30 years after Mount St. Helens
blew, the volcano reveals its secrets
A 8.32 a.m. May 18, 1980, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake triggered an enormous landslide. The
world changed. Fifty-seven people died in the eruption. Devastation stretched for 230
square miles. Ash circled the Earth in 15 days, lowering global temperatures.
Scientists say we'd better get used
to sweating out heat waves
Folks sweating out the heat wave battering parts of the country may just have to get used
to it. As global warming continues such heat waves will be increasingly common in the
future, a Stanford University study concludes.
GPS, Satellite Communications Will
be Challenged as Solar Flare Activity Rises
Paul M. Kintner, an expert on GPS and satellite communication and Professor of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at Cornell University, comments on the impact of an upcoming
period of increased solar flare activity on satellite communications, cell phones and
global positioning systems.
Dr. Michael Briggs, a member of NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) team at
The University of Alabama in Huntsville today announced that the GBM telescope has
detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth by energetic processes
similar to those found in particle accelerators.
Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF), a British Columbian biotechnology company, is petitioning
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to approve a genetically-modified (GM) variety
of apple that the company says does not brown after being sliced. The company licensed the
technology from Australian researchers who have already used it in potatoes to eliminate
the browning enzyme. The current request marks the first time a company has sought
approval for GM apples.
In just a few short weeks State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet
will be launched! We’re excited to share with you a sneak preview of Chapter 1
entitled, “Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger,” authored by co-project
directors Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg.
Shrinking ice and snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is reflecting ever less sunshine
back into space in a previously underestimated mechanism that could add to global warming,
a study showed.
We've Been Conned. The Deal to Save
the Natural World Never Happened
'Countries join forces to save life on Earth", the front page of the Independent told
us. "Historic", "a landmark", a "much-needed morale
booster", the other papers chorused. The declaration agreed last week at the summit
in Japan to protect the world's wild species and places was proclaimed by almost everyone
a great success. There is one problem: none of the journalists who made these claims has
seen it.
Afl.: Oceanen: voedselweb en energiestromen. Sinds 1921 wordt vanuit Engeland onderzoek
gedaan naar de ecologie en biogeografie van plankton in de Atlantische Oceaan. Vanaf de
jaren vrijftig met behulp van de Continuous Plankton Recorder (cpr). Zo ontstaat een beeld
van ontwikkelingen op het gebied van klimaat, milieu, vervuiling en visstand in het water.
Tussen Puerto Madryn en Punta Arenas ligt één van de belangrijkste visgebieden ter
wereld. Door observaties van plankton en vogels/walvissen, aan beide uitersten van de
voedselketen, zien we het ecosysteem, inclusief de verstoringen daarin.
In Australia, the world’s driest inhabited continent, early British explorers
searching for a source of drinking water scoured the bone-dry interior for a fabled inland
sea.
Climate change could make a sea in southern Scandinavia too warm for Atlantic cod and
rising water temperatures may be stunting the growth of young fish, a study showed on
Monday.
Paradise found Water and life
return to Iraq's 'Garden of Eden.'
One of Saddam Hussein's greatest acts of ecological destruction - the draining of the
Mesopotamian marshes - has been reversed as birds and rivers return to the region.
Global study finds widespread
threats to world's rivers
Multiple environmental stressors, such as agricultural runoff, pollution and invasive
species, threaten rivers that serve 80 percent of the world's population, around 5 billion
people, according to researchers from the City College of the City University of New York,
University of Wisconsin and seven other institutions. These same stressors endanger the
biodiversity of 65 percent of the world's river habitats and put thousands of aquatic
wildlife species at risk.
Man, volcanoes and the sun have
influenced Europe's climate over recent centuries
An International research team has discovered that seasonal temperatures in Europe, above
all in winter, have been affected over the past 500 years by natural factors such as
volcanic eruptions and solar activity, and by human activities such as the emission of
greenhouse gases. The study, with Spanish involvement, could help us to better understand
the dynamics of climate change.
Shrinking snow and ice cover
intensify global warming
The decreases in Earth's snow and ice cover over the past 30 years have exacerbated global
warming more than models predict they should have, on average, new research from the
University of Michigan shows.
