World Bank Urges Global Action to Save Oceans

The World Bank on Friday said the world’s oceans were at risk and called for a coalition of governments, NGOs and other groups to protect them, aiming to raise $1.5 billion in five years.

Mapping the World’s Forests in Three Dimensions

Trees cool and moisten our air and fill it with oxygen. They calm the winds and shade the land from sunlight. They shelter countless species, anchor the soil, and slow the movement of water. They provide food, fuel, medicines, and building materials for human activity. The coastal Pacific Northwest of the USA has the tallest trees in North America, averaging as much as 40 meters in height. It has the densest biomass in the country, but for centuries, it also has been a much-tapped resource.

People Displaced by Climate Change Need Our Help, But So Do Those Who Cannot Leave

The environment is already affecting patterns of human migration. On the island of Hatia, along coastal Bangladesh, 22 percent of households have migrated to cities as a coping strategy following tidal surges. A recent UK report has shown that a focus on populations migrating away from environmental change neglects 2 key groups of vulnerable people: the many millions who will actually migrate into areas of environmental threat, and those who will be trapped there by economic, social or environmental challenges.

NASA Mission Takes Stock of Earth’s Melting Land Ice

In the first comprehensive satellite study of its kind, a University of Colorado at Boulder-led team used NASA data to calculate how much Earth’s melting land ice is adding to global sea level rise. Earth is losing a huge amount of ice to the ocean annually, and these new results will help answer important questions in terms of both sea rise and how the planet’s cold regions are responding to global change.

100 Countries Back World Environment Agency: France

More than a hundred countries now support a French proposal to create a “World Environment Organisation” at the upcoming 20th anniversary conference of the Rio Summit, France’s ecology minister said.

Feds: Mid-Atlantic Wind Farms Take Step Forward

Offshore wind farms from New Jersey to Virginia took a big step closer to reality with the completion of a review that showed the renewable energy source would leave no major environmental damage.