Environment – Page 148 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

New Findings of Endangered Birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge Give Hope to Recovery Efforts

By Guest PostJune 27, 2012Environment, Natureakiapolaau, american people, avian disease, avian malaria, awehi stream, carter t atkinson, climate change, endangered birds, endangered species, extinction, forest bird survey, forest habitat, hakalau forest, hawaii akepa, hawaii creeper, hawaii island, hawaiian forest birds, high elevation rainforest, marcia mcnutt, mauna kea, mosquito, pacific island ecosystems, plants, pox virus, robyn thorson, steve kendall, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs, wildlife, wildlife refuge

HAWAI’I ISLAND, Hawai‘’— Three of Hawai’i Island’s rarest endangered forest birds have been detected at lower elevations of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in 30 years.

The rediscovery of the three endangered species at lower elevations than expected was part of a joint U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey project on the potential impact of climate change on avian disease. All three species are believed to be highly susceptible to mosquito-transmitted diseases, limiting their distribution to the cooler, higher elevations of the refuge. These new observations significantly extend the current known range of these species at the refuge. (more…)

Humans Have Love-Hate Relationship With the Environment

By Guest PostJune 26, 2012Environmentanthropologist, canal irrigation, climate changes, Environment, environmental change, environmental trend, geomorphological characteristics, global warming, hominid ancestors, human pollution, humans, industrial revolution, interaction, irrigation agriculture, james watson, la playa site, local landscape, love hate, methane, mother nature, natural disaster, North America, northern mexico, northern sonora, relationship, soil deposition, sonoran desert, southern arizona, steep slope, toxic gases, village settlement

James Watson, a UA anthropologist, has published chapters describing how long-term environmental trends encourage stable adaptations within local environments.

Human/environment interactions have a history as long as the existence of our species on the planet.

Hominid ancestors began polluting their environment nearly 700,000 years ago with the control of fire, and humans have not looked back since.

The modern phenomenon of global warming is very likely the direct result of human pollution and destruction of the environment, said James Watson, a University of Arizona assistant professor in the School of Anthropology. (more…)

Hawaiian Seabirds Vulnerable to Sea-Level Rise on Low-Lying Atoll

By Guest PostJune 24, 2012Environmentclimate change, french frigate shoals, habitat for seabirds, hawaiian seabirds, sea-level rise, seabird colonies

HAWAI’I ISLAND, Hawai’i — The Hawaiian Islands’ largest atoll, French Frigate Shoals, is key to understanding how seabird nesting habitat will change with predicted rising sea levels, according to a team of U.S. Geological Survey biologists. (more…)

Combating Global Problems at BIARI

By Guest PostJune 22, 2012Environment, General, Scienceaids, ambedkar university delhi, anita elizabeth cherian, armed conflict, barbara willaarts, biari, botin foundation, brazil, brown university, cape town, China, chinese cities, civil society, climate change, courtney coelho, development, end project evaluation, environmental awareness, ethiopia, global problem, grass stage theatre, hiv, hiv awareness, India, junia quiroga de cuhan, kathamandu university, ke zhang, latin america, laureate universities, maria cecelia trannin, nepal, new delhi, nigeria, peking university, population, qing hui hou, rebecca hodes, rio de janeiro, rukmini sen, sagar sharma, shimla, South Africa, university, yunnan province, zheng xie

Some 140 participants and 30 visiting faculty from more than 45 countries arrived at Brown to take part in the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). The two-week program began June 11, 2012.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Some 140 participants and 30 visiting faculty from more than 45 countries arrived at Brown to take part in the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI). Participants, who were chosen from a pool of more than 850 applicants, come from several countries, including Brazil, China, Nigeria, India, and Ethiopia.

The two-week program began Monday, June 11, 2012. Now in its fourth year, BIARI is centered around four two-week intensive institutes, convened concurrently by Brown faculty, in which participants and leading scholars in their fields share their research and develop new collaborative projects through sustained, high-level dialogue spanning disciplines and continents. This year’s institutes touched on global health and HIV/AIDS; theater and civil society; population and development; and climate change. (more…)

Study Finds Ancient Warming Greened Antarctica

By Guest PostJune 20, 2012Environmentancient antarctica, ancient warming, antarctic greening, past climate, pollen samples, sediment cores

PASADENA, Calif. — A new university-led study with NASA participation finds ancient Antarctica was much warmer and wetter than previously suspected. The climate was suitable to support substantial vegetation — including stunted trees — along the edges of the frozen continent. (more…)

Scientists Reconstruct Pre-Columbian Human Effects on the Amazon Basin

By Guest PostJune 19, 2012Environment, Sciencealan tessier, Amazon, amazon basin, amazon river, archaeological evidence, biodiversity, climate change, crystal mcmichael, cultural parkland, d r piperno, ecological processes, environmental change, european, fit, historical evidence, human disturbance, human populations, luiz lobato, m r silman, madre de dios river, mark bush, national science foundation, peru, peruvian amazon, porto velho manaus, pre columbian amazon, pre columbian times, tropical rainforests

Findings overturn idea that the Amazon had large populations of humans that transformed the landscape

Small, shifting human populations existed in the Amazon before the arrival of Europeans, with little long-term effect on the forest.

That’s the result of research led by Crystal McMichael and Mark Bush of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). The finding overturns the idea the Amazon was a cultural parkland in pre-Columbian times with large human populations that transformed vast tracts of the landscape.

The Amazon Basin is one of the highest biodiversity areas on Earth. Understanding how it was modified by humans in the past is important for conservation and for understanding the ecological processes in tropical rainforests. (more…)

Recreational Fishing Brings Salt Marsh Die-Off

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Environmentecosystem, fishing activity, fishing in rivers, recreational fishing, salt marsh, trophic cascade

As recreational fishing activity has reduced predators in many of Cape Cod’s salt marsh ecosystems, Sesarma crabs have feasted on grasses, causing dramatic die-offs of the marshes, according to a new study. The researchers assessed the “trophic cascade” in several experiments that also ruled out alternative explanations for the problem.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Recreational fishing is a major contributor to the rapid decline of important salt marshes along Cape Cod because it strips top predators such as striped bass, blue crabs, and smooth dogfish out of the ecosystem, according to new research by Brown University ecologists. (more…)

Measuring the “Other” Greenhouse Gases: Higher Than Expected Levels of Methane in California

By Guest PostJune 16, 2012Environmentanthropogenic, atmospheric lifetime, berkeley lab, black carbon, california, carb, carbon dioxide, central valley, ch4 emissions, climate pollutant, CO2, coal mines, decomposition, environment policy, fossil fuel, fraction, global warming, greenhouse gas, halocarbon gases, landfills, livestock ranches, man made source, map, marc l fischer, methane, methane emissions, methane signals, natural sources, nitrous oxide, noaa, organic matter, refrigerants, sacramento, seongeun jeong, soot, sound energy, spatial, temporal resolution, united states, walnut grove

Berkeley Lab scientists develop new method for evaluating short-lived pollutants.

New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found that levels of methane—a potent greenhouse gas emitted from many man-made sources, such as coal mines, landfills and livestock ranches—are at least one-and-a-half times higher in California than previously estimated.

Working with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Berkeley Lab scientists Marc L. Fischer and Seongeun Jeong combined highly accurate methane measurements from a tower with model predictions of expected methane signals to revise estimated methane emissions from central California. They found that annually averaged methane emissions in California were 1.5 to 1.8 times greater than previous estimates, depending on the spatial distribution of the methane emissions. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment