Rise in Atmospheric Methane Points to Arctic Wetlands

Methane rise points to wetlands
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Higher atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas
methane noted last year are probably related to
emissions from wetlands, especially around the Arctic.

Scientists have found indications that extra amounts
of the gas in the Arctic region are of biological
origin.

Global levels of methane had been roughly stable for
almost a decade.

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Earth May Lose Up To Half Its Plant Species

SCIENCE
23 MAY 2008 VOL 320

The Threat to the World’s Plants

A day after polar bears made headlines last week, the world’s leading
botanical gardens issued a call to remember threatened plants, too.
Their new report, Plants and Climate Change: Which Future? makes the
case for protecting the botanical foundations of terrestrial life.
“If you read any report about the impact of climate change, it’s
almost always about polar bears or tigers,” said Suzanne Sharrock,
director of Global Programmes for Botanic Gardens Conservation
International (BGCI) in London and a co-author of the report.

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More on Upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season

U.S. government sees active Atlantic hurricane season
Thu May 22, 2008 2:27pm EDT   By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season will be active with 12 to 16 named storms, six to nine of which are expected to become hurricanes, the U.S. government’s top climate agency predicted on Thursday.

Of the six to nine hurricanes forecast for the season starting June 1, two to five will be major ones of Category 3 or higher with winds above 110 miles per hour, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its annual preseason forecast.

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The Costs of Denial

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2008
11:51 AM

CONTACT: NRDC
Eric Young, NRDC, 202-289-2373 or 703-217-6814 (cell)
 
 
New Report Finds Doing Nothing on Global Warming Comes with a Huge Price Tag
 
WASHINGTON, DC – May 22 – A report released today by researchers at Tufts University, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), presents two ways of estimating the costs of inaction on climate change, both leading to staggering bottom lines. A comprehensive estimate, based on state-of-the-art computer modeling, finds that doing nothing on global warming will cost the United States economy more than 3.6 percent of GDP – or $3.8 trillion annually (in today’s dollars) – by 2100. On the other hand, a detailed, bottom-up analysis finds that just four categories of global warming impacts — hurricane damage, real estate losses, increased energy costs and water costs — will add up to a price tag of 1.8 percent of U.S. GDP, or almost $1.9 trillion annually (in today’s dollars) by 2100.

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