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Categories: Ecology: Research, Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published Earlier and earlier high-Arctic spring replaced by 'extreme year-to-year variation'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source About 15 years ago, researchers reported that the timing of spring in high-Arctic Greenland had advanced at some of the fastest rates of change ever seen anywhere in the world. But, according to new evidence, that earlier pattern has since been completely erased. Instead of coming earlier and earlier, it seems the timing of Arctic spring is now driven by tremendous climate variability with drastic differences from one year to the next.
Published An inverse model for food webs and ecosystem stability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers invert a classical approach to modeling food webs. Instead of trying to replicate stable, complex ecosystems using simplistic representations of species interactions, the authors' novel inverse method assumes the ecosystems exist and works backward to characterize food webs that support that assumption. Their work represents a significant step toward addressing a fundamental ecological question of how biodiversity promotes ecosystem stability. The findings offer insights into how nature may respond to growing anthropogenic disturbances.
Published Research supports use of managed and prescribed fires to reduce fire severity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists found that fires in America's dry conifer forests are burning hotter and killing more trees today than in previous centuries. The main culprit? Paradoxically, a lack of fires.
Published Road salt pollution in many US lakes could stabilize at or below thresholds set by the EPA
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For lakes in areas with light to moderate road density, the authors found that holding road salt application rates steady could help lakes stabilize below 230 mg/l of chloride per liter of water, the threshold designated by the EPA to protect aquatic life. Reducing application could yield additional environmental and economic benefits without threatening road safety.
Published Scientists discover new isopod species in the Florida Keys
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny, hidden, organisms that make up the majority of biodiversity in the ocean. The tiny crustaceans are the first new gnathiid isopod to be discovered from the Floridian ecoregion in 100 years and are named after singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.
Published Risk of fatal heart attack may double in heat wave and high fine particulate pollution days
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An analysis of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths between 2015-2020 in a single Chinese province found that days that had extreme heat, extreme cold or high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution were significantly associated with the risk of death from a heart attack, especially in women and older adults.
Published Long-term changes in waves and storm surges have not impacted global coastlines
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Changes in ocean wave and storm conditions have not caused long-term impacts on sandy coastlines in the past 30 years, a new study has found.
Published Climate science is catching up to climate change with predictions that could improve proactive response
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In Africa, climate change impacts are experienced as extreme events like drought and floods. It has now been possible to predict and monitor these climatic events, providing early warning of their impacts on agriculture to support humanitarian and resilience programming in the most food insecure countries of the world.
Published Picturing where wildlands and people meet at a global scale
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have created the first tool to map and visualize the areas where human settlements and nature meet on a global scale. The tool could improve responses to environmental conflicts like wildfires, the spread of zoonotic diseases and loss of ecosystem biodiversity.
Published Understanding the many different ways animals are evolving in response to fire could help conservation efforts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In our modern era of larger, more destructive, and longer-lasting fires -- called the Pyrocene -- plants and animals are evolving quickly to survive. By synthesizing the wide body of research about rapid animal evolution in response to fire, a multidisciplinary team of ecology experts hopes to leverage what we already know to help foster evolution-informed conservation plans. In this way, they suggest, we can try to harness the ways in which fire impacts animals to protect vulnerable species -- working with evolution instead of against it.
Published Some corals may survive climate change without paying a metabolic price
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source If, as the saying goes, 'nothing in life is free,' then corals might pay a price for being resilient to climate change. Indeed, the prevailing belief among scientists has been that corals must suffer reduced growth or other tradeoffs when they partner with symbiotic algae that help them tolerate warmer water. Yet, new research demonstrates that certain corals can have their cake and eat it too, and as a result, these coral-symbiont partnerships may come to dominate reef ecosystems in a climate-changed future.
Published Into the unknown: NASA space laser provides answers to a rainforest canopy mystery
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The space laser GEDI has allowed researchers to 3D map Earth's rainforests for the first time ever, helping us understand the forest canopy and providing vital information for understanding Earth's carbon cycle and how it is changing.
Published Our favorite vintages and their precarious mountainside homes are at risk due to climate change, environmental scientists warn
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tucked into the hillsides of Italy, Portugal, and Spain, some of the world's most famous -- and most difficult to maintain -- vineyards are heralded for their unique flavor profiles and centuries of tradition. But as extreme weather and changing socioeconomic conditions make this so-called 'heroic viticulture' even more challenging, scientists worry these grapes and their cultural histories are at risk. Researchers argue that farmers and scientists must work together to protect some of the world's most celebrated wines.
Published Supercomputer used to simulate winds that cause clear air turbulence
(via sciencedaily.com) Using Japan's most powerful supercomputer, researchers reproduced cases of clear air turbulence around Tokyo. They simulated the fine vortices responsible for this dangerous phenomenon. The usefulness of the simulation in predicting turbulence was confirmed by comparing simulation data with data from aircraft recordings. This research should improve the forecasting of turbulence.
Published Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.
Published Three things to know: Climate change's impact on extreme-weather events
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers found that the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events, like wildfires, could lead to massive increases in all three.
Published Birds raise fewer young when spring arrives earlier in a warming world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study of North American songbirds finds that birds can't keep up with the earlier arrival of spring caused by climate change. As a result, they're raising fewer young. By the end of the 21st century, climate change will cause springlike weather to begin 25 days earlier, but birds will only breed about seven days earlier. That change could lead to an average reduction of 12% in breeding productivity for songbird species.
Published New study reveals abrupt shift in tropical Pacific climate during Little Ice Age
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An El Niño event has officially begun. The climate phenomenon, which originates in the tropical Pacific and occurs in intervals of a few years will shape weather across the planet for the next year or more and give rise to various climatic extremes. El Niño-like conditions can also occur on longer time scales of decades or centuries. This has been shown to have occurred in the recent past.
Published Scientists propose new strategy for modern sails to help shipping sector meet its carbon reduction goals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have identified a strategy that can offset the random and unpredictable nature of weather conditions that threaten carbon emission reduction efforts in the shipping sector.
Published Freely available risk model for hurricanes, tropical cyclones
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As human-driven climate change amplifies natural disasters, hurricanes and typhoons stand to increase in intensity. Until now, there existed very few freely available computer models designed to estimate the economic costs of such events, but a team of researchers has recently announced the completion of an open-source model that stands to help countries with high tropical cyclone risks better calculate just how much those storms will impact their people and their economies.