Tag Archives: global warming

Climate Change Boosts Then Quickly Stunts Plants, Decade-long Study Shows

By Guest PostApril 12, 2012Environmentarizona, atmosphere, bruce hungate, climate change, ecologist, ecosystem feedback, elevation, george koch, global warming, grassland ecosystem, great basin desert, greenhouse, national science foundation, nau, nitrogen gas, northern arizona university, nsf, nutrient cycle, paul dijkstra, plant communities, san francisco peaks, saran twombly, warming environment, zhuoting wu

*Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not for long*

Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not for long, according to new research results.

The findings, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, show that plants may thrive in the early stages of a warming environment but then begin to deteriorate quickly.

“We were really surprised by the pattern, where the initial boost in growth just went away,” said scientist Zhuoting Wu of Northern Arizona University (NAU), a lead author of the study. “As ecosystems adjusted, the responses changed.” (more…)

Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet in Future Generations

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2012Environmentandrew kulpecz, atmosphere, atmospheric temperature, core, degrees celsius, earth, east antarctic, eniwetok atoll, future generation, global warming, greenland, humankind, ice sheets, james browning, james wright, kenneth miller, michelle kominz, mountain glaciers, new zealand, pacific ocean, partial melting, richard lane, rise of sea level, rock, Rutgers University, sea level, sindia sosdian, virginia, west antarctic, yair rosenthal

*Scientists looked back in time–in the geologic record–to see the future*

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit)–as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends–future generations will likely have to deal with a completely different world.

One with sea levels 40 to 70 feet higher than at present, according to research results published this week in the journal Geology. (more…)

Study Links Past Changes in Monsoon to Major Shifts in Indian Civilizations

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2012Environmentasia, band of heavy rain, bay of bengal, camilo ponton, civilizations, climate change, cmz, core monsoon zone, dorian fuller, drilling vessel, drought, equator, eth, global warming, godavari river, harappan civilization, humid monsoon, India, indian monsoon, indian peninsula, insolation, inter tropical convergence zone, itcz, joides resolution, liviu giosan, modern agriculture, monsoon, northern hemisphere, ocean, paleo climatic information, plankton fossil, sahara desert, sediment core, solar radiation, tim eglinton, tropical forest, vegetation, whoi, zurich

A fundamental shift in the Indian monsoon has occurred over the last few millennia, from a steady humid monsoon that favored lush vegetation to extended periods of drought, reports a new study led by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The study has implications for our understanding of the monsoon’s response to climate change.

The Indian peninsula sustains over a billion people, yet it lies at the same latitude as the Sahara Desert. Without a monsoon, most of India would be dry and uninhabitable. The ability to predict the timing and amount of the next year’s monsoon is vital, yet even our knowledge of the monsoon’s past variability remains incomplete. (more…)

Sailing in a Sea of Microbes

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Sciencealgae, Arctic, atmospheric chemistry, bacteria, biogeochemical cycles, biomass, carbon dioxide, Chile, climate, daniel stolte, easter island, Environment, food production, genome, Germany, global warming, grassroots initiative, greenhouse gas, matt sullivan, melissa duhaime, microbe, ocean water, oceans, oxygen production, pacific ocean, research vessel, saguaro cacti, sequence, tara oceans, ua, university of arizona, wolves, world of viruses, world of webs

Researchers led by Matt Sullivan at the UA are among the first to dive into the world of viruses drifting through the world’s oceans.

Surrounded by the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean stretching from horizon to horizon, a lonely dot is glinting in the sun. It is the aluminum hull of a sailboat, a 118-foot schooner with white sails billowing from two masts.

