A recent report on an unexpected sharp rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has raised the possibility of rapid global warming, but researchers at King’s College London warn that some UK businesses, government departments and voluntary sector organisations are better equipped than others to respond to an increased risk of flooding, storms and extreme temperatures.
According to the research, which was funded by ESRC, the key to an effective response to environmental crises lies i
Chimpanzees are renowned for their complex tool using behaviors and wide array of tool assemblages. However, the tool using repertoire of these apes in central Africa’s Congo Basin has remained an enigma, based mainly on indirect evidence and fleeting observations.
In this study, a new type of remote video technology was used to study chimpanzee behavior at termite nests in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. From six-months of remote video surveillance at termite nests,
Most wild species experience considerable variation in habitat quality. Ecological theory that considers how organisms disperse between good and bad habitats has shown that such spatial structure can strongly influence population dynamics, but real-world implications have rarely been found. In this study, researchers from the University of California Santa Cruz show that the spatial structure of Peregrine Falcons in California has profoundly influenced the management and recovery of this species.
Global research highlighting the most important areas for albatross migration and breeding may yet help save these magical birds from extinction.
Satellite tracking data for 16 species of albatross and three petrel species, all of them threatened by commercial and pirate longline fishing, have been collated by BirdLife International, an alliance of conservation groups. Its report, Tracking Ocean Wanderers, highlights areas where longline fleets are putting seabirds at most risk. T
Global warming has forced U.S. plants and animals to change their behavior in recent decades in ways that can be harmful, according to a new report prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
The Pew Center review of more than 40 studies is co-authored by Camille Parmesan, integrative biologist at The University of Texas at Austin, and Hector Galbraith of Galbraith Environmental Services, who is affiliated with the University of Colorado at Boulder. Their analyses revea
Both studies appear in Volume 85, issue 10 of Ecology, the most recent issue of the journal.
Invading Trout Reduce Forest Spiders by Altering the Stream Food Web That Supplies Their Prey
A team of researchers from the U.S. and Japan have shown that exotic species can have strong effects that degrade not only the ecosystems they invade, but also spread to adjacent ecosystems as well. Colden Baxter, Kurt Fausch and Phillip Chapman from Colorado State University collabo
Way out exists even from the most desperate situations. Water mollusca prove that statement. At first sight, they are absolutely unable to live without water, as they consist almost totally from water. However, this is only at first sight. Russian scientists have analyzed their data and the data from their colleagues who observed mollusca on the banks of various water bodies and have discovered the adaptation mechanisms these animals employ to live without water.
Water mollusc
Long-term exposure to a synthetic estrogen at levels below those currently found in the environment may have a major impact on fish populations, according to a study accepted today for publication in the December issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The study shows that ethynylestradiol, a potent form of estrogen used in oral contraceptives, can produce sexually compromised males.
Researchers exposed zebrafish to low concentrations of the horm
A new modeling framework suggests that climate change alone could cause a 4.5% increase in the number of summer ozone-related deaths across the New York metropolitan region by the year 2050, according to a study published today in the November issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). When population growth and projected growth in greenhouse gas emissions are factored in, the model predicts a 59.9% increase in summer ozone-related deaths by 2050.
An environmentally-friendly method of recycling tyres, which would help solve a growing waste problem across the globe, could soon be on the way thanks to some new technology supported by NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) – the organisation that champions UK innovation and creativity.
NESTA have invested £70,000 from its Invention and Innovation programme, in UTDR Research, based in Flintshire, North Wales, who are developing the new recycling sy
The Norwegian National Committee on Polar Research has made a Policy Platform Document for Norwegian Research in the Antarctic 2005 – 2009, commissioned by the Research Council of Norway. The document implies a considerable upgrade of Norwegian Antarctic research.
Being the only country with both Arctic and Antarctic territories, Norway has a special obligation to develop knowledge concerning the polar areas. The new policy document states that Norwegian Antarctic research sho
Recently scientists from NASA and Open University in the United Kingdom set out to study how acid rain affects the methane gas that comes from wetlands in the U.S., England and Sweden.
Scientists went into natural wetlands because although most methane is produced by human activities, a large amount actually comes from natural wetlands. The concern with methane is that it’s a greenhouse gas that contributes to warming our planet. The researchers discovered that low levels of
Antarctic whales, seals and penguins could be threatened by food shortages in the Southern Ocean. Numbers of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), a shrimp-like crustacean at the heart of the food chain, are declining. The most likely explanation is a dramatic decline in sea-ice. The results are published this week in the journal Nature.
Sea-ice is a vital feeding ground for the huge number of krill in the Southern Ocean. The new research shows that krill numbers have dropped b
A revolutionary software system which could help manufacturers reduce CFC emissions is being developed thanks to an £80,000 investment from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), the organization which invests in UK creativity.
London-based Quantemol receives this investment to develop the world’s most powerful tool to predict how molecules and electrons interact on a quantum subatomic level.
Offering a more precise and comprehensive understan
EUREKA project E! 2634 EUROENVIRON TEAP (Tool Evaluating Air quality impact of air Pollution) has created a real-time software solution to provide pollution forecasts for industrial plants, cities and air quality authorities. It will change the way pollution is dealt with and is set to increase the lead partner’s turnover by 25%.
The TEAP software program runs daily on a set of interconnected PCs, providing a detailed pollution forecast based on complex mathematical and chemical mo
Climate scientists agree that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has increased about 35 percent over the industrial period and that it will continue to rise so that CO2 will reach double its pre-industrial value well before the end of this century. How much this doubled CO2 concentration will raise Earth’s global mean temperature, however, remains quite uncertain and is the subject of intense research — and heated debate.
In a paper to be published in the November issue of the Jour
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