Climate and Atmosphere
Untapped crop data from Africa predicts corn peril if temperatures riseScienceDaily.com | 15 Mar 2011Researchers have found a valuable, untapped resource in historical data from crop yield trials conducted across sub-Saharan Africa. Combined with weather records, they show that yield losses would occur across 65 percent of maize-growing areas from a temperature rise of a single degree Celsius, even with sufficient water. Data from yield tests in other regions of the world could help predict changes in crop yields from climate change.
Agriculture and Fisheries | Climate Change | Research The weather in JanuaryGuardian Unlimited | 07 Feb 2011A period of cold, wintry weather in Scotland up to 11 January was followed by a mild and wet spell across the UK between 12 and 16 January. Anticyclonic conditions early in the month gave way to a prevalence of low pressure, then mild south-westerlies, and between 7 and 17 January there was a lot of rain, some of it heavy. High pressure built again through the second half of the month, leading to a drier, colder last week or so.
United Kingdom | Climate and Atmosphere | Global Warming | Government and Climate Change Greenland's race for minerals threatens culture on the edge of existenceGuardian Unlimited | 06 Feb 2011In his third dispatch from Greenland, Stephen Pax Leonard reports on the changes facing the Inughuit people, as mining of the country's vast untapped mineral wealth looks set to overwhelm their traditions. The old Inuktun word for February is hiqinnaaq - the time when the sun reappears. In this part of Greenland, the sun rises above the horizon again on 17 February, finally bringing to an end the kapirdaq (the dark period) which lasts for three and a half months.
Arctic Ocean | Climate and Atmosphere | Climate Change More frequent drought likely in eastern AfricaScienceDaily.com | 28 Jan 2011The increased frequency of drought observed in eastern Africa over the last 20 years is likely to continue as long as global temperatures continue to rise, according to new research. This poses increased risk to the estimated 17.5 million people in the Greater Horn of Africa who currently face potential food shortages.
Extreme Weather | Global Warming | Research Why Genghis Khan was good for the planetGuardian Unlimited | 26 Jan 2011Laying waste to land scrubbed 700m tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. His empire lasted a century and a half and eventually covered nearly a quarter of the earth's surface. His murderous Mongol armies were responsible for the massacre of as many as 40 million people. Even today, his name remains a byword for brutality and terror. But boy, was Genghis green.
Biodiversity | Carbon Storage | Climate Change | Research | Responses