Associated Press: After another dry winter across much of the West, fire officials are poised for a tough wildfire season that will be even more challenging because federal budget cuts mean fewer firefighters on the ground, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Monday. Jewell, who is just five weeks into her new job, said automatic budget cuts mandated by Congress will force fire managers to make choices as they prioritize resources
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US budget cuts to make wildfire season tougher
Guardian: Peru has announced a bidding round for new oil and gas concessions but, contrary to what was initially expected, none of them are in the Amazon rainforest.
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Peru spares Amazon rainforest from oil and gas push
BBC: Deforestation in the Amazon region could significantly reduce the amount of electricity produced from hydropower, says a new study. Scientists say the rainforest is critical in generating the streams and rivers that ultimately turn turbines. If trees continue to be felled, the energy produced by one of the world’s biggest dams could be cut by a third.
Mongabay: Deforestation may significantly decrease the hydroelectric potential of tropical rainforest regions, warns a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study, led by Claudia M. Stickler at the International Program at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM-International), used climate, hydrological, and land use models to forecast the impact of potential forest loss on hydropower generation on the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon where the…
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Deforestation will undercut effectiveness of rainforest dams
Mongabay: Even as concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in human history last week, a new study in Nature Climate Change warns that thousands of the world’s common species will suffer grave habitat loss under climate change. “While there has been much research on the effect of climate change on rare and endangered species, little has been known about how an increase in global temperature will affect more common species,” says lead author Rachel…
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Climate change to halve habitat for over 10,000 common species
Daily Climate: Just two seasons exist here: the rainy and the dry. At the best of times, the temperamental rains come for three or four months and turn dusty plains into green pastures, forests and fields.
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In the dark about the future, West Africa struggles to fill a climate gap
Daily Climate: Just two seasons exist here: the rainy and the dry. At the best of times, the temperamental rains come for three or four months and turn dusty plains into green pastures, forests and fields
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In the dark about the future, West Africa struggles to fill a climate gap
New York Times: The loss of tropical rain forests is likely to reduce the energy output of hydroelectric projects in countries like Brazil that are investing billions of dollars to create power to support economic growth. That is the conclusion of a group of experts whose findings, released Monday, run counter to the conventional understanding of deforestation’s impact on watersheds.
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Fewer Rain Forests Mean Less Energy for Developing Nations, Study Finds
New York Times: The loss of tropical rain forests is likely to reduce the energy output of hydroelectric projects in countries like Brazil that are investing billions of dollars to create power to support economic growth.
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Fewer Rain Forests Mean Less Energy for Developing Nations, Study Finds
RedOrbit: If global temperatures increase by more than two degrees Celsius, it could have a dramatic impact on the biodiversity of both plants and animals, according to new research published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Climate Change. In fact, according to BBC News Environment Correspondent Matt McGrath, the authors assert that more than half of common plant species and one-third of all animals could experience a serious decline in their habitat range because of global warming. However, they…
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Global Temperature Increases Could Threaten Global Biodiversity
