Is the end near?

(Newser) - Whether it's John McCain or Barack Obama, the next US president will instantly face "the most momentous political challenge of all time"—saving the world from catastrophic climate change, Carlos Pascual and Strobe Talbott write in the Washington Post . We have 7 years to begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophe: a submerged Manhattan, an even dryer Nevada, and millions of "climate refugees" the world over, they note. More »

(Newser) - The US will suffer a wide range of increasingly extreme weather events in the coming decades as a result of global warming—from drought and excessive heat to wildly destructive hurricanes and record floods triggered by intense rains, reports the Washington Post. The grim prognosis was revealed in the latest report by the US Climate Change Science Program, which called extreme weather "among the most serious challenges in coping with a changing climate." More »

(Newser) - Chicken Little may have been smarter than we thought. A growing body of evidence reveals that the sky is falling, or at least gigantic space rocks are—and the Earth is at far greater risk of a catastrophic strike than previously thought, reports Atlantic . Despite the danger—an impact could make a nuclear bomb look like a firecracker—NASA is expending little effort to protect the planet. More »

(Newser) - The inhospitable oxygen-starved layers of the oceans, once relegated to the deep sea, are now encroaching on coastlines, reports the Los Angeles Times . The dead zones, linked to global warming, have moved up into continental shelves, a study in Science says. They interfere with commercial fishing and entice predators that thrive in such conditions such as the jumbo squid. More »

(Newser) - One of the less touted factors behind the global food crisis is a shortage in chemical fertilizer, which has helped boost crop yields dramatically and particularly benefited the developing world. But while growing demand is unlikely to be met for many years, the environmental impact of producing and using chemical fertilizers is significant and negative, the New York Times reports. More »

(Newser) - The loss of biodiversity on Earth will seriously hamper efforts to cure human disease, AFP reports. Researchers at the UN-backed Business for the Environment conference highlighted undiscovered cures for pain, infections and even cancer that risk being lost forever if humans fail to reverse the widespread extinction of thousands of species caused, in large part, by climate change. More »

(Newser) - A magnitude 4.5 earthquake rattled southern Illinois early this morning in the strongest aftershock since the area was shaken by Friday’s 5.2 tremor, CNN reports. The rumble was centered in the same spot as last week's quake near the town of Mount Carmel, and began after midnight. No damage has been reported. Some 18 shakers followed Friday's quake, the strongest in the area in 40 years. More »

(Newser) - Climate scientists meeting this week in Vienna are contemplating a terrible prospect—the release of billions of tons of methane gas from the Arctic Ocean, Der Spiegel reports. Methane, 20 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, lies frozen in gas hydrates on the ocean floor, but rising global temperatures are loosening the ice’s grip. More »

(Newser) - A particle smasher in Switzerland could suck up Earth and possibly the whole universe, a US lawsuit claims. The suit warns that the $8 billion Large Hadron Collider near Geneva could spark a matter-sucking black hole or a "strangelet" that turns our planet into "strange matter." But one Princeton scientist dismisses the claim, saying the Collider is as likely to "make dragons that might eat us up," the New York Times reports. More »

(Newser) - Seven members of a Russian doomsday cult, all women, have emerged from the cave where they have been holed up since November, awaiting the end of the world (note: in May), Itar-Tass reports. Twenty-eight more remain in the cave southeast of Moscow—but they are expected to come out soon, as melting snow has caused part of the cave to collapse. More »

(Newser) - Glaciers shrank an alarming average of 4.9 feet in 2006, the UN Environment Program says—a dramatic difference from ice loss numbers in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when glaciers lost an average 11.8 inches a year. UNEP’s director pointed to "many canaries in the climate change coal mine," emphasizing that millions depend on glaciers for water, agriculture, and power generation, BBC News reports. More »

(Newser) - They’re cute, they’re endangered, and they’re some of global warming’s first casualties. Baby seals throughout the Baltic Sea are dying, Der Spiegel reports, as rising temperatures melt the protective dens they rely on to survive. “The situation is dramatic,” said one environmental activist. “It could turn out that not one of the seal babies born in the last few weeks will survive.” More »

(Newser) - Don't freak out, but an unstable star a mere 8,000 light years away could go supernova at any time, sending a massive gamma ray burst hurtling toward Earth, possibly destroying the ozone layer and blasting half of the planet with deadly radiation. WR 104 is what's known as a Wolf-Rayet star, and "Wolf-Rayet stars are regarded by astronomers as ticking bombs," a researcher tells Space.com. More »

(Newser) - The North Pole is no Fertile Crescent, but it will house collections of the world's crop seeds in a doomsday vault that will open tomorrow, AFP reports. The vault, built on Norwegian territory, contains three cold chambers that can hold a total of 4.5 million seed samples—twice the current amount of known crops—and will safeguard crops in the event of catastrophe. More »

(Newser) - Earth's changing soils appear less able to support farming and plant and animal diversity because of human activity, a study shows. "Global soil change," which is occurring most severely in Africa and Asia, has a heavier hand in climate change than previously thought, National Geographic reports. Degraded soils lose the ability to store carbon, putting billions of additional tons into the air. More »

(Newser) - Climate change could cause severe food shortages in South Asia and southern Africa, two of the poorest regions in the world, by 2030, National Geographic reports. "We were surprised by how much, and how soon, these regions could suffer if we don't adapt," said one of the study's authors. Decreased yields could pump up costs in the global food market as well. More »