#Corn dwarfed by temperature dip suitable for growing in mines, caveslowering temperatures for two hours each day reduces the height of corn without affecting its seed yield a Purdue study shows a technique that could be used to grow crops in controlled-environment facilities in caves and former mines.
Raising the crops in isolated and enclosed environments would help prevent genetically modified pollen and seed from escaping into the ecosystem and crossing with wild plants.
Cary Mitchell professor of horticulture said the technique could be particularly useful for growing transgenic crops to produce high-value medicinal products such as antibodies for the budding plant-derived industrial and pharmaceutical compounds industry.
Grains of corn could be engineered to produce proteins that could be extracted and processed into medicine pharmaceuticals
what we've done is show that you can successfully grow these high-value crops in contained environments.
and yellow and blue high-intensity discharge lamps in a former limestone mine in Marengo Indiana to test how corn would react to an environment in
It is an affordable non-chemical means of taking genetically modified crops to harvest maturity without getting any kind of pollen or seed into the ecosystem.
Productivity in a controlled environment is superior to that in the field and you can raise more than one crop per year Mitchell said.
Controlled environment agriculture is going to be one of the big movements of the 21st century.
#Ocean winds keep Antarctica cold, Australia drynew Australian National University-led research has explained why Antarctica is not warming as much as other continents
Researchers have found rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are strengthening the stormy Southern Ocean winds
With greenhouse warming Antarctica is actually stealing more of Australia's rainfall. It's not good news--as greenhouse gases continue to rise we'll get fewer storms chased up into Australia Dr Abram said.
As the westerly winds are getting tighter they're actually trapping more of the cold air over Antarctica Abram said.
This is why Antarctica has bucked the trend. Every other continent is warming and the Arctic is warming fastest of anywhere on earth.
While most of Antarctica is remaining cold rapid increases in summer ice melt glacier retreat
and ice shelf collapses are being observed in Antarctic Peninsula where the stronger winds passing through Drake passage are making the climate warm exceptionally quickly.
Until this study published in Nature Climate Change Antarctic climate observations were available only from the middle of last century.
along with data from tree rings and lakes in South america Dr Abram and her colleagues were able to extend the history of the westerly winds back over the last millennium.
The Southern Ocean winds are now stronger than at any other time in the past 1000 years Abram said.
The strengthening of these winds has been particularly prominent over the past 70 years and by combining our observations with climate models we can clearly link this to rising greenhouse gas levels.
Study co-authors Dr Robert Mulvaney and Professor Matthew England said the study answered key questions about climate change in Antarctica.
Strengthening of these westerly winds helps us to explain why large parts of the Antarctic continent are not yet showing evidence of climate warming said Dr Mulvaney from The british Antarctic Survey.
This new research suggests that climate models do a good job of capturing how the westerly winds respond to increasing greenhouse gases added Professor England from the Climate Change Research Centre at UNSW.
This isn't good news for farmers reliant on winter rainfall over the southern part of Australia.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Australian National University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
There's been a lot of work to understand surface-groundwater exchange said Aaron Packman a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University.
and Environmental protection agency Cardenas and Kiel analyzed the waterways for sinuosity (how much they bend and curve);
We think the benefit stems from differences in behavior between bee groups in part depending on the weather explains Dr. David Tarpy an associate professor of entomology at NC State
For example southeastern blueberry bees work well regardless of inclement weather whereas honey bees only perform at their best on calm warm sunny days.
That means the weather can swing from great to awful as we saw this year.
While the cattle egret is not currently a threat to native fauna in Brazil throughout most of its geographic distribution it has the potential to produce adverse effects as evidenced by its occupation of island environments.
Comparisons between native and nonnative populations can provide a'natural'experimental approach to clarify the biological and environmental factors that may contribute to range expansion
and adaptation to climate change and to reveal mechanisms by which organisms respond to novel ecological and environmental pressures.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
We demonstrated again in this study that neonicotinoids are highly likely to be responsible for triggering CCD in honey bee hives that were healthy prior to the arrival of winter said lead author Chensheng (Alex) Lu associate professor of environmental exposure
The new study published today in the Journal of Ecology examined differences in aboveground wood production (one component of the total uptake of carbon by plants)
Lead author Dr Lindsay Banin from the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said In Borneo dipterocarps--a family of large trees with winged seeds--produce wood more quickly than their neighbours.
