GreenWatch

B. McPherson Will whale poop save the world? New research from the University of East Anglia paints a grim picture for animals if ocean temperatures continue to rise. The world is heating up. Currently the average global temperature is about one degree Fahrenheit warmer than when records were starting to be kept. It doesn’t seem like much but nature’s systems are very finely tuned and a tiny change can have big repercussions. Much of the Earth’s atmospheric oxygen is produced by one celled plants called plankton(phytoplankton). While they are releasing oxygen into the air, they are also grabbing carbon dioxide and incorporating it into their bodies. While many of these tiny creatures are eaten as part of the food chain, many simply die and fall to the ocean deeps. Their carbon then becomes sequestered. As the temperature of the oceans increase, the phytoplankton becomes less efficient at removing CO 2 from the air and releasing O 2 for you, me and our animals to use...

B. McPherson The eight nation Arctic Council will reconvene on May 15 th to discuss security, sustainability, environmental protection and development. The nations which have coast lines on the Arctic Ocean formed the Council in 1998 in the face of the warming Arctic and threats and opportunities that an ice-free ocean would present. In addition to the eight nations with coastlines on the Arctic – Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark(Greenland) – there are six nonvoting members who represent indigenous people and their interests. Observer status has been granted to eight nations. 14 other nations have applied to sit as nonvoting observers at this conference. Some of the nations applying for status are puzzling at first glance, but the expected natural resources that lie under the ice have some already rumbling that they deserve a share of those riches – natural gas and oil. This year China, Japan, S.Korea, India, Italy, Singapore and the EU have all...

B. McPherson Increased risk of disease in animals as well as people is expected in a warmer world. Dengue fever has hit Spain with a whallop. Nearly a thousand people have contracted the mosquito borne disease. Dengue is also known as breakbone fever because of the pain it causes and can develop into a hemorrhagic fever as well. Currently the Portuguese island archipelago of Madiera is reporting more than a thousand cases. Malaria is an old scourge that is making a comeback in many countries and new inroads in others. In the US, Texas, Florida and Hawaii have all reported cases, some from returned travellers to tropical countries, but not all. The SE of the US is a potential site for the re-establishment of this disease. Portugal, France, Croatia and Greece have all reported outbreaks in recent years.  More than a million people die around the world each year from it. Chikungunya Fever is another, formerly tropical disease that has made its way to Europe and the Am...

B. McPherson                                                 This short film explains very well the greenhouse effect on Earth. While the world is focussing on the production and release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, other gasses are quietly adding to the catastrophe. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and nitrous oxide is 300 times more efficient at keeping the Earth warmed. While much of the Earth’s atmosphere is made up of the element nitrogen, it is the nitrogen in reactive compounds that is starting to worry atmospheric scientists. The Green Revolution was made possible by the industrial production of chemical fertilizers. It, combined with antibiotics has allowed the Earth’s population of humans to swell from 1.6 billion at the beginning of the 20 th century to seven billion this year. Nitrogen is a key nutrient in plant growth. Unfor...