Category: Environment

Traditional plow-based agricultural methods and the need to feed a rapidly growing world population are combining to deplete the Earth's soil supply, a new study confirms.

Traditional plow-based agricultural methods and the need to feed a rapidly growing world population are combining to deplete the Earth's soil supply, a new study confirms.

Drawing from a wide range of case studies that illustrate the potential effects of climate on disease dynamics, a series of presentations to be held at the joint meeting of the Ecological Society of America and the Society for Ecological Restoration will showcase what scientists are discovering about the links between climate and disease.

Climate change complicates everything. In addition to the much-talked about sea-level rise and its possible consequences, climate change has been implicated in the recent emergence of several infectious diseases. Drawing from a wide range of case studies that illustrate the potential effects of climate on disease dynamics, a series of presentations to be held at the joint meeting of the Ecological Society of America and the Society for Ecological Restoration will showcase what scientists are discovering about the links between climate and disease.

Researchers have found that corals in the central and western Pacific ocean are dying faster than previously thought. Nearly 600 square miles of reef have disappeared per year since the late 1960s, twice the rate of rainforest loss.

Corals in the central and western Pacific ocean are dying faster than previously thought, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have found. Nearly 600 square miles of reef have disappeared per year since the late 1960s, twice the rate of rainforest loss.

An expedition led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to a remote corner of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has uncovered unique forests which, so far, have been found to contain six animal species new to science: a bat, a rodent, two shrews, and two frogs.

An expedition led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to a remote corner of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has uncovered unique forests which, so far, have been found to contain six animal species new to science: a bat, a rodent, two shrews, and two frogs. The forested region - including the Misotshi-Kabogo Forest (formerly Mt. Kabobo) - and nearby Marunga Massif is located just west of Lake Tanganyika and has been off limits to scientists since 1960 as a result of continued instability in the area.

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The field teams surveyed the Misotshi-Kabogo forest block--
nearly 1,000 square kilometers in size--during a two month
period, from January 28th until February 26th 2007. Although
the primary focus of the study was to assess chimpanzee
populations and densities, the survey uncovered species
completely new to science.

Iowa State University researchers are part of an international project that will run computerized climate models to see how climate change may affect North America and even individual states.

Gene Takle begins talks about climate change with some strong statements.

"There is no question now that the climate is changing on a global scale," says Takle, an Iowa State University professor of geological and atmospheric sciences. "The evidence is so overwhelming."

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This image shows how much daily summer high temperatures are expected to increase from the 1990s to the 2040s, according to a climate model prepared by the Iowa State University Regional Climate Modeling Laboratory. The model suggests summers will be warmer across the U.S., but the central part of the country will warm less than the rest of the country.

Using sunn hemp as a cover crop can reduce the risk of groundwater contamination in Southern Florida.

Within Southern Florida, soil and water conditions indicate potential for leaching from the use of atrazine-based herbicides in corn crops. Scientists from USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Florida conducted studies to evaluate the specific groundwater risk from atrazine use by focusing on a specific cover crop that seems to have the potential to greatly reduce that risk. The crop is called sunn hemp. It’s a tall, herbaceous annual that grows rapidly to a height of 6 to 7 feet.

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Using sunn hemp as a cover crop can reduce the risk of groundwater
contamination in Southern Florida.

Growing food and fiber entails the use of fertilizer and irrigation systems and results in land clearing. These ‘side effects’ of agriculture can lead to regime shifts—or ‘tipping points’ which include desertification, salinisation, water degradation, and changes in climate due to altered water flows from land to atmosphere.

Growing food and fiber entails the use of fertilizer and irrigation systems and results in land clearing. These ‘side effects’ of agriculture can lead to regime shifts - or ‘tipping points’ which include desertification, salinisation, water degradation, and changes in climate due to altered water flows from land to atmosphere. As human populations shift to more meat-heavy diets, trade of agricultural products increases, and demand for biofuels grows, the pressure on agricultural systems is mounting. The challenge is to figure out how to meet these demands and keep the ecosystem functions that underpin productivity working. So say researchers who will participate in a symposium, "Tipping points in the biosphere: Agriculture, water, and resilience" during the Ecological Society of America’s Annual Meeting.

Holistic Management International’s COO Peter Holter reacted today to a recent article in The Guardian, "Eat Your Greens," which suggested that people should seriously consider shifting to a vegan diet because the global livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transport. "While I would never want to discourage anyone from switching to a vegan diet, the problem with livestock is not so much their emissions per se, but how the animals are managed under our industrialized feeding system," Holter said.

Holistic Management International’s COO Peter Holter reacted today to a recent article in The Guardian, “Eat Your Greens,” which suggested that people should seriously consider shifting to a vegan diet because – according to a well-publicized UN report - the global livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transport.

What do global warming, estuaries, hurricanes; boat wakes, coral reefs, juvenile fish, and artificial reefs have in common? The answer is...

What do global warming, estuaries, hurricanes; boat wakes, coral reefs, juvenile fish, and artificial reefs have in common? The answer is; In the coming years, more than you ever thought.

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Fish swim around an artificial reef.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to Drexel University chemistry professor Dr. Alan Bandy to conduct research on Earth’s cooling system and how it affects climate change.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to Drexel University chemistry professor Dr. Alan Bandy to conduct research on Earth’s cooling system and how it affects climate change.

According to Bandy, the principal investigator in the Pacific Atmospheric Sulfur Experiment (PASE), the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere is determined by processes that heat it—such as absorption of Earth’s radiation by certain gases—and by processes that cool it –such as reflection of the sun’s radiation from Earth’s surface, aerosol and clouds.