Co-author Professor Oliver Phillips from the University of Leeds said One big question in ecology is
whether plant species composition matters at all to fundamental ecosystem functions such as productivity or carbon storage.
The fact that dipterocarp-dominated forests achieve faster wood growth than even the most diverse forests in the Amazon shows that the random evolutionary histories of continents can determine their whole ecology.
With growing global datasets collected using standardised methods further comparisons will be possible across the tropics to help elucidate the nature and causes of variation in plant biomass growth.
The above story is provided based on materials by Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The document outlines the economic and ecological importance of these species. For example birding-related business generates some $100 billion per year in the U s
This has sometimes been attributed to different climates--warmer in the south colder in the north
Wheat on the other hand is grown on dry land relying on rain for moisture. Farmers are able to depend more on themselves leading to more of an independent mindset that permeates northern Chinese culture.
or Ailanthus plots according to Matthew Kasson who recently received his doctorate in plant pathology and environmental microbiology from Penn State.
just as warm weather is coaxing the critters out of crevices of homes they were hiding in during the cold winter
Research published in the journal Environmental science & Technology by a team of scientists from the UK Switzerland and Finland provides an important new approach for systematically measuring
It involved researchers now working at the University of York the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research the University of Eastern Finland and The swiss Federal Institute of technology Lausanne Switzerland.
Principal investigator Dr Roman Ashauer an Anniversary Lecturer with the University of York's Environment Department who formerly worked at Eawag said:
because we want to kill the pests but not all the other species in our environment. The research team looked at the effects of three pesticides--diazinon imidacloprid and propiconazole--on the aquatic invertebratesgammarus pulex (freshwater shrimp) Gammarus fossarum (freshwater shrimp) and Lymnaea stagnalis (pond snail.
Research published in the journal Environmental science & Technology by a team of scientists from the UK Switzerland and Finland provides an important new approach for systematically measuring
It involved researchers now working at the University of York the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research the University of Eastern Finland and The swiss Federal Institute of technology Lausanne Switzerland.
Principal investigator Dr Roman Ashauer an Anniversary Lecturer with the University of York's Environment Department who formerly worked at Eawag said:
because we want to kill the pests but not all the other species in our environment. The research team looked at the effects of three pesticides--diazinon imidacloprid and propiconazole--on the aquatic invertebratesgammarus pulex (freshwater shrimp) Gammarus fossarum (freshwater shrimp) and Lymnaea stagnalis (pond snail.
Across a diverse set of environments in a number of countries we see this decrease in quality Leakey said.
It's important that we start to do these experiments in tropical climates with tropical soils
but has been misinterpreted widely said Stine an assistant professor of Earth & climate sciences. Tree rings consist of a low density ring
Climate scientists have been aware of the divergence problem for some time and it was mentioned in the emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia where it became the focus of attention during the 2009 Climategate controversy.
The divergence is not a problem for understanding modern climate change in the Arctic Stine explained
Stine sees the new findings as the bright side of the divergence problem one which he hopes will lead to a more informed discussion about climate change.
and we may be able to deepen our understanding of both trees and climate. With his colleague Peter Huybers at Harvard university Stine set out to understand why tree-ring density was declining in the Arctic.
To get around this challenge the researchers took advantage of the fact that there are regional variations in cloud cover
The researchers used changes in tree-ring density following volcanic eruptions to confirm the findings. Major volcanic events such as the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines also have spewed tons of light-scattering sulfur dioxide particles into the atmosphere decreasing the amount of sunlight reaching the surface.
