Category Archives: Environment

University study uncovers the secret lives of UK garden snail

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2013Environment, Natureangiostrongylus vasorum, dave hodgson, fatal lungworm parasite, fatal parasite, five vet practices, led lights, long grass, lungworm parasite, royal horticultural society, secret live, slugs, snails, time lapse photography, uk garden snail, university of exeter

Researchers track nocturnal snail activity for the first time, using LED lights and time-lapse photography. Snails were tracked over 72 hours, with researchers measuring their speed, distance travelled and exploration habits. Snail numbers have risen in recent years due to favourable breeding conditions. Slugs and snails can carry the lungworm parasite, Angiostrongylus vasorum, which is potentially fatal to dogs.

A ground-breaking study of UK snail behaviour using LED and UV light tracking has found that the nocturnal creatures can explore the length of an average British garden in just one night, reaching a top speed of one metre per hour. (more…)

Schwarzer Fluch lastet auf Virunga

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2013Environmentaegyptischen pyramiden, demokratischen republik kongo, dr kongo, nationalpark afrikas, oeko tourismus, oel konzern soco, petersdom in rom, ruanda, schwarzer fluch, soco international plc, uganda, virunga, virunga nationalparks, wwf afrika referent

WWF-Studie zeigt wirtschaftliche Bedeutung von Afrikas ältestem Nationalparks und Risiken geplanter illegaler Ölerschließung

Der älteste Nationalpark Afrikas ist bis zu 1,1 Milliarden US-Dollar jährlich wert, wenn er nachhaltig bewirtschaftet würde – so das Ergebnis einer neuen WWF-Studie zum wirtschaftlichen Potenzial des Virunga Nationalparks. Stattdessen ist die Zukunft des UNESCO Weltnaturerbes durch Pläne zur Erkundung und Förderung von Ölvorkommen massiv bedroht. Der britische Öl-Konzern Soco müsse seine gefährlichen Planspiele daher unverzüglich beenden, so die WWF-Forderung.

Bis zu 45.000 sichere Arbeitsplätze in den Bereichen Wasserkraft, Fischerei, Öko-Tourismus, Medizin sowie Forschung und Bildung könnten in Virunga entwickelt werden, so die Studie. Virunga gilt als der Nationalpark mit der größten Artenvielfalt Afrikas und ist Heimat für 200 vom Aussterben bedrohten Berggorillas. Derzeit jedoch wird die ökonomische Gesamtwertschöpfung lediglich auf 48,9 Millionen US-Dollar jährlich veranschlagt. Grund dafür ist die Instabilität der Region durch andauernde Armee- und Rebellengefechte. (more…)

Toxic Nanoparticles Might be Entering Human Food Supply, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2013Environment, Healthazlin mustapha, bongkosh vardhanabhuti, cosmetics, digestion, human food supply, mengshi lin, mu study, nanomaterials, pesticides, toxic nanoparticles, toxicity, university of missouri, water treatment, zhong zang

Scientists develop new way to detect threatening nanoparticles in food

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Over the last few years, the use of nanomaterials for water treatment, food packaging, pesticides, cosmetics and other industries has increased. For example, farmers have used silver nanoparticles as a pesticide because of their capability to suppress the growth of harmful organisms. However, a growing concern is that these particles could pose a potential health risk to humans and the environment. In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri have developed a reliable method for detecting silver nanoparticles in fresh produce and other food products.

“More than 1,000 products on the market are nanotechnology-based products,” said Mengshi Lin, associate professor of food science in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “This is a concern because we do not know the toxicity of the nanoparticles. Our goal is to detect, identify and quantify these nanoparticles in food and food products and study their toxicity as soon as possible.” (more…)

Google, Intel Founders Support Undersea Research by UMass Amherst Microbiologist

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Environmentaxial volcano, begum topcuoglu, black smoker, coast of oregon, Environment, environmental conservation, Eric Schmidt, founders, Google, hydrothermal fluids, hydrothermal vents, hyperthermophilic, intel, james holden, lucy stewart, methane producing, methanogenic, microbes, NASA, nsf, oceanographic research, pathogens, quantitative hydrogen requirements, research vessel falkor, schmidt ocean institute, simple organic wastes, soi, super heat loving, umass amherst microbiologist, undersea research, undersea volcanoes, university of massachusetts, university of washington, uw

AMHERST, Mass. – When microbiologist James Holden of the University of Massachusetts Amherst launches new studies next month of the microbes living deep in the cracks and thermal vents around an undersea volcano, for the first time in his 25-year career his deep-sea research will not be funded by a government source.

