ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

NASA satellite sees a warm winter U.S. West Posted: 23 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST While people in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S have been dealing with Arctic Air, the bulge in the Jet Stream over the eastern Pacific Ocean has been keeping the western third of the U.S. in warmer than normal temperatures over the last two months. Infrared data from NASA provided a look at those surface temperature extremes from west to east.

Yellowstone: Geysers erupt periodically because they have loops in their plumbing Posted: 24 Feb 2015 11:31 AM PST Volcanologists threaded sensors and cameras into the superheated water of geysers in Chile and Yellowstone, and have come up with an explanation for why geysers erupt periodically. They've even built a laboratory geyser that erupts every 20 minutes to demonstrate that loops and bends in the underground plumbing trap steam bubbles that slowly leak out, heating the water above until it suddenly boils from the top down.

World's protected natural areas receive eight billion visits a year Posted: 24 Feb 2015 11:29 AM PST Researchers say that the first study to attempt to gauge global visitation figures for protected areas reveals nature-based tourism has an economic value of hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and call for much greater investment in the conservation of protected areas in line with the values they sustain – both economically and ecologically.

Novel pretreatment could cut biofuel costs by 30 percent or more Posted: 24 Feb 2015 10:13 AM PST Researchers have invented a novel pretreatment technology that could cut the cost of biofuels production by about 30 percent or more by dramatically reducing the amount of enzymes needed to breakdown the raw materials that form biofuels.

Climate-change clues from turtles of tropical Wyoming Posted: 24 Feb 2015 10:12 AM PST Tropical turtle fossils discovered in Wyoming reveal that when Earth got warmer, prehistoric turtles headed north. But if today's turtles try the same technique to cope with warming habitats, they might run into trouble.

Intelligent tree inventory detector Posted: 24 Feb 2015 09:09 AM PST Planning and managing vegetation in urban area is complex, yet it can be seamlessly done using computerized tree inventory and Geographic Information System (GIS).

Coral disease linked to a warming Atlantic Posted: 24 Feb 2015 09:09 AM PST Over the last four decades, the iconic elkhorn and staghorn corals that dominated Caribbean reefs for millions of years have all but disappeared. According to a new study, ocean warming has played a significant role in this dramatic decline.

Ocean circulation change: Sea level spiked for two years along Northeastern North America Posted: 24 Feb 2015 08:37 AM PST Sea levels from New York to Newfoundland jumped up about four inches in 2009 and 2010 because ocean circulation changed. The unusual spike in sea level caused flooding along the northeast coast of North America and was independent of any hurricanes or winter storms. A new article documents that the extreme increase in sea level rise lasted two years, not just a few months.

Great Barrier Reef corals eat plastic Posted: 24 Feb 2015 07:41 AM PST Researchers in Australia have found that corals commonly found on the Great Barrier Reef will eat micro-plastic pollution. Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic in the environment and are a widespread contaminant in marine ecosystems, particularly in inshore coral reefs.

Massive amounts of Saharan dust fertilize the Amazon rainforest Posted: 24 Feb 2015 07:28 AM PST Every year, millions of tons of nutrient-rich Saharan dust cross the Atlantic Ocean, bringing vital phosphorus and other fertilizers to depleted Amazon soils. For the first time, scientists have an accurate estimate of how much phosphorus makes this trans-Atlantic journey.

Detecting defects at the nanoscale will profit solar panel production Posted: 24 Feb 2015 07:28 AM PST New research may lead to major efficiency gains and cost savings in the manufacture of flexible solar panels. The goal is to develop new technologies for the detection, cleaning and repair of micro and nanoscale defects in thin films that are vital in products such as printed electronics and solar panels.

International team of scientists launches fossil database Posted: 24 Feb 2015 07:28 AM PST Have you ever wondered exactly when a certain group of plants or animals first evolved? A new resource for scientists is designed to help answer just those kinds of questions. The Fossil Calibration Database, a free, open-access resource that stores carefully vetted fossil data, is the result of years of work from a worldwide team of scientists.

