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Archive for February, 2016
Tyrosinase inhibitors from terrestrial and marine resources
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 19th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Tyrosinase is a multifunctional copper-containing enzyme widely distributed in microorganisms as well as plants and animals which has a primordial role in melanin biosynthesis thus impacting on skin color and pigmentation. This particular enzyme has the ability to catalyze the hydroxylation of L-tyrosine toL-DOPA and further oxidize L-DOPA to dopaquinones which are considered as boosters of melanogenesis. Considering the medical and cosmetic sector, a great number of researches focused on the isolation...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Tyrosinase inhibitors from terrestrial and marine resourcesWhy We Need to Keep 80 Percent of Fossil Fuels in the Ground
Posted by Yes: None Given on February 19th, 2016
Yes: Most of the time, public policy is a series of trade-offs: higher taxes or fewer services, more regulation or more freedom of action. We attempt to balance our preferences: for having a beer after work, and for sober drivers. We meet somewhere in the middle, compromise, trade off. We tend to think we’re doing it right when everyone’s a little unhappy.
But when it comes to climate change, the essential problem is not one group’s preferences against another’s. It’s not--at bottom--industry versus...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why We Need to Keep 80 Percent of Fossil Fuels in the GroundWhere and when will Zika-carrying mosquitoes strike next?
Posted by Medical Express: None Given on February 19th, 2016
Medical Express: The virus has emerged as a major public health threat that's rapidly spreading through South and Central America and the Caribbean. Usually a relatively mild illness, Zika may be linked with birth defects such as microcephaly, and with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Where and when will Zika strike next? Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program are looking for answers in three places in Ecuador. NSF's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Where and when will Zika-carrying mosquitoes strike next?Once Parched, Florida’s Everglades Finds Its Flow Again
Posted by KIOS: Greg Allen on February 19th, 2016
KIOS: When people talk about Florida's Everglades, they often use superlatives: It's the largest protected wilderness east of the Mississippi River, and it's the biggest subtropical wetland in North America.
But it is also the site of a joint federal-state plan that is the largest ecosystem restoration effort ever attempted -- one that is beginning to pay off after decades of work.
The delivery of fresh water to long-parched areas of Everglades National Park is considered a vital restoration. It's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Once Parched, Florida’s Everglades Finds Its Flow AgainZimbabwe: Preserve Inputs, Farmers Urged
Posted by AllAfrica: Tawanda Mangoma on February 19th, 2016
AllAfrica: Government has urged farmers to stop wasting their inputs by replanting whenever their areas receive rains, as most crops continue to wilt due to moisture stress. This comes as Government distributed free farming inputs to cotton and maize farmers across the country this season, with the goal to revive the agriculture industry. In an interview on Wednesday, Deputy Minister for Agriculture responsible for crops Cde Davis Marapira said some farmers were still planting hoping that they might record...
Trilobites: Measuring the Planet’s Health in Vibrant Shades of Green
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
New York Times: They have tried to determine which regions are particularly susceptible to some variations in climate, and which are more resilient. And after studying 14 years' worth of NASA satellite images and tracking changes in the color of vegetation, they have developed what they're calling the Vegetation Sensitivity Index .
A new study, published and reviewed in Nature magazine, shows the changes in shades of green (a proxy for plant health) in response to certain environmental factors - in this case,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Trilobites: Measuring the Planet’s Health in Vibrant Shades of GreenMarket integration could help protect poor from climate-related food insecurity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Global market integration is key to buffering future commodity prices and food security from the negative effects of climate change on agriculture, says a Purdue University agricultural economist. Rising temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events will likely have adverse impacts on global crop production, leading to higher food prices and food scarcity. But global markets that have the ability to deliver food where it is needed most could help offset these consequences, said Thomas Hertel,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Market integration could help protect poor from climate-related food insecurityChicago residents blame city for water contamination in class-action lawsuit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
Guardian: Chicago residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the city over the safety of its drinking water, claiming that “elevated and unsafe” levels of lead have contaminated their water supply for years due to risky construction projects.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday at the circuit court of Cook County, Illinois, claims that the city of Chicago has known for years that lead has seeped into drinking water due to street work, water meter installations or plumbing repairs, but failed to warn...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chicago residents blame city for water contamination in class-action lawsuitAussie town battles tumbleweed invasion: A climate change signal?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Story Hinckley on February 18th, 2016
Christian Science Monitor: Hairy panic, a perennial weed native to inland Australia, has taken over the rural city of Wangaratta in northern Victoria.
“Walked out the front door this morning to find a good six-metre [19-foot] spread of tumbleweed across the front of the house – again,” Wangaratta local Jason Pera tells Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Thursday. “It makes it difficult to get the car out in the morning – if you can find it.”
Images and videos of panicum effusum, adequately nicknamed hairy panic,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Aussie town battles tumbleweed invasion: A climate change signal?Climate: Vegetation Sensitivity to Climate Variability Mapped Worldwide
Posted by Nature World: Catherine Arnold on February 18th, 2016
Nature World: Parts of the world's boreal forests, Arctic tundra, tropical rainforest, and alpine areas, along with the rest of our earthly kit-and-caboodle, have now been incorporated into a global map of areas that are most sensitive to climate variability, say researchers with a study recently published in the journal Nature.
"Based on the satellite data gathered, we can identify areas that, over the past 14 years, have shown high sensitivity to climate variability," researcher Alistair Seddon at Norway's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate: Vegetation Sensitivity to Climate Variability Mapped Worldwide