Some people claim that mosquitoes can fly between raindrops. This may seem farfetched but actually has an element of truth.
A study using high-speed video has shown that mosquitoes don't exactly fly between drops so much as the raindrops bounce off them.
Surprisingly the mosquitoes'small size and flexible exoskeleton actually reduces the impact of the raindrops on the insects'bodies.
It looks to birds as indicators of ecosystem health by examining population trends of species dependent on one of seven habitats:
the state of their habitats our national wildlife refuges national parks national seashores and other public lands are critical safe havens for many of these species--especially in the face of climate change--one of the biggest
Rising sea levels due to climate change also put their low-elevation breeding habitats in the Hawaiian and Marshall islands at risk of flooding.
Species like the Bicknell's thrush a bird that breeds in the mountains in the Northeast faces rapid deforestation of its already limited wintering grounds on the island of Hispaniola.
A positive precedent however lies with the cerulean warbler a species that breeds in forests of the eastern U s. and winters in the tropics.
Based on over-the-air experiments in a range of indoor and outdoor operating environments we found that UHF-band multiuser MIMO compared favorably
which injected even greater urgency into the need for concerted international action against accelerating and potentially devastating climate change.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin showed that between 1990 and 2013 there was a 34%increase in radiative forcing--the warming effect on our climate--because of long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) methane and nitrous oxide.
We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels said WMO Secretary-general Michel Jarraud.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that far from falling the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years.
It is high time the ocean as the primary driver of the planet's climate and attenuator of climate change becomesa central part of climate change discussions said Wendy Watson-Wright Executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
If global warming is not a strong enough reason to cut CO2 emissions ocean acidification should be
Its impact on climate over a 100-year period is 298 times greater than equal emissions of carbon dioxide.
and less specialised species therefore have an advantage even in the species-rich rainforests of the tropics.
This is the finding of a study conducted by researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) the University of California and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute the results
The stochastic spatial processes interfere with the classic ecological theory of predictable dependence resulting in de facto independence.
In species-rich forests every tree has random neighbours. According to Hubbell species have become generalists
because they do not know which neighbours they will be competing with. The new study shows that stochastic influences also play an important part in determining the location of young trees i e. the type of habitat in
Andreas Huth have spent the last five years using computer models to analyse ecosystems to explore the composition and dynamics of species-rich communities in tropical rainforests.
since advances in this field are important for protecting biodiversity in the context of climate and land use changes and for calculating carbon balances.
The above story is provided based on materials by Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research-UFZ. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Agricultural revolution in Africa could increase global carbon emissionsproductivity-boosting agricultural innovations in Africa could lead to an increase in global deforestation rates
Increasing productivity in Africa--a carbon-rich region with low agricultural yields--could have negative effects on the environment especially
This study highlights the importance of understanding the interplay between globalization and the environmental impacts of agricultural technology.
Debate surrounds the effects of agricultural innovation on the environment Hertel noted. Some researchers suggest that increasing the profitability of farming will amplify its negative environmental effects raising greenhouse gas emissions and accelerating tropical deforestation.
Others argue that intensifying agricultural production is better for the environment overall because more land can be spared for nature
if the same amount of crops can be produced using less land. We set out to determine who was said right Hertel.
while minimizing the environmental footprint of agriculture remains a major challenge. The paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
while seldom considered in climate models has had a net cooling effect on global temperatures according to a new Yale study.
Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change Professor Nadine Unger of the Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies (F&es) reports that large-scale forest losses during the last 150 years have reduced global emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCS)
which control the atmospheric distribution of many short-lived climate pollutants such as tropospheric ozone methane and aerosol particles.
Using sophisticated climate modeling Unger calculated that a 30-percent decline in BVOC emissions between 1850 and 2000 largely through the conversion of forests to cropland produced a net global cooling of about 0. 1 degrees Celsius.
During the same period the global climate warmed by about 0. 6 degrees Celsius mostly due to increases in fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions.
According to her findings the climate impact of declining BVOC emissions is on the same magnitude as two other consequences of deforestation long known to affect global temperatures although in opposing ways:
Without doing an earth-system model simulation that includes these factors we can't really know the net effect on the global climate.
