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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from
View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:(7)
Plague/Virus:(1)
Climate Chaos:(8)
Resource Depletion: ()
Biology Breach:(3)
Recovery:(1)
This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts  ~ health impacts  ~ drought  ~ global warming  ~ arctic meltdown  ~ toxic buildup  ~ melting glaciers  ~ lived experience  ~ marine mammals  ~ oil issues  ~ massive die-off  



ApocaDocuments (3) matching "drought" from this week
[see full week] ~ [see all stories tagged "drought"]
Sun, Apr 3, 2011
from Yale360:
Birds Delay Spring Migration As Tropical Rainfall Declines, Study Says
Declining rainfall in tropical regions can cause migratory birds to delay their departure from wintering grounds back to their northern breeding areas, according to a new study. In a five-year study of American redstarts, a species of warbler, scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute found that individual birds delayed their spring migration from Jamaica to North America when low rainfall produced a scarcity of insects, the birds' primary food supply; the redstarts apparently delayed migration because of insufficient nutritional reserves. Over the last 16 years, increasingly severe and unpredictable dry seasons in Jamaica have resulted in an 11-percent decrease in rainfall. "Our results support the idea that environmental conditions on tropical non-breeding areas can influence the departure time for spring migration," said Colin Studds.... While it is unclear whether the delayed migration will have an adverse impact on the birds, the study said a delayed departure could ultimately affect the arrival time to breeding territory, and thus yield less time to reproduce. ...


I can think of a few other reasons to hang out in Jamaica.

ApocaDoc
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Sun, Apr 3, 2011
from The Independent:
Britain's March was the driest in 40 years
The past month has been the driest March for around 40 years, forecasters said today. Provisional recordings show that the UK has also seen 25 percent more sunshine than usual over the last four weeks as temperatures climbed and Britons enjoyed their first taste of spring. But there was bad news for those hoping for an early start to summer - April showers are on their way as usual. According to provisional Met Office figures, the average rainfall between March 1 and 29 stands at only 39.1mm (1.5in). This is expected to rise very slightly when the showers of the past two days are factored in. However, it is still expected to be well below the 95.9mm (3.8in) norm for March. ...


So March came in like a lion, and left as a... camel.

ApocaDoc
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Thu, Mar 31, 2011
from PNAS, via Mongabay:
'Huge reduction' of water from plants due to higher CO2 levels
As if ocean acidification and a warming world weren't enough, researchers have outlined another way in which carbon emissions are impacting the planet. A new study shows that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have taken a toll on how much water vapor plants release, potentially impacting the rainfall and groundwater sources. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has found that carbon dioxide levels over the past 150 years has reduced plants' spores, called stomata, by over one third (34 percent). This is important because stomata take in oxygen and carbon dioxide and release water vapor in a process dubbed 'transpiration'. Less stomata means less water driven into the atmosphere. "The increase in carbon dioxide by about 100 parts per million has had a profound effect on the number of stomata and, to a lesser extent, the size of the stomata," explains co-authors David Dilcher of Indiana University Bloomington in a press release. "Our analysis of that structural change shows there's been a huge reduction in the release of water to the atmosphere."... "The carbon cycle is important, but so is the water cycle. If transpiration decreases, there may be more moisture in the ground at first, but if there's less rainfall that may mean there's less moisture in ground eventually," Dilcher says, adding that, "this is part of the hyrdrogeologic cycle. Land plants are a crucially important part of it." ...


But the glass was half-full so recently!

ApocaDoc
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