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Categories: Environmental: General, Geoscience: Severe Weather

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Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Geography
Published

Wire snare removal in protected areas is labor-intensive but effective -- and essential to solving the Southeast Asian snaring crisis      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Snaring -- a non-selective method of poaching using wire traps -- is widespread in tropical forests in Southeast Asia. Snaring decimates wildlife populations and has pushed many larger mammals to local or even global extinction. Eleven years of data from ranger patrols in the Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam Saola Nature Reserves in Viet Nam show that intensive removal efforts are labour-intensive and costly but brought snaring down by almost 40 percent and therefore reduced imminent threats to wildlife. Further reductions were difficult to achieve despite continued removal efforts. Snare removal is therefore necessary but by itself not sufficient to save the threatened wildlife diversity in tropical forests, scientists conclude.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Urgent need for action now for increasing threat from invasive alien species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Urgent action now is needed to tackle the major and growing global issue of invasive alien species, says a team of 88 experts from 47 countries. The paper follows the (IPBES) thematic assessment report on invasive alien species and their control. The experts say co-developing management actions with multiple stakeholders including government and private sector stakeholders, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities will be critical to achieving success in addressing biological invasions.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Arctic melting heavily influenced by little-studied meteorological phenomena      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of scientists has combined paleoclimatic data from the last 2,000 years with powerful computer modeling and in-the-field research on lake sediments and tree rings to show that an understudied phenomenon, known as atmospheric blocking, has long influenced temperature swings in the Arctic. As temperatures warm due to climate change, atmospheric blocking will help drive ever-wilder weather events. The study focused on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago, Svalbard, at the edge of the Arctic Ocean.

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

Thawing permafrost: Not a climate tipping element, but nevertheless far-reaching impacts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Permafrost soils store large quantities of organic carbon and are often portrayed as a critical tipping element in the Earth system, which, once global warming has reached a certain level, suddenly and globally collapses. Yet this image of a ticking timebomb, one that remains relatively quiet until, at a certain level of warming, it goes off, is a controversial one among the research community. Based on the scientific data currently available, the image is deceptive, as an international team has shown in a recently released study. According to their findings, there is no single global tipping point; rather, there are numerous local and regional ones, which 'tip' at different times, producing cumulative effects and causing the permafrost to thaw in step with climate change.

Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: General Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Fungus breaks down ocean plastic      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A fungus living in the sea can break down the plastic polyethylene, provided it has first been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. Researchers expect that many more plastic degrading fungi are living in deeper parts of the ocean.

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

Greenhouses cover more and more of Earth's surface      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Greenhouse cultivation is booming globally, especially in the Global South -- and across one country in particular. This is revealed in a new study that deploys detailed satellite imagery and AI to map greenhouses across the planet. According to the researchers, the development is a source of both promise and concern.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Researchers call for return of Sumas Lake following devastating 2021 floods      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new proposal has emerged in response to the November 2021 floods that swept Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, causing mass evacuations and millions in damages. Instead of rebuilding the dykes to manage water flows and prevent future floods, scientists, along with members of the Sumas First Nation and other research partners, suggest an alternative: let Sumas Lake, which was drained in the early 1920s and converted into the farmland known as Sumas Prairie, return to its natural state. This can be done by buying out properties on the lakebed -- a solution that is projected to cost around $1 billion, less than half of the estimated $2.4 billion cost of repairing the dykes and installing a new pump station.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General
Published

Paving the way for hydrogen from algae enzymes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Under certain conditions, some algae are able to produce hydrogen -- a much sought-after green energy source. Its production takes place in the unique catalytic center of the unicellular algae and is only possible if certain cofactors of the relevant proteins are present. Researchers have identified how such a cofactor, the so-called hydrogen cluster, is assembled. Specifically, they describe the previously unexplained role of the enzyme HydF, which is involved in the final steps of assembly.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Overcoming barriers to heat pump adoption in cold climates and avoiding the 'energy poverty trap'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Converting home heating systems from natural gas furnaces to electric heat pumps is seen as a way to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Mussels downstream of wastewater treatment plant contain radium, study reports      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Burrowed into streambeds and rarely moving for their decades-long lifespans, freshwater mussels are biomonitors, meaning they indicate how clean their environment is, according to researchers. As the bivalves feed on organic matter and filter the water around them, their inner tissues and hard shells begin to reflect whatever is in their environment -- including radioactive particles.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New coral disease forecasting system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research has led to a new tool for forecasting coral disease that could help conservationists step in at the right times with key interventions. Ecological forecasts are critical tools for conserving and managing marine ecosystems, but few forecasting systems can account for the wide range of ecological complexities in near-real-time.

Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Novel mobile air monitoring technology yields greater insight into post-disaster pollution levels      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team has found that high resolution mass spectrometry could be a valuable tool for identifying and assessing air-borne contaminants produced by natural and human-made disasters.

Ecology: General Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

People are altering decomposition rates in waterways      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Humans may be accelerating the rate at which organic matter decomposes in rivers and streams on a global scale, according to a new study. That could pose a threat to biodiversity in waterways around the world and increase the amount of carbon in Earth's atmosphere, potentially exacerbating climate change. The study is the first to combine a global experiment and predictive modeling to illustrate how human impacts to waterways may contribute to the global climate crisis.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
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Historic iceberg surges offer insights on modern climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A great armada entered the North Atlantic, launched from the cold shores of North America. But rather than ships off to war, this force was a fleet of icebergs. And the havoc it wrought was to the ocean current itself. The future of the Atlantic circulation will be determined by a tug-o-war between Greenland's decreasing ice flux and its increasing freshwater runoff.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Every drop counts: New algorithm tracks Texas daily reservoir evaporation rates      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a more accurate method for tracking reservoir evaporation rates that will improve water planning and management.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

New method makes hydrogen from solar power and agricultural waste      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have helped design a new method to make hydrogen gas from water using only solar power and agricultural waste such as manure or husks. The method reduces the energy needed to extract hydrogen from water by 600%, creating new opportunities for sustainable, climate-friendly chemical production.

Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Controlling ion transport for a blue energy future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers probed the transit of cations across a nanopore membrane for the generation of osmotic energy. The team controlled the passage of cations across the membrane using a voltage applied to a gate electrode. This control allowed the cation-selective transport to be tuned from essentially zero to complete cation selectivity. The findings are expected to support the application of blue energy solutions for sustainable energy alternatives worldwide.