Environment – Page 183 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Researchers Report Potential for a Moderate New England ‘Red Tide’ in 2011

By Guest PostApril 10, 2011Environmentalexandrium fundyense, alexandrium germination, cyst, darcie couture, dennis mcgillicuddy, don anderson, ecomon, ecosystem monitoring program, gomtox, gulf of maine, gulf of maine toxicity, jane lubchenco, new england shellfish industry, new hampshire coasts, noaa, paralytic shellfish poisoning, psp, psp toxicity, red tides, ruoying he, shellfish beds, stacy knapp, toxic alga, toxicity

*Bloom could be suppressed by changes in ocean conditions in the Gulf of Maine*

Scientists from the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project issued an outlook for a moderate regional bloom of a toxic alga that can cause ‘red tides’ in the spring and summer of this year, potentially threatening the New England shellfish industry. However, there are signs this year’s bloom could be suppressed by recent changes in ocean conditions in the Gulf of Maine.

An abundant seed population in bottom sediments has set the stage for a moderate bloom of the toxic alga Alexandrium fundyense. This organism swims in the water, and divides again and again to form a “bloom” or red tide, but it also produces dormant cells or cysts that fall to the ocean bottom at the end of these blooms where they remain until they germinate the next year to restart the process. (more…)

Glaciers Contributing To Faster Sea-Level Rise

By Guest PostApril 9, 2011Environmentglaciers, industrial revolution, little ice age, mountain glaciers, neil glasser, outlet glaciers, patagonian icefields, sea-level rise, south america, stephan harrison

Melting mountain glaciers are contributing to sea-level rise faster than at any time in the last 350 years, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience.

A research team from the University of Exeter, Aberystwyth University, and Stockholm University undertook a survey of the 270 largest outlet glaciers of the South and North Patagonian Icefields of South America. (more…)

Some People’s Climate Beliefs Shift with Weather

By Guest PostApril 8, 2011Environmentclimate belief, manmade global warming, political belief

Study shows daily malleability on a long-term question

Social scientists are struggling with a perplexing earth-science question: as the power of evidence showing manmade global warming is rising, why do opinion polls suggest public belief in the findings is wavering? Part of the answer may be that some people are too easily swayed by the easiest, most irrational piece of evidence at hand: their own estimation of the day’s temperature. (more…)

Biodiversity improves water quality in streams through a division of labor

By Guest PostApril 7, 2011Environmentagricultural land, flow condition, natural stream, niche partitioning, pollutant filters, surface runoff, water quality

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Biologically diverse streams are better at cleaning up pollutants than less rich waterways, and a University of Michigan ecologist says he has uncovered the long-sought mechanism that explains why this is so. (more…)

‘Wicked Weed of The West’ Waning With Effect of Weevils, Other Nontoxic Remedies, Cu Finds

By Guest PostApril 4, 2011Environmentknapweed density, knapweed root weevil, nontoxic remedies, seedhead weevil, spruce gulch, wicked weed

It’s not often that plants are described as diabolical, but spotted knapweed has that rare distinction. A 2004 issue of Smithsonian magazine, for instance, dubbed it the “wicked weed of the West,” a “national menace” and a “weed of mass destruction.” (more…)

2,000 Year-old Deep-sea Black Corals call Gulf of Mexico Home

By Guest PostApril 1, 2011Environmentagainst suffering, anthoza, antipatharia, black coral trees, black corals, coral reefs, corals, deep sea black corals, deep sea coral reef ecosystems, delaware, discover expedition, ecosystem, environmental change, glabberima, greek roots, gulf of mexico, hawaii, johnson sea link, leiopathes, marine ecology, maryland, nancy prouty, organic matter, sea floor, skeletons, symbiotic algae

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — For the first time, scientists have been able to validate the age of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico. They found the Gulf is home to 2,000 year-old deep-sea black corals, many of which are only a few feet tall.

These slow-growing, long-living animals thrive in very deep waters—300 meters (984 feet) and deeper—yet scientists say they are sensitive to what is happening in the surface ocean as well as on the sea floor. (more…)

Bats Worth Billions to Agriculture: Pest-control Services at Risk

By Guest PostMarch 31, 2011Environmentbats, insect eating bats, migratory bats, pest control, value of bats, white nose syndrome, wind turbines

Pest-control services provided by insect-eating bats in the United States likely save the U.S. agricultural industry at least $3 billion a year, and yet insectivorous bats are among the most overlooked economically important, non-domesticated animals in North America, according to an analysis published in this week’s Science magazine Policy Forum. (more…)

Study Sheds Light on How Heat is Transported to Greenland Glaciers

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2011Environmentarctic water, bath tub, claudia cenedese, fiamma straneo, fjords, floating ice tongue, freshwater runoff, glacier ice, greenland, gulf stream, heat, heat transport, helheim glacier, ice sheet, kjetil våge, melting the glaciers, ocean circulation, oscillation, predictions, ruth curry, sea-level rise, sermilik fjord, subtropical waters

Warmer air is only part of the story when it comes to Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet. New research by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) highlights the role ocean circulation plays in transporting heat to glaciers.

Greenland’s ice sheet has lost mass at an accelerated rate over the last decade, dumping more ice and fresh water into the ocean. Between 2001 and 2005, Helheim Glacier, a large glacier on Greenland’s southeast coast, retreated 5 miles (8 kilometers) and its flow speed nearly doubled. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment