AP - Offshore drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. said Monday that Chief Executive Officer Robert L. Long will retire in the first quarter of next year, and will be replaced by current President and Chief Operating Officer Steven L. Newman.

AFP - More than 800 young environmental activists from 110 countries on Monday began a meeting described as the biggest-ever youth gathering on climate change.

AFP - UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday of "incalculable" human suffering if the world fails to reach a deal at crucial climate change talks this December.

AP - Police clashed with residents of two neighboring villages in northern China where nearly all the children were poisoned by lead apparently from a nearby smelter, reports said Monday, the latest sign of growing anger over China's rampant industrial pollution.

LiveScience.com - Air pollution in China has cut the amount of light rainfall by 23 percent over the past 50 years, a new study finds.

AP - Peruvian police say gunmen robbed 12 foreigners on an ecological tourism trip to the Manu nature reserve on a popular forest route.

AFP - China will start cutting its carbon emissions by 2050, its top climate change policymaker was quoted as saying in the Financial Times Saturday, the first time the nation has given a timeframe.

AP - The Chinese government fired the head of its nuclear power program after launching an investigation into allegations of corruption, state media said.

AP - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday outlined a vision for managing the nation's forests that placed a high priority on restoration to protect water resources and combat climate change.

AP - The reclassification of nearly 1 million acres of land around the Grand Canyon to prevent new mining claims comes with a fundamental change in how the U.S. Forest Service does business with mining companies.

The Pew Center offers a concise explanation of the distribution of emission allowances under the House-passed Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill. The new policy memo includes graphs that illustrate the extent to which allowances are auctioned or freely allocated under the bill and the policy objectives achieved by their distribution. 

A new Pew Center brief examines two policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector:

1) An economy-wide cap-and-trade program that includes transportation fuels under the cap, and

2) A low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), which would set carbon intensity targets for the entire range of transportation fuels.

 

See also:

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change and Entergy Corporation launched a new Web site – www.entergy.com/makeanimpact – that is designed to help visitors take action in reducing their carbon footprints. The Make an Impact Web site offers customized tools to better manage your individual impact on the environment, reduce energy usage, and become part of the solution to global climate change.

Related Press Release

 

Business Action: Alstom and CME Group become the newest members of the Pew Center’s Business Environmental Leadership Council. (July 14, 2009)

Eileen Claussen testifies about competitiveness impacts of U.S. climate policy before the Senate Finance Committee. (July 8, 2009) 

Video now available from the Senate Briefing on Carbon Market Design & Oversight in a U.S. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Cap-and-Trade System held on June 26, 2009.

The Pew Center urges YES vote for Waxman-Markey Clean Energy Bill (H.R. 2454). Read the letter here.

Eight Myths: A new policy memo sets the record straight on the Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill. (June 2009)

A new report examines three challenges to deployment of wind and solar power and policy options to overcome them.

 

A new policy memo sets the record straight on the Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill.

Source: UN News Centre - Only “limited progress” has been made at the most recent United Nations climate change talks – which are expected to culminate later this year in Copenhagen with a new pact on slashing greenhouse gas emissions – a senior United Nations official said today.

Source: Malaysia Star - Chow Kok Kee’s sudden passing is a blow to the climate change community. He was an outstanding chairman, he mobilised parties on the Kyoto Protocol, and was architect of the technology framework. We will miss him as a delegate and a friend.

Source: Economic Times - Thwarting yet another attempt by the developed world to force countries to accept legally binding emission caps, India has expressed its objections to linking trade with climate change.

Source: Bloomberg - Slight progress was made at United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn to bridge gaps between commitments industrialized and developing nations are prepared to make, U.S. lead negotiator Jonathan Pershing said.

Source: Carbonpositive - China will aim to ensure its greenhouse gas emissions stop rising by 2050, the Financial Times reports a senior climate official as saying.

Source: Deccan Herald - The UN climate change negotiations in Bonn, trying to bridge a gap between developed and developing world to thrash out a global emission reduction treaty, ended on Friday with ''limited progress.''

Source: CNN - You're probably not thinking about what you would like for Christmas yet. But ask any environmentalist for their ideal gift and you'll get a version of this answer: a binding agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December that is strong enough to match the science.

Source: Financial Times -

Source: Financial Times - Scotland-based companies and the government at Holyrood hope proximity to the rapidly-depleting oil and gas fields of the North Sea will put the country at the forefront of a potentially lucrative new industry - storing carbon dioxide.

Source: Malta Independent - With Parliament due to begin discussing the climate change mitigation report, which will eventually lead to a climate change adaptation strategy for the country, in September following the summer recess, The Malta Independent on Sunday looks at some recent findings on the toll the phenomenon will have on Malta.

Spain is making use of its 300 sunny days per year by powering thousands of homes with Europe's first commercial solar-thermal tower plant – and running it doesn't generate any greenhouse gases.

France has finally settled on a place to put the nuclear waste from all of its power plants, even though the country is still uncomfortable with its dependence on nuclear reactors, which provide 80 percent of the nation's electricity.

In Egypt, where antiquities have stood for millennia, climate change is posing new threats to an ancient country and its people. As temperatures climb and shorelines change, environmentalists worry about displaced populations, rising poverty and increased soil salinity in the fertile Nile Delta.

In one of the city's poorest areas, residents who recycle trash by hand and a handful of environmental activists are slowly improving their community. Their efforts serve as an unlikely model for environmental change in an age of global warming.

Planners hope to transform an empty stretch of desert into Masdar, a city of 50,000, within a decade. They aim for it to be powered entirely by renewable energy, to reuse water and to recycle even human waste.

In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi sits on nearly 10 percent of the world's oil reserves. So it may be surprising to hear that climate leaders there have launched a major initiative in sustainability. Masdar, a demonstration city of 50,000 inhabitants, will have a zero carbon footprint.

A short distance from the new $30 million Al-Azhar Park in Cairo, Egypt, young environmentalists are installing solar hot-water heaters in poor neighborhoods. They're overcoming setbacks — and bridging religious divides — to bring change in a time of environmental upheaval.

NPR's Science Editor David Malakoff joins Liane Hansen in the studio to reflect not only on the three climate change stories reported from Egypt, but also on NPR's Climate Connections series as a whole.

One Anglican cleric thinks churches can do more to help the Earth, and he's trying to convince ministries around the world to start preaching a change in the way people live.

Young Indians who grew up in Britain, Australia and America are working elbow-to-elbow on India's environmental projects. The collaboration is not without challenges, but along the way the participants are building an identity that crosses cultural borders.