New statistical model moves human
evolution back 3 million years
Evolutionary divergence of humans from chimpanzees likely occurred some 8 million years
ago rather than the 5 million year estimate widely accepted by scientists, a new
statistical model suggests. The revised estimate of when the human species parted ways
from its closest primate relatives should enable scientists to better interpret the
history of human evolution, said Robert D. Martin, curator of biological anthropology at
the Field Museum, and a co-author of the new study appearing in the journal Systematic
Biology.
Should our biggest climate change
fear be fear itself?
From apocalyptic forecasting to estimates of mass extinctions, climate change is a topic
which is filled with fearful predictions for the future. In his latest research, published
in WIREs Climate Change, historian Matthias Dörries examines the cultural significance of
fear and how it became a central presence in current debates over climate change. Climatic
change, as represented by the media, often prompts headlines predicting disastrous events,
frequently adopting fear laden language including analogies with war and warnings of the
imminence or irreversibility of pending catastrophes. For Professor Matthias Dörries from
the University of Strasbourg, a culture of fear is alive, and doing very well.
Twelve years after the spillage at Aznalcóllar (Spain), a team led by the National Museum
of Natural Science (NMNS-Spanish National Research Council) states that the soil affected
has recovered "reasonably well". Their study of nematodes (microscopic soil
worms that are indicators of the biological state of soil) confirmed the
"enormous" impact of heavy metals and is useful for predicting the effect of the
red mud spillage in Hungary. One month ago, a spillage of red mud with toxic material from
the aluminium holding pond in the city of Kolontar devastated the west of Budapest
(Hungary) and reached the Danube. The immediate consequences were the loss of ten human
lives and the destruction of houses and crops. In Spain, the Aznalcóllar spillage in 1998
affected the fauna in the soil of Dońana and exterminated several species. Some nematodes
disappeared in the first few months after the disaster.
A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some
of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article published today
in Current Anthropology. Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University
of Birmingham in the U.K., says that the area in and around this "Persian Gulf
Oasis" may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up
by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago. Rose's hypothesis introduces a "new and
substantial cast of characters" to the human history of the Near East, and suggests
that humans may have established permanent settlements in the region thousands of years
before current migration models suppose. In recent years, archaeologists have turned up
evidence of a wave of human settlements along the shores of the Gulf dating to about 7,500
years ago. "Where before there had been but a handful of scattered hunting camps,
suddenly, over 60 new archaeological sites appear virtually overnight," Rose said.
"These settlements boast well-built, permanent stone houses, long-distance trade
networks, elaborately decorated pottery, domesticated animals, and even evidence for one
of the oldest boats in the world."
Europe's scientists call for more
effort in tackling rising ocean acidity
Ten years ago, ocean acidification was a phenomenon only known to small group of ocean
scientists. It's now recognized as the hidden partner of climate change, prompting calls
for an urgent, substantial reduction in carbon emissions to reduce future impacts.
Scientists from the European Science Foundation at European Maritime Day 2010 give a
comprehensive view of current research and highlight the need for a integrated effort
internationally to research and monitor ocean acidification effects.
New study reveals link between
'climate footprints' and mass mammal
An international team of scientists have discovered that climate change played a major
role in causing mass extinction of mammals in the late quaternary era, 50,000 years ago.
Their study, published in Evolution, takes a new approach to this hotly debated topic by
using global data modeling to build continental "climate footprints."
Poor sanitation systems, shortsighted city planning, and the encroachment of thousands of
people - who have literally turned Nigeen lake into land for their gardens and homes - are
destroying the waters around Srinagar, Kashmir.
Video - Dr. Richard Wrangham -
Eighth Annual Paul D. Bartlett, Sr. Lecture
Did humans become human when they developed the ability to create and use tools or was it
when they learned to flambé? Dr. Richard Wrangham, author of "Catching Fire: How
Cooking Made Us Human", explored the role of cooking in evolution at the Eighth
Annual Paul D. Bartlett, Sr. Lecture on February 25, 2010 at the Linda Hall Library
Biodiversity decreases towards the poles almost everywhere in the world, except along the
South American Pacific coast. Investigating fossil clams and snails Steffen Kiel and Sven
Nielsen at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel could show that this unusual
pattern originated at the end of the last ice age, 20.000 to 100.000 years ago.
The Department of Agriculture will launch a new product label tomorrow for consumer and
industrial products that have been wholly -- or, more likely, partially -- created from
farm crops or forestry, rather than fossil fuels.
