Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Window to the past: New microfossils suggest earlier rise in complex life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Microfossils may capture a jump in the complexity of life that coincided with the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere and oceans, according to an international team of scientists.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Africa's dangerous air pollution levels are a global problem, says new research      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new report has brought to light the challenge of air pollution levels in Africa and why international action is needed to combat it. 

Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

A database unifies the information on damage to European forests over the last 60 years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are creating a database that harmonizes the recording of disturbances caused by insects and diseases in forests in 8 European countries by combining remote sensing, satellite images and field data.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

The fascinating relationship between mice and a plant that flowers once a century in terms of seed dispersal      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered several factors that affect field mouse behavior using seeds from dwarf bamboo plants, a plant that flowers once in a century. Their findings not only suggest the previously underappreciated role of mice in the forest ecosystem, but also show that they store small sasa seeds for later use. These challenge a previously held model of mouse behavior.  

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Threatened sharks and rays caught off Cyprus      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Sharks and rays from threatened species are being caught off northern Cyprus, according to a new study by scientists who are working with local authorities and fishers to protect the animals.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Crust-forming algae are displacing corals in tropical waters worldwide      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over the past few decades, algae have been slowly edging corals out of their native reefs across the globe by blocking sunlight, wearing the corals down physically, and producing harmful chemicals. But in recent years, a new type of algal threat has surfaced in tropical regions like the Caribbean -- one that spreads quickly and forms a crust on top of coral and sponges, suffocating the organisms underneath and preventing them from regrowing. Marine biologists report that peyssonnelioid alga crusts, or PACs, are expanding quickly across reefs worldwide, killing off corals and transforming entire ecosystems.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

How to eat our way out of the climate crisis      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers conducted a study to determine if replacing dietary fats from palm oil, soy and other agricultural crops with fats created synthetically in chemical or biological processes could help reduce climate change-causing greenhouse gases. The researchers' analysis finds a reduction in carbon emissions and other benefits, such the opening of agricultural lands to reforestation which benefits biodiversity and creates a carbon sink.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Keeping an eye on the regions when it comes to climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Up to now, the results of climate simulations have sometimes contradicted the analysis of climate traces from the past. Physicists and climatologists have now brought together experts in climate models and climate tracks to clarify how the discrepancies come about. The surprising result has now been published: in a way, both sides are right. Climate models correctly simulate global temperature trends, but often underestimate the strength of regional climate fluctuations, especially over the course of decades to centuries.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Scientists map loss of groundwater storage around the world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global water resources are stretched by climate change and human population growth, and farms and cities are increasingly turning to groundwater to fill their needs. Unfortunately, the pumping of groundwater can cause the ground surface above to sink, as the aquifers below are drained and the architecture of the ground collapses. A new study maps this loss of groundwater storage capacity around the world.  

Ecology: Invasive Species
Published

An exotic tick that can kill cattle is spreading across Ohio      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A species of exotic tick arrived in Ohio in 2021 in such huge numbers that their feeding frenzy on a southeastern farm left three cattle dead of what researchers believe was severe blood loss. The scientists have reported on the state's first known established population of Asian longhorned ticks, and are now conducting research focused on monitoring and managing these pests.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Animals Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Large herbivores such as elephants, bison and moose contribute to tree diversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using global satellite data, a research team has mapped the tree cover of the world's protected areas. The study shows that regions with abundant large herbivores in many settings have a more variable tree cover, which is expected to benefit biodiversity overall.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Predicting saltwater intrusion into groundwater using Plymouth, Mass. as test case      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As the world warms and ice sheets melt, the ocean continually rises. The greater Boston area can expect to see between one and six feet of sea level rise by 2100, according to recent estimates. To find out what this rise might mean for freshwater supplies, a team of hydrogeologists developed an innovative new model that can not only predict saltwater intrusion over the next 75 years, but also pinpoint the main sources of salt contamination today -- road salt and human development.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

How a climate model can illustrate and explain ice-age climate variability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

During the last ice age, the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago, the climate in the North Atlantic underwent much greater multi-centennial variability than it does in the present warm period. This is supported by evidence found in ice and seafloor cores. Researchers have now shown, based on a climate model, that internal mechanisms such as temperature and salinity distribution in the ocean are driving this multi-centennial variability.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Study links changes in global water cycle to higher temperatures      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study takes an important step toward reconstructing a global history of water over the past 2,000 years. Using geologic and biologic evidence preserved in natural archives -- including 759 different paleoclimate records from globally distributed corals, trees, ice, cave formations and sediments -- the researchers showed that the global water cycle has changed during periods of higher and lower temperatures in the recent past.

Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Buzz around new centralized pollination portal for better global bee data      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A powerful new way to fill major gaps in public bee data -- including from Africa, Asia and other under-reported zones -- has been addressed with a centralized tool for consolidating bee pollinator occurrences around the globe.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

The ringed seals in Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland are special      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Local hunters in the Icefjord near Ilulissat have long known about a special ringed seal -- the Kangia seal -- which is significantly larger and has a markedly different fur color and pattern than typical Arctic ringed seals. Now scientific studies have shown that the Kangia ringed seal has been isolated from other ringed seals for a long period of time -- more than 100,000 years.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Human emissions increased mercury in the atmosphere sevenfold      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers estimated that before humans started pumping mercury into the atmosphere, it contained on average about 580 megagrams of mercury. However, in 2015, independent research that looked at all available atmospheric measurements estimated the atmospheric mercury reservoir was about 4,000 Mg -- nearly 7 times larger than the natural condition estimated in this study.