Arctic Observing Network Report Published. [posted 29 April 2008)

(Effects of Climate Change on Energy Production and Use in the United States) available at GCRIO online catalog. (posted 10 April 2008)

A summary report (dtd 11 March 2008) of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). (posted 12 March 2008)

Proceedings of the Forest Service National Earth Sciences Conference, San Diego, CA, 18-22 October 2004. (posted March 2008)

Press release (dtd 22 February 2008) from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Global Warming Adding to Pollution and Over-Harvesting Impacts on the World's Key Fishing Grounds Says New UNEP - "In Dead Water" - Report. (posted March 03 2008)

Report (dtd 2008) from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and partners, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ReefBase, and Reef Check. (link posted 17 Jan 2008)

(dtd Dec 2007). A new publication from the UNFCCC has been released highlighting the concerns and needs of developing countries in adapting to the effects of climate change. (link posted 5 Feb 2008)

Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary available from GCRIO Online Catalog. (posted 16 January 2008)

Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary available from GCRIO Online Catalog. (posted 16 January 2008)

Research (dtd Jan 2008) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (link posted 15 Jan 2008)

The planet’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous high mark established in 1998 according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

NOAA will join a multi-agency joint expedition to collect and share data useful to both countries in defining the full extent of the Arctic continental shelf.

According to its August Atlantic hurricane season outlook, NOAA now expects a near- to below-normal Atlantic hurricane season, as the calming effects of El Niño continue to develop. But scientists say the season’s quiet start does not guarantee quiet times ahead.

NOAA has selected the Port of Newport, Ore., to be the new home of the agency’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific beginning in 2011 pending the signing of a 20-year lease.

NOAA-supported scientists found the size of this year’s Gulf of Mexico dead zone to be smaller than forecasted, measuring 3,000 square miles. However the dead zone, which is usually limited to water just above the sea floor, was severe where it did occur, extending closer to the water surface than in most years.

NOAA and the Exploratorium announced a five-year partnership to bring cutting edge climate and ocean science to the public.

The combined average global land and ocean surface temperatures for June 2009 ranked the second warmest since worldwide records began in 1880, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

During a session on tsunami forecasting during an international meeting in Russia on July 15, scientists saw NOAA’s Internet-based tsunami research forecast system in action.

NOAA scientists have now demonstrated that tsunamis in the open ocean can change sea surface texture in a way that can be measured by satellite-borne radars. The finding could help save lives through improved detection and forecasting of tsunami intensity and direction at the ocean surface.

NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco today announced more than $7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to restore habitat projects throughout coastal Oregon. 

Kenya has lost an average of 100 lions in each of the last 7 years because of climate change, habitat destruction, disease and conflict with people, the Kenya Wildlife Service said.

What if it's too late to head off climate change? What if the race against time has already been lost?

A novel about what happens when global warming goes too far.

With the conclusions of recent reviews, climate engineering is gathering steam as a way to cool the planet.

The U.S. needs a climate bill that engages the whole economy and forces technological change.

A growing number of policy makers say that the world’s rising temperatures, surging seas and melting glaciers are a direct threat to the national interest.

While Congress was right to restore funding for hydrogen fuel research that may not deliver results soon, it was a mistake to slash funding for other promising new energy technologies.

If carbon allowances are distributed free instead of auctioned, the tax offset for consumers evaporates and effective tax rates will rise.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is searching for ways to guide, without prescribing action.

Russia has stayed out of view amid the global hunt for an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But that could change.

A study out of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks has shown that Alaska's oceans are becoming more acidic, which could have an adverse effect on the king crab (remember The Deadliest Catch show on Discovery) and salmon fisheries. Ocean samples taken by chemical oceanographer Jeremy Mathis have shown that ocean acidification is likely more severe and happening more rapidly in Alaska compared to tropical waters. The ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the air. As the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide, seawater becomes more acidic. Scientists estimate that the ocean is 25 percent more acidic today than it was 300 years ago, according to the EurekAlert release. Ocean acidification makes it more difficult to build shells, and in some cases the water can become acidic enough to break down existing shells of species such as the king crab.

Headline Earth's Katie Fehlinger discusses some of the latest research on two short-lived pollutants, which contribute to warming. Scientists are looking at ways to remove black carbon and lower tropospheric ozone, which if successful, would be a much quicker solution to global warming rather than taking on carbon dioxide emissions. Click here to watch the video.

Global ocean surface temperatures for July 2009 were the warmest on record for all the months of July going back to 1880, according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). For the record, El Nino conditions (warming of the equatorial Pacific surface waters) were starting during the month of July, but it was still a weak El Nino. According to the NCDC, global ocean temperatures ran 0.59 C or 1.06 F above the 20th century average and broke the old record, which was set back in 1998. The plot of July global temperature anomalies for land/ocean, ocean and land. As discussed in an earlier blog, the satellite derived lower troposphere temperature anomalies for the globe were also warm compared top normal....... UAH.......+0.42 C or 2nd warmest July since 1979. RSS........+0.39 C or 3rd warmest July since 1979. -------------- The U.S. was a different story as a whole............. The continental United States was 0.8 F below normal for July, making it the 27th coolest during the 115 year record. It was also the 40th wettest. In Alaska, July 2009 ended up the 2nd warmest July since 1918.

NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) has determined that July of 2009 was the second warmest July globally, since records were kept going back well over a hundred years. The global land-ocean temperature anomaly for July 2009 was +.60 Celsius or +1.08 F. Only July of 1998 (a strong el nino year) was warmer. The image below shows the July 2009 anomalies across the globe (warm is red, cool is blue). Clearly the reds and oranges far outweigh the blues on this map. Here is a look at the same data from poleward....... I also wanted to show the overall global temperature trends since 2000 and 2005 for just the month of July....... Temperature trend between July 2000 and July 2009. Reds and oranges indicate a warming trend, blues indicate a cooling trend. The graph below shows where the greatest warming and cooling (latitude) took place during the July 2000-2009 period. Here are the same two images, but this time using the July 2005 to July 2009 time period. Note: Many more regions have seen a cooling trend compared to the longer July 2000-2009 period.

Well known environmental commentator and skeptic Bjorn Lomborg and his Copenhagen Consensus Group has a new proposal that will help reduce global warming. The proposal involves the construction of 1,900 ships, which will each be capable of scooping up water and producing vapor. The ensuing clouds would then reflect sunlight back into space and dampen temperatures on Earth, according to The Copenhagen Post Online article. I converted the estimated cost (45 billion Kroner) and came up with 7.5 billion U.S. dollars. You can read more about it here.

The Arctic Sea Ice extent for July 2009 was the 3rd lowest for that month going back to 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). July 2007 and 2006 had lower sea ice extent. The NSIDC states......A strong high-pressure system, similar to the atmospheric pattern that dominated the summer of 2007, brought warm winds and clear skies to the western Arctic, promoting ice melt. The average pace of ice loss during July 2009 was nearly identical to that of July 2007. Ice loss sped up during the third week of July, and slowed again during the last few days of the month. ----------------- Down in the Antarctic, where winter is still in full force, the current sea ice area is running very close to average. Keep in mind, down in the Antarctic, the sea ice anomalies usually do not stray too far from normal, unlike the Arctic. A look at the current Southern Hemispheric sea ice area and the anomaly. Image courtesy of the Polar Research Group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Three glaciers, that are located in three different climatic regions of the United States, have experienced a sharper decline in their cumulative net mass balance over the past 15 to 20 years. The cumulative net balance is the total loss or gain of glacier mass since the beginning of the study period. The three glaciers, which are the South Cascade Glacier in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State; Wolverine Glacier on the Kenai Peninsula near Anchorage, Alaska; and Gulkana Glacier in the interior of Alaska have lost mass since the United States Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring them more than 4 decades ago, but the rate of decline has steadily increased over the past two decades. According to the USGS report, the mass balance of the South Cascade and Wolvernine glaciers correlated well with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) during the first few decades of the study period, but weakened over the last two decades as global temperatures increased. The USGS makes this concluding statement.......... The accelerating loss of mass, the weakening correlation with the PDO, and increasing mass turnover likely are the result of changes to warmer and (or) drier climate conditions that are affecting all three regions. The climate changes could be overwhelming the previously observed responses of the maritime glaciers to periodic shifts in ocean conditions, such as are represented by the PDO.

The lower tropospheric temperature data for the month of July has just been released by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This temperature data is measured by microwave sounding units on board satellites. This type of measurement started back in 1979, so we are only dealing with a 30-year record. The map below shows the July 2009 temperature anomalies for the lower troposphere. The reds indicate warmer anomalies, while the dark blues and purples show cooler anomalies. Image courtesy Remote Sensing Systems. Overall, in terms of the whole globe, July was a warm month compared to the 20-year average. I know that is hard to believe, especially if you live from the Midwest and Northeast U.S. up through a large part of central and eastern Canada. Here are the RSS global temperature anomaly data in degrees Kelvin...... +0.392 K (this makes July 2009 the warmest month compared to normal since the +0.409 K back in March 2007) Globally, July 2009 was the second warmest July this decade behind July 2005. How about the continental U.S.? Despite the heat along the West Coast, especially the Pacific Northwest), and over the southern Plains, the U.S. was cool compared to the 20-year average, thanks to the large area of negative anomalies over the northeastern quarter of the nation. For July 2009, the anomaly was -0.622 K, which makes this past July the coolest month compared to average since the -0.898 back in March of 2008. July 2009 was also the 3rd coolest July behind 1992 and 1993, based on this data set since 1979. Hemispheric Northern Hemisphere +0.266 K Southern Hemisphere +0.523 K -------------------- At the time of this post, the official July temperature data from UAH and the NCDC was not available. ------------------- Acknowledgement MSU/AMSU data are produced by Remote Sensing Systems and sponsored by the NOAA Climate and Global Change Program. Data are available at www.remss.com.

A particular type of pavement coating is being promoted to help reduce the urban heat island effect........ Nations Technology Trust Ltd., which has historically specialized in structured project finance risk mitigation solutions utilizing major international bank financing backed by investment grade insurance, has agreed to represent and market a Polymer Composite Micro-Overlay (PCMO E-Krete) developed by Polycon for introduction into global markets. What's so special about that? The PCMO E-Krete is a pavement coating that was originally developed for resurfacing, restoring, and extending the service life of asphalt pavement and has been used in military applications for over 10 years. It is lighter in color than asphalt, and has been tested and used by the Army Corps of Engineers for roads and airports, according to the prnewswire release. This product will be available in a palate of pre-mixed designer colors which can be added to the batch mix at the paving job site. Why the different colors? According to Steven Chu, Nobel prize-winning physicist and now Energy Secretary, changing the color of roofs, roads and pavements to reflect more sunlight and heat could play a big part in containing global warming. In fact, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California (of which Professor Chu was director) has calculated that changing surface colors in 100 of the world's largest cities could save the equivalent of 44 billion tons of carbon dioxide -- about as much as global carbon emissions are expected to rise over the next decade. This type of "cool pavement" would also improve water quality through reduced toxicity and heating of runoff, and reduce noise of the city streets and freeways, which is never a bad thing.

A Scientific American 60-second podcast questions how we can still have such a wide variety of outlooks in regards to our future climate, despite us having access to the same information (data). Mark Maslin, director of the Environment Institute at the University College London and John Adams proposed an interesting theory that says that human opinion can be explained by how we respond to risk and uncertainty. In terms of global warming opinion, the pair present a list of four characteristic beliefs of nature by combining four possible myths of nature with four myths of human nature. From this framework, Maslin says we can tell which person is likely to believe which view of nature. 1. Nature is benign. 2. Nature is ephemeral. 3. Nature is tolerant. 4.Nature is capricious. You should read the descriptions of each belief right here from the Scientific American article and then decide where you put yourself. I would love to take a poll on this one. I suspect a majority of our regular commentators would go with #1, but I might be wrong.

Hurricane Bill to Strengthen, Ana Headed for Eastern Gulf

Hurricane Bill to Strengthen, Ana Headed for Eastern Gulf

Claudette Pushes Inland as a Tropical Rainstorm

Claudette Now Just a Depression, But Still Pouring Rain

Claudette Pummels Florida Panhandle

Atlantic Turns Active with Tropical Storms Ana and Bill

Tropical Storm Ana, Tropical Depression Three Form in Atlantic

Watching Four Areas in the Tropical Atlantic

Discover more weather feeds at the AccuWeather.com RSS Center

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Keiji Tachikawa signed an agreement defining the terms of cooperation between the agencies on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.

Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students are participating in a six-week NASA Airborne Science field experience designed to immerse them in NASA's Earth Science research.

NASA has selected Fibertek Inc. of Herndon, Va., for a Laser Systems Engineering Services contract.

A NASA panel that investigated the unsuccessful Feb. 24 launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, has completed its report.

A small NASA aircraft completed its first successful science flight Thursday as part of an expedition to study the receding Arctic sea ice and improve understanding of its life cycle and the long-term stability of the Arctic ice cover.

NASA has awarded a contract to the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics for the development of the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS.

NASA is funding the development of a prototype system to provide aircraft with updates about severe storms and turbulence as they fly across remote ocean regions.

Arctic sea ice thinned dramatically between the winters of 2004 and 2008, with thin seasonal ice replacing thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record.

NASA and Japan released a new digital topographic map of Earth Monday that covers more of our planet than ever before.

Mint, thyme and other spices offer a new alternative in organic pest-control.

Air pollution wafting in from overseas kills 6,600 people in North America every year.

Wobbles in the Earth's tilt caused warming episodes in between prehistoric ice ages.

Mosquitoes brought in by tourists are creating an "ecological disaster" in the Galapagos.

French winemakers are using satellite imagery to improve their grape harvests.

U.N. negotiators aim to forge a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Over 350 Himalayan species have been discovered -- and their habitats are under threat.

Larger, faster mosquitoes created in sewage can spread dangerous diseases.

As the world heats up, wildfires will become common enough to affect the air we breathe.

Climate experts aren't impressed by the effect "cash for clunkers" on emissions.

Spanish pearl mussels don’t usually make it into their 30s. The same species bathing in Russia, however, can live for nearly 200 years. [More]

President Obama opened high-level U.S.-China meetings in Washington today by underscoring the need for enhanced cooperation between the countries -- the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters -- on low-carbon energy sources.

"Let's be frank: Neither of us profits from a growing dependence on foreign oil, nor can we spare our people from the ravages of climate change unless we cooperate," Obama said. "Common sense calls upon us to act in concert."

[More]

[ Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast. ]

At first glance it seems like good news:  This summer the size of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone is less than half its forecasted size, measuring about 3,000 square miles, according to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium .

[More]

[ The following is an exact transcript of this podcast. ]

Forget the meek. If the Earth keeps getting warmer, a recent study shows that it’s the small that are gonna come out on top--at least in the world’s oceans. With global temperatures on the rise, scientists are trying to figure out what a warmer earth will mean for worldwide ecosystems. In aquatic environments it seems two responses have already come into play. First, species are seeking higher altitudes and latitudes so they can stay in their comfort zones. Second, organisms are shifting key events in their life cycles, like when algae bloom or fish spawn. [More]

Clouds aren't as easy to track deep into the past as carbon dioxide. But like CO2, clouds can play an important role in climate change: Either they can trap heat in the atmosphere, magnifying to the greenhouse effect, or they can reflect sunlight back into space, cooling the planet. [More]

Dear EarthTalk: Don’t some scientists point to sunspots and solar wind as having more impact on climate change than human industrial activity? -- David Noss, California, MD

[More]

Building a railway across the unstable soil of the Tibetan Plateau was an improbable endeavor from the start, but an army of Chinese government engineers did it anyway. [More]

At yesterday’s climate hearings, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California looked down at the black man testifying about the impact of climate legislation on business and asked: “Colored boy, what are you doing with this sophisticated report?”

Or at least that’s the way Harry Alford, CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, recounted it in a phone interview with Breitbart.tv’s B-Cast .  “It was condescending,” he said, “like being in Mississippi in 1945.... She owes America an apology.”  

[More]

Climate models of the past, present and future seem to be in no short supply these days. But a new and dynamic picture of climate change appears in this week's Science , one that could affect the way future conditions are predicted. [More]

Pressure is mounting on President Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats to show significant progress on global warming legislation in time for a major U.N. climate summit in December.

"The Danes, the Chinese, the Europeans, the Australians, the Japanese--everybody is almost singularly focused on what is the United States going to bring to the table," said Jake Schmidt, international policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council .

[More]

Physicists have combed through data from satellites and ocean buoys and found evidence that in the last 50 years, the net flow of heat into and out of the oceans has changed direction three times. These shifts in the balance of heat absorbed from the sun and radiated from the oceans correlate well with past anomalies that have been associated with abrupt shifts in the Earth's climate, say the researchers.

When it comes to using climate models to assess the causes of the increased amount of moisture in the atmosphere, it doesn't much matter if one model is better than the other. They all come to the same conclusion: Humans are warming the planet, and this warming is increasing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. Scientists now have found that model quality does not affect the ability to identify human effects on atmospheric water vapor.

Massive burning of forests for agriculture thousands of years ago may have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide enough to alter global climate and usher in a warming trend that continues today, according to a new study in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

Heavier rainstorms lie in our future. That's the clear conclusion of a new study on the impact that global climate change will have on precipitation patterns.

Scientists have found that methane emission by plants could be a bigger problem in global warming than previously thought. They say an uncounted-for source of greenhouse gas could promote global warming.

The warming of an Arctic current over the last 30 years has triggered the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from methane hydrate stored in the sediment beneath the seabed. Scientists have found that more than 250 plumes of bubbles of methane gas are rising from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin in the Arctic.

The thinning of a gigantic glacier in Antarctica is accelerating, scientists report. The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, which is around twice the size of Scotland, is losing ice four times as fast as it was a decade years ago. The research also reveals that ice thinning is now occurring much further inland.

The Baltic Sea winter climate has changed more in the last 500 years than previously thought. Research in Sweden shows that our part of the world has experienced periods of both milder and colder winters, and the transitions between these climate types seem to have been abrupt.

A rare April freeze in 2007 provided researchers with further evidence that climate change could have negative effects on stream and forest ecosystems.

The same things that make Alaska's marine waters among the most productive in the world may also make them the most vulnerable to ocean acidification. According to new findings, Alaska's oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, which could damage Alaska's king crab and salmon fisheries.

Walking outdoors in the fall, the splendidly colorful leaves adorning the trees are a delight to the eye. In Europe these autumn leaves are mostly yellow, while the United States and East Asia boast lustrous red foliage. But why is it that there are such differences in autumnal hues around the world? A new theory proposes taking a step 35 million years back to solve the color mystery.

Massive burning of forests for agriculture thousands of years ago may have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide enough to alter global climate and usher in a warming trend that continues today, according to a new study in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

The warming of an Arctic current over the last 30 years has triggered the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from methane hydrate stored in the sediment beneath the seabed. Scientists have found that more than 250 plumes of bubbles of methane gas are rising from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin in the Arctic.

A group of scientists have discovered the specific mutations involved in evolutionary adaptation to different environments.

The thinning of a gigantic glacier in Antarctica is accelerating, scientists report. The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, which is around twice the size of Scotland, is losing ice four times as fast as it was a decade years ago. The research also reveals that ice thinning is now occurring much further inland.

The Baltic Sea winter climate has changed more in the last 500 years than previously thought. Research in Sweden shows that our part of the world has experienced periods of both milder and colder winters, and the transitions between these climate types seem to have been abrupt.

The Cheddar Gorge in Somerset was one of the first sites to be inhabited by humans when they returned to Britain near the end of the last Ice Age. According to new radio carbon dating humans were living in Gough's Cave 14,700 years ago.

There is mounting evidence that human activity is changing the world's oceans in profound and damaging ways. Man-made carbon emissions "are affecting marine biological processes from genes to ecosystems over scales from rock pools to ocean basins, impacting ecosystem services and threatening human food security," warn experts.

A new study takes scientists a step further in their quest to understand how Antarctica's vast glaciers will contribute to future sea-level rise. They describe how a new 3-D map created from radar measurements reveals features in the landscape beneath a vast river of ice, 10 times wider than the Rhine, in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Located over 12 000 kilometers from the Alps, the Kerguelen Islands are home to the largest French glacier, the Cook ice cap (which had an area of around 500 km2 in 1963). By combining historical information with recent satellite data, glaciologists have observed increasingly rapid shrinkage of the ice. Over the last 40 years, the Cook ice cap has thinned by around 1.5 meters per year, its area has decreased by 20%, and retreat has been twice as rapid since 1991.

Changes in ocean chemistry — a consequence of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human industrial activity — could cause U.S. shellfish revenues to drop significantly in the next 50 years, according to a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Most glaciers in Washington and Alaska are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate.