Instead, Holden will be funded by philanthropists committed to supporting oceanographic research: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation started by the co-founder of Intel and his wife, and the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), started by Eric Schmidt of Google and his wife, Wendy. The Moores’ foundation is dedicated to advancing environmental conservation and scientific research, while the SOI supports oceanographic research projects that “help expand the understanding of the world’s oceans through technological advancements, intelligent observation and analysis, and open sharing of information.” (more…)

Risiken von “Fracking” ausschließen!

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Environmentanti fracking tag, bedrohung, bulgarien, deutschland, europaeischen parlamentes, fracking, frankreich, grossbritannien, keine stimme, mensch, natur, niedrigere energiepreise, polen, sru, umwelt kritisch, usa

NABU und UVP-Gesellschaft fordern EU-weite Umweltstandards

Am 31. August 2013 findet bundesweit der erste Anti-Fracking-Tag statt. Unter dem Motto „Keine Stimme für Fracking – No Vote for Fracking” werden in zahlreichen Regionen in Deutschland Bürgerinitiativen auf die Straße gehen, um sich gegen die Ausbeutung unkonventioneller Erdgasvorkommen mittels Fracking zur Wehr zu setzen.

Aus Sicht des NABU und der UVP-Gesellschaft (Gesellschaft für die Prüfung der Umweltverträglichkeit) stellt die Methode, Erdgasvorkommen mittels Tiefbohrungen und dem Einsatz von Chemikalien zu gewinnen, eine erhebliche Bedrohung für Mensch und Natur dar. „Fracking ist klima- und energiepolitisch verzichtbar, zu wirtschaftlichen Kosten nicht vertretbar und angesichts der Wissenslücken über die Auswirkungen der Technik für Mensch und Natur ein Roulettespiel“, sagt NABU-Präsident Olaf Tschimpke. Auch der Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen (SRU) und das Umweltbundesamt (UBA) sehen diese Methode wegen ungeklärter Risiken für die Umwelt kritisch. (more…)

Liquid calcium carbonate

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2013Environmentalloys, antacids, atmospheric, calcium carbonate, calcium carbonate mineralization, carbon cycle, carbon dioxide levels, carbon storage reservoirs, concrete, crystallization pathway, dense liquid droplets, dense liquid phase, energy barrier, geologist adam wallace, limestone, liquid calcium carbonate, marine organisms, molecular dynamics simulations, nanoscale phase, nanoscopic clusters, polymers, salt solutions, seashells, seawater chemistry

Geologist Adam Wallace reports in ‘Science’ that calcium carbonate has a dense liquid phase

Computer simulations could help scientists make sense of a recently observed and puzzling wrinkle in one of nature’s most important chemical processes. It turns out that calcium carbonate — the ubiquitous compound that is a major component of seashells, limestone, concrete, antacids and other naturally and industrially produced substances — may momentarily exist in liquid form as it crystallizes from solution.

“Our simulations suggest the existence of a dense liquid form of calcium carbonate,” said co-corresponding author Adam Wallace, an assistant professor of geological sciences in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment who conducted the research while a postdoctoral researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “This is important because it is an as-yet unappreciated component of the carbon cycle.” (more…)

Littlest Continent Had Biggest Role in Sea Level Drop

By Guest PostAugust 22, 2013Environmentargo global array, atmospheric patterns, australia, climate experiment, earth, german aerospace center, grace, gravity recovery, john fasullo, la niña, littlest continent, NASA, ncar, poseidon, satellite altimeters, sea level drop, smallest continent, spacecraft, topex

A unique and complex set of circumstances came together over Australia from 2010 to 2011 to cause Earth’s smallest continent to be the biggest contributor to the observed drop in global sea level rise during that time, finds a new study co-authored and co-funded by NASA.

In 2011, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of Colorado at Boulder reported that between early 2010 and summer 2011, global sea level fell sharply, by about a quarter of an inch, or half a centimeter. Using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft, they showed that the drop was caused by the very strong La Nina that began in late 2010. That La Nina changed rainfall patterns all over our planet, moving huge amounts of Earth’s water from the ocean to the continents. The phenomenon was short-lived, however. (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…)