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Climate Change

Climate change seems to be forcing many creatures to migrate to more favorable places up to three times faster than previously thought, according to a study released Thursday.

Researchers collected earlier studies on the migration of species and combined in a meta-analysis showed a clear tendency to move to a cooler climate, with faster migration in places where heat is most intense.

"These changes amount to the animals and plants away from Ecuador about 20 centimeters per hour for each hour of the day for every day of the year," said the developer, Chris Thomas, professor of biology at the University of York, UK."This has been happening over the past 40 years and will continue for at least the rest of this century," he added.

The study, published in the journal Science, is "a summary of the state of knowledge of the world how species are responding to climate change," explained co-author and professor of ecology work of York Jane Hill. "Our analysis shows that rates of response to climate change are two or three times faster than previously thought," he said.

The data come from studies of birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, spiders and plants in Europe, North America, Chile, Malaysia and South Africa's Marion Island.

By pooling the studies and analyze their findings, the researchers first found a link between rising temperatures and the movement of organisms.

"This research shows that global warming is what is causing the species to move toward the poles and higher elevations," said another author of the study, I-Ching Chen, now a researcher at Academia Sinica, Taiwan . "We first demonstrated that the change in the distribution of species is correlated with the change of climate in that region," he said.

Previous studies have suggested that some species are endangered due to habitat change, but he does not dwell on that topic. Instead, the researchers said they hoped that the analysis gave a more accurate picture of the changes occurring around the globe.

"The verification of how fast they are moving species due to climate change indicates that many, in fact, may be heading quickly toward extinction, where climatic conditions are deteriorating," said Thomas. "On the other hand, other species are migrating to new areas where the climate has become appropriate, so there will be some winners and many losers," he said.

Antarctic ecosystem at risk of extinction

The unique ecosystem of Antarctica, endangered

Release Date: 08/08/2011
Source: RT
Country / Region: Antarctica

In the inhospitable land of Antarctica, the man never resided permanently. This is the only continent that has no native population. At first glance these ancient glaciers seem to be totally uncomfortable and difficult to accommodate any lifestyle.Penguin researcher, Steve Emslie said: "We have here only to mammals and seabirds that come ashore to breed. Life in this territory is limited to a sparse vegetation. In addition, there are some tiny invertebrates. That's all. "But in reality, the region represents one of the most interesting ecosystems on the planet. To investigate the best start is the Antarctic Peninsula, which even has a tourist base.Biologist Ian Bullock writes, "We have a lot of sea lions. If you're lucky you might see up to 6 species. There are also three species of penguins chinstrap. "The special character of the area comes from its unique geographical location."You know that thanks to its unique location, Antarctica was long isolated from other continents," says marine biologist Pavarzhni Vasili. "That's why there's only endemic fauna, from the smallest creatures and even the penguins and sea lions. You will not find these species elsewhere. Just here. "Despite its imposing landscape, the region is much more vulnerable than it appears. Some experts warn that the main enemy of this world isolated by the oceans could be global warming."Nowhere else in the world is experiencing more change than the Antarctic Peninsula," Bullock continued. "As in Western Siberia and Alaska, the North Pole, the area shows an extraordinary growth in its average temperatures, especially in the winter. These three areas are heated 5 times faster than anywhere else in the world. "Environmentalists warn that after a while the animals that live in the area could lose their natural habitat. Some of them are penguins Adelaide, the most abundant Antarctic species, whose population has declined so rapidly that within 50 years may no longer exist on the peninsula. And it is urgent to prevent other humans from their natural resources disappear from the face of the earth.

Keys to understanding what is the carbon footprint

Release Date: 12/08/2011
Source: Reuters
Country / Region: International

Carbon footprint or carbon markets are terms commonly used in the environmental context, but its complexity makes it not easy to understand what they are, what they are and their importance in our daily lives. The carbon footprint or ecological footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere as a result of our habits and activities. Our carbon footprint is each product the we buy, we eat a food or an activity we do in terms of aspects such as raw materials used for manufacturing or energy used in its use. According to a report by the International Energy Agency in 2009, each Spanish emitted into the atmosphere 7.68 tons of CO2 per year while in America the figure stood at 19.10 tonnes per capita. As indicated by Marta Martin, head of the consulting and training CREATE "the important thing is that from our carbon footprint is possible to know where they come from the harmful gases into the atmosphere we create." "This allows us to take measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions," he adds. According to the methods of certification of carbon footprint, such as ISO 14064, there are two types of sources that make up the fingerprint. On the one hand, the sources direct calls, those that occur as a direct consequence of a certain activity or consumption. On the other, indirect sources, which are from electrical consumption or generated from the production or extraction of the raw product. Many companies and consultants to certify the carbon footprint and demonstrate this calculation, as is the case of the Spanish Agency for Standardization (AENOR). On the Internet there are various tools carbon footprint calculators from data as our annual electricity costs, the use of gasoline or electronics. In order to control GHG emissions, there are administrative mechanisms that regulate the emission of these gases. One of the most important is the Regime of Emission Trading in the European Union, which provides for each member country a national plan that assigns the maximum emissions that can be generated in a specific period. This system sets a cap for each company can generate a maximum of GHG, having to pay a credit with which to buy bonds of other companies that pollute less when they exceed the allowed value. The book "The emissions trading: how it works and what fails," written by Tamra Gilbertson and Oscar Reyes, whose editing helped organizations like Ecologists in Action, exposes the features of this system.