There is a lot of junk orbiting the Earth and the problem will worsen unless there are changes in how spacecraft operators operate. But it is not all doom and gloom. The first steps toward a comprehensive solution are already well underway including a European code of conduct for space debris mitigation.
According to Dr Ruediger Jehn, a space debris specialist working at ESA’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, there are several relatively simple measures that will help r
If increased precipitation and sea surface heating from global warming disrupts the Atlantic Conveyer current – as some scientists predict – the effect on the ocean food chain in the Atlantic and other oceans could be severe, according to a new study just published in Nature.
In a worst case scenario, global productivity of phytoplankton could decrease by as much as 20 percent and in some areas, such as the North Atlantic, the loss could hit 50 percent. The study was conducted
Full-scale disaster breaking out in France – in the form of a simulated accident around which a major European civil protection exercise is planned. Just as in a real emergency, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters is being activated so rescue teams will receive satellite images of the disaster zone.
It begins with a train derailment, and then the situation gets worse. Train wagons of fuel begin to burn, the fire spreading to pressurised tanks of liquefied gas
A V90-3.0 MW offshore wind turbine has to produce electricity for just 6.8 months, before it has produced as much energy as used throughout its design lifetime. In other words this turbine model earns its own worth more than 35 times during its design lifetime.
Furthermore, compared to the V80-2.0 MW offshore wind turbine, the 6.8 months constitutes an improvement of approximately 2.2 months.
If installed on a good site, the V90-3.0 MW wind turbine will generate appro
Unprecedented study describes sources contributing to decline of Caribbean reefs
Their position at the pinnacle of the marine food chain is legendary. Now, understanding sharks and their significance as top predators-and the consequences of human activity towards them-has taken on new importance through a new study by scientists in San Diego and Spain.
Jordi Bascompte and Carlos Melián of the Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de
A two-year joint ESA and UNESCO project to chart the habitats of endangered mountain gorillas with satellites came to a fruitful finish in Paris, with end-users receiving final maps and geographical data products for use in the field.
“These maps will help us make our anti-poaching efforts more effective,” said Eulalie Bashige, Director General of the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “We can also clarify the ex
Even though spring and warm-weather thoughts are here, a chilling, soon-to-be published report says that December’s immense Midwest snowstorm was one to remember.
The Dec. 22-23 storm broke all records for storm intensity, size, and damages, garnered national attention, and dumped record snowfall — not only across Illinois but also in the Ohio River valley where heavy snows and ice seldom occur, said Stanley Changnon, chief emeritus of the Illinois State Water Survey.
More stringent federal standards for acceptable levels of arsenic in public drinking water go into effect next year, a prospect that has resulted in four new research projects on arsenic. The research, funded by the Midwest Technology Assistance Center for Small Public Water Systems, will address the new standards, which will change the acceptable level of arsenic in public groundwater supplies from 50 micrograms per liter to 10 mg/l. The center, housed at the Illinois State Water S
New report on 25 most endangered primates shows mankind’s closest living relatives under threat around the world
Mankind’s closest living relatives-the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates-face increasing peril from humans and some could soon disappear forever, according to a report released today by the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN-The World Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the International Primatological Society (IP
Oil spills from tankers or simply your local garage could soon be cleaned up using specially-selected bacteria, according to research presented today (Wednesday, 06 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology’s 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
Millions of gallons of crude oil and its derivates used by the plastics and chemical industries are transported vast distances around the world every day, and inevitably some of it gets spilled. Scientists fro
Carbon exists in many forms in the air, soil, and water, and is an integral part of most living organisms. In a recent study, Stuart Findlay (Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York) discovered changes in the amount of carbon in the Hudson River. Exactly why the amounts changed, and what’s causing these changes, remains a mystery.
In “Increased carbon transport in the Hudson River: unexpected consequence of nitrogen deposition?” published in the April issue of Fronti
Dealing a new blow to the dominant evolutionary paradigm, Luiz Rocha and colleagues from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Harvard University the University of Florida and the University of Hawaii, report coral reef fish from neighboring habitats may differ more from one another than from fish thousands of miles away. An ecological speciation model for coral reef organisms may spur the development of a more synthetic treatment of speciation on land and sea.
Coral re
Salting and sanding roads in the Northeast is a routine part of winter, but changes in climate patterns caused by global warming may alter the established policies on snow removal, incurring higher costs and influencing road safety, according to a Penn State geographer.
“I am working with the Consortium for Atlantic Regional Assessment on a case study in New York State’s Adirondack Park that investigates many aspects of climate change and land use change on local communities
The warm El Niño episodes are generally accepted to be harmful to the development of cold-water anchovy populations, but favourable for abundant populations of sardine, adapted to warmer waters. IRD researchers and their Peruvian partners (1) have been studying fluctuations in pelagic fish populations in the world’s richest oceanic ecosystems for fish, the Peru-Humboldt Current system, off Peru. They showed that the traditional explanation does not always hold true. During the 1997-98 El Niño ev
Erosion and human activities are inducing large amounts of terrigenous sediment input to the southwest lagoon of New Caledonia. Such deposits can pose a threat to the lagoon’s ecological balance and biological richness. Scientists from the IRD’s Noumea centre have for several years been applying modelling techniques in order to unravel the system of current circulation and sediment transport (1). Satellite remote sensing provides reliable quantified data on the concentration of suspended matter
Climate changes in the northern and southern hemispheres are linked by a phenomenon by which the oceans react to changes on either side of the planet. A research team from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Cardiff University has shown for the first time that ocean circulation in the southern hemisphere has, in the past, adapted to sudden changes in the north. The research published today in Science will enable more accurate forecasts to be made on how the oceans will react to climate cha
Feedback
