; climate change is impacting every facet of human civilization from our ability to grow enough crops to our ability to get along with each other, according to a new 2,300-page report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The massive report, from the Nobel Prize-winning […]
Top scientists propose ambitious plans to safeguard world from devastating climate change

World must aim for one degrees Celsius warming, instead of two say leading scientists. Two degrees is too much: that’s the conclusion of a landmark new paper by top economists and climatologists, including James Hansen formerly of NASA. The paper, appearing in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, argues that global society must aim for only […]
Bangladesh plans massive coal plant in world’s biggest mangrove forest

This is an expanded version of an article that ran on Yale e360 on October 29th, 2013: A Key Mangrove Forest Faces Major Threat from a Coal Plant. Bengal tiger in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. Photo by: Steve Winter/National Geographic and Panthera. On October 22nd Bangladeshi and Indian officials were supposed to hold a ceremony […]
Mesoamerican Reef needs more local support, says report

From massive hotel development through the agriculture industry, humans are destroying the second largest barrier reef in the world: the Mesoamerican Reef. Although global climate change and its effects on reefs via warming and acidification of coastal waters have made recent headlines, local human activities may destroy certain ecosystems before climate change has a chance […]
Drastic cuts to greenhouse gases could save hundreds of U.S. cities from watery grave

More than 1,700 American cities and towns – including Boston, New York, and Miami – are at greater risk from rising sea levels than previously feared, a new study has found. By 2100, the future of at least part of these 1,700 locations will be “locked in” by greenhouse gas emissions built up in the […]
Featured video: mangroves in El Salvador imperiled by climate change
A new short video by Friends of the Earth International highlights the impacts of climate change on mangroves in El Salvador, which local fishermen depend on for their livelihoods. Mangroves are hugely important ecosystems, acting as fish nurseries, storm buffers, and carbon storehouses, however they are vanishing worldwide due to a number of impacts including […]
Seabirds face big problems as sea levels rise

Migratory shorebird populations are at great risk from rising sea levels due to global climate change, warns a recent paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. These birds play an important role in the distribution of nutrients within wetland and coastal ecosystems, and their loss could have unknown consequences for the rest of the […]
Pacific islanders are the ‘victims of industrial countries unable to control their carbon dioxide emissions’

With islands and atolls scattered across the ocean, the small Pacific island states are among those most exposed to the effects of global warming: increasing acidity and rising sea level, more frequent natural disasters and damage to coral reefs. These micro-states, home to about 10 million people, are already paying for the environmental irresponsibility of […]
Top security official in Nigeria blames climate change for worsening insecurity

Climate change is in part to blame for rising conflict and crime in Nigeria, according to the president’s National Security Advisor, Colonel Sambo Dasuki. Speaking to the House Committee on Climate Change, Dasuki said that the rise of Boko Haram insurgents, a jihadist group in northern Nigeria, and worsening crime was linked to climate change […]
Scientists find the ‘missing heat’ of global warming 700 meters below the sea

Total ocean heat content shown in violet, while grey shows 0 to 300 meters and blue shows 300 to 700 meters. Vertical colored bars show volcanic eruptions that cooled the Earth for a short period and the 1997-98 El Nino event. Chart from Balmaseda et al. Critics of climate change often claim that warming has […]
U.S. Admiral: climate change, not North Korea, biggest threat in the Pacific

Rising sea levels may force inhabitants of Tarawa to abandon the island by the end of century. The island is home to over 45,000 people. Photo by: NASA. This week, Admiral Samuel J. Locklear II, the head of U.S. military forces in the Pacific, told The Boston Globe that climate change was the gravest threat […]
Climate change already pummeling U.S. according to government report

State-by-state temperature records for 2012. Last year was the warmest on record for the continental U.S. going back to the late 19th Century. Courtesy of NOAA. Climate change is on the march across the U.S. according to a new draft report written by U.S. government scientists with input from 240 experts. It documents increasing and […]
Temperature in West Antarctica rising twice as fast as previously thought, finds study

