Debate around climate change is based on the idea that Earth is a purely physical and chemical entity, writes Lee Klinger. But what if Earth is a living system? Then things could turn out very differently - and we understand how, we need to develop a new Gaian science of planetary physiology.
… processes and feedbacks, the influence of biology is minor compared to the physics and … meltwaters plays a significant role in the biology of sea ice . Thus, the conditions …
The return of blue shell mussels to the Artic after a 2,000 year absence, plus the arrival of mackerel are just two signs of a changing climate as JAMES SIMPSON discovers when he joins the scientists and fishermen on a research vessel off the coast of Svalbard
… WITNESS: Marine biology at the top of the world James Simpson …
For years the 'market mantra' has been to save forests by selling the carbon they embody, writes Chris Lang, harnessing the profit motive for the benefit of trees and climate. But it never worked, and now even former fans are admitting that REDD is just another failed conservation fad. So what next? How about asking local communities to manage their forests as commons?
… as commons? A new paper in Conservation Biology starts with the following sentence: … builds on a 2013 editorial in Conservation Biology that identifies REDD as a conservation …
Are we risking serious problems if action to tackle deforestation assumes that a tonne of tree carbon is the same as a tonne of fossil carbon?
All carbon is not born equal Eric Marx | 17th November 2009 News Climate Change Natural World Redd Deforestation Forests Trees oiltree.jpg Are we risking serious problems if action to tackle …
When we speak of WMD, we usually think of weapons - nuclear, biological, or chemical - that are delivered in a moment, writes Tom Engelhardt. But what of climate change: a WMD on a long fuse, already lit and smoking ...
Climate change as a weapon of mass destruction Tom Engelhardt | 1st June 2014 News Climate Change WMD USA Corporations Fossil Fuels Law intense-smokestacks-cut.jpg When we speak of WMD, we usually …
A survey of threatened Arctic mammals highlights melting sea ice as a prime threat to eleven keystone species, writes Tim Radford - meaning that efforts to conserve them may be doomed to failure unless we also tackle the causes of climate change.
… Seattle, reports in the journal Conservation Biology that marine mammals are … L. Laidre et al is published in Conservation Biology . Tim Radford writes for Climate News …
The world we inhabit is a miracle of billions of years of evolution as life has unfolded in its full beauty and diversity, writes Grant A. Mincy. But human activities - deforestation, mining, urbanisation, pollution, climate change - are tearing away at the functioning fabric of the living biosphere. A mass extinction is under way, and it must be halted, and reversed. But how?
… expert in the field of conservation biology, has published a landmark study in the … environmental groups deploy conservation biology, natural resource management, … in Knoxville, Tennessee where he teaches both Biology and Geology at area colleges. Support …
Increased atmospheric CO2 is doing much more than warming the Earth, writes Tony Juniper - it's also acidifying oceans, something that is already having major impacts on ocean ecology in the Southern Ocean and the North Atlantic. Likely effects: more CO2 in the atmosphere, more jellyfish.
… into the seawater. MacDonald points out that biology is more difficult to predict than …
With global warming putting pressure on animals and biodiversity in the tropics, is it time we had a new poster child for climate change, asks William Laurance
… president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, he has received …
Packing 4.5 billion years of history into 416 pages is a truly Herculean task, but it's one, says Hannah Corr, that Douglas Palmer has managed to do in style
… Earth Climate Change Reviews Natural World Biology Species Wildlife Geology Books …
Scientific studies show that as carbon dioxide acidifies the oceans, sharks are less able to detect prey, and their chances of survival are reduced, writes Tim Radford - with serious consequences for ocean ecology.
… US, and colleagues report in Global Change Biology that changes in the pH value of water …
The IUCN has mysteriously placed Homo sapiens outside its systems of thinking when defining the criteria for Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable Species, writes Willemijn Heideman: our collective inability to tackle our existential crises makes our survival on this planet a highly uncertain prospect.
… You probably remember the experiments from biology class, where you would grow cultures …
Growing coffee is both a point of pride and a significant economic driver for Colombia but a changing climate is now threatening the harvest. FOREST RAY reports on the new challenges facing growers from that country
… selected for. This leads to a cycle known in biology as the Red Queen Race, in which …
Species may be able to adapt to gradual increases in temperature preventing the collapse of biological communities in the face of global climate change
Study of spiders shows species may be able to adapt to global warming William McLennan | 10th March 2011 News Natural World Spiders Climate Change Global Warming Spiders Ecosystems pisaurina-mira.jpg …
A key NAFTA body has recommended a formal investigation into Canada's refusal to protect its polar bears despite the grave threats posed to them by climate change.
NAFTA: Investigate Canada's failure to protect Polar Bears The Ecologist | 20th November 2013 News Canada Climate Change US Natural World A key NAFTA body has recommended a formal investigation into …
You can turn it into everything from fuel to plastics. But will the surge in demand for sugar end up having a serious environmental impact?
Will sugar be the oil of the 21st century? Matilda Lee | 1st December 2009 News Investigations Sugarcane Brazil Agro-Ecological Zoning President Lula Friends Of The Earth Bioplastics Biofuels Carbon …
Yellowstone's Grizzly bears are facing multiple threats, writes Anna Taylor - from proposals to remove their protection under the US Endangered Species Act, and shortages of key foods caused by climate change.
… issues and new discoveries in conservation biology. She posts regular blogs on … and the Amazon. She has a BSc in Conservation Biology and a Masters in Ecology and Environmental Biology. Delisting would leave grizzly bears …
The Koch Brothers, who famously fund climate change denial groups in the USA, and other right-wing causes, are the joint winners of a dubious accolade.
Koch Brothers win 2013 Rubber Dodo Award The Ecologist | 12th November 2013 News Climate Change Politics Endangered Species The Koch Brothers, who famously fund climate change denial groups in the …
Religious values are often consistent with conservation efforts. So it’s not surprising that a variety of religious organisations and conservationists are working together to help mitigate the devastating effects of global climate change, writes CURTIS ABRAHAM
… this year, the Religion and Conservation Biology working group of the Society for Conservation Biology established the inaugural Assisi Award … 28th International Congress for Conservation Biology, Cartagena, Columbia. The award …
New research shows that biochar in soil strongly stimulates plant growth, more than doubling yields. However the extra growth may come at the cost of reduced plant defences against pests.
… are published in the journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy . The scientists, led by …
Limiting climate change is just the start of what we need to do to forestall a runaway cascade of species extinctions, write Bill Laurance & Paul Ehrlich. We must also reverse the destruction and fragmentation of key wildlife habitats, constrain our over-consumption of natural resources, stabilise human numbers - and elect leaders determined to prioritise these issues.
… debt Everything we know about conservation biology tells us that species whose … Ehrlich is President, Center for Conservation Biology, Bing Professor of Population Studies, …
An intensive study of the flora of one meadow in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado over 39 years reveals a consistent long term pattern of change: first flowers 6 days per decade earlier, last flowers 3 days per decades later.
Rockies flora signal warming times Tim Radford | 20th March 2014 News USA Natural World Climate Change alpine_tundra_copper_mountain_colorado.png An intensive study of the flora of one meadow in the …