Environment – Page 187 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Extent and Speed of Lionfish Spread Unprecedented

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2011Environment, Natureatlantic coast, bermuda, caribbean, cayman islands, coast of florida, coastal systems, gulf of mexico, indo west pacific ocean, invasive lionfishes, lionfish, lionfish diets, native species, non native marine fish, pam schofield, species, u s eastern seaboard

*Invasive Marine Fish May Stress Reefs*

Gainesville, Fla. — The rapid spread of lionfishes along the U.S. eastern seaboard, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean is the first documented case of a non-native marine fish establishing a self-sustaining population in the region, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey studies.

“Nothing like this has been seen before in these waters,” said Dr. Pam Schofield, a biologist with the USGS Southeast Ecological Science Center here. “We’ve observed sightings of numerous non-native species, but the extent and speed with which lionfish have spread has been unprecedented; lionfishes pretty much blanketed the Caribbean in three short years.” (more…)

West Antarctic Ice Sheet ‘Could Be More Stable than Thought’

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2011Environmentantarctic ice sheet, cataclysmic event, cosmogenic dating, global temperatures, global warming, interglacial period

Whether global warming may cause the giant West Antarctic Ice Sheet to melt and raise sea-levels by several metres is one of the most contested debates in climate science. (more…)

NASA Shows Topography of Tsunami-Damaged Japan City

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2011Environmentcoastal plain, earthquake, Japan, miyagi prefecture, NASA, national geospatial intelligence agency, nga, ohu mountains, pacific ocean, radar image, sendai, shuttle radar topography mission, srtm, subduction plate boundary, topography, tsunami, u s geological survey

The topography surrounding Sendai, Japan is clearly visible in this combined radar image and topographic view generated with data from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) acquired in 2000. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck offshore about 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Sendai, the capital city of Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture, generating a tsunami that devastated the low-lying coastal city of about 1 million residents.

The city is centered in the image and lies along the coastal plain between the Ohu Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The eastern part of the city is a low-lying plains area, while the city center is hilly (the city’s official elevation is about 43 meters, or 141 feet). Sendai’s western areas are mountainous, with its highest point being Mt. Funagata at an elevation of about 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) above sea level. (more…)

WHOI Experts Stress Lessons From Japan Earthquake

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2011Environmentchristchurch, foreshocks, future quakes, japan earthquake, japan quake, japan tsunami, jeff mcguire, jian lin, korean icebreaker r/v araon, mainshock, national earthquake center in menlo park, pacific northwest coast, sanriku, similar quake/tsunami scenario, stress lessons, subduction zone, tokyo and yokohama, vancouver, Vancouver island canada, woods hole oceanographic institution (whoi)

While Japan’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami represent a devastating natural disaster for the country’s residents, scientists should also seize upon the massive temblor as an important learning tool for future quakes around the world, including the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, according to experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

WHOI geophysicist Jeff McGuire said such lessons may be particularly germane to residents of Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver–a region he said, could be subject to a similar quake/tsunami scenario. “Today’s earthquake happened on a subduction zone thrust fault where the Pacific plate subducts, or dives, under the Japanese islands,” he said. “Japan regularly has large earthquakes and tsunamis all along its east coast due to subduction. (more…)

Gulf Oil Spill Study Sheds Light On Urban Air Pollution

By Guest PostMarch 12, 20111 commentEnvironmentbp deepwater horizon, gouw, gulf oil spill, microscopic particles, noaa, organic aerosols, university of california, university of colorado boulder, university of miami, urban air pollution, urban environments, volatile components

When a team of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences raced to the scene of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill to assess the disaster’s impact on air quality last year, they found more than they expected. (more…)

Researchers Discover New Wintering Grounds for Humpback Whales Using Sound

By Guest PostMarch 11, 2011Environment, Nature

Researchers at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), an organized research unit in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology have made a remarkable new discovery.

In the thick of whale season, researchers from HIMB and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shed new light on the wintering grounds of the humpback whale. The primary breeding ground for the North Pacific was always thought to be the main Hawaiian Islands. However, a new study has shown that these grounds extend all the way throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago and into the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), also known as Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM). (more…)

Tsunami Waves Crash Into Japan’s North-east After Powerful Quake

By PravdaMarch 11, 2011Environment, Generalcoastal parts, earthquake, epicenter, friday, fukushima prefecture, highways, iwate prefecture, Japan, magnitude of the earthquake, mariana islands, miyagi, north east, onahama city, plumes of smoke, quake, richter scale, tokyo, tsunami warning, tsunami wave

The government of Japan has provided a report about the damage caused by a strong earthquake which rocked the north-east of the country on Friday, March 11. The Associated Press reports with reference to Japanese television that the tsunami wave, triggered by the quake, caused significant destruction in the northern part of the country.

The magnitude of the earthquake, which took place in Japan on Friday, was measured 8.8 on Richter scale. Quakes still continue in the capital, Tokyo. The epicenter of the quake was located 382 kilometers to the north-east off Tokyo, at the depth of 10 kilometers. (more…)

Main Culprit of Deadly Russian Heat Wave? Natural Variability

By Guest PostMarch 10, 2011Environmentatmospheric blocking pattern, atmospheric carbon dioxide, atmospheric models, boulder, climate change, climate surprise, computer climate models, concentration, crop failures, daily average temperatures, early summer of 2010, earth system research laboratory, esrl, greenhouse gas concentrations, heat wave, judith perlwitz, martin hoerling, mio matsueda, moscow, munich reinsurance, natural atmospheric phenomenon, randall dole, russia, russian heat wave, signal of a warming climate, summer storms, temperatures, warming hole, weather extremes

WASHINGTON — The deadly Russian heat wave of 2010 was due to a natural atmospheric phenomenon often associated with weather extremes, according to a new study. And while the scientists could not attribute the intensity of this particular heat wave to climate change, they found that extreme heat waves are likely to become increasingly frequent in the region in coming decades.

The research team drew from scientific observations and computer climate models to evaluate the possible roles of natural and human-caused climate influences on the severity of the heat wave. The study has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment