ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News |
| Micrometer-sized particles encased in tailored polymer membranes Posted: 09 Feb 2022 08:21 AM PST Metal hydrides are considered a cutting-edge storage material for hydrogen. These hydrides function even better, if the micrometer-sized hydride particles are coated with a thin polymer film. Using a sophisticated microscopy technique, a team can now successfully show in detail, how the polymer-coated particles transform during charging and discharging with hydrogen. The results are encouraging and bring practical use of the new technology one step closer. |
| Sewer slime can hang on to SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater Posted: 09 Feb 2022 06:34 AM PST Researchers report that sewer slime can accumulate SARS-CoV-2 RNA, which could decompose or slough off later, potentially impacting the accuracy of wastewater epidemiology studies. |
| Why some stony coral species are better at surviving ocean acidification Posted: 09 Feb 2022 06:34 AM PST Hard corals grow by generating calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from seawater and adding it to their skeletons, where it crystallizes. This process -- and coral survival -- are threatened by ocean acidification. However, scientists report that corals produce the CaCO3 in compartments protected from seawater and not, as previously believed, in exposed locations. The findings, and differing crystallization rates, could explain why some species are more resilient to this threat. |
| Scientists create a global repository for cell engineering Posted: 09 Feb 2022 06:34 AM PST An international team has launched CellRepo, a species and strain database that uses cell barcodes to monitor and track engineered organisms. The database keeps track and organizes the digital data produced during cell engineering. It also molecularly links that data to the associated living samples. |
| Co-occurring droughts could threaten global food security Posted: 09 Feb 2022 06:33 AM PST Droughts occurring at the same time across different regions of the planet could place an unprecedented strain on the global agricultural system and threaten the water security of millions of people, according to a new study. |
| COP26 deal sparks hope for positive tipping points Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:25 PM PST The Breakthrough Agenda agreed at COP26 could help trigger positive tipping points to tackle the climate crisis, researchers say. |
| Antarctic research reveals link between warming and fish abundance Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:17 PM PST A long-term study in the Southern Ocean reveals a clear correlation between warming waters, decreased sea ice, and reduced abundance of Antarctic silverfish. These small, abundant fish are important prey for penguins, seals, and other regional marine life, in a role similar to that played by anchovies or sardines in more temperate waters. |
| Thawing permafrost could expose Arctic populations to cancer-causing radon Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:17 PM PST According to a new study, thawing of permafrost due to climate change could expose the Arctic population to much greater concentrations of the invisible, lung cancer-causing gas Radon. |
| Texas power crisis revealed flaw in market’s design Posted: 08 Feb 2022 11:33 AM PST One year after winter storms crippled Texas' electricity grid, contributing to more than 200 deaths, an analysis recommends contracting improvements to reduce decentralized energy markets' vulnerability to rare events. |
| Giant kelp dynamics in the Santa Barbara Channel Posted: 08 Feb 2022 11:33 AM PST What factors drive the health, growth and productivity of giant kelp? There are several, but according to researchers, what you see depends on the scale at which you're observing. |
| Hidden magnitude-8.2 earthquake source of mysterious 2021 global tsunami Posted: 08 Feb 2022 09:44 AM PST Scientists have uncovered the source of a mysterious 2021 tsunami that sent waves around the globe. In August 2021, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit near the South Sandwich Islands, creating a tsunami that rippled around the globe. The epicenter was 47 kilometers below the Earth's surface -- too deep to initiate a tsunami -- and the rupture was nearly 400 kilometers long, which should have generated a much larger earthquake. |
| Agricultural fungicides may be driving antimicrobial resistance Posted: 08 Feb 2022 09:44 AM PST New research has shown that compounds used to fight fungal diseases in plants are likely causing resistance to antifungal medications used to treat people. |
| Giant sponge gardens discovered on seamounts in the Arctic deep sea Posted: 08 Feb 2022 08:39 AM PST Massive sponge gardens thrive on top of seamounts in the Central Arctic Ocean, one of the most oligotrophic seas on Earth. They appear to feed on the remnants of an extinct fauna. Microorganisms support the sponges in exploiting this fluffy material as a source of food and energy. |
| Genetic engineering can have a positive effect on the climate Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:53 AM PST The use of genetically modified (GM) crops in agriculture remains contentious, especially in Europe. According to surveys, many people fear that these could have negative effects for human health and the environment. However, a new study shows that genetically modified crops could actually be good for the environment, and for the climate in particular. Results suggest that the adoption of GM crops in the European Union (EU) could reduce greenhouse gas emissions considerably. |
| Pink pumice key to revealing explosive power of underwater volcanic eruptions Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST The presence of pink pumice in the giant pumice raft of the 2012 Havre that drifted across the southwest Pacific Ocean has led researchers to recognize the immense power of underwater volcanic eruptions. |
| Root symbiosis is regulated through nutrient status of plants Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients for plants. Among other functions, it is needed to create substances for the plant's immune system, for the healthy development of seeds and for root growth. Researchers have now demonstrated how a root symbiosis with fungi is driven at the molecular level by the plant's phosphate status. |
| Arctic winter warming causes cold damage in the subtropics of East Asia Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST Due to climate change, Arctic winters are getting warmer. An international study shows that Arctic warming causes temperature anomalies and cold damage thousands of kilometers away in East Asia. This in turn leads to reduced vegetation growth, later blossoming, smaller harvests and reduced CO2 absorption by the forests in the region. |
