Study tracks global persistence of flame retardant chemicals

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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The Global Atmosphere Passive Sampling Network helps trace patterns of pollution around the Earth.

Traces of toxins found in remote locations around the planet

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The persistence of certain pollutants has long been well-known and was perhaps most poignantly described in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Now it turns out that some pollutants not only linger for a long time in the environment; they can be incredibly widespread.

Researchers with the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs say they’ve tracked chemicals used in flame retardants around the globe, including remote sites in Indonesia, Nepal and Tasmania.

Exposure to the compounds has been associated with thyroid and other endocrine system disruption and with adverse neurological development. As a result, the production and use of certain flame retardants has been restricted in North America and the European Union.

“These findings illustrate further that flame retardants are ubiquitous pollutants and are found all around the world, not only in biota and humans but also in plants,” said researcher Amina Salamova, who co-authored  the study with Ronald A. Hites. (more…)

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Climate: All-time record temps, wildfires in Australia

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Summer heatwave sets records in Australia.

100 homes destroyed in Tasmania

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Parts of southern Australia have recorded all-time high temperatures readings in the past few days, and the heat wave has led to numerous wildfires, including blazes in Tasmania that have destroyed about 100 homes.

Hobart, Tasmania reported a high temperature of 108 degrees Friday, the warmest reading ever on the island south of Australia, with records going back to 1880.

Temperatures across much of Australia were in the 90s and 100s during the first part of the weekend, and wildfires are also burning in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Two wet years in a row, followed by this summer’s heatwave, have combined for dangerous fire conditions, officials said. (more…)

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Global warming drives dramatic changes in ocean currents

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Changes in global wind patterns have pushed the East Australian Current southward and warmed temperatures in the ocean off Tasmania by several degrees in the past few decades. (NASA SATELLITE IMAGE)

Researchers see a global pattern of emerging  hotspots as currents migrate toward poles

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — An ever-expanding network of sensitive measuring devices, including ocean buoys is enabling researchers to get a better handle on the magnitude and scale of global climate change, including a patterned emergence of ocean hotspots alongside currents that wash the east coast of the major continents.

The warming in those areas far exceeds the average rate of ocean warming, according to research published the journal Nature Climate Change this week.

“We would expect natural change in the oceans over decades or centuries but change with such elevated sea surface temperatures in a growing number of locations and in a synchronised manner was definitely not expected,” said  Dr. Wenju Cai, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. (more…)

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Global warming displacing Australian fish

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Australian researchers say they've documented global warming impacts on 43 fish species. Photo from the Wikimedia Commons.

Southeastern Australia a climate change hot spot, with shifting currents and significant increases in water temps

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Warm-water fish around Australia are moving southward to colonize the cool, temperate waters of the Tasman Sea, according to Australian researchers who recently concluded that as many as 43 species are showing shifts thought to be related to global warming. The changes are affecting about 30 percent of the inshore fish families in the region.

The scientists with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) scoured published accounts, scientific surveys, records from spearfishing and angling competitions, as well as tallies of commercial catches and underwater photographic records from the late 1800s to the present.

“Increased water temperatures in the Tasman Sea are likely to have a cascading effect through local marine ecosystems.” said Dr. Peter Last, curator of the Australian National Fish Collection. “Furthermore, up to 19 species, or 5 per cent, of Tasmanian coastal fish fauna have undergone serious declines or are possibly extinct locally,” Last said. (more…)

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