Agriculture expansion in Tanzania may greatly increase human plague risk Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST The push to boost food production in East Africa that is accelerating the conversion of natural lands into croplands may be significantly increasing the risk of plague according to a new study.

Ocean acidification slows algae growth in the southern ocean Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST Scientists demonstrate for the first time that ocean acidification could have negative impacts on diatoms in the Southern Ocean. In laboratory tests they were able to observe that under changing light conditions, diatoms grow more slowly in acidic water.

Renewable energy obtained from wastewater Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:31 AM PST Researchers have devised an efficient way to obtain electrical energy and hydrogen by using a wastewater treatment process. The proposed system uses bacteria which consumes the organic material and produces electricity which allows producing hydrogen, the energetic vector of the future. The results point to further developments of this technology at industrial scale.

Storks could become poisoned by pesticides during their migration to Africa Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:31 AM PST Not all storks migrate to Africa. Many stay for the winter in the Iberian Peninsula, where landfills have become a permanent source of food. Scientists have analyzed the presence of pollutants and pesticides (some prohibited in Spain) in the blood of nestlings from three colonies, two of which are close to landfill sites. The results reveal that the main source of contamination can be due to the use of insecticides still used in African countries where the birds migrate to, who transfer their contaminated load onto their offspring through their eggs.

New, useful feature of Moringa seeds revealed Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:29 AM PST Previous studies have shown that the extracts from seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree can be used for water purification. In a new study, researchers show that the Moringa seeds can also be used for separation of different materials. Separation processes are very important in mining industries and the new knowledge could contribute to reduce the needs for expensive synthetic chemicals. Moringa trees are known as 'miracle' trees because of their many uses as food and as a source of oil.

New cicada species discovered in Switzerland and Italy Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:29 AM PST They belong to the best-known, biggest and loudest group of insects -- and yet they still manage to surprise: Researchers have discovered a new singing cicada species in Italy and southern Switzerland. The insect with a wingspan of four centimeters and a high pitch song has been named "Italian Mountain Cicada" (Cicadetta sibillae). It is one of only ten singing cicada species in Switzerland.

Environmentally friendly procedure developed for extracting silver Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:29 AM PST Silver can now be extracted ecologically and more efficiently than before. Researchers extracted silver from a process stream using an environmentally friendly ion exchange technique. The technique and process are challenging, but researchers managed to extract silver that was 72 percent pure.

Small predator diversity an important part of a healthy ecosystem Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:45 PM PST Biodiversity, including small predators such as dragonflies and other aquatic bugs that attack and consume parasites, may improve the health of amphibians, according to a team of researchers. Amphibians have experienced marked declines in the wild around the world in recent decades, the team added.

Looking back into the past of oceans: Acidification trends, seasonal fluctuations Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:44 PM PST Using cutting edge technologies researchers were able to reconstruct pH values of the Northern Pacific with a high resolution since the end of the 19th century. The study reveals a clear acidification trend, but also strong seasonal fluctuations.

Bacteria in marine sponges harvest phosphorus for reef community Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:44 PM PST Significant accumulations of polyphosphate granules have been found in three common sponge species of the Caribbean coral reef, indicating that microorganisms that live on marine sponges are pulling phosphorus out of the water to feed themselves and survive in a deep-water environment where very few nutrients are available. This finding has important implications for understanding how phosphorus is sequestered and recycled in a reef environment.

World must achieve international water goals to preempt looming conflicts born of desperation Posted: 23 Feb 2015 07:42 AM PST A UN report on water and the Sustainable Development Goals underscores the issue's forecast links with conflict, especially in many already-troubled world regions. It also underscores the need to crackdown severely on corruption in the water sector as 'a crime against humanity.'

Fighting decline of pollinators in Europe Posted: 19 Feb 2015 07:16 AM PST Pollination is crucial to providing food security and wider ecosystem stability. An outstanding challenge is how do we mitigate pollinator declines and ensure a sustainable future?