| Gabon provides blueprint for protecting oceans Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST Gabon's network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provides a blueprint that could be used in many other countries, experts say. Since announcing a new MPA network in 2014, Gabon has created 20 protected areas -- increasing protection of Gabonese waters from less than 1% to 26%. |
| Unique seagrass nursery aims to help Florida's starving manatees Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST More than 1,000 manatees died in 2021, due mostly to starvation. They consume about 100 pounds of seagrass a day, and this staple food is now scarce in Florida's Indian River Lagoon (IRL). A new study shows that about 7,400 acres of seagrasses were lost in the IRL between 1943 and 1994. Between 2011 and 2019, about 58 percent of seagrasses were lost. To help with recovery efforts, researchers are experimenting with growing seagrass in large tanks and then transplanting it into the IRL to try to restore some of the lost seagrass beds. |
| Lotus effect: Self-cleaning bioplastics repel liquid and dirt Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:52 AM PST Inspired by the always immaculate lotus leaf, researchers have developed a self-cleaning bioplastic that is sturdy, sustainable and compostable. |
| The perilous migratory journey of the eastern whip-poor-will Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:50 AM PST Using GPS tags attached to the birds, researchers discovered some surprising facts about the long migrations that eastern whip-poor-wills make from their Midwest breeding grounds to where they winter in Mexico and Central America. |
| Who’s responsible for roadside rubbish? Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:50 AM PST New research reveals that items in litter typically originate less than two miles from where they're found -- and unless humans remove them, most of these items will never leave the environment. |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:57 PM PST In a landmark study of airborne microorganisms from ground level up to 3,500 meters, scientists have found that bacteria and fungi populate the planet's lower atmosphere in very specific ways, and if changed, may negatively impact human health and food supply. |
| 'Double-hazard' zones for wildfire in the West Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:56 PM PST Rapidly growing communities in the American West's forests and shrublands are nestled in zones where local soil and plant traits amplify the effect of climate change on wildfire hazards and lead to bigger burns. |
| Wastewater monitoring for public health Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:56 PM PST Researchers have been monitoring wastewater on the UC Davis campus and in the city of Davis for COVID-19 through the Healthy Davis Together program. A new article reviews their experiences and the advantages and limitations of wastewater testing as a public health tool in the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| New radar technology records Antarctic glaciers losing ice faster than ever documented before Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:56 PM PST Unprecedented mass loss from three Antarctic glaciers could signal global climate trouble ahead, a researcher warns. A multinational collaboration is using an advanced remote imaging system to document the Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers with clarity and completeness never achieved before. |
| As tectonic plates pull apart, what drives the formation of rifts? Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:56 PM PST At the boundaries between tectonic plates, narrow rifts can form as Earth's crust slowly pulls apart. But how, exactly, does this rifting happen? Does pressure from magma rising from belowground force the land apart? Or is a rift just a rip, created mainly by the pulling motion of tectonic plates that are drifting away from each other? A study explores these questions and sheds new light on how this process works. |
| Fear of predators in free-living wildlife reduces population growth over generations Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:54 PM PST The fear predators inspire can itself reduce prey population growth rates; thereby conclusively establishing that focusing solely on the number of prey predators directly kill and failing to additionally consider fear, as conventionally done, risks dramatically underestimating the total impact predators have on prey population size. |
| Survivors of weather-related disasters may have accelerated aging Posted: 07 Feb 2022 12:54 PM PST When Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico in September 2017 as a high-end category 4 storm, it left in its wake the largest catastrophe in the history of the island. Along with the human toll, the devastation impacted all the island's wildlife, including a group of free-ranging rhesus macaques living on the isolated Cayo Santiago island near Puerto Rico. Now, a team of scientists has published one of the first results that shows the effects of natural disasters may have molecularly accelerated aging in the monkeys' immune systems. |
| Chemists develop radical way to make it easier, more profitable to recycle plastic Posted: 07 Feb 2022 10:58 AM PST Very little of the plastic water bottles, milk jugs and yogurt cups we use gets recycled. But chemists now describe a radical method they used to transform tossed out plastic into a tougher, stronger material commonly used for food packaging. Through 'upcycling,' the method may make plastic easier -- and more profitable -- to recycle. |
| The frogs of Baja California: Scientists assess amphibian disease Posted: 07 Feb 2022 09:48 AM PST Biologists from Southern and Baja California have published the first major account of the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis in the Mediterranean region of Baja California. Their results indicate that the disease is more prevalent on the peninsula than in similar areas of Southern California. |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2022 07:01 AM PST If carbon emissions continue to increase at their current rate the resilience to climate change of seafood species that are mainstays of the EU market, such as great Atlantic scallop, red mullet, and common octopus, will be weakened by the combined onslaught of overfishing, ocean warming, and mercury pollution. The population of these species will likely be reduced to a fraction of their present size by the end of the century. |
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