postMigrator

“Big Dry” Hits Australian Farmers

By postMigrator May 2, 2008 May 2, 2008 RT Newswire

‘Big Dry’ hits Australian farmers
By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney

The drought has forced 10% of farmers off the land in just five years

More than 10,000 Australian farming families have had to leave their land as a result of the country’s ongoing drought, new figures reveal. There has been a 10% drop in the number of farmers in the past five years, the figures released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics revealed.

Australia is presently in the grip of the what’s known locally as the “Big Dry” – the worst drought in a century. The figures reveal its impact on the nation’s farming communities. They show that the number of farmers in Australia has dropped by a third in just 20 years.

Warming May Starve Oceans of Oxygen Supply

By postMigrator May 2, 2008 May 2, 2008 Uncategorized

Global warming could starve oceans of oxygen: study
Thu May 1, 2008 2:31pm EDT
Natural changes may offset global warming briefly
30 Apr 2008 By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO (Reuters) – Global warming could gradually starve parts of the tropical oceans of oxygen, damaging fisheries and coastal economies, a study showed on Thursday.

Areas of the eastern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans with low amounts of dissolved oxygen have expanded in the past 50 years, apparently in line with rising temperatures, according to the scientists based in Germany and the United States.

And models of global warming indicate the trend will continue because oxygen in the air mixes less readily with warmer water. Large fish such as tuna or swordfish avoid, or are unable to survive, in regions starved of oxygen.

Arctic Sea Ice Forecast: Another Record Low in 2008

By postMigrator May 1, 2008 May 1, 2008 RT Newswire

Arctic sea ice forecast: another record low in 2008
Arctic ice seen melting faster than anticipated
Thu May 1, 2008 1:43am EDT
24 Apr 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Arctic sea ice, sometimes billed as Earth’s air conditioner for its moderating effects on world climate, will probably shrink to a record low level this year, scientists predicted on Wednesday.

In releasing the forecast, climate researcher Sheldon Drobot of the University of Colorado at Boulder called the changes in Arctic sea ice “one of the more compelling and obvious signs of climate change.”

Federal Judge: Bush Admin Has 16 Days to Decide Polar Bear Listing

By postMigrator May 1, 2008 May 1, 2008 RT Newswire

Published on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 by The Guardian/UK
Bush Has 16 Days To Decide Whether Polar Bears Are Endangered
by Elana Schor

The Bush administration has 16 days to decide whether polar bears are now an endangered species because of climate change, a California judge ruled today.

The US court handed a victory to three environmental groups that sued to protect polar bears threatened by melting sea ice, rejecting a plea by the government to postpone its decision until June 30.

An agency of the US interior department was supposed to have ruled by January 9 on whether to designate the polar bear an endangered species. But the agency failed to act, angering green activists who attributed the delay to the Bush administration’s sale of oil and gas drilling leases near polar bear habitats in Alaska.