USGS scientist Edward Josberger discusses research from the past 50 years to measure changes in the mass (length and thickness) of three glaciers in Alaska and Washington. These are the longest such records in North America and among the longest in the world.

It's Pollinator Week 2009, and we're talking to USGS scientist Sam Droege about the tremendous importance of native bees and pollinators in general, and how you can lend a hand to these tiny titans.

Like eating fresh fruits and vegetables? Think agriculture is important to our society? Then you'll want to pay attention to this CoreCast.

Climate change is happening across the entire Nation and is projected to continue in the future with widespread impacts.

USGS Chief Scientist for Global Change Research Virginia Burkett fills us in on a new report that provides the most current climate change projections, outlines potential impacts, and provides recommendations for future actions.

A roundup of the April and May 2009 hazard-related events around the world, with some newsworthy tidbits.

Man-made moon dirt, or regolith, has been created by the USGS to help NASA prepare for upcoming moon explorations. USGS scientist Steve Wilson talks about this "mission critical" project.

Images are available in the Details/Transcript section as well as on the USGS Multimedia Gallery at: http://gallery.usgs.gov/collections/Astrogeology

Late on May 17, 2009, a magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck in the Greater Los Angeles area.

We spoke with Ken Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey to fill us in on the details.

USGS Geophysicist John Power discusses the recent flare up in earthquake activity at Mt. Redoubt and the likelihood of another eruption in the near future.

Climate change is increasing the mobility of sand dunes in the Southwest, posing threats to roadways, infrastructure, human health, cultural practices of the Navajo Nation, and much more. Vegetation on dunes serves as a stabilizer, but as the climate warms and precipitation decreases, there is less vegetation growth.

USGS scientist Margaret Hiza and intern Leanna Begay discuss their research to understand the dunes' plant diversity and what changes are occurring. 

A roundup of the March 2009 hazard-related events around the world, with some newsworthy tidbits.

Early this morning, April 06, 2009, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck near Rome, Italy.

We spoke with Stuart Sipkin, a geophysicist at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center to fill us in on the details.

YELLOWSTONE NP AND WASHINGTON, D.C.--Residents and critical infrastructure in the nation’s six highest-risk volcanic areas—including the Yellowstone region-- will benefit from increased monitoring and analysis as a result of Recovery Act funds being channeled into volcano monitoring, Secretary Salazar announced today.

Satellite is Now Stabilized and the Cause is Being Investigated

Landsat 5 tumbled out of control and power was at a critical level in the early morning of August 13.

The cause for this anomaly is currently unknown and being investigated.

The spacecraft has been stabilized after the USGS Landsat Flight Operations Team initiated recovery operations. Power is still at a critical level, and the extent of damage is yet to be determined. Imaging operations are suspended until further notice.

“Landsat 5 has proven to be a remarkable success and has given the science community important information on land features of the planet,” said USGS Landsat Program manager Kristi Kline. “It was launched in 1984 and designed to last 3 years with a possible extension to five years. Incredibly it is still a valuable resource and by early 2009, it had completed over 129,000 orbits and acquired over 700,000 individual scenes.”

Landsat 5 provided data demonstrating alterations over Chernobyl region after the nuclear power plant eruption, de-forestation of tropical rain forests, drought and flooding in the Mississippi River basin, construction of the Three Gorges dam in China, shrinking of the Aral Sea, Northern Wisconsin after a tornado pass, the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and countless forest and wildfire outbreaks.

For more information about Landsat 5 and others in the Landsat series, visit the Landsat Missions Web site. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A report on long-term glacier measurements released today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar shows that glaciers are dramatically changing in mass, length and thickness as a result of climate change. Over the past 50 years, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have monitored the melting of Alaska’s Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers and Washington’s South Cascade Glacier, yielding the longest such records in North America.

“This report we are releasing today is great example of the science and data our Department has gathered over the past 50 years,” said Secretary Salazar.  “This information is helpful in tackling the effects of climate change and it is exactly the kind of science we need to invest in to measure and mitigate the dangerous impacts of climate change.”

Glacier shrinkage has global impacts, including sea level rise that threatens low-lying and coastal communities. Smaller glaciers will also result in a decrease of water runoff, and impacts are especially important during the dry late summer when other water sources are limited.

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The Cold Facts About Melting Glaciers

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“There is no doubt that most mountain glaciers are shrinking worldwide in response to a warming climate. Measuring changes in glacier mass provides direct insight to the link between glaciers and climate, ultimately helping predict glacier response to anticipated climate conditions,” said USGS scientist Edward Josberger.

The three glaciers monitored in this study are known as benchmark glaciers. They are widely spaced, represent different climate regimes, and can be used to understand the thousands of other glaciers in nearby regions.

USGS scientists study glacier behavior during different seasons, including summer melt and winter snow accumulation, as well as their response to both short and long term climate variations. This allows for more detailed insight regarding how and when the climate is changing.

“In addition to these three glaciers, more than 99 percent of America’s thousands of large glaciers have long documented records of an overall shrinkage as climate warms,” said USGS scientist Bruce Molnia. “Many people are surprised to learn that a few glaciers are thickening and advancing. These glaciers are responding to unusual and unique local conditions, including having large, high elevation areas where snow accumulates. Except for these anomalous few , most of America’s glaciers are shrinking and these exceptions emphasize how natural variability is an inherent part of a complex Earth system.”

You can view a video of South Cascade Glacier aerial photos from 1928 to 2006 at the USGS Washington Water Science Center Web site.

For more information on this study of glacier change in Washington and Alaska, visit Fact Sheet 2009-3046, Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Change Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA.

More information about the USGS Benchmark Glacier Program can be found online. 

By washing your hands after digging in beach sand, you could greatly reduce your risk of ingesting bacteria that could make you sick. In new research, scientists have determined that, although beach sand is a potential source of bacteria and viruses, hand rinsing may effectively reduce exposure to microbes that cause gastrointestinal illnesses. 

“Our mothers were right! Cleaning our hands before eating really works, especially after handling sand at the beach,” said Dr. Richard Whitman, the lead author of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. “Simply rinsing hands may help reduce risk, but a good scrubbing is the best way to avoid illness.” 

For this study, scientists measured how many E. coli bacteria could be transferred to people’s hands when they dug in sand. They analyzed sand from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Using past findings on illness rates, scientists found that if individuals were to ingest all of the sand and the associated biological community retained on their fingertip, 11 individuals in 1000 would develop symptoms of gastrointestinal illness.  Ingestion of all material on the entire hand would result in 33 of 1000 individuals developing gastrointestinal illness.

In a further laboratory experiment, USGS scientists determined that submerging one’s hands four times in clean water removed more than 99% of the E. coli and associated viruses from the hands. 

