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

Are environmental toxins putting future generations at risk?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a study that signals potential reproductive and health complications in humans, now and for future generations, researchers have concluded that fathers exposed to environmental toxins, notably DDT, may produce sperm with health consequences for their children.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
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Ancient rocks improve understanding of tectonic activity between earthquakes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rocks once buried deep in ancient subduction zones -- where tectonic plates collide -- could help scientists make better predictions of how these zones behave during the years between major earthquakes, according to a research team.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
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What turned Earth into a giant snowball 700 million years ago? Scientists now have an answer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Inspired during field work in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, geoscientists have proposed that all-time low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions triggered a 57-million-year-long global 'Sturtian' ice age.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography
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Replacing animal-based foods with alternative proteins would unlock land for carbon removal      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report that replacing 50% of animal products with alternative proteins by 2050 could free up enough agricultural land to generate renewable energy equivalent in volume to today's coal-generated power while simultaneously removing substantial CO2 from the atmosphere.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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New study sheds new light on forests' role in climate and water cycle      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Forests, which cover a third of Earth's land surface, are pivotal in carbon storage and the water cycle, though the full scope of their impact remains to be fully understood. In a new study, researchers provide new insights into the complex role forests play in the climate system and water cycle.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
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A new origin story for deadly Seattle fault      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Seattle fault zone is a network of shallow faults slicing through the lowlands of Puget Sound, threatening to create damaging earthquakes for the more than four million people who live there. A new origin story, proposed in a new study, could explain the fault system's earliest history and help scientists improve hazard modeling for the densely populated region.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
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Study challenges the classical view of the origin of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and warns of its vulnerability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Circumpolar Current works as a regulator of the planet's climate. Its origins were thought to have caused the formation of the permanent ice in Antarctica about 34 million years ago. Now, a study has cast doubt on this theory, and has changed the understanding of how the ice sheet in Antarctic developed in the past, and what this could mean in the future as the planet's climate changes.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Vitamin B12 adaptability in Antarctic algae has implications for climate change, life in the Southern Ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The algae P. antarctica has two forms of the enzyme that makes the amino acid methionine, one needing B12, and one that is slower, but doesn't need it. This means it has the ability to adapt and survive with low B12 availability. The presence of the MetE gene in P. antarctica gives the algae the ability to adapt to lower vitamin B12 availability, giving it a potential advantage to bloom in the early austral spring when bacterial production is low. P. antarctica takes in the CO2 and releases oxygen through photosynthesis. Understanding its ability to grow in environments with low vitamin B12 availability can help climate modelers make more accurate predictions.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Understanding how soil traps carbon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With 2,500 billion tons of carbon, soil is one of Earth's largest carbon sinks. Researchers used experiments and computational modeling to study interactions between carbon molecules and clay minerals in soil. New research gives clues to why some plant-based carbon molecules are sequestered in soils but others are respired as CO2. Findings show that electrostatic charges, surrounding nutrients in soil and competition from other molecules all play roles in facilitating carbon trapping.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
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In a warming world, climate scientists consider category 6 hurricanes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For more than 50 years, the National Hurricane Center has used the Saffir-Simpson Windscale to communicate the risk of property damage; it labels a hurricane on a scale from Category 1 (wind speeds between 74 -- 95 mph) to Category 5 (wind speeds of 158 mph or greater). But as increasing ocean temperatures contribute to ever more intense and destructive hurricanes, climate scientists wondered whether the open-ended Category 5 is sufficient to communicate the risk of hurricane damage in a warming climate.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
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Permafrost alone holds back Arctic rivers -- and a lot of carbon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study provides the first evidence that the Arctic's frozen soil is the dominant force shaping Earth's northernmost rivers, confining them to smaller areas and shallower valleys than rivers to the south. But as climate change weakens Arctic permafrost, the researchers calculate that every 1 degree Celsius of global warming could release as much carbon as 35 million cars emit in a year as polar waterways expand and churn up the thawing soil.

Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Increased temperature difference between day and night can affect all life on earth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered a change in what scientists already knew about global warming dynamics. It had been widely accepted since the 1950s that global temperature rises were not consistent throughout the day and night, with greater nighttime warming being observed. However, the recent study reveals a shift in dynamics: with greater daytime warming taking place since the 1990s. This shift means that the temperature difference between day and night is widening, potentially affecting all life on Earth.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Climate change threatens older elephants most, jeopardizing African elephants' future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A collaborative team of researchers has conducted first-of-its kind research into how global climate change affects African elephants. The work shows that older elephants will have markedly decreased chances of survival, which will not only drastically reduce the species' overall ability to weather the changing climate but will send ripple effects throughout the surrounding landscape. The team has also modeled possible mitigation scenarios.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
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Source rocks of the first real continents      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geoscientists have uncovered a missing link in the enigmatic story of how the continents developed- - a revised origin story that doesn't require the start of plate tectonics or any external factor to explain their formation. Instead, the findings rely solely on internal geological forces that occurred within oceanic plateaus that formed during the first few hundred million years of Earth's history.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Discovery of a third RNA virus linage in extreme environments Jan 17, 2024      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group has discovered a novel RNA viral genome from microbes inhabiting a high-temperature acidic hot spring. Their study shows that RNA viruses can live in high-temperature environments (70-80 degrees Celsius), where no RNA viruses have been observed before. In addition to the two known RNA virus kingdoms, a third kingdom may exist.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Greenland is a methane sink rather than a source      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have concluded that the methane uptake in dry landscapes exceeds methane emissions from wet areas across the ice-free part of Greenland. The results of the new study contribute with important knowledge for climate models. The researchers are now investigating whether the same finding applies to other polar regions.

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

Geoengineering may slow Greenland ice sheet loss      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Modeling shows that stratospheric aerosol injection has the potential to reduce ice sheet loss due to climate change.