Top: a map of Antarctica showing the extent of surface melting in January 2005 observed from space. Bottom: Time series of mean January temperature at Byrd Station from 1957 to 2011 with the warm January 2005 highlighted with a yellow circle. The study by Bromwich and colleagues suggests that such exceptional melting events as in […]
Greenland and Antarctica ice melt accelerating, pushing sea levels higher

Over the course of several years, turbulent water overflow from a large melt lake carved this 60-foot deep canyon. Note the people for scale. Photo by: Ian Joughin. A massive team of scientists have used multiple methods to provide the best assessment yet of ice loss at the world’s poles, including Greenland and a number […]
Watery world: sea level rising 60 percent faster than predicted

Hurricane Sandy storm surge on the New Jersey shore. Photo by: Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/U.S. Air Force/New Jersey National Guard. Sea levels are rising 60 percent faster than Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated, according to a new study in the open access Environmental Research Letters. In addition to imperiling coastal regions […]
World Bank: 4 degrees Celsius warming would be miserable

Hurricane Sandy on October 25th in the Caribbean. Scientists say that climate change may have intensified Hurricane Sandy with its impact worsened by rising sea levels and increased evaporation from hotter marine waters. Recent studies predict that worsening climate change will bring more intense hurricanes. Photo by: NASA. A new report by the World Bank […]
Above the ocean: saving the world’s most threatened birds

This post is an expanded version of an article that appeared in August on Yale e360: Easing The Collateral Damage Fisheries Inflict on Seabirds.
Greenland suffers record melt

A supraglacial lake over the Greenland ice sheet in the Kangerlussuaq area at 1500 m elevation photographed on July 21, 2012. The lake feeds a stream that will deliver meltwater to the low elevations where it will either flow to the ocean on the surface or it will dive into the ice to contribute to […]
“Don’t be so silly” about climate change: Mohamed Nasheed on The Daily Show

Former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed speaking to reporters at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009. Photo by: Adam Welz. Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives, told the world on The Daily Show Monday night: “Just don’t be so silly” about climate change. Nasheed, who in February was forced to resign his presidency, […]
Black Swans and bottom-up environmental action

“History does not crawl, it jumps.”- Nassim Nicholas Taleb “This is an opportunity for greatness which has never been offered to any civilization… in human history before – to act as a generation to do the right thing – and if we fail to receive that opportunity to act on it then my feeling is […]
Photo of the day: Turquoise waters along the California coast

Pfeiffer Burns underwater park in Big Sur. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. A new study, commissioned by the California Department of Boating and Waterways and conducted by San Francisco State University (SFSU), finds that rising sea levels could take a substantial toll on one of California’s biggest attractions: its beaches. The study says that a […]
Environmental law landmark: island nation challenges faraway coal plant for climate impact

The far-flung Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), located in the Pacific Ocean, has created legal history by challenging the decision to extend the life of a massive coal plant in the Czech Republic. The over 600-island nation, Micronesia, argues that greenhouse gas emissions from the Czech plant are impacting the way of life in Micronesia, […]
Melting ice sheets largest contributor to rising sea levels

Researchers expected the shrinking ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland to eventually become the greatest contributor to the world’s rising sea levels; they just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. A new study in Geophysical Research Letters has found that ice sheets have overtaken melting glaciers and ice caps. “If present trends continue, sea […]
Greenland melt is the worst yet
Melting of the Greenland ice sheet was the most extreme yet in 2010, beating the previous melt record from 2007. This continues a long-term trend whereby melting in Greenland has increased on average 17,000 square kilometers every year since 1979. “This past melt season was exceptional, with melting in some areas stretching up to 50 […]
Earth could see 4 degrees Celsius warming in less than a lifetime

By the time children born this year reach 50 years old, the Earth could be 4 degrees Celsius warmer (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warns a new study as governments meet in Cancun for this year’s UN climate summit, which is not expected to produce an agreement. Last year governments pledged in the non-binding Copenhagen Accord to […]
Når en lillebitte ønation bringer et stort offer, vil resten af verden så følge trop?