In recent years, USGS scientists have discovered that concentrations of E. coli bacteria in beach sand are often much higher than those in beach water.  Follow-up research at beaches around the nation by many scientists has resulted in similar findings, although the amount of bacteria in sand varies depending on the beach.  Although beach water is monitored for E. coli as mandated in the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act 2000), beach sand is not currently monitored for contamination.

Recent analysis of seven beaches across the nation by the University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that beachgoers digging in sand were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach compared to those not digging in sand. The association with these illnesses was even stronger for individuals who reported being partially covered up in sand.  Because children played in the sand more frequently and were more likely to get sand in their mouths, they were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach.

“The excess illnesses we observed among those exposed to sand generally consisted of mild gastrointestinal symptoms, but it is a good idea to be sure to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after digging or playing in the sand,” said Chris Heaney, lead author of the UNC study.

E. coli is an indicator of recent sewage contamination and if it is present, pathogens harmful to human health are also likely present.  The origin of these bacteria is often unknown. They can persist throughout the swimming season, remaining a potential contamination source to beach visitors. 

Results of these studies highlight the need to intensify efforts to determine sources of microbial contamination to beaches and associated risk of playing in beach sand.

American and Canadian scientists are setting sail this summer to map the Arctic seafloor and gather data to help define the outer limits of the continental shelf.

Each country may exercise sovereign rights over their extended continental shelf’s natural resources of the seabed and subsoil. These rights and authorities include control over minerals, petroleum and sedentary organisms such as clams, crabs and coral.

The extended continental shelf is that part of a country’s continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore, and its outer limits can be defined according to criteria set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Data collected during this mission will help determine where these criteria are met for the United States and Canada in the Arctic Ocean.

Louis S. St. Laurent (left) and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (right) in the Arctic - Photo Credit USGS.

USGS scientists Ellyn Montgomery and William Danforth discuss incoming data. Photo credit USGS, taken in 2008.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic. Photo Credit USGS.

Louis S. St. Laurent finding a path through the Arctic sea ice - Photo Credit USGS.

The United States and Canada are working collaboratively from August 7–September 16, 2009, using two icebreakers. The U.S. Geological Survey will work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of New Hampshire on U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy to collect data primarily on seafloor depths and morphology. The Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada will lead research on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent and gather information primarily on the thickness and characteristics of sub-bottom sediments.

“The Arctic Ocean is an area of great scientific interest, possible economic development and potential resource conservation,” said USGS scientist Deborah Hutchinson, who will be aboard the Canadian ship as a U.S. liaison. “Both countries benefit from this two-ship expedition by sharing technical expertise and data. Research in these remote areas of the Arctic Ocean is expensive, logistically difficult and sometimes dangerous.”

This mission will emphasize the region north of Alaska onto Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge and eastwards toward the Canada Archipelago. This is the second year the United States and Canada have collaborated in extended continental shelf data collection in the Arctic. Both countries plan to work together again in 2010.

Research is coordinated by the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Task Force, a government-wide group headed by the U.S. Department of State. Participants in this Task Force include the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, National Science Foundation, Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Executive Office of the President, Minerals Management Service, and the Arctic Research Commission.

For additional information, including details on the 2009 cruise and photographs and video from past missions, visit the Extended Continental Shelf Project Web site.

You will also have access to journals and photographs during this mission and from last year’s expedition at the Arctic Chronicles.

The upcoming program follows a joint 2008 U.S.-Canada survey described at Sound Waves monthly newsletter.

You can also learn more about Canada’s Extended Continental Shelf Web site.

Information on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea can be found online.

When Alaska’s Kasatochi Volcano erupted on Aug. 7, 2008, it virtually sterilized Kasatochi Island, covering the small Aleutian island with a layer of ash and other volcanic material several meters thick.

The eruption also provided a rare research opportunity: the chance to see how an ecosystem develops from the very first species to colonize the island.

Next week, a team of researchers organized by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will visit Kasatochi to look for signs of life on the island, almost exactly one year after the catastrophic eruption. The interdisciplinary research team will spend four days (Aug. 10-13) surveying the island, using the USFWS research vessel Tiglax as an operational base for the on-site research.

Kasatochi volcano, Alaska, after its eruption on Aug. 7, 2008. Picture taken at 17,000 feet above seal level. Picture courtesy of Jerry Morris.

Summit crater and crater lake of Kasatochi volcano, August 6, 2008, the day before the eruption. The crater shown here is about 4,000 feet in diameter. Photo by Chris Ford, USFWS.

“Since volcanism plays such a big role in shaping the Aleutians, we hope to end up with a better understanding of how disturbances such as volcanic eruptions shape the ecology of these islands,” says Tony DeGange, a USGS scientist at the Alaska Science Center and one of the research team coordinators. “There hasn't been a study quite like this done in Alaska where scientists are taking such a comprehensive ecological view of the impact of an eruption and its resulting response and recovery.”

Researchers expect that insects and birds will be the first animal species that recolonize the island. In preparation for the August survey, biologists set up monitoring and sampling equipment on Kasatochi earlier this summer, including insect traps for Derek Sikes, curator of insects at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. Sikes visited Kasatochi in June 2008 for a one-day survey of the insect fauna on the island before the eruption. He will be part of the research team that visits the island next week.

“Work in similar systems shows that flying- and wind-borne insects and spiders form a fairly constant rain during the summer months,” says Sikes, adding that some of these species survive by preying or scavenging on other arthropods. “We’ll be looking for spiders, which are all predators, and ground beetles, which are mostly predators, as well as other species associated with bird droppings or vertebrate carrion.”

An opportunity like this is extremely rare, according to Sikes. The most comparable example is the emergence of Surtsey Island off the coast of Iceland in 1963, when undersea volcanic eruptions reached the surface. That island was declared a United Nations World Heritage Site for its role as a pristine natural laboratory. Even today, access to Surtsey remains restricted to a small number of researchers each year who study the species that have colonized the island over the past 40 years.

According to the USFWS, the Kasatochi study is unique in that it takes place in an isolated marine ecosystem for which there are pre-eruption ecological data for the island and its nearby marine waters, including data from the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge dating from the mid-1990s and from Sikes’ 2008 field work on the island.

This summer’s work is funded by the North Pacific Research Board, USGS and USFWS. According to DeGange, it is expected to be the first phase of a long-term ecological study.

Want to join U.S. and Canadian scientists as they map the Arctic seafloor and gather data to help define the outer limits of the continental shelf? Discover how in this edition of USGS Science Picks. You can also find out about large trees declining in Yosemite and join USGS scientists at the Ecological Society of America Conference. In addition, discover USGS science related to Apollo and the moon, as well as fish, frogs, sheep, songbirds, grizzly bears, lizards and more! If you would like to receive Science Picks via e-mail, would like to change the recipient or no longer want to receive it, please e-mail .