Unger said the findings do not suggest that increased forest loss provides climate change benefits
but rather underscore the complexity of climate change and the importance of better assessing which parts of the world would benefit from greater forest conservation.
These emissions are ignored often in climate modeling because they are perceived as a natural part of Earth system explained Unger.
These impacts have also been ignored in previous climate modeling she said because scientists believed that BVOC emissions had changed barely between the preindustrial era and today.
The impact of changes to ozone and organic aerosols are particularly strong in temperate zones she said
The sensitivity of the global climate system to BVOC emissions suggests the importance of establishing a global-scale long-term monitoring program for BVOC emissions Unger noted.
The above story is provided based on materials by Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The original article was written by Kevin Dennehy.
But this small study of hog workers in North carolina reported online Sept. 8 in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests it can stick around longer.
Heaney Phd MS an assistant professor in the departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health.
Called the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar the instrument will be the first to systematically probe the depths of the forests from space.
As a global leader in research and discovery related to environmental sustainability the University of Maryland is extraordinarily proud to be a part of this new venture with our partners from NASA said University of Maryland Vice president and Chief Research
GEDI lidar will have a tremendous impact on our ability to monitor forest degradation adding to the critical data needed to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Its immediate predecessors are Goddard's Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESAT) and airborne Land Vegetation and Ice Sensor known as LVIS
which is flown on high-altitude aircraft to measure forests land topography ice sheets glaciers and sea ice.
and deforestation are taking place or with studies that reveal the composition of forests scientists will have a more powerful tool set for addressing questions about land use habitat diversity and climate effects.
For example researchers will be able to relate forest architecture with habitat quality and the biodiversity of certain birds.
#Plant diversity in China vital for global food securitywith climate change threatening global food supplies new research claims the rich flora of China could be crucial to underpin food security in the future.
CWR are wild plant species closely related to crops which grow under a broad range of environmental conditions in their natural habitats
Their adaptive traits can be transferred to crops to improve tolerance to extreme environmental conditions and exposure to different pests and diseases
The research carried out by academics from the University of Birmingham represents a significant contribution to global research in plant genetic resources for food and agriculture particularly in the fight against the detrimental impacts of climate change on food security.
Climate change along with a steady rise in the human population is forecast to have a detrimental impact on crops that are grown for food.
and alteration conflict intensive agriculture urbanisation and mismanagement of the environment. However until now there has been no attempt to systematically conserve the diversity of this important global resource.
but it is critical to conserve them in their natural habitat as they will continue to adapt to changes in the climate as well as threats from pests and diseases.''
While the effect on human bacteria has only been tested in a lab environment thus far the lactic acid bacteria has been applied directly to horses with persistent wounds.
#Climate change to increase forest fire danger in Europeclimate change is expected to bring increased temperatures and longer droughts--conditions that will make forests more susceptible to fires.
By 2090 the area burned by forest fires in the European union could increase by 200%because of climate change according to a new study published in the journal Regional Environmental Change.
This study shows that it can be a promising option to protect European forests from the impacts of climate change says IIASA Ecosystems Services
Fire is a natural part of the ecology of many forests but when fires get out of control they can burn huge areas and spread to neighboring homes and settlements.
The new research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich suggests that exposure to the microbial environment in animal skin
Previous studies have suggested that exposure to a wider range of environments from a young age could be protective against asthma and allergies.
In this new study researchers investigated children from a city environment who had been exposed to animal skin by sleeping on the material shortly after birth.
An animal skin might also be a reservoir for various kinds of microbes following similar mechanisms as has been observed in rural environments.
Our findings have confirmed that it is crucial to study further the actual microbial environment within the animal fur to confirm these associations.
#Climate change and European forestsa recent study in the Journal of Environmental Management carried out by researchers at the European Forest Institute
and decision makers can cope with climate uncertainties. The authors review general trends in climate with particular emphasis on biologically meaningful parameters such as continuous dry days and changes in climate extremes and forest disturbance patterns.
