How is Wildlife Affected by Global Warming?

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve seen those images of polar bears stranded on small islands of ice and heard that some are now dying by drowning. How are other wildlife populations affected by global warming?
-- Jessie Walters, via e-mail


Most researchers agree that even small changes in temperature are enough to send hundreds if not thousands of already struggling species into extinction unless we can stem the tide of global warming. And time may be of the essence: A 2003 study published in the journal Nature concluded that 80 percent of some 1,500 wildlife species sampled are already showing signs of stress from climate change.
How Global Warming Affects Wildlife
The key impact of global warming on wildlife is habitat displacement, whereby ecosystems that animals have spent millions of years adapting to shift quickly. Ice giving way to water in polar bear habitat is just one example of this.
Another, according to The Washington Post, is the possibility that warmer spring temperatures could dry up critical breeding habitat for waterfowl in the prairie pothole region, a stretch of land between northern Iowa and central Alberta.

Global Warming is Unstoppable and Humans are to Blame

On Friday, February 2, 2007, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—the leading international group of climate scientists—published a 20-page summary of a much longer scientific report, The Physical Basis of Climate Change [pdf], which confirms global warming is now “unequivocal” and states with more than 90 percent certainty that human activity “very likely” has been the primary cause of rising temperatures worldwide since 1950.
The report summary also says that global warming is likely to continue for centuries, and that it is already too late to stop some of the serious consequences it will bring—even if mankind could somehow hold the line on greenhouse gas emissions worldwide starting today.
Despite those grim conclusions, however, the report does say that there is still time to slow global warming and to lessen many of its most severe consequences if we act quickly. At the same time, the IPCC report avoids prescribing specific strategies, leaving that to policymakers worldwide, the audience for which the report summary was prepared.
This article answers some of the most common questions about the IPCC report and its predictions for the future of our planet.

How Does Carbon Sequestration Help Reduce Global Warming?

Dear EarthTalk: I recently heard the term “carbon sequestration” in relation to climate change. What is it and how can it help stave off global warming?
— Bob Whelan, Pawtucket, RI
Carbon sequestration is simply the intake and storage of the element carbon. The most common example in nature is during the photosynthesis process of trees and plants, which store carbon as they absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) during growth. Because they soak up the carbon that would otherwise rise up and trap heat in the atmosphere, trees and plants are important players in efforts to stave off global warming.
Trees and Plants Absorb Carbon Dioxide and Produce Oxygen
Environmentalists cite this natural form of carbon sequestration as a key reason to preserve the world’s forests and other undeveloped lands where vegetation is abundant. And forests don’t just absorb and store large quantities of carbon; they also produce large quantities of oxygen as a byproduct, leading people to refer to them as the “lungs of the earth.”

Americans Would Support Higher Gas Tax to Reduce Global Warming

Americans are generally opposed to raising the federal tax on gasoline, but a majority would support a gasoline tax increase if they knew the money would be used to reduce global warming or to lessen United States dependence on foreign oil, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in late February 2006.
The Pros and Cons of Raising the Federal Gasoline Tax
Advocates of a higher gasoline tax tend to argue that raising the tax will cause people to drive less, reduce gasoline consumption, and provide more money for transportation priorities. People who oppose a gasoline tax increase generally argue that taxes are too high already and should be reduced, or that a higher tax on gasoline would fall hardest on those who can least afford it.

Environment High in Personal Values, Low in Political Priorities for U.S. Voters

Almost everybody claims to care about the environment, but when it comes to voting not many Americans actually do anything about it.
A 2005 survey of 800 registered U.S. voters, commissioned by the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, found that 79 percent favor “stronger national standards to protect our land, air and water, with 40 percent strongly favoring them. But only 22 percent allowed their environmental concerns to significantly influence their choice of candidates in federal, state and local elections.
Environmentalists Don't Always Vote Green
Even among people who described themselves as environmentalists, only 39 percent were able to recall an election in which a candidate’s environmental position ranked among the top two or three reasons for the way the cast their vote.
“There is a clear disconnect here,” said William K. Reilly, former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and chair of the advisory board of the Nicholas Institute. “Seventy-four percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats say they support stronger environmental standards. Yet, when it comes time to vote, they rank the environment low on their list of priorities.”

Toxic Cloud Rises Over London as Fuel Fire Rages

A fire at a fuel depot in Hertfordshire caused a series of explosions that sent a cloud of toxic smoke into the air over London, raising concerns about public health. Officials said the fire at the Buncefield fuel depot, a 100-acre facility and the fifth largest storage facility in the U.K., is the worst industrial fire in Europe since 1945.

China Toxic Chemical Spill Flowing Toward Russia

Nearly a month after an explosion at a chemical plant in northeastern China killed five people and spilled 100 tons of cancer-causing benzene into the Songhua River, the damaging effects of the accident continue to spread.
_{Photo courtesy of Daniel T. Yara}

The 10 Worst Oil Spills in History

There are many ways to measure the severity of oil spills—from the volume spilled to the extent of environmental damage to the cost of clean-up and recovery. The following list describes the worst oil spills in history, judged by the amount of oil released into the environment.

By volume, the Exxon Valdez oil spill ranks around 35th, but it is considered an environmental disaster because the oil spill occurred in the pristine environment of Alaska's Prince William Sound and the oil fouled 1,100 miles of coastline. It's still not known where the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will end up placing on this list.

Why is Lightning Dangerous?

Question: Why is Lightning Dangerous?

Worldwide, 16 million lightning storms occur every year—2,000 of those storms are happening simultaneously at any given moment—and it's more than just a spectacular natural light show.

Every year, lightning kills roughly 10,000 people around the world (about 90 in the United States) and injures about 100,000 (approximately 400 in the U.S.).

Answer: Lightning is the world's most underrated weather hazard. It's also the most unpredictable.

When it comes to lethal weather, lightning is hard to beat. On average only floods kill more people than lightning. In the United States (and most other places), lightning routinely kills more people every year than tornadoes or hurricanes. Other weather hazards, such as hailstorms and windstorms, aren't even in the running.

One reason lightning is so dangerous is that it's hard to know just when and where it is likely to strike—or how it will behave when it does.

10 Things You Need to Know About the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico became front-page news as soon as the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded and caught fire on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and starting the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Yet, there are a number of things about the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that have been overlooked or underreported by the media—things you need to know.