On the deck, crewmembers and scientists are milling about. Commands are flying back and forth, and soon a strange contraption consisting of tubes clustered around an array of sensors dangling from a crane is lowered into the water, until it disappears in the clear blue depths. (more…)

NASA Satellite Finds Earth’s Clouds are Getting Lower

By Guest PostFebruary 23, 2012Environmentadvanced radar, cloud climate feedback, cloud height, clouds, cloudsat, global climate, global cloud, global temperature, global warming, height measurement, indian ocean, misr, NASA, negative feedback, new zealand, roger davies, satellite data, terra spacecraft, university of auckland

Earth’s clouds got a little lower — about one percent on average — during the first decade of this century, finds a new NASA-funded university study based on NASA satellite data. The results have potential implications for future global climate.

Scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand analyzed the first 10 years of global cloud-top height measurements (from March 2000 to February 2010) from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft. The study, published recently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, revealed an overall trend of decreasing cloud height. Global average cloud height declined by around one percent over the decade, or by around 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters). Most of the reduction was due to fewer clouds occurring at very high altitudes. (more…)

Turtles’ Mating Habits Protect Against Effects of Climate Change

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2012Environment, Natureannette broderick, baby turtle, breeding season, chelonia mydas, climate change, DNA, egg, global temperature, global warming, green turtle, health problem, inbreeding, kimberley stokes, lucy wright, marine turtle, mating habits, north africa, north cyprus society, northern cyprus, ocean, offspring, satellite tracking, temperature, turkey, university of exeter, university of lefke, warmer temperature

The mating habits of marine turtle may help protect them against the effects of climate change, according to new research led by the University.

Published on 25th January 2012 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study shows how mating patterns of a population of endangered green turtles may be helping them deal with the fact that global warming is leading to a disproportionate number of females being born.

The gender of baby turtles is determined by the temperature of the eggs during incubation, with warmer temperatures leading to more females being born. Higher average global temperatures mean that offspring from some populations are predominantly female. This is threatening the future of some populations and there are concerns that inbreeding within groups due to a lack of males will lead to health problems. (more…)

Russian River Water Unexpected Culprit Behind Arctic Freshening

By Guest PostJanuary 6, 2012EnvironmentArctic, arctic ocean, arctic oscillation, Arctic sea ice, atmospheric condition, atmospheric pressure, beaufort high, beaufort sea, bottom pressures, canada, canada basin, cecilia peralta ferriz, changes in ocean circulation, clockwise gyre, cold halocline, eurasian basin, fraction, freshwater, freshwater in the upper ocean, freshwater pathway, global climate, global warming, grace, greenland, hemispherewide phenomenon, icesat, ignatius rigor, jamie morison, low pressure, matt alkire, melting ice, mike steele, nasa satellites, poles, roger andersen, ron kwok, russia, russian river water, salinity of the arctic ocean, sources, united states, university of washington

A hemispherewide phenomenon – and not just regional forces – has caused record-breaking amounts of freshwater to accumulate in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea.

Frigid freshwater flowing into the Arctic Ocean from three of Russia’s mighty rivers was diverted hundreds of miles to a completely different part of the ocean in response to a decades-long shift in atmospheric pressure associated with the phenomenon called the Arctic Oscillation, according to findings published in the Jan. 5 issue of Nature. (more…)

UChicago Chemist Helps Craft Message For World Leaders

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2011General, ScienceBangladesh, burundi, dmitri talapin, energy and environment, food and population, future development, Germany, global necessity, global warming, Health, Japan, kyoto, kyoto protocol, mass media, megacities, nigeria, nobel laureates, North America, nuclear safety, positive and negative aspects, reverse osmosis membrane, science and technology, scientific information, scientific research, singapore, social media, steve koppes, sts forum, sustainability, the netherlands, water shortage, young scientists

Dmitri Talapin, associate professor in chemistry, was one of 10 young scientists from around the world who delivered a message that “Scientific Research is a Global Necessity” to political, scientific and business leaders participating in the 2011 Science and Technology in Society forum last October in Kyoto, Japan.

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the New York Academy of Sciences selected Talapin to represent the young scientists of North America at the STS Forum, which meets at the same venue were the Kyoto Protocol to alleviate global warming was signed in 1997. (more…)