Environment – Page 180 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

‘Mountain Pine Beetle Activity May Impact Snow Accumulation And Melt’

By Guest PostJune 10, 2011Environmentalbedo, atmosphere, british columbia, bryant kealey, colorado, colorado river, ecohydrology, eric small, evan pugh, gas, grand lake, gray phase, hydrologic models, jon hammond, leslie baehr, lodgepole pine trees, meltwater, mountain pine beetles, pyranometers, river basins, rocky mountain national park, salt lake city, ski resort, snow surface albedo, snowmelt, southern wyoming, tevis blom, transmission of sunlight, university of colorado boulder

A new University of Colorado Boulder study indicates the infestation of trees by mountain pine beetles in the high country across the West could potentially trigger earlier snowmelt and increase water yields from snowpack that accumulates beneath affected trees.

Led by CU-Boulder geological sciences department doctoral student Evan Pugh, the study was undertaken near Grand Lake, Colo., adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park, an area that has been devastated by mountain pine beetle attacks in recent years. Mountain pine beetles have killed more than 4 million acres of lodgepole pine trees in Colorado and southern Wyoming since 1996, the most severe outbreak on record. (more…)

Shaping The Future of Global Energy Policy

By Guest PostJune 7, 2011Environmentar5, bioenergy, catherine mitchell, climate, climate change, climate change and sustainable futures, cornwall, energy policy group, fifth assessment report, geothermal, global efforts, greener energy, greenhouse gas emissions, hydro, intergovernmental panel on climate change, ipcc, ocean, rajendra pachauri, renewable energy, scientific evidence on climate change, solar, special report on renewable energy sources and climate change mitigation, srren, university of east anglia, university of exeter, wind energy

A leading academic at the University of Exeter has played a central role in compiling a report which could be vital for global efforts to tackle climate change.

Professor Catherine Mitchell, part of the University’s Energy Policy Group based in Cornwall, was one of only two experts from the UK to contribute to the ‘Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation’ (SRREN). (more…)

Going Green: Berkeley Lab on a Path to Substantially Cut Its Emissions

By Guest PostJune 6, 2011Environmentadvanced lighting systems, energy savings technologies, energy use, going green, green products

Energy use intensity is down; sustainability plan would reduce it even further

There’s an old saying that the cobbler’s children have no shoes. But at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose scientists have pioneered many of the energy efficiency technologies being deployed around the world today, energy conservation is not neglected at home. In fact, a number of homegrown energy-savings technologies are in use at the Lab itself, allowing Berkeley Lab to substantially reduce its energy use intensity and make headway towards achieving significant cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

River Mystery Solved

By Guest PostJune 5, 2011Environmentbacteria, biofilms, biogeochemical processes, blooms of didymo, Chile, didymo, didymo growth, didymosphenia geminata, freshwater algae, mats, microbes, microenvironment, national science foundation, new zealand, nutrients, oligotrophic, oliogotrophic streams, p v sundareshwar, phosphorus, rapid creek, rivers, rock, south dakota school of mines and technology, species, streams, tim kratz, uncommon environmental phenomena, unpolluted waterways, water bodies in the southern hemisphere

*Scientists discover how “Didymo” algae bloom in pristine waters with few nutrients*

The pristine state of unpolluted waterways may be their downfall, according to research results published in a paper this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

A species of freshwater algae that lives in streams and rivers, called Didymo for Didymosphenia geminata, is able to colonize and dominate the bottoms of some of the world’s cleanest waterways–precisely because they are so clear. (more…)

New Map Reveals Giant Fjords Beneath East Antarctic Ice Sheet

By Guest PostJune 4, 2011Environmentairborne geophysical instruments, antarctic ice sheet, Antarctica, aurora subglacial basin, australia, computer modelers, dc 3 aircraft, donald blankenship, duncan young, earth, east antarctic ice sheet, east antarctica, fjords, global sea level, high resolution topographic map, ice cut channels, ice penetrating radar, icecap, icecap project, investigating the cryospheric evolution of the central antarctic plate, sea level, sea level fluctuations, texas, university of texas at austin, world war

AUSTIN, Texas — Scientists from the U.S., U.K. and Australia have used ice-penetrating radar to create the first high-resolution topographic map of one of the last uncharted regions of Earth, the Aurora Subglacial Basin, an immense ice-buried lowland in East Antarctica larger than Texas.

The map reveals some of the largest fjords or ice cut channels on Earth, providing important insights into the history of ice in Antarctica. The data will also help computer modelers improve their simulations of the past and future Antarctic ice sheet and its potential impact on global sea level. (more…)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to Lead Expedition to Measure Radioactive Contaminants in the Pacific Ocean

By Guest PostJune 3, 2011Environmentacoustic doppler current profiler, adcp, assessment, atlantic, cesium 137, contamination pathways and dispersion, drinking water standard, fukushima nuclear power plant, fukushima plant, gordon and betty moore foundation, gulf stream, iodine and cesium isotopes, Japan, kaimikai o kanoloa, ken buesseler, kuroshio current, levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the pacific ocean, marine organisms, moore funding, nick fisher, ocean current, phytoplankton, radiation, radioactive contaminants, radioactivity in ocean, radioisotope geochemistry, radionuclides, reactors, research vessel, spain, susan avery, tepco, tokyo electric power company, tokyo institute of technology, university of bremen, university of hawaii, us environmental protection agency, vicki chandler, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will lead the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the Fukushima nuclear power plant—a research effort funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

“This project will address fundamental questions about the impact of this release of radiation to the ocean, and in the process enhance international collaboration and sharing of scientific data,” said Vicki Chandler, Chief Program Officer, Science at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “It is our hope that through this adverse event, we can increase our current knowledge about various natural and man-made sources of radioactivity in the ocean, and how they might ultimately impact ocean life and health around the world.” (more…)

New NASA Map Reveals Tropical Forest Carbon Storage

By Guest PostJune 2, 2011Environmentcarbon monitoring, carbon stock change, longevity of forests, satellite data, tropical forests

PASADENA, Calif. – A NASA-led research team has used a variety of NASA satellite data to create the most precise map ever produced depicting the amount and location of carbon stored in Earth’s tropical forests. The data are expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research and serve as a useful resource for managing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. (more…)

Spurring Sweet Success

By Guest PostJune 1, 2011Environmentcrop health, diseases, farmers, farming, michigan, michigan state university, michigan sugar beet advancement program, michigan sugar co, nematodes, parasitic worms, paul pfenninger, plants, poindexter, roots, sugar beet, sugar beet industry, sugar quality, sweet partnership, tillage practices

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Thanks to Michigan State University, a sweet partnership has helped resurrect Michigan’s $444 million sugar beet industry.

In 1996 the industry was in peril. Yields hit an all-time low due to pest, disease and production issues that greatly reduced crop health. Farmers were looking to get out of sugar beet farming and switch to more profitable crops. Industry representatives reached out to MSU to help solve the problem. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment