The Arctic Death Spiral
The Arctic in Free Fall
According to Jarvis Cocker, author at The Guardian who wrote The Iceman Cometh, “of the Arctic sea ice, 75% has been lost over the past 30 years. Last year saw sea-ice levels plummet to the second-lowest since records began.
Scientists’ Warning on Invasive Alien Species
This alert from the Alliance of World Scientists (AWS) examines the long-term direct and indirect impacts of invasive alien species. Here is an excerpt from the abstract: “Biological invasions are a global consequence of an increasingly connected world and the rise in human population size. The numbers of invasive alien species – the subset of alien species […]
Desertification/Land Use
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification defines desertification as land degradation, which is the “reduction or loss in arid, semi‐arid, and dry sub‐humid areas, of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain‐fed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest, and woodlands resulting.
The Climate Emergency, Forests, and Transformative Change
This alert from the Alliance of World Scientists (AWS) This is an excerpt from the introduction: “We appreciate the letters by Pouliot and colleagues (2020) and DellaSala and colleagues (2020) about our recent article “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency” (Ripple et al. 2020). Pouliot and colleagues (2020) call for more scientists, teachers, and citizens […]
Scientists’ Warning on Endangered Food Webs
This alert from the Alliance of World Scientists (AWS) examines the collapse of food webs as a result of global change stressors. The following is an excerpt from the abstract: “All organisms are ultimately dependent on a large diversity of consumptive and non-consumptive interactions established with other organisms, forming an intricate web of interdependencies. In […]
Scientists’ Warning to Humanity on Insect Extinctions
This article examines the causes of insect extinctions, such as overexploitation, climate change, and pollution, and its impacts, such as loss of biomass and biodiversity. The following is an excerpt from the abstract: “Here we build on the manifesto ‘World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of […]
Scientists’ Warning: Microorganisms and Climate Change
Scientists’ Warning: Microorganisms and Climate Change This additional alert from the Alliance of World Scientists (AWS) examines the critical role that microorganisms play in the biological factors of climate change. The way in which microorganisms respond to changes in the climate is key to the impact of climate change on ecosystems and life on Earth. […]