Innovative tests trigger clean up efforts at popular California beach
A UC Irvine-led study has proved instrumental for significantly improving the quality of beach water at a popular California tourist destination. The same study also provides the blueprint for assisting similar beachside communities with an innovative approach for pinpointing the causes of water pollution.
The research was headed by UCI environmental engineer Stanley Grant and USC microbiologist Jed Fuhrman
With fewer than 300 northern right whales remaining, the seriously endangered species may face yet another obstacle to recovery. The right whale is regularly exposed to the neurotoxins responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) through feeding on contaminated zooplankton. These toxins could affect respiratory capabilities, feeding behavior, and ultimately the reproduction condition of the whale population.
In the current issue of the journal Harmful Algae, a team of scientists, led
Unless the pace of global warming is abated, polar bears could disappear within 100 years, says a University of Alberta expert in Arctic ecosystems.
While it has been known for some time that the polar bear is in trouble, new research shows that Arctic ice–the polar bear’s primary habitat–is melting much faster than scientists had believed, says U of A biologist Dr. Andrew Derocher.
“The climate predictions coming out are showing massive changes in sea-ice distribution,” sa
University of Colorado at Boulder researchers have found, ironically, that two pollutants – carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons emitted from agricultural forest trees – offset each other somewhat in mitigating air quality problems.
Carbon dioxide, believed by scientists to be a major factor in greenhouse warming, has been shown to reduce “agriforest” emissions of hydrocarbons that contribute to ground-based ozone pollution, according to CU-Boulder doctoral candidate Todd Rosenstiel of the envir
More trees are dying following forest fires in the Amazon than was previously thought, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Trees that initially appear to survive fires, such as those caused by El Niño, are in fact dying two to three years later, increasing carbon emissions and causing further loss of Amazonian vegetation.
Dr Barlow of UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences found that many of the large, thicker-barked trees that survive up to two years fol
The flora and fauna are sending signals about the impact of global warming – a message that is being heard in backyards around the world.
A study in the Jan. 2 edition of the British science journal Nature synthesized data from 143 scientific papers to examine whether a signal, or “fingerprint,” of climate change can be found in how animals and plants have reacted to increasing temperatures.
Among their findings: In the temperate zone, the researchers estimate that, for spe
Life expectancy and prosperity will continue to rise and food production should keep up with population growth, but the Kyoto agreement will have little effect on global warming according to this week’s Christmas issue of the BMJ.
Using official statistics and global trends, Bjørn Lomborg, Director of the Danish Environmental Assessment Institute and author of The Skeptical Environmentalist attempts to draw a reasonably good picture of the true state of the world.
Life expectancy fo
What’s seven feet long, 250 million years old, and currently lurking in the depths of Oregon’s Rogue River? It’s the green sturgeon, the craggy, shark-like fish that has quietly eked out a living since the time of the dinosaurs. But according to a new study published by researchers from the Bronx-Zoo based Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups, this living fossil is extremely vulnerable to both overfishing and habitat alteration such as water diversion for irrigation and pollu
Pioneering new solvent systems which are recyclable and environmentally compatible have been developed by researchers at the University of Leicester.
The team, led by Drs Andy Abbott and David Davies, has developed a wide range of new solvents made from bulk commodity materials such as urea (a common fertiliser) and vitamin B4. These have been studied extensively in recent years as they offer a potentially clean way to carry out chemical processes. They are non-volatile whilst liquid over a
The fact that many animal species, such as herds of antelope or shoals of fish, live together in herds is well understood: there is safety in numbers. Why limpets live together is a mystery, but ecologist Tim Theobalds thinks he has come up with the answer, and his findings could have important implications for their conservation and commercial collection.
Speaking at the British Ecological Society’s Winter Meeting, being held at the University of York on 18–20 December 2002, Theobalds of th
Novel developments in electronics which are giving ecologists important new tools to quickly and easily measure biodiversity will be described at the British Ecological Society’s Winter Meeting, being held at the University of York on 18–20 December 2002.
Speaking at the meeting, electronics expert and entomologist Dr David Chesmore from the University of York will explain a novel method of identifying different grasshopper species using time domain signal coding and artificial neural netwo
Jolly Old St. Nick depends on his team of reindeer to complete his Christmas rounds on time. But new research indicates that, because of the world’s changing climate, Santa might want to start thinking of new ways to power his sleigh.
Scientists have long known that rain falling on snow in the far northern latitudes during winter months can play havoc with herds of hoofed animals – primarily reindeer, caribou and musk ox – that feed on lichens and mosses growing on the soil surface. In
In face of changes in precipitation variability, climatic extremes
What does Kansas’ weather and life have in common? In the words of Forrest Gump, both are like a box of chocolates. “You’re never sure what you’re going to get.” Rain or drought. Drought or rain.
Concerns about future climate changes resulting from human activities often focus on the effects of increases in average air temperatures or changes in average precipitation amounts. But climate models also
Impacts on ecosystems are greater than previously anticipated
Projected increases in rainfall variability resulting from changes in global climate can rapidly reduce productivity and alter the composition of grassland plants, according to scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Although the diversity of plant species is increased in this scenario, the most important or dominant grasses were more water-stressed and their growth was reduced. Carbon dioxide release by
Biodiversity worldwide may be decreasing, but at smaller scales it is increasing or at least changing in composition, suggesting the need for a dramatic shift in the current focus of ecological research. These changes may undermine the functioning of local ecosystems, according to an article in December’s American Naturalist.
The authors –– Dov F. Sax, assistant research scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Steven D. Gaines, director of the Marine Science Institute and a
Wildland fires are taking tons of carbon out of storage and feeding it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas. Drought makes things worse, stunting tree growth and turning forests into tinderboxes. And when human activity disturbs the environment, the ability of forests to store carbon is further diminished.
These are some of the preliminary findings from computer modeling studies of the Colorado wildfires of 2002 being presented in San Francisco, December 6–10, at t
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