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Deformed Beaks May Signal a Greater Environmental Problem

By Guest PostNovember 9, 2010Environment, Natureagricultural runoff, alaska, avian keratin disorder, beak, beak abnormalities, bird, black capped chickadee, california, colleen handel, environmental health problem, great lakes, keratin layer, northwest, northwestern crow, selenium, usgs

This Black-capped Chickadee, captured in Anchorage, Alaska, demonstrates an overgrown beak characteristic of avian keratin disorder. Beak deformities in this species were first observed in the late 1990s and biologists have since documented more than 2,100 affected individuals in Alaska. Image credit: U.S. Geological Survey

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The highest rate of beak abnormalities ever recorded in wild bird populations is being seen in a number of species in the Northwest and Alaska, and scientists to this point have not been able to isolate the cause.

Black-capped Chickadees, Northwestern Crows, and other birds are being impacted by the problem, which affects their ability to feed and clean themselves and could signal a growing environmental health problem.

In birds affected by what scientists have termed “avian keratin disorder,” the keratin layer of the beak becomes overgrown, resulting in noticeably elongated and often crossed beaks, sometimes accompanied by abnormal skin, legs, feet, claws and feathers. Biologists with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center published their findings in this month’s issue of The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology.

“The prevalence of these strange deformities is more than ten times what is normally expected in a wild bird population,” said research biologist Colleen Handel with the USGS, “We have seen effects not only on the birds’ survival rates, but also on their ability to reproduce and raise young. We are particularly concerned because we have not yet been able to determine the cause, despite testing for the most likely culprits.” (more…)

Volcanic Eruptions Affect Rainfall over Asian Monsoon Region

By Guest PostNovember 7, 2010Environment, Natureaffect, asian monsoon, climate, climate models, dinosaurs, el chichón, huaynaputina, indonesia, kevin anchukaitis, krakatau, mount pinatubo, neanderthals, particles, peru, Philippines, pinatubo, rainfall, solar energy, solar radiation, tambora eruption, tree ring lab, volcanic explosions, volcanoes, weather

Scientists have long known that large volcanic explosions can affect the weather by spewing particles that block solar energy and cool the air.

Some suspect that extended “volcanic winters” from gigantic eruptions helped kill off dinosaurs and Neanderthals.

In the summer following Indonesia’s 1815 Tambora eruption, frost wrecked crops as far away as New England, and the 1991 blowout of the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo lowered average global temperatures by 0.7 degrees F — enough to mask the effects of greenhouse gases for a year or so. (more…)

Water Flowing Through Ice Sheets Accelerates Warming, Could Speed Up Ice Flow, Says New Study

By Guest PostNovember 7, 2010Environmentclimate change, climate warming, conventional thermal models, crevasses, fractures, greenland, ice flows, ice sheet, ice sheets, konrad steffen, melt water, moulins, thermal models, thomas phillips

Melt water flowing through ice sheets via crevasses, fractures and large drains called moulins can carry warmth into ice sheet interiors, greatly accelerating the thermal response of an ice sheet to climate change, according to a new study involving the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The new study showed ice sheets like the Greenland Ice Sheet can respond to such warming on the order of decades rather than the centuries projected by conventional thermal models. Ice flows more readily as it warms, so a warming climate can increase ice flows on ice sheets much faster than previously thought, said the study authors. (more…)

Simulating Human Decision-Making Could Improve Emergency Evacuation Planning

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2010Education, Environment, Naturecomputer simulation, effective law-enforcement, evacuations, seungho lee, traffic management, university of arizona

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A unique disaster-response planning tool takes real-time human decision-making into account to determine effective law-enforcement strategies during evacuations. A University of Michigan researcher contributed to the development of the tool. (more…)

Better Weather: Water-vapor Profiling System Could Result in More Accurate, Less Costly Forecasting

By Guest PostNovember 4, 20102 commentsEnvironment, Nature, Scienceatmosphere, bennett aerospace, david roberts, georgia institute of technology, laser radar, lidar, light detection and ranging, prototype, researchers, Technology, water vapor, water vapor profiler, wav-pro, weather forecasting

A vehicle from the National Severe Storms Laboratory observes conditions around a tornado in Wyoming during June of 2009. Image credit: Mike Coniglio, NOAA/NSSL

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Bennett Aerospace are leveraging light detection and ranging (lidar) technology to develop a ground-based system that will automatically measure water vapor in the atmosphere. Known as”WaV-Pro^TM,” for Water Vapor Profiler, the system aims to provide more frequent data collection that could dramatically improve weather forecasting.

Initial work on the project began in mid-2009, when Bennett Aerospace, in collaboration with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), won a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop design requirements for the system. Recently, the researchers won a Phase II grant to build and test critical components needed for a final operating prototype of WaV-Pro. (more…)

Most River Flows across the U.S. are Altered by Land and Water Management, Leading to Ecological Degradation

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2010Environmentchallenges, stream flow, stream flow alteration, water management, water managers

The amount of water flowing in streams and rivers has been significantly altered in nearly 90 percent of waters that were assessed in a new nationwide USGS study. Flow alterations are a primary contributor to degraded river ecosystems and loss of native species. (more…)

Study Improves Accuracy of Models for Predicting Ozone Levels in Urban Areas

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2010Environmentanne mccoy, aos angeles basin, chemical reaction, computer models, formation of nitric acid, ground-level ozone, health hazards, hydroxyl radical, mitchio okumura, nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, poor air quality, smoggy days, urban areas

*Current computer models may underestimate levels of ground-level ozone*

A team of scientists has, for the first time, completely characterized an important chemical reaction that is critical to the formation of ground-level ozone in urban areas. The team’s results indicate that computer models may be underestimating ozone levels in urban areas during episodes of poor air quality (smoggy days) by as much as five to 10 percent.

Ground level ozone poses significant health hazards to people, animals and plants; is the primary ingredient of smog; and gives polluted air its characteristic odor. It is known that even small increases in ozone concentrations can lead to increases in death from respiratory problems. Because of the health hazards caused by ozone exposure, the research team’s results may have regulatory implications. (more…)

Haiti Quake Risk May Still be High

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2010Environment, Sciencecalifornia, carol prentice, earthquake, enriquillo plantain garden fault, epg fault, fault, geology, haiti, haiti earthquake, january, loma prieta quake, paleoseismology, ruptures, san andreas fault, seismic hazard, strain, U.S. Geological Survey

The fault initially thought to have triggered January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti is likely still under considerable strain and continues to pose a significant seismic hazard, according to a study published online in Nature Geoscience Sunday.

U.S. Geological Survey geologist Carol Prentice led a team of scientists to Haiti immediately after the earthquake to search for traces of ground rupture and to investigate the geology and paleoseismology of the area. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment