Tag Archives: marcia mcnutt

Global Warming May Have Severe Consequences for Rare Haleakala Silverswords

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2013Environment, Natureargyroxyphium sandwicense macrocephalum, biodiversity, biological hotspots, climate change, climate induced stresses, climate related decline, climate trends, decline, extinction, flower heads, geological survey, global climate change, global warming, haleakala national park, haleakala silversword, haleakala volcano, human, inflorescence, lloyd loope, manoa, marcia mcnutt, native habitat, patterns of precipitation, paul krushelnycky, plants, population growth rate, rare haleakala silverswords, risk of extinction, rosette, silversword, tropical agriculture, university of arizona, university of hawaii, usgs director, volcano summit

HONOLULU — While the iconic Haleakalā silversword plant made a strong recovery from early 20^th-century threats, it has now entered a period of substantial climate-related decline. New research published this week warns that global warming may have severe consequences for the silversword in its native habitat.

Known for its striking rosette, the silversword grows for 20-90 years before the single reproductive event at the end of its life, at which time it produces a large (up to six feet tall) inflorescence with as many as 600 flower heads. The plant was in jeopardy in the early 1900s due to animals eating the plants and visitors gathering them. With successful management, including legal protection and the physical exclusion of hoofed animals, the species made a strong recovery, but since the mid-1990s it has entered a period of substantial decline. A strong association of annual population growth rates with patterns of precipitation suggests the plants are undergoing increasingly frequent and lethal water stress. Local climate data confirm trends towards warmer and drier conditions on the mountain, which the researchers warn will create a bleak outlook for the threatened silverswords if climate trends continue. (more…)

USGS Study Tracks Pacific Walrus, Observes Effects of Arctic Sea Ice Loss on Behavior

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2012Environment, NatureArctic, Arctic sea ice, behavioral change, chukchi sea, ecosystems, feeding grounds, female walrus, gas, geoffrey haskett, hanna shoal region, iconic arctic species, lease blocks, marcia mcnutt, marine mammals, melting, mortality, northern, oil, pacific walruses, polar bears, russian scientists, s a sonsthagen, sea ice, summer, trampling, U.S. Geological Survey, walrus population

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sparse summer sea ice in the Arctic over the past five years has caused behavioral changes in Pacific walruses according to research published by U.S. Geological Survey and Russian scientists. The effects on the walrus population are unknown.

“The loss of sea ice is the ‘why’ for the change in walrus behavior; the tracking data tells us the ‘where’ in terms of their new forage patterns,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “What awaits to be seen is ‘how much will it matter?'” (more…)

Not-So-Permanent Permafrost

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2012Environmentalaska, arctic permafrost, atmosphere, carbon, chemical cycles, climate change, climate prediction, climate warming, director, earth, ecosystems, Environment, fairbanks, frozen ground, gelisols, geological survey, jennifer harden, lakes, marcia mcnutt, mikhail kanevsiy, model, nitrogen, organic matter, peaty, rivers, scenarios, scientist, soil scientist, university, US, usgs, warmer planet, warming phenomenon, water resources

MENLO PARK, Calif. — As much as 44 billion tons of nitrogen and 850 billion tons of carbon stored in arctic permafrost, or frozen ground, could be released into the environment as the region begins to thaw over the next century as a result of a warmer planet according to a new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey. This nitrogen and carbon are likely to impact ecosystems, the atmosphere, and water resources including rivers and lakes. For context, this is roughly the amount of carbon stored in the atmosphere today.

The release of carbon and nitrogen in permafrost could exacerbate the warming phenomenon and will impact water systems on land and offshore according to USGS scientists and their domestic and international collaborators. The previously unpublished nitrogen figure is useful for scientists who are making climate predictions with computer climate models, while the carbon estimate is consistent and gives more credence to other scientific studies with similar carbon estimates. (more…)

Science Working to Combat Deadly White Nose Syndrome in Bats

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2012Naturebat disease, bat hibernation, canadian provinces, cave, deadly, delicate ecology, diversity, ecohealth alliance, Environment, fungal ecology, fungus, fws, geological survey, geomyces destructans, growth rate, hibernation, humidity variation, marcia mcnutt, microclimate, mine, mycologia, new york, pasteurs quadrant, physiology, syndrome, temperature, underground ecosystem, US, white nose, wildlife disease, wns

New findings on white-nose syndrome are bringing scientists closer to slowing the spread of this deadly bat disease, according to recent and ongoing studies by the U.S. Geological Survey.