Their analysis for seven different tree species suggests variations in light intensity caused by volcanic eruptions
#Climate change is affecting every region of the U s. and key sectors of the economy,
federal report findstoday delivering on the President's Climate Action Plan the U s. Global Change Research Program released the Third National Climate Assessment the most comprehensive authoritative transparent scientific report
on U s. climate change impacts ever generated. The report confirms that climate change is affecting every region of the country
and key sectors of the U s. economy and society underscoring the need to combat the threats climate change presents
and increase the preparedness and resilience of American communities. The Third National Climate Assessment is available to download
and can be explored interactively (nca2014. globalchange. gov) through a newly redeployed website (www. globalchange. gov). In this mobile-compatible site every piece of the report is shareable including graphics key messages regional highlights full
The findings of the Third National Climate Assessment are fully traceable and supported by metadata through the Global Change Information system (GCIS) a new gateway to Federal global change information that delivers on goals set in USGCRP's 2012
The GCIS enables traceability between environmental data streams (such as observations from sensors and outputs from models) and the resulting scientific findings and publications.
The Third National Climate Assessment was developed over four years by hundreds of the Nation's top climate scientists
-what-climate-change-means-regions-across-america -and-major-se) part of which follows: Climate-Change Impacts in Regions across America:
â#¢Northeast-Maine New hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode island Connecticut New york New jersey Delaware Pennsylvania Maryland and District of columbia:
The high-density urban coastal corridor from WASHINGTON DC north to Boston is one of the most developed environments in the world containing a massive complex and longstanding network of supporting infrastructure.
Communities in the Northeast are affected by heat waves more extreme precipitation events and coastal flooding due to sea level rise
There are also increased risks associated with extreme events such as hurricanes. NCA Highlights: Southeast & Caribbean;
The Midwest's agricultural lands forests Great lakes industrial activities and cities are all vulnerable to climate variability and climate change.
Longer growing seasons and rising carbon dioxide levels increase yields of some crops although these benefits have already been offset in some instances by occurrence of extreme events such as heat waves droughts and floods.
The Great plains region experiences multiple climate and weather hazards including floods droughts severe storms tornadoes hurricanes and winter storms.
Climate change will add to both stress and costs. Rising temperatures lead to increased demand for water and energy and impacts on agricultural practices.
The Southwest is the hottest and driest region in the United states. Climate changes pose challenges for an already parched region that is expected to get hotter and in its southern half significantly drier.
Increased heat and changes to rain and snowpack will send ripple effects throughout the regionâ#and its critical agriculture sector.
Drought and increased warming foster wildfires and increased competition for scarce water resources for people and ecosystems.
The Northwest's economy infrastructure natural systems public health and agriculture sectors all face important climate change related risks.
Impacts on infrastructure natural systems human health and economic sectors combined with issues of social and ecological vulnerability will unfold quite differently in largely natural areas like the Cascade range than in urban areas like Seattle and Portland or among the region
Changes in the timing of streamflow related to earlier snowmelt reduce the supply of water in summer causing far-reaching ecological and socioeconomic consequences.
and fishing--are affected all by climate change. Rapidly receding summer sea ice shrinking glaciers and thawing permafrost cause damage to infrastructure and major changes to ecosystems.
Impacts on Alaska Native communities increase. NCA Highlights: Alaska; NCA Highlights: Overview) â#¢Hawaii and Pacific Islands:
Rising air and ocean temperatures shifting rainfall patterns changing frequencies and intensities of storms and drought decreasing streamflows rising sea levels and changing ocean chemistry will threaten the sustainability
Increasingly constrained freshwater supplies coupled with increased temperatures stress both people and ecosystems and decrease food and water security.
Humans have altered heavily the coastal environment through development changes in land use and overexploitation of resources.
Now the changing climate is imposing additional stresses...Coastal lifelines such as water supply infrastructure and evacuation routes are increasingly vulnerable to higher sea levels
and storm surges inland flooding and other climate-related changes. NCA Highlights: Coasts; NCA Highlights:
Overview) Climate-Change Impacts on Key Sectors of Society and the U s. Economy â#¢Health:
Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways including through impacts from increased extreme weather events wildfire decreased air quality threats to mental health
Some of these health impacts are already underway in the United states. Climate change will absent other changes amplify some of the existing health threats the Nation now faces.
Public health actions especially preparedness and prevention can do much to protect people from some of the impacts of climate change.
and heat waves precipitation changes Arctic warming and other climatic conditions are affecting the reliability and capacity of the U s. transportation system in many ways.
