The permafrost in the mires of subarctic Sweden is undergoing dramatic changes. The part of the soils that thaws in the summer, the so-called active layer, has become deeper since 1970 and the permafrost has disappeared altogether in some locations. This has lead to significant changes in the vegetation composition and subsequent increase in emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane. Methane is 25 times more potent compared to carbon dioxide as greenhouse gas.

Behind these new findin

Hamilton College professor/students publish findings in JACS

Researchers at Hamilton College have identified several methods for successfully determining the structures and thermodynamic values for the formation of atmospheric water clusters, which scientists have speculated may accelerate global warming. The Hamilton team’s findings were published in the March 3 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The greenhouse effect is caused by molecules that abs

Partners to invest $3.1-mln in marine initiative that encompasses five protected areas & safeguards threatened species in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia & Ecuador

In one of the most ambitious marine conservation initiatives in the western hemisphere, four Latin American nations, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation), Conservation International (CI) and others are consolidating a marine protected area that stretches from Costa Rica to Ecuador and

Even though many sea turtle populations are declining, quantifying factors that contribute to declines has been challenging. Mortality occurs on nesting beaches due to habitat loss, egg poaching, and predation. But turtles also die at sea due to accidental catches in fishing gear.

In the March issue of Ecology Letters, Duke University researchers quantify incidental catch of loggerheads (Caretta caretta) and leatherbacks (Dermochelys coricea) in the global pelagic longline fishery.

Global temperatures have increased dramatically over the past century, which is causing major impacts on climate patterns, ocean circulation and wildlife preservation. The increase in temperature is largely due to a rise of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, of which CO2 is one of the most important.

To understand the capacity of ecosystems to sequester excesses of atmospheric CO2 and improve our ability to predict future climate change scenarios, we must first improve our knowled

One of the world’s largest freshwater fish, an Asian catfish as big as a bear, may disappear in the near future, warns a UC Davis conservation biologist from his research base in Cambodia.

The giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), which grows to 10 feet long and 650 pounds, is a migratory species in the rivers of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It has been a mainstay for local fishers for centuries.

Now very few fish are being caught. At one typical traditional fishing spot on th

The genetic modifications that improve animals for human consumption also could doom populations if released into the wild, according to a Purdue University research team.

Biologist Rick Howard and his colleagues have discovered a paradox that crops up when new genes are deliberately inserted into a fish’s chromosomes to make the animal grow larger. While the genetically modified fish will be bigger and have more success at attracting mates, they may also produce offspring that are less like

The artichoke grown in Navarre, the Blanca de Tudela, appears earlier, is the most productive and has a greater industrial and agricultural yield than the rest of the varieties of this plant. This is the conclusion of researcher Juan Ignacio Macua González in his PhD thesis defended at the Public University of Navarre.

Navarre, nucleus of cultivation and supply

In Spain there are some 20,000 hectares given over to the cultivation of the artichoke. This surface area is fundame

Trophy hunters prize the regal lion above virtually all other animals, but shooting lions without overhunting is tricky. Excessive trophy hunting could open the door for too many young males to invade prides and kill all the cubs, causing a population decline. On the other hand, income from trophy hunting helps sustain African game reserves, which might otherwise be converted to small-scale agriculture. In an effort to reconcile the needs of lions and of people who manage their populations, Universit

Researchers at Oregon State University have created purple-fruited tomatoes that include anthocyanins – the same class of health-promoting pigments in red wine that function as antioxidants and are believed to prevent heart disease.

Their research is featured as the cover story in the latest issue of the Journal of Heredity.

Domestic tomato varieties grown and consumed in the United States do not normally produce fruit containing any anthocyanin, explained Jim Myers, OSU’s Ba

Drugs based on CSIRO’s research into the influenza virus have been shown to be effective, in laboratory tests, against a sample of an H5N1 influenza virus currently infecting chickens in Asia.

CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition scientist, Dr Jenny McKimm-Breschkin, has tested the ability of the flu drug Relenza™ to inhibit the virus, known as H5N1 strain, which has killed millions of chickens in Asia and has been responsible for several human deaths this year.

The tests, used to m

Having marked its first anniversary on orbit, NASA’s Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite has hit its stride. In concert with other satellites, SORCE’s observations of the sun’s brightness are helping researchers better understand climate change, climate prediction, atmospheric ozone, the sunburn-causing ultraviolet-B radiation and space weather.

In fall 2003, SORCE was fortunate to see and measure exceptionally high levels of the sun’s activities. In

The Vanuatu island arc, in the South-West Pacific, is 1 700 km long. It corresponds to a convergence zone where the Australian plate is slipping eastwards under the North Fiji Basin, which is part of the Pacific plate, thus generating earthquakes. On 26 November 1999, the central islands of Vanuatu, particularly Ambrym and Pentecost, were strongly shaken by a 7.5 magnitude surface earthquake followed by a tsunami. The earthquake and the many landslips it generated caused 10 deaths and considerable d

Visible from ESA’s Proba spacecraft 600 kilometres away in space are the largest of the many Nasca Lines; ancient desert markings now at risk from human encroachment as well as flood events feared to be increasing in frequency.

Designated a World Heritage Site in 1994, the Lines are a mixture of animal figures and long straight lines etched across an area of about 70 km by 30 km on the Nasca plain, between the Andes and Pacific Coast at the southern end of Peru. The oldest lines date from a

Exploring the role of predators in keeping pathogens at bay

Lyme disease, bubonic plague, and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome–all potentially serious disease threats to people–are carried by non-human vertebrates, most often rodents, who are the host species for a plethora of pathogens. Recent outbreaks of Monkeypox and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome have generated fresh concern about how pathogens move from non-human carriers to people. The paper, “Are predators good for your heal

Slow-moving ground water slows down water-quality improvements in Chesapeake Bay Ground water supplies about half of the water and nitrogen to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and is therefore an important pathway for nitrogen to reach the bay, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. Too many nutrients, most of all nitrogen, are the principal cause for poor water-quality conditions in the Chesapeake Bay.

The ground water moving to streams in the Bay watershed has a