Tag Archives: nitrogen

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 The previously unpublished nitrogen figure is useful for scientists who are making climate predictions with computer climate models, while the carbon estimate is consistent and gives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…)

Graphene Membranes May Lead To Enhanced Natural Gas Production, Less CO2 Pollution, Says CU Study

By Guest PostOctober 16, 2012Environment, Science2010, andre geim, argon, atomic crystal, atomic scale, carbon atom, carbon dioxide, chicken wire, colorado boulder, diameter, emission, energy-efficient, engineering faculty, England, exhaust pipe, gas molecule, graphene membrane, hexagonal, hydrogen, industrial scale, john pellegrino, konstantin novoselov, lattice, luda wang, manchester university, membrane, methane, molecular sieve, molecular size, nanometer, natural gas, nature nanotechnology, nitrogen, nobel prize, oxidative etching, pore, power plant, production, scott bunch, sieving, size selective, steven koenig, sulphur hexafluoride, ultraviolet light, university

Engineering faculty and students at the University of Colorado Boulder have produced the first experimental results showing that atomically thin graphene membranes with tiny pores can effectively and efficiently separate gas molecules through size-selective sieving.

The findings are a significant step toward the realization of more energy-efficient membranes for natural gas production and for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plant exhaust pipes.

Mechanical engineering professors Scott Bunch and John Pellegrino co-authored a paper in Nature Nanotechnology with graduate students Steven Koenig and Luda Wang detailing the experiments. The paper was published Oct. 7 in the journal’s online edition. (more…)

The Helix Nebula: Bigger in Death than Life

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2012Scienceaquarius, carbon, constellation, dwarf star, dying star, evolution, explorer, fuel source, fusion reaction, Galaxy, galex, helium, helix nebula, hydrogen, infrared, light year, NASA, nebula, ngc 7293, nitrogen, nuclear, oxygen, planetary nebulae, Space, space telescope, spitzer, stellar core, ultraviolet, ultraviolet radiation, wise

A dying star is refusing to go quietly into the night, as seen in this combined infrared and ultraviolet view from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), which NASA has lent to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In death, the star’s dusty outer layers are unraveling into space, glowing from the intense ultraviolet radiation being pumped out by the hot stellar core.

This object, called the Helix nebula, lies 650 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius. Also known by the catalog number NGC 7293, it is a typical example of a class of objects called planetary nebulae. Discovered in the 18th century, these cosmic works of art were erroneously named for their resemblance to gas-giant planets. (more…)

Water in a Changing World

By Guest PostJune 25, 2012Entertainment, Sciencealgal blooms, biogeochemistry, cancer causing byproduct, carbon, changing world, chesapeake bay, climate change, delphis levia, disinfection, experimental watershed, fair hill, forest canopy, groundwater level, high frequency data, natural ecosystem, nitrogen, nitrogen cycling, nsf, season, shreeram inamdar, soils, stream runoff, university of delaware, water, water quality, watershed hydrology, watersheds

Experimental watershed provides new insights, rich educational experience

Six years and about 4,000 water samples later, an outdoor experimental watershed laboratory established by University of Delaware faculty members Shreeram Inamdar and Delphis Levia at Fair Hill, Md., is now producing valuable data and novel insights into how water and chemicals move through the forest canopy, soils and watersheds, and how future climate change may impact or alter such responses.

Inamdar, associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, has investigated the role of soils, streams, and watersheds in leaching water and nutrients, while Levia, professor in the Department of Geography, has studied the interactions of atmosphere and the forest canopy in leaching water and nutrients. Together, they have provided a complete picture of watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry. (more…)

Sediment Chemicals in Coastal Rivers Overall Lower in U.S. than Worldwide Averages

By Guest PostApril 8, 2012Environmentarthur j horowitz, atlantic, blackwater stream, carbon, chemical concentration, climate change, coastal zone, economic resource, elements, environmental quality, gulf coast, gulf of mexico, heavy metal, inorganic carbon, major, marcia mcnutt, mississippi river basin, nitrogen, nutrient, nutrient phosphorus, ocean, organic carbon, organic matter, pacific, sediment, sulfur, suspended sediment, toxic, trace, urbanization, usgs

Almost all the sediment-associated chemical concentrations found in 131 of the nation’s rivers that drain to the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts are lower than worldwide averages, according to a new study by the USGS. These coastal rivers are a significant pathway for the delivery of sediment-associated chemicals to the world’s coastal zones and oceans.