Kiribati, et lille ø-rige bestående af 33 stillehavsatoler, forudsiges at være blandt de første lande, der bliver oversvømmet pga. stigende vandstande. Ikke desto mindre kom landet for nyligt med et forbløffende løfte: Landet lukkede over 150.000 kvadratmil af sit fisketerritorium, på trods af, at fiskeri er en beskæftigelse, som udgør næsten halvdelen af regeringens skatteindtægter. […]
Ketika Sebuah Pulau Mungil Lakukan Pengorbanan Besar, Akankah Seluruh Dunia Melakukan yang Sama?

Kiribati, sebuah negara kecil yang terdiri atas 33 pulau karang Pasifik, diramalkan menjadi negara pertama yang terendam akibat kenaikan ketinggian laut. Bagaimanapun, negara ini baru-baru saja membuat sebuah komitmen yang luar biasa: mereka menutup seluas 150.000 mil persegi wilayahnya untuk mencari ikan, sebuah aktivitas yang terhitung hampir separuh dari pendapatan pajak pemerintah. Apa yang menggerakkan […]
As a tiny island nation makes a big sacrifice, will the rest of the world follow suit?

Kiribati, a small nation consisting of 33 Pacific island atolls, is forecast to be among the first countries swamped by rising sea levels. Nevertheless, the country recently made an astounding commitment: it closed over 150,000 square miles of its territory to fishing, an activity that accounts for nearly half the government’s tax revenue. What moved […]
Coral reefs doomed by climate change

The world’s coral reefs are in great danger from dual threats of rising temperatures and ocean acidification, Charlie Veron, Former Chief Scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, told scientists attending the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation meeting in Sanur, Bali. Tracing the geological history of coral reefs over hundreds of millions of […]
‘Very dramatic’ changes in Greenland: ice loss spreads north

Over the past ten years scientists have measured increasing ice loss along southern Greenland. Now a new study in Geophysical Research Letters shows that the ice loss has spread north with likely consequences for global sea level rise. Collecting data from NASA’s satellite Gravity and Recovery Climate Experiment, known as GRACE, and GPS measurements of […]
Climate change melting southern Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has found that every ice front in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula—the coldest part—has been retreating overall for the past sixty years with the greatest changes visible since 1990. “This research is part of a larger ongoing USGS project that is for the first time studying the entire […]
Catastrophic sea level rise could occur with only two degrees Celsius warming

Allowing the climate to rise by just two degrees Celsius—the target most industrialized nations are currently discussing in Copenhagen—may still lead to a catastrophic sea level rise of six to nine meters, according to a new study in Nature. While this rise in sea levels would take hundreds of years to fully occur, inaction this […]
Photos: ten beloved species threatened by global warming

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released a list of ten species that are likely to be among the hardest hit by climate change, including beloved species such as the leatherback sea turtle, the koala, the emperor penguin, the clownfish, and the beluga whale. The timing of the list coincides with […]
Sea levels set to rise more than expected due to ‘deeply surprising’ Greenland melt
A new study by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program estimates that the sea will rise by 0.5 to 1.5 meters by 2100, threatening coastal cities and flooding island nations. This is double the predicted rise estimated by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, which did not incorporate sea level rise […]
US think-tank: islands affected by global warming should wait for trickle-down money

Poor island nations threatened by rising seas should wait for money through trickle-down economics, according to the founder of the US-based Competitive Enterprise Institute. The free-market think tank believes that curbing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change will be too costly to the US and global economies. “If the focus in this century is […]
Islands and African nations present toughest treaty yet to combat global warming
Led by the small island state of Tuvalu, developing nations particularly vulnerable to climate change have put forward the most ambitious plan yet to mitigate climate change. Their move has split them from usual partners, such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, who are concerned about the economic consequences of the proposal. Tuvalu—an […]
Bangladesh tops list of most vulnerable countries to climate change
According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Bangladesh is the most vulnerable nation to extreme weather events, which many scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change. From 1990 to 2008, Bangladesh has lost 8,241 lives on average every year due to natural disasters. In addition, rising sea levels also threaten millions of Bangladeshis. The […]
Nations vulnerable to global warming present demands: carbon levels below 350ppm and billions in aid