Man, volcanoes and the sun have
influenced Europe's climate over recent centuries
An International research team has discovered that seasonal temperatures in Europe, above
all in winter, have been affected over the past 500 years by natural factors such as
volcanic eruptions and solar activity, and by human activities such as the emission of
greenhouse gases. The study, with Spanish involvement, could help us to better understand
the dynamics of climate change.
The disappearing world of the last
of the Arctic hunters
In the first of a series of dispatches, Stephen Pax Leonard reports on the unique culture
of the Inughuit as the sea ice that has supported their ancient way of life melts beneath
them
Iron stimulates blooms of
toxin-producing algae in open ocean, study finds
A team of marine scientists has found that toxin-producing algae once thought to be
limited to coastal waters are also common in the open ocean, where the addition of iron
from natural or artificial sources can stimulate rapid growth of the harmful algae. The
new findings, reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
add to concerns about proposals to use iron fertilization of the oceans as a way to combat
global warming. Blooms of diatoms in the genus Pseudo-nitschia, which produce a neurotoxin
called domoic acid, are a regular occurrence in coastal waters. During large blooms, the
algal toxin enters the food chain, forcing the closure of some fisheries (such as
shellfish and sardines) and poisoning marine mammals and birds that feed on contaminated
fish. But until now, blooms of these algae in the open ocean have attracted little
attention from researchers. "Normally, Pseudo-nitschia cells are sparse in the open
ocean, so they don't have much effect. But these species are incredibly responsive to
iron, often becoming dominant in algal blooms that result from iron fertilization. Any
iron input might cause a bloom of the cells that make the toxin," said Mary Silver,
professor emerita of ocean sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and lead
author of the new study.
Een van de grootste uitdagingen waar de wereld voor staat is: hoe voeden we een populatie
van 9.000.000.000 in 2050? Een nieuw bericht in "International Journal of
Agricultural Sustainability" laat de top 100 van vragen zien, aangaande detoekomst
van globale landbouw. Ondanks significante groei van voedselproduktie de laatste 50 jaar,
wordt er geschat dat er 70 tot 100% meer vraag is naar voedsel, zonder grote
prijsverhogingen. [Seth]
The Channel 4 documentary What the Green Movement Got Wrong (Last night's TV, 5 November)
in our view made a series of misguided and inaccurate allegations and assumptions. It
identified GM as a solution to hunger and implicated anti-GM campaigners for exacerbating
food insecurity.
Scientists who study the oceans say the effects of climate change are already being seen
in the world's oceans. From acidification and warming temperatures to sea-level rise and
sea-ice loss, Ira Flatow and guests look at how the oceans are changing with changes in
climate.
Air archaeologists isolate 'pure'
aerosol particles
EU-funded environmental engineers have isolated aerosol particles in near pristine
pre-industrial conditions in the remote Amazonian Basin in Brazil. They claim the findings
will help us understand cloud formation, chemical differences between natural and polluted
environments, and regional and global climate change. Published in the journal Science,
the research is an outcome of the EUCAARI ('European integrated project on aerosol cloud
climate and air quality interactions') project, which received EUR 10 million under the
'Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems' Thematic area of the EU's Sixth
Framework Programme (FP6).
Findings overturn old theory of
phytoplankton growth, raise concerns for ocean productivity
A new study concludes that an old, fundamental and widely accepted theory of how and why
phytoplankton bloom in the oceans is incorrect. The findings challenge more than 50 years
of conventional wisdom about the growth of phytoplankton, which are the ultimate basis for
almost all ocean life and major fisheries. And they also raise concerns that global
warming, rather than stimulating ocean productivity, may actually curtail it in some
places.
Video - TEDxTulsa - Clifton
Taulbert - When Others Matter, Lives Change
Clifton Taulbert's ability to connect with diverse individuals across a broad professional
spectrum has introduced him to audiences from members of the United States Supreme Court
and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. His internationally embraced book, "Eight habits
of the Heart," outlines the "building community" principles he believes to
be crucial to ensuring a workplace where productivity is valued and mutual respect is a
way of life. His memoir, "The Last Train North," was nominated for a Pulitzer
Prize
Temperature and salt levels of the
Western Mediterranean are on the increase
Spanish scientists have analysed the temperature and salt levels of the Western
Mediterranean Sea between 1943 and 2000 to study the evolution of each variable. Their
research shows that, since at least the 1940s, the deep water has become progressively
hotter and saltier, and that, since the 1990s, this process has speeded up. Each year the
temperature of the deep layer of the Western Mediterranean increases by 0.002şC, and its
salt levels increase by 0.001 units of salinity. These changes, although minimal from year
to year, have been continuously and constantly occurring at a faster pace since the 1990s.