“I hope that the results of this new study will remind everyone that it is not only river water that can transport chemicals and pollutants, but also the associated sediment load,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “Our citizens expect high environmental quality as compared with worldwide averages, but clean water alone will not suffice if river sediments are host to toxic heavy metals and concentrated organics that can produce dead zones.” (more…)

Researchers Capture First-Ever Images of Atoms Moving in a Molecule

By Guest PostMarch 8, 2012Scienceanthony dichiara, atmospheric gases, atoms, atoms nuclei, cosmin blaga, diffraction pattern, electron, emily sistrunk, energy, femtoseconds, flash bulb, kaikai zhang, laser induced electron diffraction, lied, louis dimauro, molecular motion, molecule, n2, nitrogen, o2, ohio state university, oxygen, pierre agostini, quadrillionths of a second, quantum trajectory, quantum world, real time image, scattered electron signal, solid material, terry a miller, ultrafast camera, vibration

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Using a new ultrafast camera, researchers have recorded the first real-time image of two atoms vibrating in a molecule.

Key to the experiment, which appears in this week’s issue of the journal Nature, is the researchers’ use of the energy of a molecule’s own electron as a kind of “flash bulb” to illuminate the molecular motion. (more…)

Nitrogen From Humans Pollutes Remote Lakes For More Than A Century

By Guest PostJanuary 4, 2012Environmentacid rain, agricultural fertilizers, alexander wolfe, Anthropocene, aquatic archeology, atmosphere, atmospheric currents, biologically active nitrogen, bottom deposits, carbon, chemical composition, chemical signals, climate, daniel schindler, double whammy, earth, effects of pollution, excess nitrogen, fertilizer use, fingerprint, global biogeochemical cycles, gordon holtgrieve, high lake, historical changes, human activities, human derived nitrogen, journal science, lakes, natural sources of nitrogen, new geological era, nitrogen, nitrogen characteristics of lake sediments, nitrogen cycle, nitrogen pollution, northern europe, northern hemisphere, peter leavitt, planetary scale changes, remote ecosystems, smog, southwest alaska, statistical models, university of Alberta, university of washington, us rocky mountains, vital nutrient for life, water pollution

Nitrogen derived from human activities has polluted lakes throughout the Northern Hemisphere for more than a century and the fingerprint of these changes is evident even in remote lakes located thousands of miles from the nearest city, industrial area or farm.

The findings, published in the journal Science Dec. 16, are based on historical changes in the chemical composition of bottom deposits in 36 lakes using an approach similar to aquatic archeology. More than three quarters of the lakes, ranging from the U.S. Rocky Mountains to northern Europe, showed a distinctive signal of nitrogen released from human activities before the start of the 20^th century, said Gordon Holtgrieve, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and lead author of the report. The UW and a dozen other research institutions contributed to the research. (more…)

New Projection Shows Global Food Demand Doubling by 2050

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2011Economy, Generalagricultural land, agricultural practices, agronomic practices, belinda befort, carbon dioxide, christian balzer, david tilman, earth, ecosystems, Environment, environmental effects, extinction of species, global agriculture, global food demand, greenhouse gas emissions, human prosperity, jason hill, nitrogen, nitrogen fertilizers, poorer countries, saran twombly, technology transfer, united states, university of minnesota, yield

*Increasing yield in poorer countries could decrease adverse environmental effects*

Global food demand could double by 2050, according to a new projection reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The analysis also shows that the world faces major environmental challenges unless agricultural practices change.

Scientists David Tilman and Jason Hill of the University of Minnesota (UMN) and colleagues found that producing the amount of food needed could significantly increase levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the environment, and may cause the extinction of numerous species. (more…)