Scientists with The Woods Hole Research Center are analyzing the surprising results of the first phase of a drydown experiment occurring in the Amazonian rainforest.

From January 2000 to July 2004, rainfall was excluded from a one-hectare (2.2 acre) plot in the middle of the Tapajós National Forest, in Brazil. A total of 6 feet of rainfall was diverted with six thousand 2’ by 6’ clear plastic panels suspended 3 to 12 feet above the soil. The panels were removed during the five-mon

World Water Day – 22 March 2005

South America’s giant Pantanal wetlands, one of the world’s most bio-diverse ecosystems, is at growing risk from intensive peripheral agricultural, industrial and urban development – problems expected to be compounded by climate change, United Nations University experts warn.

Covering more than 165,000 square kilometers – an area roughly equal to Florida – in the heart of South America, the Pantanal is the world’s largest freshwater we

British researchers have launched urgent research programmes in order to learn lessons from the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster. Such knowledge is relevant to both UK, and overseas disaster assessment and prevention programmes.

Funded by grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), teams from the University of Cambridge, the University of Newcastle, and University College London have looked at differing aspects of the tsunami’s effects. Their o

Since they began clearing valleys and slopes for agriculture more than 9,000 years ago, and continuing with the construction of roads, buildings and cities, people have been altering landscapes. UVM geologists explore the link between human actions and landscape–and reach some important conclusions–in the cover article of the April/May issue of GSA Today. Produced by the Geological Society of America, the prestigious monthly journal goes to more than 20,000 geologists and libraries worldwid

Genetically modified (GM) plants are to be used to grow vaccines for use in the worldwide fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies thanks to a grant of 12 million euros from the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).

‘Pharma-Planta’ draws on the expertise and experience of 39 scientists from 11 European countries and South Africa to address significant health problems affecting Europe and the developing world – although the primary aim is to provide medicines for poore

Envisat radar imagery confirms that the B-15A iceberg – the world’s largest floating object – is adrift once more after two months aground on a shallow seamount. This latest development poses a renewed threat to the nearby pier of land-attached ice known as the Drygalski ice tongue.

The sheer scale of B-15A is best appreciated from space. The bottle-shaped Antarctic iceberg is around 120 kilometres long, with an area exceeding 2500 square kilometres, making it about as larg

Faculty of 1000 Biology, a revolutionary literature awareness service for the life sciences, today announce the launch of a new faculty – ecology. The ecology faculty expands the coverage of Faculty of 1000 Biology, adding to the existing offering of 15 faculties covering subject areas from biochemistry to structural biology.

Harold Mooney, Professor of Environmental Biology at Stanford University is one of three Heads of Faculty for ecology. He warmly welcomes the expansion of t

The SCIAMACHY sensor aboard Envisat has performed the first space-based measurements of the global distribution of near-surface methane, one of the most important greenhouse gases. As reported in Thursday’s issue of Science Express, the results show larger than expected emissions across tropical land regions.

The report concerns work carried out by the Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP) at the University of Heidelberg in cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Meteorolog

Sea level rise to outpace temperature increase

Even if all greenhouse gases had been stabilized in the year 2000, we would still be committed to a warmer Earth and greater sea level rise in the present century, according to a new study by a team of climate modelers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The findings are published in this week’s issue of the journal Science.
The modeling study quantifies the relative rates of sea level rise and global t

Water use in Illinois is expected to grow faster than the population in the next 20 years, with Chicago-area counties leading increased demand in 89 of the state’s 102 counties, according to two new studies released by the Illinois State Water Survey.

“These studies project county-level water use for Illinois and five other states in the Midwest, information that is critical if we are to ensure that we have adequate and safe supplies of this life-sustaining element in the future,”

An international team of marine ecologists is urging the United States to take immediate action to save its fragile coral reefs. Their message is contained a strongly worded essay titled, “Are U.S. Coral Reefs on the Slippery Slope to Slime?” that appears in the March 18 edition of the journal Science.

“We’re frustrated with how slowly things are moving with coral reef conservation in the United States,” said Fiorenza Micheli, an assistant professor of biological sciences at

The stresses in the earth’s crust which have resulted from the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake have significantly increased the risk of another large earthquake in the already-devastated Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to new research findings by scientists from the University of Ulster’s School of Environmental Sciences.

According to their calculations, published in this week’s edition of leading scientific journal Nature, the Christmas 2004 earthquake which generated the m

Mars isn’t as sleepy as scientists suspected. An international research team, which includes Brown University planetary geologist James Head, has found evidence of recent glacial movement and volcanic eruptions in 3-D images from the Mars Express mission. The team’s latest work, laid out in three Nature papers, also includes evidence of a frozen sea close to the equator. These and other Mars Express findings are stoking debate about the possibility of life on the Red Planet.

Shi

At its second General Assembly on 17 and 18 March, the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform will present its proposals for the medium- and long-term development of hydrogen and fuel cells for carrying and converting energy cleanly. Europe faces the challenge of fluctuating oil prices, concerns about global warming and growth in energy demand. Hydrogen, with fuel cells as its primary application, is now widely recognised as a flexible and environmentally friendly energy carrier, which

Within the framework of a unique project of cooperation between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Palestinian research organizations, two engineers of the Palestinian Meteorological Service have come to the university for training and advanced study. This was the first time in many months that this has been possible.

Prof. Menachem Luria and Dr. Daniel Pederson of the Institute of Earth Sciences, together with a team from the university’s air quality research laboratory, ar

The United States exports nitrogen pollution beyond its borders, and some of this nitrogen may end up in Western Europe, according to a recent data analysis by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of New Hampshire. Most of the nitrogen pollution produced in Western Europe is deposited within its own boundaries, the authors found. The findings are an important step in quantifying total U.S. pollution export for policy makers. The study was published