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Archive for January, 2016
Peering into the Amazon’s future
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Harvard researchers are challenging the widely-held theory that climate change could cause Amazon forests to rapidly change from forests to savannah. A new model, based on the effect of water stress on individual trees, suggests the change would be a gradual transition from high-biomass forests to low-biomass forests and woodland ecosystems. The study is described in a recently published paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In earlier approaches, they use an aggregated...
Earth is Experiencing a Global Warming Spurt
Posted by Climate Central: John Upton on January 5th, 2016
Climate Central: Cyclical changes in the Pacific Ocean have thrown earth's surface into what may be an unprecedented warming spurt, following a global warming slowdown that lasted about 15 years.
While El Niño is being blamed for an outbreak of floods, storms and unseasonable temperatures across the planet, a much slower-moving cycle of the Pacific Ocean has also been playing a role in record-breaking warmth. The recent effects of both ocean cycles are being amplified by climate change.
A 2014 flip was detected...
Scientists move one step closer to turning water into fuel, cheaply
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Eva Botkin-Kowacki on January 5th, 2016
Christian Science Monitor: Scientists have cleared one hurdle on the path to deriving hydrogen fuel from water affordably, a breakthrough that could drastically change the way we power vehicles.
Hydrogen has the potential to fuel incredibly environmentally-clean cars. But making that fuel hasn't been so efficient or economical. Pure hydrogen gas does not occur naturally on Earth, so scientists must devise ways to separate hydrogen from naturally-occurring compounds, like H2 O.
Until now, cars that run on water have been...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Scientists move one step closer to turning water into fuel, cheaplyMississippi River crest rolls toward Tennessee; singer’s body found
Posted by Reuters: Suzannah Gonzales and Tim Ghianni on January 5th, 2016
Reuters: Tennessee residents girded on Monday for the rapidly rising Mississippi River to crest within days as Oklahoma officials found the body of a country-rock singer whose boat capsized on a lake in late December.
The swollen Mississippi and rivers that feed into it wreaked havoc in Missouri and Illinois after late December heavy rain and severe storms brought flooding across several central U.S. states, leaving at least 33 people dead.
Officials on Monday found the body of Craig Strickland, 29,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mississippi River crest rolls toward Tennessee; singer’s body foundFloods Pose Challenge to South American Integration
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2016
Inter Press Service: The flooding that has affected four South American countries has underscored the need for an integrated approach to addressing the causes and effects of climate change.
Above and beyond joint emergency response plans, global warming poses common problems like deforestation and the management of shared rivers.
Some 180,000 people have been evacuated since the worst flooding in years hit the region over the year-end holidays.
The floods caused when the Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers overflowed...
Asian Carp Could Have Major Impact On Lake Erie
Posted by Nature World News: Samantha Mathewson on January 4th, 2016
Nature World News: Asian carp pose a major risk to Lake Erie's ecosystem. New computer models suggest these invasive fish could soon account for nearly a third of the lake's total fish population, ultimately causing declines in most other fish species, including prized sport and commercial fish such as walleye. Bighead and silver carp were imported to the southern U.S. from Asia decades ago and have migrated north through the Mississippi River system. These invasive fish are established in watersheds close to the...
Worldwide electricity production vulnerable to climate and water resource change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Climate change impacts and associated changes in water resources could lead to reductions in electricity production capacity for more than 60% of the power plants worldwide from 2040-2069, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change. Yet adaptation measures focused on making power plants more efficient and flexible could mitigate much of the decline. "Hydropower plants and thermoelectric power plants--which are nuclear, fossil-, and biomass-fueled plants converting...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Worldwide electricity production vulnerable to climate and water resource changeLarge, increasing methane emissions from northern lakes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Methane is increasing in the atmosphere, but many sources are poorly understood. Lakes at high northern latitudes are such a source. However, this may change with a new study published in Nature Geoscience. By compiling previously reported measurements made at a total of 733 northern water bodies -- from small ponds formed by beavers to large lakes formed by permafrost thaw or ice-sheets -- researchers are able to more accurately estimate emissions over large scales.
"The release of methane from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Large, increasing methane emissions from northern lakesClimate change is altering Greenland ice sheet, accelerating sea level rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2016
ScienceDaily: The Greenland ice sheet has traditionally been pictured as a bit of a sponge for glacier meltwater, but new research has found it is rapidly losing the ability to buffer its contribution to rising sea levels, says a York University researcher.
York U Professor William Colgan, a co-author on the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, helped analyse data from three expeditions to the Greenland ice sheet in 2012, 2013 and 2015. The research was done in conjunction with lead researcher...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change is altering Greenland ice sheet, accelerating sea level riseAsian carp could cause some Lake Erie fish to decline, others to increase
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2016
ScienceDaily: If they successfully invade Lake Erie, Asian carp could eventually account for about a third of the total weight of fish in the lake and could cause declines in most fish species -- including prized sport and commercial fish such as walleye, according to a new computer modeling study. However, most of the expected declines in Lake Erie will not be as extreme as some experts have predicted, according to the food-web study by the University of Michigan's Hongyan Zhang and colleagues from other American...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Asian carp could cause some Lake Erie fish to decline, others to increase