They also compare observed changes with those predicted by climate change studies and examine the reasons for discrepancies where they exist.
The sources of uncertainty along a'cascade of uncertainty'are discussed also. Research on the changing climate
and impacts on forest ecosystems has already been carried out for over two decades. However there is a still a knowledge
and communication gap as to how the various climate change scenarios can be interpreted and what they really mean for European forests.
Many uncertainties and unknowns remain and it is difficult to communicate these to non-scientists while retaining emphasis on the importance of planning for adaptation.
A recent study in the Journal of Environmental Management carried out by researchers at the European Forest Institute
and decision makers can cope with climate uncertainties. The authors review general trends in climate with particular emphasis on biologically meaningful parameters such as continuous dry days and changes in climate extremes and forest disturbance patterns.
They also compare observed changes with those predicted by climate change studies and examine the reasons for discrepancies where they exist.
The sources of uncertainty along a'cascade of uncertainty'are discussed also. Marcus Lindner the lead author of the study points out that forest decision makers are no strangers to evaluating alternatives in the long term
Climate change adds another dimension to this decision making and the uncertainties can be difficult to cope with
The study recommends that forest managers look for strategies that enhance forest ecosystem resilience and increase flexibility to make future management changes as required by realized climate change trends.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by European Forest Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and the global food network has become 50 percent more interconnected said Paolo D'Odorico a U. Va. professor of environmental sciences and the study's lead author.
The food crises to which D'Odorico refers were caused by extreme climate events that brought drought conditions to several food-exporting nations including Russia Ukraine
. and Brazil are blessed with climates and soils that are conducive to high agricultural yields and also the technologies--industrial fertilizers sophisticated large-scale irrigation new resilient cultivars--and financial resources to sustain high yields
and climate change brings currently unforeseeable changes to growing conditions it is possible that exports to other nations could be reduced.
and food price volatility resulting from climate change. Trade can redistribute food but it cannot necessarily increase its availability.
Chief among the challenges is climate according to Monte Nesbitt Agrilife Extension horticulturist based in College Station.
The main lesson from previous plantings Nesbitt said is that olive trees are limited most by climate.
Crops such as domesticated peaches indicate that early people weren't passive in dealing with the environment.
People have been changing the environment to suit their needs for a very long time and the domestication of peaches helps us understand this.
#Ecologist stresses importance of wetlands, grasslands in midwestwetlands may be understood the least ecosystem but their value Is distinguished immense according to Professor W. Carter Johnson of the South dakota State university Department of Natural resource Management.
Anything that affects them will have a big impact on the landscape. For more than 40 years the ecologist has studied wetlands along rivers
and in the prairie pothole region that extends from Canada through the Dakotas to Iowa.
while resulting in less erosion better soil and water quality and more wildlife. During the dry summer of 2012 he pointed out the grass farm didn't show drought.
A paper by Heller and Keoleian titled Greenhouse gas emission estimates of U s. dietary choices and food loss is scheduled for online publication Sept. 5 in the Journal of Industrial Ecology.
and environmental agendas are aligned not in the current dietary recommendations Heller said. The paper's findings are especially relevant now
However reduced consumption would have both health and environmental benefits. In their Journal of Industrial Ecology paper Heller and Keoleian also looked at wasted food
and how it contributes to U s. greenhouse gas emissions. They concluded that annual emissions tied to uneaten food are equivalent to adding 33 million passenger vehicles to the nation's roads.
#Climate-smart agriculture requires three-pronged global research agendafaced with climate change and diminishing opportunities to expand productive agricultural acreage the world needs to invest in a global research agenda addressing farm
and Food security the authors summarize the findings of the second international Climate Smart Agriculture conference held in March 2013 at UC Davis. Climate-smart agriculture has become a global policy initiative for economic
The blog and the paper were supported by the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental sciences.
A third global science conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture is scheduled to be held March 16-18 2015 in Montpellier France.
The main component of smog ozone at ground level can cause leaf damage that stifles plant growth injuring and killing vegetation.
what me said Veerabhadran Ramanathan a professor of climate and atmospheric sciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San diego and a co-author of the new study.
