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Yale Environment 360
Bird Flu Reaches Antarctic Region
Scientists have recorded the first cases of avian flu in the Antarctic, finding the disease has spread among migrating brown skuas. The recent unexplained deaths of brown skuas on Bird Island in South Georgia spurred researchers with the British Antarctic Survey to test the skuas for avian influenza. Swabs collected were sent to the UK for testing, and the results came back positive for H5N1, a highly contagious form of bird flu. Scientists believe the birds contracted the disease on their yearly migration from Argentina.
Warming Could Make Northern Wilderness Ripe for Farming, Study Finds
The expansion of farmland is the main cause of terrestrial biodiversity loss globally. And climate climate could exacerbate those losses, according to a new study. Over the next 40 years, under a high-emissions scenario, warming temperatures are expected to make more than 1 million square miles of wilderness — representing 7 percent of the world’s total remaining wilderness outside of Antarctica — newly suitable for growing crops. Most of this land is in northern areas, including Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia.
As World Nears Peak Fossil Fuels, Emissions Set to Fall, Analysts Say
As the world rapidly nears peak fossil fuels, energy emissions are headed for decline, according to multiple independent analyses. A new forecast from the historically conservative International Energy Agency indicates that demand for each fossil fuel — coal, oil, and natural gas — is set to peak this decade. “These remarkable shifts will bring forward the peak in global greenhouse gas emissions,” IEA chief Fatih Birol wrote in a recent op-ed for the Financial Times.
The Planet’s Big Blue Machine: Why the Ocean Engine Matters
Photographs of Earth taken by astronauts in space more than half a century ago revealed a blue planet dominated by oceans and billowing with clouds. Since then, says British oceanographer and physicist Helen Czerski, scientists have been documenting how global warming is changing the seas in ways that are transforming weather patterns worldwide and, in some cases, imperiling the agricultural systems upon which humanity depends.
In Global First, Farm in Kenya to Produce Fossil-Free Fertilizer On Site
The Kenya Nut Company, near Nairobi, will be the first farm in the world to produce fertilizer, on site, that’s free of fossil fuels. A small fertilizer plant, built by U.S. startup Talus Renewables, will use solar power to strip hydrogen from water; the liberated hydrogen then bonds with nitrogen in the air to form liquid ammonia. Every day, the plant will produce 1 ton of ammonia, which can be applied to crops as fertilizer.
Our Oceans Are Getting Greener, Remote Sensing Reveals
Satellite images have confirmed that the world’s oceans have become slightly greener. Scientists suspect climate change is the reason. In a recent study published in Nature, researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States found that nearly 60 percent of the Earth’s ocean surface has undergone a significant change in color, especially in the lower latitudes, over the past 20 years.
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Yale Environment 360 is an online magazine offering opinion, analysis, reporting, and debate on global environmental issues.
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