A group of nations especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change have released a declaration calling for developed countries to keep CO2 emission below 350 parts per million (ppm) and to give 1.5 percent of their gross domestic product to aid developing nations in adapting to the myriad impacts of climate change. “Anthropogenic climate […]
Satellite lasers show melting of Greenland, Antarctic worse than expected

Researchers examining 43 million satellite measurements of Antarctica’s thinning ice sheets and 7 million of Greenland’s, show that the ice is melting faster than expected. Published in Nature the research is the most comprehensive picture to date of the melting glaciers, allowing scientists to better predict how sea levels may rise. Researchers say that the […]
Sea levels set to rise as Arctic warming replaces millennia long natural cooling cycle

According to a new study published in Science the Arctic should be cooling, and in fact has been cooling for millennia. But beginning in 1900 Arctic summer temperatures began rising until the mid-1990s when the cooling trend was completely overcome. Researchers fear that this sudden up-tick in temperatures could lead to rising sea levels threatening […]
Political heat rising on climate change, but does the United States feel it?

Cutting greenhouse gases now would save world from worst global warming scenarios

If nations worked together to produce large cuts in greenhouse gases, the world would be saved from global warming’s worst-case-scenarios, according to a new study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The study found that, although temperatures are set to rise this century, cutting greenhouse gases by 70 percent the globe could avoid […]
Rise in sea levels due to global warming could imperil New York City

Climate change doubles coastal erosion in Alaska over 5-year period

Gravitational effects may boost sea level rise by 25% along U.S. coast

Many global warming impacts may be irreversible in next 1000 years

Observed sea level rise, ice melt far outpaces projections

Greenland melting much faster than last year

Saline agriculture may be the future of farming

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Scientists: cut emissions now to avoid climate tipping point

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Climate change will impact U.S. economy

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Melting glaciers and ice cap will drive sea level rise

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Hundreds of millions at risk from rising sea levels

Hundreds of millions at risk from rising sea levels Hundreds of millions at risk from rising sea levels mongabay.com March 27, 2007 Hundreds of millions are at risk from cyclones and rising seas resulting from climate change reports a new study by researchers from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in the UK, […]
Melting Antarctic glaciers could trigger sea level rise

Melting Antarctic glaciers could trigger sea level rise Melting Antarctic glaciers could trigger sea level rise mongabay.com March 15, 2007 Perspective view of the Helheim Glacier at different times over the past 3 years. Between 2004 and 2005, the glacier front had retreated 3 miles inland and its ice discharge was accelerating. However, since then […]
Sea levels rising at fastest rate on record

Sea levels rising at fastest rate on record Sea levels rising at fastest rate on record Scientists criticize climate report on rising sea level projections mongabay.com February 1, 2007 A group of prominent scientists — include NASA’s James E. Hansen — criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate report due to be released […]
Sea levels may rise higher than predicted due to global warming

Sea levels may rise higher than predicted due to global warming Sea levels may rise higher than predicted due to global warming mongabay.com December 14, 2006 Global warming could cause sea levels to rise by four-and-a-half feet (140 cm) according to new projections published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist […]
Melting glaciers, not ice sheets, primarily responsible for rising sea levels

Melting glaciers, not ice sheets, primarily responsible for rising sea levels Melting glaciers, not ice sheets, primarily responsible for rising sea levels mongabay.com December 11, 2006 A new study says that melting glaciers are contributing more to the global rise in sea levels than melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Of the estimated 650 […]
UN says man’s global warming impact lower than thought

UN says man’s global warming impact lower than thought UN says man’s global warming impact lower than thought mongabay.com December 11, 2006 When it is released in February 2007, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will report that man’s impact on global climate is less than previously believed according to a story published […]
Global warming could put New York City at hurricane, flood risk

Global warming could put New York City at hurricane, flood risk Global warming could put New York City at hurricane, flood risk mongabay.com October 25, 2006 NASA researchers are investigating the potential impact of climate change on New York City using computer models to simulate future climates and sea level rise. Their studies, to date, […]
Rising sea levels could flood Gulf bays in Texas, Louisiana
Rising sea levels could flood Gulf bays in Texas, Louisiana Rising sea levels could flood Gulf bays in Texas, Louisiana mongabay.com October 23, 2006 Rising sea levels and increased sedimentation threaten to flood bays and delta areas in U.S Gulf Coast regions in Texas and Louisiana warned a Rice University researcher. John Anderson, professor of […]
Report Warns of Coastal Flooding and Rising Sea Levels in California
Report Warns of Coastal Flooding and Rising Sea Levels in California Report Warns of Coastal Flooding and Rising Sea Levels in California University of California, San Diego August 14, 2006 The California Climate Action Team has released a summary report of 17 scientific studies examining the potential impacts of climate change on California. Today, officials […]
Snow in Antarctic not falling to counter sea level rise

Snow in Antarctic not falling to counter sea level rise Snow in Antarctic not falling to counter sea level rise National Science Foundation August 10, 2006 The most precise record of Antarctic snowfall ever generated shows there has been no real increase in precipitation over the southernmost continent in the past half-century, even though most […]
Rising seas may be killing Florida palms
Rising seas may be killing Florida palms Rising seas may be killing Florida palms University of Florida August 8, 2006 Palm trees on Florida’s west coast appear to be dying more rapidly than in previous years because of sea level rise tied to global warming. University of Florida scientists who began monitoring a large coastal […]
New York at high risk of flooding from climate change

New York at high risk of flooding from climate change New York at high risk of flooding from climate change The Earth Institute at Columbia University May 17, 2006 For many, sea-level rise is a remote and distant threat faced by people like the residents of the Tuvalu Islands in the South Pacific, where the […]
Sea levels to rise 20 feet if ice melting trend continues

Sea levels to rise 20 feet if ice melting trend continues Sea levels to rise 20 feet if ice melting trend continues Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com March 23, 2006 New research says if current warming trends continue, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are on track to melt sooner than previously thought, leading to a […]
Global warming may cause 11-inch rise in sea levels by 2100

Climate change may cause 11-inch rise in sea levels by 2100 Climate change may cause 11-inch rise in sea levels by 2100 Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com January 26, 2006 Global warming will cause sea levels to rise up to 34 centimeters (11 inches) by the end of the century, causing increased flooding, worsening the impact […]
Rising ocean causes permanent evacuation of Pacific island community

Rising ocean causes permanent evacuation of Pacific island community Rising ocean causes permanent evacuation of Pacific island community U.N. Environment Programme release December 6, 2005 Montreal, 6 December 2005 – A small community living in the Pacfic island chain of Vanuatu has become one of, if not the first, to be formally moved out of […]
Ocean levels rising twice as fast

Ocean levels rising twice as fast Ocean levels rising twice as fast Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, news release November 25, 2005 Global ocean levels are rising twice as fast today as they were 150 years ago according to research presented in Science by a team of researchers. Using core samples of sediments […]
Rising seas and disappearing islands will produce environmental refugees

Rising seas, disappearing islands to cause environmental refugees in a warming world Rising seas, disappearing islands to cause environmental refugees in a warming world Story by Michael Perry REUTERS NEWS SERVICE November 24, 2005 SYDNEY – The Carteret Islands are almost invisible on a map of the South Pacific, but the horseshoe scattering of atolls […]
Climate changing faster than ever — sea levels may rise 1 foot by 2100

Climate changing faster than ever — sea levels may rise 30 cm by 2100 Climate changing faster than ever — sea levels may rise 1 foot by 2100 Max Planck Institute for Meteorology release October 1, 2005 Hurricane Katrina clouds. Courtesy of NOAA. According to the calculations of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for […]

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