Warmer temperatures that are expected with climate change could also increase ground-level ozone according to previous research.
Their findings published in The british journal Nature Communications may one day contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions and cleaner skies.
Basically we developed a method for making a polymer that can truly contribute to a sustainable environment said Sivaniah.
#Pesticide risk assessments seen as biased, experts advisein the October issue of Bioscience a group of ecotoxicologists argue that the US Environmental protection agency's (USEPA) current practices for evaluating pesticide safety are inadequate
and biology its chemical ecology and the types of damage it does to various host plants.
Given the complexities of our modern food environment that is an uphill battle. We must start looking at enacting policies that help people navigate our complex food environment
and adopt a healthier way of eating. Mozaffarian; senior author David S. Ludwig M d. Ph d. director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children's Hospital;
#Underwater grass comeback bodes well for Chesapeake Baythe Susquehanna Flats a large bed of underwater grasses near the mouth of the Susquehanna river virtually disappeared from the upper Chesapeake bay after Tropical Storm Agnes more than 40 years ago.
A new study by scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental science explores what's behind this major comeback.
This is a story about resilience said Donald Boesch president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental science.
It's a powerful example of how organisms in ecosystems once given a chance can make themselves resistant to stresses and changes.
With SAV already stressed by nutrient pollution it was Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972--a three-day weather event in June that dumped up to 19 inches of rain on the region
When you're out on the Flats in summer at low tide you see these plants at the water surface all around you
It was clear that the extreme flood event following Tropical Storm Agnes triggered the historic demise of the grasses at Susquehanna Flats
(since 1958) water quality (since 1984) and even climate-related variables such as temperature and rivers discharge dating back to the late 1800s.
A dry period from 1997-2002 combined with the absence of major storm events provided ideal conditions for new plant growth
or its ability to resist disturbances such as storms and rebound after they pass. The researchers note that in the decade before Tropical Storm Agnes the bed was deteriorating.
As a result feedbacks were not very strong and the bed was unable to stand up to Agnes.
Analysis of time series data by Cassie Gurbisz and Michael Kemp of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental science's Horn Point Laboratory was published in the March 2014 issue of Limnology and Oceanography.
The above story is provided based on materials by University of Maryland Center for Environmental science. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
We don't know what kind of impact this species has on local ecosystems though it's possible that the greenhouse camel cricket could be driving out native camel cricket species in homes Epps says.
Three societies the same environmentclimate environment and competition between species are well-known factors in the genetic evolution of plants.
This territory offers both an ecologically homogeneous environment and brings together different ethnic groups the Chuka Mbeere
According to an extensive genomic study the two types of population result from tens of thousands of years of adaptation to their different environments.
Agriculture has been a major technological cultural and environmental revolution for humanity. Particularly in Central africa where it has changed fundamentally the landscapes
and is the result of tens of thousands of years of adaptation to their different environments.
the genomes of the Pygmy communities today have up to 50%of the genetic material inherited from their farmer neighbours.
Researchers are now exploring environmental factors. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Institut de Recherche pour le DÃ veloppement (IRD.
since the main objective is to get rid of diapers to avoid damaging the environment more. However the mushrooms could be used as food supplement for cattle the gel can be used to increase moisture retention in some crops
study findsfreshwater runoff from the Sierra nevada may decrease by as much as one-quarter by 2100 due to climate warming on the high slopes according to scientists at UC Irvine and UC Merced.
It's clear that this could be a big effect of climate warming and that water managers need to recognize
and less evapotranspiration than downslope forests in the snow-rain transition zone which have year-round growing seasons.
Goulden and UC Merced's Roger C. Bales investigated the potential influence of a warming climate on evapotranspiration in the Kings River basin in California's Sierra nevada
and combined those measurements with remote sensing imagery to determine relationships among elevation climate and evapotranspiration.