Sea level rise coupled with storm surge will continue to increase the risk of major coastal impacts on transportation infrastructure including both temporary and permanent flooding of airports ports
Extreme weather events currently disrupt transportation networks in all areas of the country; projections indicate that such disruptions will increase.
Climate change impacts will increase the total costs to the Nation's transportation systems and their users but these impacts can be reduced through rerouting mode change and a wide range of adaptive actions.
Extreme weather events are affecting energy production and delivery facilities causing supply disruptions of varying lengths and magnitudes and affecting other infrastructure that depends on energy supply.
The frequency and intensity of certain types of extreme weather events are expected to change. Higher summer temperatures will increase electricity use causing higher summer peak loads
and high tides will affect coastal facilities and infrastructure on which many energy systems markets and consumers depend.
Depending on the character of changes in the energy mix climate change will introduce new risks as well as new opportunities.
Climate change affects water demand and the ways water is used within and across regions and economic sectors.
and health property infrastructure economies and ecology in many basins across the United Statesâ#Increasing resilience and enhancing adaptive capacity provide opportunities to strengthen water resources management and plan for climate-change impacts.
Climate disruptions to agriculture have been increasing and are projected to become more severe over this century.
Some areas are already experiencing climate-related disruptions particularly due to extreme weather events. While some U s. regions and some types of agricultural production will be relatively resilient to climate change over the next 25 years
or so others will increasingly suffer from stresses due to extreme heat drought disease and heavy downpours.
From mid-century on climate change is projected to have more negative impacts on crops and livestock across the country--a trend that could diminish the security of our food supplyâ#Climate change effects on agriculture will have consequences for food security both in the U s. and globally through changes in crop yields and food prices and effects on food processing
storage transportation and retailing. Adaptation measures can help delay and reduce some of these impacts.
NCA Highlights: Agriculture) â#¢Ecosystems: Ecosystems and the benefits they provide to society are being affected by climate change.
The capacity of ecosystems to buffer the impacts of extreme events like fires floods and severe storms is being overwhelmed.
Climate change impacts on biodiversity are already being observed in alteration of the timing of critical biological events such as spring bud burst and substantial range shifts of many species. In the longer term there is an increased risk
of species extinction. Events such as droughts floods wildfires and pest outbreaks associated with climate change (for example bark beetles in the West) are already disrupting ecosystems.
These changes limit the capacity of ecosystems such as forests barrier beaches and wetlands to continue to play important roles in reducing the impacts of extreme events on infrastructure human communities
and other valued resourcesâ#Whole-system management is often more effective than focusing on one species at a time
and can help reduce the harm to wildlife natural assets and human well-being that climate disruption might cause.
NCA Highlights: Ecosystems) â#¢Oceans: Ocean waters are becoming warmer and more acidic broadly affecting ocean circulation chemistry ecosystems and marine life.
More acidic waters inhibit the formation of shells skeletons and coral reefs. Warmer waters harm coral reefs and alter the distribution abundance
and productivity of many marine species. The rising temperature and changing chemistry of ocean water combine with other stresses such as overfishing and coastal and marine pollution to alter marine-based food production
and harm fishing communitiesâ#In response to observed and projected climate impacts some existing ocean policies practices
and management efforts are incorporating climate change impacts. These initiatives can serve as models for other efforts
and ultimately enable people and communities to adapt to changing ocean conditions. NCA Highlights: Oceans) Climate Trends in America â#¢Temperature:
U s. average temperature has increased by 1. 3â°F to 1. 9â°F since record keeping began in 1895;
Because human-induced warming is superimposed on a naturally varying climate the temperature rise has not been
Climate Trends) â#¢Extreme Weather: There have been changes in some types of extreme weather events over the last several decades.
Heat waves have become more frequent and intense especially in the West. Cold waves have become less frequent and intense across the nation.
There have been regional trends in floods and droughts. Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more intense and cold waves less intense everywhere.
NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Hurricanes: The intensity frequency and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes as well as the frequency of the strongest (Category 4 and 5) hurricanes have increased all since the early 1980s.
