The Environment Chronicle

A further break-up phase started at 30 May 2008. In this break-up event 160 km² got lost until 31 May 2008. This is the first documentation of a break-up event in winter. This break-up has not finished yet , as a high-resolution image of the German TerraSAR-X (DLR) satellite from 10 June 2008 shows.

The research icebreaker Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research finished first Antarctic field season within the International Polar Year. 58 scientists from ten countries were on board the Polarstern in the Southern Ocean from 6 February until 16 April, 2008. The Antarctic deep sea gets colder, which might stimulate the circulation of the oceanic water masses. This is the first result of the expedition. At the same time satellite images from the Antarctic summer have shown the largest sea-ice extent on record. In the coming years autonomous measuring buoys will be used to find out whether the cold Antarctic summer induces a new trend or was only a „slip“.

The world's oldest recorded tree is a 9,550 year old spruce in the Dalarna province of Sweden. The spruce tree has shown to be a tenacious survivor that has endured by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.

According to the UNEP-backed World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), data from nearly 30 reference glaciers in nine mountain ranges indicate that between the years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, the average rate of melting and thinning more than doubled. The centre, based at Switzerland's University of Zurich, has been tracking glaciers for more than one century, and has noted that while between 1980-1999 average ice loss had been 0.3 meters per year compared to 0.5 meters after the start of the new millennium.

For the third time since 1996, United States officials have flooded the Grand Canyon, in an effort to preserve local ecology and species. The water was released from the Glen Canyon Dam, which dams up the Colorado River and creates the reservoir Lake Powell. The ecosystem was altered when the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed in 1963. When the dam was opened Wednesday, March 5 for 60 hours the Grand Canyon Researchers hope the flood will help to restore Colorado River habitats for endangered species in the Grand Canyon. Subsequent scientists will document habitat changes.

The extraordinary warming along the Antarctic Peninsula has led in the past to the disintegration of seven ice shelves. The recent break-up of nearly 400km² happened between 28 and 29 Feb 2008 in less than 24 hours. Previous to that event, in July 2007 a rift of 52km length was formed, probably with the speed of sound in less than a minute. The central part of Wilkins ice shelf was formerly connected by a 20km wide bridge of 200-250m thick ice to two islands, which stabilised the whole ice shelf. This connection is now narrowed to only 6km. The fact that the remaining ice mass is already fractured, let us fear that the connection will soon disintegrate.

In an amazing tale of recovery, Amur leopard populations have more than doubled in just seven years. New census data reveals Amur leopards in Russia’s Land of the Leopard National Park now number at least 57 cats (up from just 30 cats in 2007). And an additional 8-12 leopards were counted in adjacent areas of China. For the census, camera traps were spread out over more than 900,000 acres of leopard habitat. Scientists then reviewed 10,000 images and identified nearly 60 individual animals, judging by the distinctive pattern of spots on the leopards’ fur. The census was carried out by the Land of the Leopard National Park jointly with the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the support of The Amur Leopard Center and WWF-Russia.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report on The Global Climate 2001-2010, A Decade of Extremes on 3 July 2013 in Geneva. The report analysed global and regional temperatures and precipitation, as well as extreme events such as the heat waves in Europe and Russia, Hurricane Katrina in the United States of America, Tropical Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, droughts in the Amazon Basin, Australia and East Africa and floods in Pakistan. According to the report the period 2001–2010 was the warmest decade on record since modern meteorological records began around the year 1850. The 100-page report and an executive summary, incorporating findings from a unique survey of 139 National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and socio-economic data and analysis from several UN agencies and partners, were released to coincide with the first session of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services.

The annual statement for 2011 was released for World Meteorological Day 23 March. In addition, WMO also announced preliminary findings of the soon to be released Decadal Global Climate Summary, showing that climate change accelerated in 2001-2010, which was the warmest decade ever recorded in all continents of the globe.

The past 10 years have been the warmest decade recorded in 160 years.

Grassland butterflies have declined dramatically between 1990 and 2011, , according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The fall in grassland butterfly numbers is particularly worrying, because these butterflies are considered to be representative indicators of trends observed for most other terrestrial insects, which together form around two thirds of the world’s species. This means that butterflies are useful indicators of biodiversity and the general health of ecosystems. Seventeen butterfly species are examined in 'The European Grassland Butterfly Indicator: 1990–2011’, comprising seven widespread and 10 specialist species. Of the 17 species, eight have declined in Europe, two have remained stable and one increased. For six species the trend is uncertain. Intensifying agriculture and abandoned land are the two main trends affecting the populations of grassland butterflies.

Bird populations across Europe have experienced sharp declines over the past 30 years, with the majority of losses from the most common species, say researchers from the University of Exeter, the RSPB and the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS) in a new study. However numbers of some less common birds have risen. The study, published in the journal Ecology Letters on 2 November 2014, reveals a decrease of 421 million individual birds over 30 years. Around 90 percent of these losses were from the 36 most common and widespread species, including house sparrows, skylarks, grey partridges and starlings, highlighting the need for greater efforts to halt the continent-wide declines of our most familiar countryside birds.

The Aral Sea has shrunk to 2/3 of its original size, and has almost been split in two. Natural inflow from the Amu Darja and Syr Darja has been cut off by irrigation systems. The sea is becoming oversalinated, fish populations are falling. Since pesticides flow into the sea, the food which gains water from the Aral is also contaminated. Mammal mortality in the region is on the rise, as is anaemia. The overall climate in the area has become more continental.

The Baltic Sea is suffering from a lack of oxygen. Poor oxygen conditions on the seabed are killing animals and plants, and experts are now sounding the alarm – releasing fewer nutrients into the Baltic Sea is absolutely necessary. After several years of discussions, researchers from Aarhus University (Denmark), Lund University and Stockholm University (Sweden) have determined that nutrients from the land are the main cause of widespread areas of oxygen depletion. During the last century, the areas of oxygen depletion have increased drastically from approximately 5,000 km2 in around 1900 to the present day, where they extend to 60,000 km2. The results were published on 31 March in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.