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Warming North Atlantic Water Tied to Heating Arctic, According to New Study

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 20111 commentEnvironmentalaska, archipelago, arctic ocean, Arctic sea ice, arctic warming, foraminifera shells, fram strait, global warming in the arctic, greenland, ice free, kirstin werner, loss of arctic sea ice, medieval warm period, north atlantic ocean water, norway, robert spielhagen, svalbard, temperature, thomas marchitto, university of colorado at boulder

The temperatures of North Atlantic Ocean water flowing north into the Arctic Ocean adjacent to Greenland — the warmest water in at least 2,000 years — are likely related to the amplification of global warming in the Arctic, says a new international study involving the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Led by Robert Spielhagen of the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Literature in Mainz, Germany, the study showed that water from the Fram Strait that runs between Greenland and Svalbard — an archipelago constituting the northernmost part of Norway — has warmed roughly 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century. The Fram Strait water temperatures today are about 2.5 degrees F warmer than during the Medieval Warm Period, which heated the North Atlantic from roughly 900 to 1300 and affected the climate in Northern Europe and northern North America. (more…)

First Study of Dispersants in Gulf Spill Suggests a Prolonged Deepwater Fate

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 2011Environmentbiodegradation, biological exposure, chemical dispersant, chromatographic technique, david valentine, deep ocean, deepwater horizon oil spill, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, doss, effects on corals, elizabeth b kujawinski, environmental data, fate of dispersants, gas flow, gulf of mexico, gulf spill, hydrocarbon, levels of methane, marshes and coastlines, melissa c kido soule, oil droplets, oil gas plume, toxicity, wellhead

To combat last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, nearly 800,000 gallons of chemical dispersant were injected directly into the oil and gas flow coming out of the wellhead nearly one mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, as scientists begin to assess how well the strategy worked at breaking up oil droplets, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) chemist Elizabeth B. Kujawinski and her colleagues report that a major component of the dispersant itself was contained within an oil-gas-laden plume in the deep ocean and had still not degraded some three months after it was applied.

While the results suggest the dispersant did mingle with the oil and gas flowing from the mile-deep wellhead, they also raise questions about what impact the deep-water residue of oil and dispersant—which some say has its own toxic effects—might have had on environment and marine life in the Gulf. (more…)

Growing Biofuel Crops in Unusual Places

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 2011Environmentairport property, biodiesel, biofuel, biofuel crops, biofuels crop production, canola, cellulosic and oilseed biofuel crops, crops, dennis pennington, ethanol, farmland, freeways to fuels, highway, homegrown bioenergy feedstocks, michigan, michigan economy, natural gas, nontraditional land, oil, oilseed crops, oriental mustard, pennycress, petroleum, renewable fuels, switchgrass, terri novak, vacant urban land

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researchers are finding new locations to grow crops used for biofuel.

The land they’ve identified might surprise some because it’s right next to where the fuel is being used. (more…)

More Frequent Drought Likely in Eastern Africa

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 20111 commentEnvironmentaerosol emissions, food shortages, frequency of drought, global temperature, global warming, tropical warm pool

The increased frequency of drought observed in eastern Africa over the last 20 years is likely to continue as long as global temperatures continue to rise, according to new research published in Climate Dynamics. (more…)

The Undead May Influence Biodiversity, Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2011Environmentbiodiversity, cellular mechanisms, dormant microbes, greenhouse gas emissions, jay lennon, microorganisms affect, university of notre dame

EAST LANSING, Mich. — It’s commonly known, at least among microbiologists, that microbes have an additional option to living or dying — dormancy.

Dormant microbes are less like zombies and more like hibernating bears. What isn’t known, however, is how large numbers of dormant microorganisms affect the natural environments when they act as microbial seed banks. In the current issue of Nature Reviews: Microbiology, Jay Lennon, Michigan State University assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, examines the cellular mechanisms that allow microbes to hibernate and addresses the implications they can have on larger ecosystems such as soil, oceans, lakes and the human body. (more…)

Personal Solar Panel Could Make Electricity More Accessible in the Developing World

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2011Environmentabdrahamane traoré, amin and traoré, developers, dim light, emerald, engineering, june energy, kerosene, kerosene lamp, Mali, michigan, shanhoor amin, smartphone, solar panel, techarb

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— As a child in Mali, Abdrahamane Traoré often did his homework by the sooty, dim light of a kerosene lamp.

As an adult in Michigan, he sometimes has a tough time reaching his family back home. Traoré’s mother must walk to a neighboring village to keep a cell phone charged. (more…)

Mathematical Model Could Help Predict and Prevent Future Extinctions

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 20111 commentEnvironment, Natureadilson motter, biodiversity, causes of climate change, demise of the dodo, dodo bird, dynamics of complex networks, earth, ecological food webs, ecosystem, extinction cascades, extinction due to human activity, gulf of mexico oil spill, human intervention, interaction, man made disasters, mathematical model, mitigate extinction, natural resources, raphus cucullatus, sagar sahasrabudhe, species conservation efforts, uncertainty

*Research could rescue fragile ecosystems and halt complex cascade events*

In an effort to better understand the dynamics of complex networks, scientists have developed a mathematical model to describe interactions within ecological food webs. This research, performed by Northwestern University physics professor Adilson Motter and his student, Sagar Sahasrabudhe, is published in the January 25 issue of Nature Communications. The work illustrates how human intervention may effectively aid species conservation efforts.

“Our study provides a theoretical basis for management efforts that would aim to mitigate extinction cascades in food web networks. There is evidence that a significant fraction of all extinctions are caused not by a primary perturbation but instead by the propagation of a cascade,” said Motter. (more…)

Film by Yale Environment 360 Receives Oscar Nomination

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2011Entertainment, Environment, Mediaacademy awards, aids crisis in china, anhui province, anne hathaway, best actor, best documentary, chemical plant, documentary filmmaker, e360, Environment, environmental movement in china, farmer, james franco, jiucailuo chemical plant, oscar, pollution, qiugang, roger cohn, ruby yang, the blood of yingzhou district, the warriors of qiugang, thomas lennon, villagers from china, yale environment 360, yale film, zhang gongli

Yale graduate student James Franco will be in the spotlight on the night of the Academy Awards as both co-host of the ceremony (with Anne Hathaway) and a “Best Actor” nominee (for “127 Hours”). But also vying for its share of the glitter will be a short Yale film on a big topic: the fledgling environmental movement in China.

“The Warriors of Qiugang” — co-produced by Yale Environment 360 (e360), an online publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies — has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category “Best Documentary: Short Subject.” (more…)

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