August Highlights:

• Expedition to Map the Arctic Seafloor
• Large Trees Declining in Yosemite
• Climate a Hot Topic at Ecological Society of America Conference
• USGS Helping Astronauts Explore Space
• Protecting Deltas: Visualizing Climate and Development Impacts
• The Battle: Fish, Estrogen and Survival
• Are Invasive Fish on a Crash Diet?
• Endangered Frog Takes a Leap Forward
• Guzzlers Satisfy Summer Thirst of Desert Bighorn Sheep
• Honey Mesquite: A Migrant Songbird's Cue to Good Eats
• Hair of the Grizzly Bear
• Horn-ucopia of Coast Horned Lizards
• Digging for Minerals and Resources Online
• Of Farmers and Frogs: Good News for Mississippi Conservation!

Note to reporters and editors: The 58th annual meeting of the Wildlife Disease Association (WDA) will be August 2-7, 2009, in Blaine, Wash. The theme is Wildlife Health from Land to Sea: Impacts of a Changing World. This release is based on USGS research being presented at the conference. Also see a full press release on emerging diseases in fish.

 

Get Your Shots! Eating Ouchless Vaccines Protects Prairie Dogs in the Lab Against Plague: A new oral vaccine against sylvatic plague is showing significant promise in the laboratory as a way to protect prairie dogs and may eventually protect endangered black-footed ferrets who now get the disease by eating infected prairie dogs, according to results by a USGS researcher at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center. Sylvatic plague is an infectious bacterial disease usually transmitted from animal to animal by fleas. This exotic disease is usually deadly for black-footed ferrets and their primary prey, prairie dogs, resulting in local extinctions or regional population reductions. Along with other wild rodents, prairie dogs are also considered a significant reservoir of plague for other wildlife, domestic animals, and people in the western U.S.  Prevention of plague in wild rodents by immunization could reduce outbreaks of the disease in animals, thereby reducing the risk for human exposure to the disease.

USGS scientists offered plague vaccine in food for voluntary consumption by 16 black-tailed prairie dogs. They also injected a plague vaccine into 12 other prairie dogs and then studied how much protection against plague the two kinds of vaccines offered. USGS researcher Dr. Tonie Rocke, the lead researcher of the project, found that the prairie dogs that “ate” their vaccine were better protected from the disease than the ones who were injected with a vaccine.  These results, said Rocke, demonstrate that oral immunization of prairie dogs against plague provides significant protection from the disease, at least in the laboratory. Black-footed ferrets, of course, are one of the rarest mammals in North America. An oral vaccine, said Rocke, could be put into bait and delivered into the field without having to handle any animals, a process that is time-consuming, costly, and sometimes stressful for the animals.  The same bacterium that affects ferrets, prairie dogs, and other rodents, is also responsible for human cases of plague. For more information, contact Dr. Tonie Rocke at 608-270-2451 or

Shipwrecks Wrecking Coral Reefs? A Case Study at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge:

For the first time, researchers have definitively shown that shipwrecks and other man-made structures increase the potential for large invasions of unwanted species into coral reefs, even comparatively pristine ones. These unwanted species can completely overtake a reef and eliminate native corals, dramatically decreasing the diversity of marine organisms on the reef. Coral reefs can undergo fast changes in their dominant life forms, a phenomenon referred to as phase shift. Scientists have speculated on many possible causes of phase shift, but this study is the first one to clearly show that a rapid change in the dominant life forms on a coral reef is associated with man-made structures. 

In September 2007, USGS researcher Dr. Thierry Work, Dr. Greta Aeby from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, and Dr. James Maragos from U.S. Fish and  Wildlife Service studied a 100-foot vessel that wrecked in 1991 on isolated Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. They found extremely high numbers of an invasive species related to anemones and corals, Rhodactis howesii, on and around the shipwreck site. The density of this species progressively decreased with distance from the ship, and it was rare or absent in other parts of the atoll. Likewise, the researchers confirmed high densities of R. howesii around several buoys installed on the atoll in 2001.

Even though phase shifts can have long-term negative effects for coral reefs, eliminating organisms responsible for phase shifts can be difficult, particularly if they cover a large area. The extensive R. howesii invasion and subsequent loss of coral reef habitat at Palmyra highlights the importance of rapid removal of shipwrecks on corals reefs to help prevent reefs from being overgrown by invasive species.

"Why this phenomenon is occurring remains a mystery," said Work, a scientist at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center's Honolulu Field Station. One possibility, he said, is that iron leaching from the ship and mooring buoy chains, accompanied with other environmental factors particular to Palmyra Atoll, are somehow promoting the growth of Rhodactis. For more information, contact Dr. Thierry Work at 808-72-9250 or

 

Society, Wildlife Disease and Wildlife Conservation: Oxymoron or Evolutionary Siblings? Over the past 50 years, the field of wildlife disease as an issue for concern has exploded in significance, mostly because of the increased realization that most emerging human diseases are “zoonotic,” that is, diseases that can spread from people to other animals or vice-versa. USGS emeritus scientist Dr. Milt Friend, in an invited talk at the Wildlife Disease Association conference, will explore how and why the field of wildlife disease research has changed over the last 50 years.

One of the biggest differences, says Friend, is that until very recently, wildlife disease was not an important focus for the wildlife conservation community. “Now, though, a new wave of social environmentalism and public concerns about emerging zoonotic diseases are placing increased pressure on wildlife agencies to address disease ‘crises’ involving wildlife,” Friend says.

He emphasizes, however, that emerging zoonotic diseases often result in double jeopardy for wildlife: not only do wildlife often suffer direct negative effects from a disease, they also endure indirect effects associated with actions taken to reduce human risks by suppressing wildlife populations. In addition, says Friend, wildlife can also be jeopardized by actions taken if they happen to share diseases with domestic animals, even if those diseases do not pose a significant public health threat. “Conversely, within the wildlife conservation community, the role of disease as a factor for species extinctions is receiving increased worldwide attention,” Friend noted. For more information, contact Dr. Milton Friend at 608-270-2488 or

 

Disease Risks When Moving Wildlife to New Areas: Endangered Laysan Duck Cautionary Tale:

Laysan ducks, one of the world's most endangered waterfowl, are native to only the Hawaiian archipelago. For 150 years, Laysan ducks were restricted to an estimated 4 square kilometers of land on Laysan Island in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2004 and 2005, in an effort to rebuild the
population, biologists released 42 Laysan ducks on Midway Atoll, located one day's boat ride from Laysan. By 2007, a breeding population was well established on Midway, reaching 200 ducks. However, in August 2008, more than half of the Midway duck population (181 ducks) was lost to a disease epidemic lasting 30 days. Necropsies (the animal equivalent of autopsies) on dead birds revealed botulism type C as a cause of the die-off. 

Disturbingly,  said Work, 3 ducks were also infected with a worm suspected to be Echinuria uncinata; this worm has been responsible for mass die-offs of Laysan ducks on Laysan Island. Work notes that this worm was either moved to Midway during translocations of ducks from Laysan, despite preventive treatment of all founding birds, or it arrived with migratory waterfowl. Either way, says Work, this epizootic highlights the disease risk to birds restricted to small island populations and the challenges associated with managing newly translocated endangered species.  Frequent population monitoring for early disease detection and comprehensive wetland monitoring and management will be needed to offset the potential effects of avian botulism and parasitism on endangered Laysan ducks, Work said. The bigger picture, though, is that disease risks need to be closely examined for translocations of all kinds, especially in light of translocations being proposed for dealing with habitat range changes that affect endangered species due to climate change. For more information, contact Dr. Thierry Work at 808-72-9250 or  

 

Bat white-nose syndrome: An emerging fungal pathogen? New research provides even more evidence that a previously undescribed, cold-loving fungus is associated with white-nose syndrome, a condition linked to the deaths of up to 1,000,000 cave-hibernating bats in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Since the winter of 2006-2007, bat populations plummeted from 80 to 97 percent at surveyed bat-hibernation caves, called hibernacula. USGS microbiologist Dr. David Blehert and his colleagues identified the fungus last year, and have followed up by trying to determine if the fungus may be responsible for the deaths or if it is simply a side effect of another underlying disease.  The researchers found that 90 percent of all bats they examined from suspected WNS sites had a severe fungal skin infection that did not just occur on the skin, but below it as well. The growth temperature requirements of the fungus are consistent with the core temperatures of cave-hibernating bat species throughout temperate regions of the world. Given the hundreds of thousands of hibernating bats found throughout the WNS-affected region, as well as the potential for the spread of this disease to other parts of the United States and Canada, white-nose syndrome represents an unprecedented threat to bats of the northeastern United States and potentially beyond. For more information, contact Dr. David Blehert at 608-270-2466 or

 

Sick Fish May Get Sicker: Climate Change and Other Stresses Expected to Affect Entire Populations of Fish (see full press release on emerging diseases in fish)

Entire populations of North American fish already  are being affected by several emerging diseases, a problem that threatens to increase in the future with climate change and other stresses on aquatic ecosystems, according to a noted U.S. Geological Survey researcher giving an invited talk on this subject today at the Wildlife Disease Association conference in Blaine, Wash.

“A generation ago, we couldn’t have imaged the explosive growth in disease issues facing many of our wild fish populations,” said Dr. Jim Winton, a fish disease specialist at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center.  “Most fish health research at that time was directed toward diseases of farmed fish.” In contrast, said Winton, recent studies in natural aquatic systems have revealed that, in addition to being a cause of natural death, infectious and parasitic fish diseases can produce significantly greater mortality in altered habitats leading to population fluctuations, extinction of endangered fish, reduced overall health and increased susceptibility to predation. For more information, contact Dr. Jim Winton at 206-526-6282, x328 or

Entire populations of North American fish already  are being affected by several emerging diseases, a problem that threatens to increase in the future with climate change and other stresses on aquatic ecosystems, according to a noted U.S. Geological Survey researcher giving an invited talk on this subject today at the Wildlife Disease Association conference in Blaine, Wash.

“A generation ago, we couldn’t have imaged the explosive growth in disease issues facing many of our wild fish populations,” said Dr. Jim Winton, a fish disease specialist at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center.  “Most fish health research at that time was directed toward diseases of farmed fish.”

In contrast, said Winton, recent studies in natural aquatic systems have revealed that, in addition to being a cause of natural death, infectious and parasitic fish diseases can produce significantly greater mortality in altered habitats leading to population fluctuations, extinction of endangered fish, reduced overall health and increased susceptibility to predation.

In addition, said Winton, populations of certain fish species have suffered catastrophic losses after non-native diseases were first introduced into a water body. Examples include whirling disease in the intermountain west and the recent introduction of viral hemorrhagic septicemia in the Great Lakes.

 “The scientific community is increasingly concerned that global trade, extensive habitat alteration, accumulations of contaminants and other human-caused stresses stressors, including climate change, will affect the distribution or severity of fish diseases and contribute to increasing population-scale losses in these important natural resources,” Winton said. 

Disease is often ignored as a factor affecting wild populations of fish and wildlife because the effects are difficult to observe and quantify, noted Winton. But as cold-blooded animals, fish are highly dependent on environmental conditions, especially temperature, to help maintain critical physiological processes such as immune function that can affect whether a fish gets a disease or parasite, how it is affected by it, and how the disease progresses.

In particular, said Winton, some fish – such as salmon, trout and muskellunge - have a fairly narrow range of water temperatures they can live in.  “If that temperature is exceeded over a period of time, not only may die-offs occur, but also, the increased stress and altered immune function will lead to greater levels of infectious or parasitic diseases which is why global warming is of particular concern.

Winton said that increased scientific recognition of fish diseases as a potential population-limiting factor in wild populations of fish is partly the result of the emergence of high-profile diseases such as whirling disease in wild-spawning rainbow trout in the Rocky Mountain West, viral hemorrhagic septicemia in the North Pacific Ocean and the Great Lakes, and a fungal-like disease, ichthyophoniasis, in adult Chinook salmon in the Yukon River.

The 58th annual meeting of the Wildlife Disease Association (WDA) will be August 2-7, 2009, in Blaine, Wash. The theme is Wildlife Health from Land to Sea: Impacts of a Changing World. This press release is based on a paper being presented on Aug. 3 at the conference  by USGS scientist Dr. Jim Winton,  “The ecology of emerging diseases among populations of wild fish.”

Large trees have declined in Yosemite National Park during the 20^th century, and warmer climate conditions may play a role.

The number of large-diameter trees in the park declined 24 percent between the 1930s and 1990s. U.S. Geological Survey and University of Washington scientists compared the earliest records of large-diameter trees densities from 1932–1936 to the most recent records from 1988–1999.

A decline in large trees means habitat loss and possible reduction in species such as spotted owls, mosses, orchids and fishers (a carnivore related to weasels). Fewer new trees will grow in the landscape because large trees are a seed source for the surrounding landscape. Large-diameter trees generally resist fire more than small-diameter trees, so fewer large trees could also slow forest regeneration after fires. 

“Although this study did not investigate the causes of decline, climate change is a likely contributor to these events and should be taken into consideration,” said USGS scientist emeritus Jan van Wagtendonk. “Warmer conditions increase the length of the summer dry season and decrease the snowpack that provides much of the water for the growing season. A longer summer dry season can also reduce tree growth and vigor, and can reduce trees’ ability to resist insects and pathogens.”

Scientists also found a shift to fire-intolerant trees in some forests that had not experienced fires for nearly a century. In these areas, trees changed from fire-tolerant ponderosa pines to fire-intolerant white fir and incense cedar. In burned areas, however, pines remained dominant.

“We should be aware that more frequent and severe wildfires are possible in Yosemite because of the recent shift to fire-intolerant trees in unburned areas and warmer climates bring drier conditions,” said van Wagtendonk.

This research was published in Forest Ecology and Management and can be found online (PDF).