ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News |
| The evolution of climate change activism studied by researcher Posted: 20 Nov 2017 02:44 PM PST Climate change is a topic that is debated, doubted and covered by news outlets across the world. Now an academic is researching the evolution of climate change activism and how advocacy groups use digital platforms to mobilize. |
| Slight climate shifts can affect optimum water use in plant communities Posted: 20 Nov 2017 02:44 PM PST A new discovery is providing scientists a better understanding of how rainfall is shared beneficially by the plant community and the human population, in addition to the effects of climate change. |
| Seafloor sediments appear to enhance Earthquake and Tsunami danger in Pacific Northwest Posted: 20 Nov 2017 09:45 AM PST The Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of the Pacific Northwest has all the ingredients for making powerful earthquakes -- and according to the geological record, the region is due for its next 'big one.' A new study has found that the occurrence of these big, destructive quakes and associated devastating tsunamis may be linked to compact sediments along large portions of the subduction zone. |
| Antarctic landscape insights keep ice loss forecasts on the radar Posted: 20 Nov 2017 09:09 AM PST New maps of a mountainous landscape under a key glacier in West Antarctica will be a valuable aid in forecasting sea level changes. |
| Righty blue whales sometimes act like lefties, study finds Posted: 20 Nov 2017 09:09 AM PST To support their hulking bodies, blue whales use various acrobatic maneuvers to scoop up many individually tiny prey, filtering the water back out through massive baleen plates. In most cases, the whales roll to the right as they capture their prey, just as most people are right-handed. But, researchers now show that the whales shift directions and roll left when performing 360° barrel rolls in shallow water. |
| Light green plants save nitrogen without sacrificing photosynthetic efficiency Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:36 AM PST Scientists designed plants with light green leaves with hopes of allowing more light to penetrate the crop canopy and increase overall light use efficiency and yield. This strategy was tested in a recent modeling study that found leaves with reduced chlorophyll content do not actually improve canopy-level photosynthesis, but instead, conserve a significant amount of nitrogen that the plant could reinvest to improve light use efficiency and increase yield. |
| One source of potent greenhouse gas pinned down Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:36 AM PST Researchers have discovered the first known methane-producing microbe that is active in an oxygen-rich environment -- a finding that suggests today's global climate models may be misjudging the amount of methane being released into the atmosphere. |
| Clay mineral waters Earth's mantle from the inside Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:36 AM PST The first observation of a super-hydrated phase of the clay mineral kaolinite could improve our understanding of processes leading to volcanism and affecting earthquakes. In the lab, scientists created conditions similar to those in subduction zones where an oceanic plate dives under the continental crust. Transport of water with subducting plates causes volcanic activity, according to new research. |
| Added Arctic data shows global warming didn't pause Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:13 AM PST Missing Arctic temperature data, not Mother Nature, created the seeming slowdown of global warming from 1998 to 2012, according to a new study. |
| Scientific research on disasters represents 0.22 percent of global scholarly output Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:13 AM PST Despite loss of life and economic devastation worldwide due to increasingly frequent natural and human-made disasters, scientific research on disasters represents a small percentage of scholarly output. |
| Hydrological implications of rapid global warming Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:13 AM PST Researchers studying a rapid global warming event, around 56 million years ago, have shown evidence of major changes in the intensity of rainfall and flood events. The findings indicate some of the likely implications should current trends of rising carbon dioxide and global warming continue. |
| What makes soil, soil? Researchers find hidden clues in DNA Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:13 AM PST Ever wondered what makes a soil, soil? And could soil from the Amazon rainforest really be the same as soil from your garden? |
| Rise in oxygen levels links to ancient explosion of life, researchers find Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:13 AM PST Scientists have found that oxygen levels appear to increase by roughly 80 percent at about the same time as a three-fold increase in biodiversity during the Ordovician Period, between 445 and 485 million years ago. |
| Space dust may transport life between worlds, research suggests Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:13 AM PST Life on Earth might have originated from tiny organisms brought to our planet in streams of fast-moving space dust, according to a new study. |
| Posted: 20 Nov 2017 07:12 AM PST Creative fire management can increase habitat for wildebeest and other grazing animals in national parks, research indicates. The work shows that small, repeated fires can have a concentrating effect on animals, and create 'grazing-lawn ecosystems' where food quality is higher and herbivores can see predators from further away. |
| Uncovering essential enzymes for plant growth during nitrogen starvation Posted: 20 Nov 2017 06:37 AM PST A study has found that two key enzymes in plants called PAH1 and PAH2 are critical for survival and growth under nitrogen-depleted conditions. The study sheds new light on how plants could be modified in future to boost tolerance to nutrient-poor environments. |
| Hydrogen cars for the masses one step closer to reality, thanks to invention Posted: 20 Nov 2017 06:37 AM PST A new device that can inexpensively and efficiently create and store energy and create hydrogen fuel, and that needs only sunlight to operate, has now been developed by researchers. |
| Raindrops splash pathogens onto crops Posted: 20 Nov 2017 06:00 AM PST Pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses or fungi, cause harmful plant disease and often lead to the destruction of agricultural fields. With many possible dispersal methods, it can often be difficult to assess the damage of a pathogen’s impact before it’s too late. |
| Peace, equality and prosperity all depend on affordable clean energy, study shows Posted: 20 Nov 2017 05:59 AM PST The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals are aimed at achieving equality, securing global peace and ending extreme poverty – an ambitious agenda that will require a wide-range of conditions to be met. But one requirement lies at the center of most of the SDGs: that people have access to clean, affordable energy, says a new study. |
| Homes should not be abandoned after a big nuclear accident, study suggests Posted: 20 Nov 2017 05:54 AM PST Few people, if any, should be asked to leave their homes after a big nuclear accident, which is what happened in March 2011 following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, new research recommends. |
| Recovery of West Coast marine mammals boosts consumption of chinook salmon Posted: 20 Nov 2017 05:54 AM PST The researchers estimate that from 1975 to 2015, the yearly biomass of chinook salmon consumed by pinnipeds (sea lions and harbor seals) and killer whales increased from 6,100 to 15,200 metric tons, and from five to 31.5 million individual salmon. |
| 'Explosive' hot oil droplets could hurt your skin -- and air quality Posted: 19 Nov 2017 08:18 AM PST Cooking in a frying pan with oil can quickly become dangerous if “explosive” hot oil droplets jump out of the pan, leading to painful burns. But these droplets may be doing something even more damaging: contributing to indoor air pollution. |
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