Author Archives: Rolf Schuttenhelm

NOAA’s analysis of climate records 2010: trend consistent with climate change

Here on Bitsofscience.org we hope to be your climate records reference point, so we try not to miss any of the major reports on temperature trends or Arctic melting records. That means we definitely could not ignore yesterday’s release by … Continue reading →

CCD threatens supply of healthy foods more than staple and fast foods

‘Some 35 percent’ of the foods we eat [and two-thirds to three-quarters of the crop foods] are derived from flowering plants and trees that depend on pollination by insects. This often-cited percentage is used to stress the importance of bees … Continue reading →

Extrapolating lab study on yeast: species may evolve around deadly environmental change within 50-100 generations

If however survival conditions are optimal, like a gradual increase of the environmental stressor, ‘modest’ inter-population contact – and indeed if such extrapolation from a microorganism to a blue whale would be as legitimate as the researchers in their Science … Continue reading →

Oceans to enter Holocene Mass Extinction

The cumulative effect of environmental threats like climate change, ocean acidification and overfishing, brings the world’s interconnected ocean close to a phase of extinction of marine species that is ‘globally significant’ and unprecedented in human history, an international panel of … Continue reading →

IPCC AR5 looks into geoengineering science

Next week, Monday till Wednesday, climate experts from IPCC WGI, II & III will get together in Lima to discuss a possible inclusion of geoengineering measures in climate policy. Although intended for participants only, the programme, including abstracts of keynote … Continue reading →

Shutting down 20GW nuclear translates to 11GW extra coal

And 5GW of newly built gas power plants, which also emit more CO2 than [practically zero carbon] nuclear power plants. This is just the German case. Meanwhile also Switzerland has announced it will phase out its entire nuclear capacity and … Continue reading →

Flower biodiversity linked to CCD – bees on fast food are unhealthy, susceptible to pests

Just recently Colony Collapse Disorder was back in the news. Swiss scientists conducted an experiment to look into claims (even) cell phones may have something to do with CCD. They concluded bees don´t like the buzz. Most specialists however agree … Continue reading →