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Mehr Tiger für Asien

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2013Natureasien, deklaration, des tigers, internationalen tages, nepal, regierung in kathmandu, st. petersburg, tiger, tigerbestand, tigerstaaten, tigerzahl, umweltschutzorganisation wwf

Nepal: Bestand um 60 Prozent angewachsen

Aktuellen Bestandsschätzungen zufolge ist es in Nepal gelungen den Tigerbestand seit 2009 um etwa 60 Prozent auf heute knapp 200 Tiere zu erhöhen. Das teilte die Regierung in Kathmandu anlässlich des Internationalen Tages des Tigers am 29. Juli mit. Begründet wird der Anstieg durch ein Anwachsen der Tigerzahl, aber auch verbesserte Zählmethoden.

Die Umweltschutzorganisation WWF lobt die intensiven Schutzbemühungen Nepals und forderte zugleich von den weiteren zwölf asiatischen Staaten, in denen heute wild lebende Tiger vorkommen, ebenfalls umfassende und wissenschaftlich fundierte Bestandszählungen. Nur auf diese Weise lasse sich seriös überprüfen, ob die Schutzbemühungen und der Kampf gegen die Wilderei erste Erfolge zeigten. Vor drei Jahren hatte sich die internationale Staatengemeinschaft in der Deklaration von St. Petersburg verpflichtet, bis 2022 die Zahl der wild lebenden Tiger zu verdoppeln und dazu umfassende Naturschutzmaßnahmen umzusetzen. (more…)

Cool heads likely won’t prevail in a hotter, wetter world

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2013Environmentarchaeology, australia, Berkeley, brazil, China, climate, cool heads, crime, criminology, critical factors, domestic violence, Economics, ethnic minority, ethnic violence, Europe, hotter, human conflict, human history, India, land invasions, marshall burke, middle ages europe, Netherlands, personal violence, point of violence, precipitation, princeton university, psychology, solomon hsiang, somalia, south asia, Tanzania, temperature, united states, university of california, wetter world

Should climate change trigger the upsurge in heat and rainfall that scientists predict, people may face a threat just as perilous and volatile as extreme weather — each other.

Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley report in the journal Science that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation have greatly increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval throughout human history. Projected onto an Earth that is expected to warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the authors suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change. (more…)

Engineers Improve Recycling System in Hydraulic Fracturing to Save Water and Energy

By Guest PostAugust 21, 2013Environment, Sciencecosts of fracking, energy savings, fracking, gas drilling process, hydraulic fracturing, membrane based filtration, water recycling system

AUSTIN, Texas — Chemical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed high-efficiency, durable filters to improve mobile water recycling systems used in hydraulic fracturing, the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking. The filters may significantly reduce the amount of water and energy that fracking requires. (more…)

Hai-Handel boomt

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2013Environment, NatureAir New Zealand, asian airlines, cathy pacific, doug perrine, drittgroesste haifangnation, eu, finnen, finning, frankreich, hai arten, hai handel boomt, heringshai, korean air, new yorker ubahn, portugal, qantas, spanien, volker homes, weissspitzen hochseehai, wwf

Spanien ist drittgrößte Haifangnation / EU verbietet „Finning“

Ein toter Hai in der New Yorker U-Bahn, aber bis zu 100 Millionen gefangene und getötete Haie jährlich – auf diese Diskrepanz macht der WWF anlässlich der Veröffentlichung einer neuen Studie aufmerksam. Etwa ein Fünftel der weltweit gefangenen Haie gehen demnach auf das Konto von Indonesien und Indien. Direkt dahinter folgt Spanien, das neben Frankreich und Portugal zu den drei EU-Staaten unter den 20 größten Haifangnationen der Welt gehört. Zu diesem Ergebnis kommt eine Analyse von TRAFFIC, dem Artenschutznetzwerk von WWF und der Weltnaturschutzunion IUCN. Angesichts dieser Zahlen bangt der WWF um den Fortbestand vieler Haibestände, etwa von Herings- oder Weißspitzen-Hochseehai. „Haie pflanzen sich sehr langsam fort. Daher sind sie besonders anfällig für Überfischung“, warnt Volker Homes, Leiter Artenschutz beim WWF.

Zwar wurde im März 2013 auf der Artenschutzkonferenz CITES der bessere Schutz von fünf besonders bedrohten Hai-Arten beschlossen, doch bis die Maßnahmen greifen, dürften noch einige Jahre vergehen, so die Befürchtung des WWF. Die aktuelle Analyse kommt außerdem zu dem Ergebnis, dass es besserer Kontrollen und einer lückenlosen Dokumentation bedürfe, um Verstöße gegen die neuen Bestimmungen zu verhindern. (more…)

Do academic rankings create inequality?

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2013Scienceacademic rankings, americans, China, college degree, education, Germany, Global rankings, inequality, Jiao Tong University Brendan Cantwell, michigan state university, Netherlands, President Obama, research journal Minerva, scholar questions, Science, shanghai, Shanghai rankings, stem, Technology, united states, wisdom of investments, world class status

A study led by a Michigan State University scholar questions whether higher education ranking systems are creating competition simply for the sake of competition at a time when universities are struggling financially.

Global rankings that emphasize science and technology research – such as the Academic Rankings of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University – have become increasingly popular and influential during the past decade, said Brendan Cantwell, lead author and assistant professor of educational administration. (more…)

Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2013Environmentabigail noble, atmospheric carbon dioxide, brazil, carbon cycle, carl lamborg, chad hammerschmidt, climate, cloud of nutrients, coffee mug, earth crust, fissure, growth of phytoplankton, gyre, helium, hydrothermal vents, iron flux, mak saito, mantle, mid atlantic ridge, mid atlantic vents, namibia, ocean plume, pacific ocean, rv knorr, seawater samples, source of iron, south atlantic ocean, tyler goepfert, uk, university of liverpool, whoi researchers

Study reveals micronutrient riches rising from the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Scientists have discovered a vast plume of iron and other micronutrients more than 1,000 km long billowing from hydrothermal vents in the South Atlantic Ocean. The finding, soon to be published in the journal Nature Geoscience, calls past estimates of iron abundances into question, and may challenge researchers’ assumptions about iron sources in the world’s seas.

“This study and other studies like it are going to force the scientific community to reevaluate how much iron is really being contributed by hydrothermal vents and to increase those estimates, and that has implications for not only iron geochemistry but a number of other disciplines as well,” says Mak Saito, a WHOI associate scientist and lead author of the study. (more…)

Untold story of Churchill’s World War II speeches

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2013Politicschurchills oratory, churchills speeches, finest hour broadcast, speech writing, wartime speeches

Popular belief is that Churchill’s wartime speeches were received enthusiastically by almost the whole British population and that they were the decisive influence on the nation’s willingness to fight on against the Nazis. (more…)

Scientists want a detailed picture of Mount St. Helens’ plumbing

By Guest PostAugust 19, 2013Environmentactive volcano, advance warning systems, cascade range, columbia river, detailed picture, earth, earth scientists, electromagnetic field, fluctuation, kenneth creager, magnetic signals, mount adams, mount rainier, mount st helens, oregon state university, plumbing, seismic monitoring, small earthquakes, southwestern washington, structures beneath surface, university of washington, volcanic magma, volcanic monitoring, volcanoe

Earth scientists are laying plans for a two-year study covering a broad area of southwestern Washington to develop a better understanding of how Mount St. Helens gets its supply of volcanic magma.

“The main goal is to understand the plumbing system of the mountain,” said Kenneth Creager, a University of Washington professor of Earth and space sciences who is leading the study. (more…)

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