The relative contributions of human and natural causes to these increases are still uncertain. Hurricane-associated storm intensity and rainfall rates are projected to increase as the climate continues to warm.
NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Severe Storms: Winter storms have increased in frequency and intensity since the 1950s and their tracks have shifted northward over the United states. Other trends in severe storms including the intensity
and frequency of tornadoes hail and damaging thunderstorm winds are uncertain and are being studied intensively.
NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Precipitation: Average U s. precipitation has increased since 1900 but some areas have had increases greater than the national average
and some areas have had decreases. More winter and spring precipitation is projected for the northern United states and less for the Southwest over this century.
NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Heavy Downpours: Heavy downpours are increasing nationally especially over the last three to five decades.
Largest increases are in the Midwest and Northeast. Increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events are projected for all U s. regions.
NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Frost-free Season: The length of the frost-free season (and the corresponding growing season) has been increasing nationally
since the 1980s with the largest increases occurring in the western United states affecting ecosystems and agriculture.
Across the United states the growing season is projected to continue to lengthen. NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Ice Melt:
Rising temperatures are reducing ice volume and surface extent on land lakes and sea. This loss of ice is expected to continue.
The Arctic ocean is expected to become essentially ice free in summer before mid-century. NCA Highlights:
Climate Trends) â#¢Sea level: Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880.
It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100. NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) â#¢Ocean Acidification:
The oceans are currently absorbing about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere annually
and are becoming more acidic as a result leading to concerns about intensifying impacts on marine ecosystems.
NCA Highlights: Climate Trends) Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by U s. Global Change Research Program.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length e
#College kids need to change unhealthy waysparents forget the comfort food! It's time to send your college students care packages of fruit veggies
#Ban cigarette filters to save environment, suggest researchersban cigarette filters. Start a deposit-return scheme for used butts.
and Elli Slaughter advocate to curb the environmental harm done through the large-scale littering of cigarette butts packaging and matches.
The suggestions are part of a review article in Springer's journal Current Environmental Health Reports. Cigarette butts and other tobacco product waste are the items that are picked most commonly up during urban
and cigars and can contaminate the environment and water sources. Studies show that the chemicals within cigarettes such as arsenic nicotine lead
It is not only the cigarette ingredients that harm the environment but also the materials they are made of.
and Slaughter ask for new environmental interventions and partnerships between tobacco control and environmental groups. They propose litigation to hold the tobacco industry legally responsible for cleanup
With two-thirds of all smoked cigarettes numbering in the trillions globally being discarded into the environment each year it is critical to consider the potential toxicity and remediation of these waste products.
Although torrential rainfall has inundated the Southeast region this spring there is something you can do in your own backyard to help prevent damage from flooding and runoff.
Plant a rain garden. A rain garden is landscaped a area planted preferably with wildflowers and other native vegetation that soak up rainwater from the roofs driveways or other impervious surfaces.
Wake Forest's Associate Director of Landscaping Services David Davis says a rain garden fills with a few inches of water after a storm
and the water slowly filters into the ground rather than running off. Rain gardens can be very diverse biomes full of life.
They offer a great opportunity to add beautiful water loving plants to the landscape and draw a host of butterflies birds and other wildlife that depend on these plants for survival.
Compared to a conventional patch of lawn a rain garden allows about 30 percent more water to soak into the ground keeping plants green and conserving water along the way.
Davis offers four simple tips for starting your own rain garden: 1. Location location location--Pick a site for your garden where runoff from your driveway or roof gutters can be diverted into it
Your rain garden should be at least 10 feet away from building foundations underground utilities and septic systems. 2. Don't go too deep--Make your garden between four and eight inches deep.
On the other hand a shallow rain garden will need a lot of surface area to provide enough water storage to filtrate runoff from larger storms.
or stone to prevent erosion. 3. Keep it on the level--Your excavated area should be relatively flat
and installed a rain garden on campus with only a line level and some string--no fancy laser levels
Once excavated add at least four inches of good organic compost to help with plant growth. 4. Choose plants carefully--There are many plants that do well in rain gardens or occasionally flooded areas.
if your rain garden dries out which won't happen often. Sedges and rushes do quite well
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