WNS has killed more than 5 million bats since it first appeared in New York in 2007, and the disease, caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, has spread to 19 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces (view map). (more…)

Climate Change to Cripple Southwestern Forests

By Guest PostOctober 1, 2012Environmentancient, arizona, atmospheric evaporative, chandana gangodagamage, climate change, climate data, climate record, climate scenario, climate trend, climatological variable, colorado, computer model, craig allen, cultural center, daniel griffin, distribution, drought tolerant, fire, forest, forest drought, future, geological survey, greenhouse gas, growth record, las conchas, marcia mcnutt, megadrought, mesa verde, michael cai, nate mcdowell, new mexico, park williams, pinon pines, prediction, projection, pueblo indians, puebloan, regional climate, regional ecosystem, scientist, southwestern, southwestern forest, species, stress index, thomas swetnam, tree killing, tree mortality, tree ring, trees, united states, university, US, usgs, wildfire, winter precipitation

Trees Face Rising Drought Stress and Mortality as Climate Warms

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Combine the tree-ring growth record with historical information, climate records, and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States. That’s the word from a team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, and other partner organizations.

The research, published in Nature Climate Change this week, concluded that if the Southwest is warmer and drier in the near future, widespread tree mortality likely will cause substantial changes in forest and species distributions. (more…)

3-D Mapping of Isaac Water Levels

By Guest PostSeptember 1, 2012Environment, Science360 degree, 3d mapping, 3d model, alabama, athena clark, bounce back, data points, flood hazard, flood inundation, geological survey, gulf coast, hurricane isaac, isaac, louisiana, map, marcia mcnutt, Mississippi, objects, point clouds, Science, t lidar, terrestrial lidar, three dimensions, tls, toby minear, topographic data, urban flooding, US, view, water level

A new technology is being deployed by U.S. Geological Survey scientists this weekend to map urban flooding caused by Hurricane Isaac. Called “terrestrial lidar,” or “T-lidar”, this new capability will enable scientists to collect highly detailed information in select population areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama where the hurricane had the greatest impact.

The portable instrument allows scientists to quickly generate 3-D maps of buildings, dams, levees and other structures, and can show areas of storm damage as well. In a four-to-five minute scan, the instrument collects millions of topographic data points in a full 360-degree view to quickly produce highly accurate topographic information and can map areas up to two-thirds of a mile away. (more…)

Scientists Explore Changing Arctic Ocean

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2012EnvironmentArctic, arctic ecosystem, arctic ocean, atmosphere, burning, calcification rate, calcium carbonate, canada basin, carbon dioxide, CO2, corals, crabs, cutter healy, Environment, florida keys, food chain, fossil fuel, gulf of mexico, jonathan wynn, kim yates, lisa robbins, marcia mcnutt, marine, north pole, ocean acidification, ocean acidity, oysters, plankton, resources, robert byrne, shell, shrimp, skeleton, study, terrestrial organism, us coast guard, virgin islands

Scientists are setting sail on August 25 to study ocean acidification in the Arctic and what this means for the future survival of marine and terrestrial organisms.

The Arctic Ocean is one of the most vulnerable places on the planet for acidification, yet it is the least-explored ocean. Acidification can disturb the balance of marine life in the world’s oceans, and consequently affect humans and animals that rely on those food resources.

Ocean acidification is particularly harmful to organisms such as corals, oysters, crabs, shrimp and plankton, as well as those up and down the food chain. Higher acidity decreases an organism’s calcification rate, meaning they lose their ability to build shells or skeletons. (more…)

USGS Releases U.S. Oil & Gas Reserve Growth Estimates

By Guest PostAugust 18, 2012Environment, Politicsbillion barrels, domestic oil, energy economy, fossil fuel, gas liquids, gas reserve, geologic information, ken salazar, marcia mcnutt, natural gas, obama administration, operating condition, projection, public domain, tcf, trillion cubic feet, united states, usgs, usgs assessment

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released a new estimate for potential additions to domestic oil and gas reserves from reserve growth in discovered, conventional accumulations in the United States. The USGS estimates that the mean potential undiscovered, conventional reserve additions for the United States total 32 billion barrels (bb) of oil, 291 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, and 10 bb of natural gas liquids, constituting about 10 percent of the overall U.S. oil and gas endowment.

“As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, we are taking aggressive steps to safely and responsibly expand domestic energy production,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. “USGS’s ongoing work to identify and estimate U.S. energy supplies – and to make that information available to everyone – is fundamental to our efforts to continue to grow America’s energy economy.” (more…)