Scientists know that if Antarctica's ice sheets and glaciers collapse, sea levels could rise 5 metres. But the idea that it will take 200 years to happen is based on a linear model, writes Dady Cherry. In fact, the process is exponential - and could take place 'within decades'.
… Imagine an island, with mountains, peaks, ridges, and valleys. Imagine further … of the perimeter that is beneath the sea. The peaks are higher above sea level than on any …
Climate change shows its true face in extreme events, writes Kerry Emanuel: the storm surge with a 12 inch head start thanks to rising sea levels, propelled by a wind that's 20 mph faster, dropping an extra inch of rain beyond the 'normal' storm. Hurricane Katrina and Typhoon Haiyan are sending us a clear message: the world must get ready for bigger and badder, fast.
… seafloor, and they typically arrive near the peak of the storm's fury. As with Katrina and … the 100-year storm will have a landfalling peak wind speed of about 170 mph. But Haiyan, … data also show that storms are reaching their peak at higher latitudes , consistent with …
Until demand for fish is balanced with sustainable methods of production, write Ruth Thurstan & Callum Roberts, governments should consider the social and environmental implications of promoting greater fish consumption. Worldwide, wild fish supplies per person have been declining ever since 1970.
… were seriously depleted. UK fish landings peaked 101 years ago Government records show that landings of fish by UK vessels peaked in 1913 at 1.27m tonnes and declined …
We are most certainly witnessing the onset of a rapid pulse of sea level rise, writes Harold R Wanless. And low lying areas - like southeast Florida - will be the first to know about it. So how come they're building there like there's no tomorrow?
… picture of response to climate change. At the peak of the last ice age 18,000 years ago sea …
The UK's coastal waters are producing little but tiddlers and scallops, writes Jason Hall-Spencer - and to blame is the endless gouging of the seabed by trawlers and dredgers - even in 'marine reserves'. We must allow our marine ecosystems to rebuild!
… tonnes in 1920 to 50,924 tonnes in 1970, peaking at 177,793 tonnes in 1983 and …
In a blunt rebuke to Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott, US President Obama stated that 'every nation has the responsibility to do its part' on climate change, writes Michelle Grattan - in a clear reference to the G20 host's backsliding on climate promises.
… deal with China which set out a timetable for peaking its emissions. Obama said the reason …
An unimaginably large volume of plastic debris is reaching the world's oceans every year, write Britta Denise Hardesty & Chris Wilcox - and it's set for a ten-fold increase over the next decade, adding to the already terrible toll on marine life from turtles to seals, sea birds and fish. The solution must be to give waste plastic value - if we can find a way.
… With our planet still 85 years away from 'peak waste' - and with plastic production …
A study of 120 ice sheet collapses shows that 68% went from initial change to maximum retreat within 400 years - and that once triggered, the process and the associated sea level rise kept accelerating for hundreds of years. We may face a 1m sea level rise by 2100, writes Eelco Rohling - and much more in centuries to come.
… of ice on the planet at the time. During a peak ice age, Earth held almost three times as …
The oceans cover almost three-quarters of the planet’s surface, and represent the last great wilderness. Yet they are hugely impacted by human activities. Could privatisation - as proposed by the World Bank - be the answer?
… by Stone Age peoples. The world’s fish catch peaked in the 1980s; even from the 1960s on it … and others. None has really delivered. Speaking as an ecologist, the answer is simple …
Fish from the high seas are too valuable to be eaten, as they lessen climate change through the carbon they carry down to the ocean depths. The carbon benefits are worth $150 billion every year - almost ten times the value of high seas fish landings.
… supply of 'wild' fish caught by net or line peaked nearly two decades ago. The World …
Radiation can be carried long distances by marine currents, concentrated in sediments, and carried in sea spray 16km or more inland, writes Tim Deere-Jones. So Fukushima poses a hazard to coastal populations and any who eat produce from their farms. So what are the Japanese Government and IAEA doing? Ignoring the problem, and failing to gather data.
… inundation events driven by storm surge, peak high tides and severe storms such as …