They’ve discovered that erosion caused by glaciation during ice ages can, in the right circumstances, wear down mountains faster than plate tectonics can build them.
Month: November 2015
Over 200 Penguin Chicks Abandoned in South Africa
As the holiday season gets underway, a far less joyful annual tradition is beginning in South Africa. Each year from October through January, South Africa experiences a mass abandonment of African penguin chicks on its shores. This phenomenon has been recorded since the early 1900s and aligns with the birds yearly moult which is the process adults penguin go through to replace their feathers with a new waterproof set. During the month long moulting process, the adults are unable to hunt for fish or feed their young and as a result, those chicks that have yet to fledge are abandoned and face starvation.
How to Speak Like a Climate Negotiator
Since global climate negotiations began in the 1990s, United Nations delegates have accumulated an idiosyncratic cache of climate diplomacy gobbledygook. Euphemisms have been adopted to mollify specific nations. Acronyms are based on tongue-twisting verbiage from formal agreements.
Australia slams Japan’s decision to resume Antarctic whaling
Japan cannot unilaterally decide to start whaling in Antarctica again against the advice of scientists, says the environment minister, Greg Hunt. Japan is set to ignore an international court of justice ruling that last year prompted Tokyo to cancel the bulk of its whaling for the 2014-15 season.
It’s #TimeToChoose Climate-Friendly Food
Indeed, in the midst of a growing – and very encouraging – global conversation on how to address the common threat of climate change, far too little attention has been paid at the highest levels to the impact of our diets and farming practices on planet-warming emissions.
Research reveals the reality of runaway ice loss in Antarctica
Satellite observations show that parts of the Antarctic ice sheet are currently thinning in response to a warming ocean. Of particular concern is the potential for ‘marine ice sheet instability’, where an initial retreat of ice margins into deepening valleys could lead to continued, unstable ice loss.
Anonymous collective hackers bring down Iceland sites in whaling protest
Activist hackers from the Anonymous collective have claimed responsibility for bringing down five government websites in Iceland in a protest against whale-hunting by the North Atlantic nation. The sites, which included the prime minister’s official website and that of the environment and interior ministries, went offline on Friday and remained down until about midday on Saturday.
Climate change already forcing world’s birds towards poles, says report
The world’s birds have begun flocking towards the earth’s north and south poles and upwards to higher ground as climate change begins to transform their habitats, a new report has found.
El Niño rains triggers more soy fungus in Brazil
The number of Asian soybean rust fungus cases in Brazil has nearly doubled from the previous year due to heavy rainfall in the south triggered by El Niño, according to industry data.
Pope: It Would Be ‘Catastrophic’ If ‘Special Interests’ Derailed Climate Talks
In a speech to the African U.N. headquarters on Thursday, Francis said the Paris negotiations mark a crucial step in developing a new energy system that “corrects the dysfunctions and distortions” of the current model of development and fights poverty.
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