The authors found that greater vegetation density at higher elevations in the Kings basin with the 4. 1 degrees Celsius warming projected by climate models for 2100 could boost basin evapotranspiration by as much as 28
Further the relationships among evapotranspiration temperature and vegetation density were similar across a broader area of the Sierra nevada suggesting that the impact of climate change on evapotranspiration
and ecology of greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) in her thesis. Greenhouse whitefly is a widespread invasive pest which has occurred in Finland since the year 1920.
Therefore Ovcarenko recommends pest management should start at individual company level by maintaining pest free surroundings and monitoring for early detection of the pest.
Most plant fossils are isolated organs making it difficult to reconstruct the type of plant life or its ecosystem structure.
#Changing global diets is vital to reducing climate change, researchers sayhealthier diets and reducing food waste are part of a combination of solutions needed to ensure food security
and avoid dangerous climate change say the team behind a new study. A new study published today in Nature Climate Change suggests that
--if current trends continue--food production alone will reach if not exceed the global targets for total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2050.
The study's authors say we should all think carefully about the food we choose and its environmental impact.
A shift to healthier diets across the world is just one of a number of actions that need to be taken to avoid dangerous climate change
This will come at a high price warn the authors as the deforestation will increase carbon emissions as well as biodiversity loss
The study shows that increased deforestation fertilizer use and livestock methane emissions are likely to cause GHG from food production to increase by almost 80%.
if achieved might mitigate some of the greenhouse gases causing climate change. There are basic laws of biophysics that we cannot evade said lead researcher Bojana Bajzelj from the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering who authored the study with colleagues from Cambridge's departments of Geography and Plant sciences as well as the University of Aberdeen's Institute of Biological
and Environmental sciences. The average efficiency of livestock converting plant feed to meat is less than 3
Food production is a main driver of biodiversity loss and a large contributor to climate change and pollution so our food choices matter.
This significantly reduced the pressures on the environment even further said the team. The'average'balanced diet used in the study is a relatively achievable goal for most.
Managing the demand better for example by focusing on health education would bring double benefits--maintaining healthy populations and greatly reducing critical pressures on the environment.
and industry sectors to stay within emissions budgets that avoid dangerous climate change. That is practically impossible--so as well as encouraging sustainable agriculture we need to rethink what we eat.
Deforestation from an ill-fated plan to convert nearly 2. 5 million acres of Kalimantan peat swamp forest into rice paddies has contributed to Indonesia becoming the third-largest emitter of carbon according to professor Mark Cochrane a senior scientist at the Geospatial
which is part of an international focus on reducing emissions due to deforestation. Creating disastrous situationthe peat forest soils consist of large accumulations of dead organic matter some of it tens of thousands of years old that are more than 20 feet deep Cochrane explains.
and a host of new settlers were left to figure out how to survive in this altered environment.
Quantifying reduced emissionsan international program called reduced emission through deforestation and degradation or REDD offers monetary rewards to countries that reduce their carbon emissions according to Cochrane.
Youth exposure to e-cigarette use and pro-tobacco messaging creates an environment that can potentially undermine a half-century long effort to change social norms thereby making youth susceptible to use cigarettes.
and it covers only 160000 km2 because of deforestation. Reporting in the journal Science a team of international scientists have calculated that it would cost US$198 million per year to pay private owners to set aside land for reforestation.
and many of the benefits that come from the forest's ecosystem such as pest control and pollination.
and maintain healthy ecosystems but these have been local-scale initiatives that have had little impact on maintaining
This is quite simply not enough to ensure the survival of species and maintenance of a thriving ecosystem across rural areas.
but also from the benefits that a flourishing ecosystem brings. We need to start to put such a scheme in place now before it becomes too late.
and maintain ecosystem functions. Their findings reveal: To calculate costs the researchers first had to record what
and ecosystem functions which are found in protected areas such as national parks. a minimum of 30 per cent of native habitat needs to be preserved.
Our study shows a clear threshold of biodiversity losses with deforestation; below this threshold not only many species disappear
but the functions they perform in the ecosystem will also decline many of which are highly beneficial to humans.
and should be incorporated into different land use policies such as the Brazilian Forest Code programs for ecosystems payments or in socioenvironmental certification incentives.
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