The results are consistent, "but to confirm this accelerating trend, we need to
monitor it over the years to come", Manuel Vargas-Yáńez, main author of the study
and researcher at the Oceanic Centre of Malaga of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography
(IEO), assures SINC.
Particles from Hayabusa space probe
'could contain extraterrestrial life'
Particles that could contain alien life have been discovered inside a capsule of the
Hayabusa probe that had collected asteroid dust, according to Japan’s space agency.
Climax-ecosystemen kunnen kwetsbaar zijn voor veranderingen van buitenaf. Onderzoekers
maken zich zorgen over de teloorgang van het regenwoud., want grote delen ervan moeten
wijken voor tabaksplantages en andere landbouwgewassen.Volgens anderen is het gebied
zorgvuldig gecultiveerd door Indianen. Alleen is de mate waarin dat gebeurde uit balans
geraakt. In Australië eisen bosbranden en vuurstormen mensenlevens, maar bieden
tegelijkertijd vruchtbare grond aan de meest kwetsbaren der bloemen: orchideeën.
Equestrian Indian tribes on the American Plains in the late 1800s were the tallest people
in the world, suggesting that they were surprisingly well-nourished given disease and
their lifestyle, a new study found. These results contradict the modern image of American
Indians as being sickly victims succumbing to European disease, said Richard Steckel,
co-author of the study and professor of economics and anthropology at Ohio State
University.
'Hungry World' Tells Complex Story
of Food and Global Politics
It once was a refrain of every parent frustrated by a picky eater: "Finish your food.
There are children starving in China." Growing up in the 1960s, Nick Cullather
couldn't see any connection between the peas growing cold on his plate and the problems of
China. But as his new book, "The Hungry World," explains, his mother's warning
captured one of the key ideas of the era: that the world was united by a single, global
food supply, and that by controlling it the United States could defeat its communist
enemies in Asia. Subtitled "America's Cold War Battle against Poverty in Asia,"
his book, published by Harvard University Press, also examines the myth of the Green
Revolution -- the idea that hundreds of millions of Asians were saved from starvation
because Western governments, foundations and scientists introduced high-yield crops in the
decades after World War II.
EU-funded researchers have successfully completed the first analysis of the atmosphere of
a super-earth, an extrasolar planet with a mass higher than Earth's. The so-called planet
GJ 1214b was discovered in 2009 and this latest research confirms initial findings by
astronomers in Chile that the planet had an atmosphere. They said the study, presented in
the journal Nature, was 'a milestone on the road towards characterising these worlds'. The
research was partially funded by a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow grant of the
EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
Het is de nieuwe grote trend, in de wereld van duurzaam ondernemen. Wat de Cultural
Creatives waren voor marketeers, Base of Pyramid voor concerns met markten in arme landen
en Cradle to Cradle voor producenten, is Impact Investing voor duurzame investeerders en
beleggers.
Study sheds new light on how the
sun affects the Earth's climate
The Sun's activity has recently affected the Earth's atmosphere and climate in unexpected
ways, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature. The study, by
researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Colorado, shows that a
decline in the Sun's activity does not always mean that the Earth becomes cooler. It is
well established that the Sun's activity waxes and wanes over an 11-year cycle and that as
its activity wanes, the overall amount of radiation reaching the Earth decreases. Today's
study looked at the Sun's activity over the period 2004-2007, when it was in a declining
part of its 11-year activity cycle. Although the Sun's activity declined over this period,
the new research shows that it may have actually caused the Earth to become warmer.
Contrary to expectations, the amount of energy reaching the Earth at visible wavelengths
increased rather than decreased as the Sun's activity declined, causing this warming
effect.
Tektonische plaat Indonesië
begeeft het; Java al 6 meter in zee gezonken
Ook gevolgen voor Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Nieuw Zeeland en de Filippijnen
Satellietfoto's laten zien dat de kustgebieden van het Indonesische eiland Java zo'n 6
meter in zee zijn gezonken. Terwijl de wereld wordt overspoeld door steeds chaotischer
wordende taferelen in landen, volken, de natuur en het weer, ontdekten researchers onlangs
een gebeurtenis die tot nu toe uit het wereldnieuws zou worden gehouden. [Geert]
