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Saving Lives Worldwide by Training International Volcano Scientists

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2013Environment, Scienceandy lockhart, canada, cascades volcano observatory, celina kattan, Colombia, costa rica, csav, domenico mangione, don thomas, ecuador, el salvador, hilo, hvo, indonesia, international volcano scientists, italy, john pallister, mount st helens, papua new guinea, peru, syegi kunrat, telemetry station, type of volcano, U.S. Geological Survey, university of hawaii, usaid, volcanic hazard assessment, volcano hazards monitoring, volcano observatories, volcano science center, volcano scientist

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Scientists and technicians who work at volcano observatories in nine countries are visiting Mount St. Helens and the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Science Center’s Cascades Volcano Observatory this week to learn techniques for monitoring active volcanoes. Organized by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo, with support from the VSC-managed joint USGS-USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, the annual program has been training foreign scientists for 22 years. This year’s class includes volcano scientists from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Canada, Indonesia, Italy, and Papua New Guinea.

The International Training Program in Volcano Hazards Monitoring is designed to assist other nations in attaining self-sufficiency in monitoring volcanoes and reducing the risks from eruptions. Through in-class instruction at two USGS volcano observatories, and field exercises in Hawaiʻi and at Mount St. Helens, U.S. scientists are providing training on monitoring methods, data analysis and interpretation, and volcanic hazard assessment, and participants are taught about the use and maintenance of volcano monitoring instruments. Additionally, participants learn about focusing on forecasting and rapid response during volcanic crises, and how to work with governing officials and the news media to save lives and property. (more…)

Scientists Cast Doubt on Theory of What Triggered Antarctic Glaciation

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2013Environmentancient volcanic arc, antarctic glaciation, antarctic peninsula, glaciation of antarctica, sea level, seafloor bathymetry, volcanic arc

AUSTIN, Texas — A team of U.S. and U.K. scientists has found geologic evidence that casts doubt on one of the conventional explanations for how Antarctica’s ice sheet began forming. Ian Dalziel, research professor at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics and professor in the Jackson School of Geosciences, and his colleagues report the findings today in an online edition of the journal Geology. (more…)

Hazy days of summer: Southeast U.S. field work measures mercury, smog

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2013Environmentair quality, ben lee, birmingham, c 130, central pennsylvania, claudia mohr, clean sea air, climate, coal fired, colored aerosols, dan jaffe, eastern texas, felipe lopez hilfiker, field work, ground-level ozone, gulf of mexico, hazy days, Houston, joel thornton, lyatt jaegle, measure, mercury, military transport plane, nashville, natural vegetation emission, ohio river valley, pollutants, power plant, smog, southeast us, summer, university of washington, vegetation particles, very exciting data

Dozens of atmospheric scientists, including three University of Washington faculty members, are taking part in what’s being described as one of the largest atmospheric field campaigns in decades.

The six-week Southeast Atmosphere Study, through July 15, includes scientists from more than 30 different institutions. Together they are studying how pollutants combine with natural vegetation emissions to affect climate and air quality in the Southeastern U.S. (more…)

Outlook is Grim for Mammals and Birds as Human Population Grows

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2013Environment, Naturebirds, birth rate, climate change, congo, data, death rate, democratic republic, ecosystem, erica chambers, extinction, grim, human population, human population footprint, jeffrey mckee, julia guseman, mammals, outlook, population density, prediction, projection, united states

Average Growing Nation Can Expect 10.8 Percent More Threatened Species by 2050

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The ongoing global growth in the human population will inevitably crowd out mammals and birds and has the potential to threaten hundreds of species with extinction within 40 years, new research shows.

Scientists at The Ohio State University have determined that the average growing nation should expect at least 3.3 percent more threatened species in the next decade and an increase of 10.8 percent species threatened with extinction by 2050.

The United States ranks sixth in the world in the number of new species expected to be threatened by 2050, the research showed. (more…)

Scientists Image Vast Subglacial Water System Underpinning West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier

By Guest PostJuly 15, 2013Environmentamundsen sea embayment, antarctic continent, antarctic ice sheet, austin, don blankenship, florida’s everglades, geometry of reflections, glacial ice, movement, radar energy, sea level, subglacial water system, thwaites glacier, university of texas, west antarctica

AUSTIN, Texas — In a development that will help predict potential sea level rise from the Antarctic ice sheet, scientists from The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics have used an innovation in radar analysis to accurately image the vast subglacial water system under West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier. They have detected a swamp-like canal system beneath the ice that is several times as large as Florida’s Everglades.

The findings, as described last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, use new observational techniques to address long-standing questions about subglacial water under Thwaites, a Florida-sized outlet glacier in the Amundsen Sea Embayment considered a key factor in projections of global sea level rise. On its own, Thwaites contains enough fresh water to raise oceans by about a meter, and it is a critical gateway to the majority of West Antarctica’s potential sea level contribution of about 5 meters. (more…)

New Approach to Measuring Coral Growth Offers Valuable Tool for Reef Managers

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2013Environmentbiscayne national park, calcification, calcium carbonate, climate change, coral growth, coral health, dry tortugas, ecosystem, environmental information, florida keys, fowey rocks, growth pattern, ilsa kuffner, level of precision, marathon, marine organisms, massive starlet coral, miami, national park, ocean water, ph, reef managers, scuba diver working, shell, siderastrea siderea, skeleton, suzette kimball, U.S. Geological Survey, us virgin islands, usgs scientist, water quality

Finds surprising growth patterns in the Florida Keys

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A new more sensitive weight-based approach for monitoring coral growth in the wild has been developed by U.S. Geological Survey researchers leading to more definitive answers about the status of coral reefs.

Corals and other marine organisms build their skeletons and shells through calcification, the biological process of secreting calcium carbonate obtained from ocean water. This new approach to measuring corals can provide finer-scale resolution than traditional linear measurements of coral growth. (more…)

UA Study: Evolution Too Slow to Keep Up With Climate Change

By Guest PostJuly 11, 2013Environment, Natureclimatic niche, evolutionary trees, phylogenies, rapid climate change, rates of evolution, terrestrial vertebrates, warmer climate

A study led by a UA ecologist has found that many species evolve too slowly to adapt to the rapid climate change expected in the next 100 years.

Many vertebrate species would have to evolve about 10,000 times faster than they have in the past to adapt to the rapid climate change expected in the next 100 years, a study led by a University of Arizona ecologist has found.
(more…)

Deep Biosphere Harbors Active, Growing Communities of Microorganisms

By Guest PostJuly 9, 2013Environmentamino acids, archaea, bacteria, bill orsi, biochemical mechanisms, carbon, cell, cell populations, data analysis, deep biosphere, ecologist, ecosystem, fungi, glenn christman, global biogeochemical cycles, messenger rna, metatranscriptome, microorganisms, model, molecule atp, mrna, nitrogen cycling, ocean drilling program, sulfate reduction, ud, university of delaware, virginia edgcomb, whoi

The deep biosphere—the realm of sediments far below the seafloor—harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Delaware (UD).

“This is the first molecular evidence for active cell division in the deep biosphere,” says WHOI postdoctoral investigator Bill Orsi, who was the lead author on the study. Previous studies and models had suggested cells were alive, but whether the cells were actually dividing or not had remained elusive. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment