While The Average Household Today Consists Of Fewer People Than 60 Years Ago (2.55 People Vs. 3.37 People),

Elephant populations are in decline throughout Africa largely due to poaching. Poaching is a problem in all regions of Africa, but especially severe in western and central Africa.

The sex of a sea turtle hatching is determined by temperature. Nests incubated at cooler temperatures produce more males, while nests incubated at warmer temperatures produce more females.

This could be a problem with climate change. As global temperatures rise, nests will be incubated at higher temperatures, producing fewer males. As this study found, climate change could lead to turtle nests with few to no males, skewing sex ratios and endangering the persistence of sea turtle populations. As the authors note:

“[O]nce incubation temperatures are 35°C, there are almost no more males produced (1 per 50 000 eggs laid)... As turtles return to the rough neighbourhood of their natal breeding grounds, it seems likely that for populations already producing more than 80% females, there will be a real extinction risk if they continue to nest at the same time of year and conditions warm by a few degrees.” 

But the bigger issue may be the increasing number of unviable eggs with rising temperatures. As the authors claim:

“[T]he primary concern in scenarios of climate change and rising incubation temperatures [is]... the high hatchling mortality in excessively warm nests...While climate warming still poses a threat to sea turtles, it is not the skewed sex ratios per se that will threaten population survival but rather higher mortality within clutches.”

While coal companies claim prohibition of or restrictions on mountaintop removal mining (MTR) will hurt rural Appalachian economies, this figure suggests MTR is failing to lift rural communities out of poverty. Considering MTR destroys the land, degrading property values and tourism, and imposes health costs on nearby residents, it is more likely MTR is hurting rural Appalachian economies far more than any attempts to stop it.

The species groups that are proportionally most in danger (the proportion of species within that grouping that are imperiled) are overwhelmingly freshwater species. Freshwater mussels, crayfishes, stoneflies (stonefly larvae live in freshwater), freshwater fishes and amphibians are the most at risk. This demonstrates the substantial need for a focus on conservation of freshwater habitats.

From the Washington Post:

Map from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing how much electricity each state gets from wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Maine was the clear winner in 2011, getting 27 percent of its electricity coming from renewable sources — a lot of it wind power and biomass. But Maine had a lot of renewable energy back in 2001, too. South Dakota and Iowa, at 21 percent and 17 percent, have seen far more impressive growth. Both of those states got almost none of their electricity from renewable sources a decade ago.

This graph shows net forest conversion (deforestation that replaces forest with a new land use) from 1990-2010. Brazil and Indonesia stand out as the hot spots of deforestation.

In contrast, China, the United States and Vietnam experienced afforestation and reforestation.  

From the International Energy Agency:

Global carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil-fuel combustion reached a record high of 31.6 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2011, according to preliminary estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA). This represents an increase of 1.0 Gt on 2010, or 3.2%. Coal accounted for 45% of total energy-related CO2 emissions in 2011, followed by oil (35%) and natural gas (20%).

A study in the journal Science Advances looked at population trends of sea turtles across 299 populations for which there was publicly available data. The image shows regions where populations of sea turtles are increasing (green) and decreasing (red). Of the regional populations, there is an upward trend in 12 and a downward trend in 5, suggesting a possible rebound of sea turtle populations, albeit challenges remain.

CC = C. caretta (loggerhead turtle) CM = C. mydas (green turtle) DC = D. coriacea (leatherback sea turtle) EI = E. imbricata (hawksbill turtle) LK = L. kempii (Kemp’s ridley) LO = L. olivacea (olive ridley) ND = N. depressus (flatback turtle)

Sea Level Rise

For thousands of years, sea level has remained relatively stable. But now, Earth’s seas are rising. Since the beginning of the 20th century, they have risen about eight inches, and more than two inches in the last 20 years alone!

As water warms, it expands and takes up more space. That means that when oceans warm, the sea level rises. This summer, we’ve been researching exactly how global warming has impacted Greenland’s ice sheet. Our ICESat-2 mission will use a laser to measure the height of the planet’s surface. Over time, we will be able to provide a record of elevation change, and estimate how much water has melted into the ocean from land ice change.

So how much ice are we actually losing? Great question, but the answer might shock you. In Greenland alone, 303 gigatons of ice was lost in 2014!

Since we know that ice is melting, we’re working to gain a better understanding of how much and how fast. We’re using everything from planes, probes and boats, to satellites and lasers to determine the impact of global warming on the Earth’s ice.

Follow along for updates and information: http://climate.nasa.gov/