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Archive for February, 2016
Mapping Ecosystems’ Sensitivity to Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
Yale Environment 360: Forests, tundras, and alpine areas are some of the world’s most at-risk ecosystems to climate change, according to a new map published in the journal Nature. The study, led by scientists at the University of Bergen in Norway, used satellite data collected from 2000 to 2013 to examine how sensitive plants were to changes in air temperature, water availability, and cloud cover, down to a two-square-mile scale. The scientists used the results to create the Vegetation Sensitivity Index—a visual guide...
Salmon Raised In Hatcheries Have Different DNA Than Wild Relatives
Posted by Nature World: Samantha Mathewson on February 18th, 2016
Nature World: Seventy percent of salmon sold at the market are farm-raised and believed to be higher in contaminants and unhealthy fats than those caught in their natural habitat. What's worse is diseases can spread easily from farmed fish to their wild relatives. Experts say this could have a devastating impact on wild salmon populations, which have already suffered significantly from human activities such as overfishing and damming.
Attempts have been made to replenish salmon in Oregon and Washington using...
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Comments Off on Salmon Raised In Hatcheries Have Different DNA Than Wild RelativesGlobal Warming Crushes Records. Again
Posted by Bloomberg: Tom Randall on February 18th, 2016
Bloomberg: Here we go again.
For the surface of planet Earth, 2015 was the hottest year on record by a stunning margin. But already, 2016 is on track to beat it.
Last month was the hottest January in 137 years of record keeping, according to data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It's the ninth consecutive month to set a new record.
To be sure, some of the recent extremes are the result of a monster El Niño weather pattern that still lingers in the Pacific Ocean....
To stop the Zika virus from spreading in Brazil, specialists call for an “environmental revolution”
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on February 18th, 2016
Mongabay: For nearly five months now, Liana Azeredo avoids walking the streets of Rio de Janeiro during the day. Even under the intense heat of the city, she also prefers long blouses and pants. Inside her handbag, she’s carrying repellents and colored bracelets with citronella. The change in her life is due to the fear of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika. Although all three are considered serious diseases, Liana’s biggest fear is being contaminated...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on To stop the Zika virus from spreading in Brazil, specialists call for an “environmental revolution”Harvard Study: U.S. ‘Likely Culprit’ Global Spike Methane Emissions
Posted by Common Dreams: Andrea Germanos on February 18th, 2016
Common Dreams: New research has linked the U.S. to the massive rise in global methane emissions. Bobby Magill reported on the Harvard University study on Climate Central Tuesday.
Using satellite data, the researchers found that methane emissions in the country rose more than 30 percent over the 2002–2014 period and that increase "could account for 30–60 percent of the global growth of atmospheric methane seen in the past decade," the study`s abstract states.
Though the study does not attribute the increase...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Harvard Study: U.S. ‘Likely Culprit’ Global Spike Methane EmissionsGlobal Green Building Expected to Double by 2018, Study Finds
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 18th, 2016
Blue and Green: Global green building is expected to double by 2018, according to a new study from Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies Corporation, on which the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) was a research partner.
The study, World Green Building Trends 2016, Developing Markets Accelerate Global Green Growth, finds that the percentage of companies expecting to have more than 60 per cent of their building projects certified green is anticipated to more than double by 2018, from 18 per cent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global Green Building Expected to Double by 2018, Study FindsIndia’s Food Supply at Risk of GMO Contamination After Lifting 16-Year Corn Import Ban
Posted by EcoWatch: Lorraine Chow on February 18th, 2016
EcoWatch: India, which currently does not allow the growing of genetically modified (GMO) crops, is preparing to lift its import ban on corn for the first time in 16 years which could potentially open the doors to GMO contamination in its food supply.
India will receive 250,000 tonnes of non-GMO corn from South Korea`s Daewoo International via Ukraine, however as experts warned to Reuters, it is difficult to ensure that the supply is 100 percent non-GMO.
It only takes a few GMO seeds to mix with local...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on India’s Food Supply at Risk of GMO Contamination After Lifting 16-Year Corn Import BanAre ice streams contributing to the rise of ocean levels?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Ben Thompson on February 18th, 2016
Christian Science Monitor: A study released Wednesday in the journal Nature suggests that the recent thinning behavior of ice streams in some of the world's largest glaciers may not point to as grim a climate scenario as was once thought.
Ice streams, or fast-moving regions of massive ice sheets – glaciers larger than 19,000 square miles – have become a cause for concern in recent years as their retreat in the world's only major ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctic has been linked to sea level rise. But the new study may...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Are ice streams contributing to the rise of ocean levels?El Nino begins decline after ‘powerful’ impact: WMO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: The 2015-2016 El Nino weather phenomenon, one of the most powerful on record, has begun its decline but continues to have a strong influence on global climate patterns, the UN's weather agency said Thursday.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said El Nino, which occurs every two to seven years, has "passed its peak' but ocean temperature rises in recent months proved its considerable impact.
"We have just witnessed one of the most powerful ever El Nino events which caused extreme weather...
Supercomputer probes depths of biofuel’s biggest barrier
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Ask a biofuel researcher to name the single greatest technical barrier to cost-effective ethanol, and you're likely to receive a one-word response: lignin.
Cellulosic ethanol--fuel derived from woody plants and waste biomass--has the potential to become an affordable, renewable transportation fuel that rivals gasoline, but lignin, one of the most ubiquitous components of the plant cell wall, gets in the way.
In nature, the resilient lignin polymer helps provide the scaffolding for plants, reinforcing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Supercomputer probes depths of biofuel’s biggest barrier