ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Economic models provide insights into global sustainability challenges Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:46 PM PST Using models that blend global economics, geography, ecology and environmental sciences is essential to understanding how changes in trade and natural systems in one part of the world affect those in another, a review concludes.

Embrace unknowns, opt for flexibility in environmental policies, experts say Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST We make hundreds, possibly thousands, of decisions each day without having full knowledge of what will happen next. Life is unpredictable, and we move forward the best we can despite not knowing every detail. Likewise, two professors argue that ecosystem managers must learn to make decisions based on an uncertain future.

'Ecosystem services' help assess ocean energy development Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:49 AM PST Environmental scientists suggest that the way to fill vast gaps in knowledge about the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of ocean energy development is to consider how the benefits provided by ocean ecosystems change before and after the placement of ocean energy infrastructure.

Interaction of Atlantic and Pacific oscillations caused 'false pause' in warming Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:49 AM PST The recent slowdown in climate warming is due, at least in part, to natural oscillations in the climate, according to a team of climate scientists, who add that these oscillations represent variability internal to the climate system. They do not signal any slowdown in human-caused global warming.

World's challenges demand science changes -- and fast, experts say Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:49 AM PST The world has little use -- and precious little time -- for detached experts. A group of scientists -- each of them experts -- makes a compelling case that the growing global challenges has rendered sharply segregated expertise obsolete. Disciplinary approaches to crises like air pollution, climate change, food insecurity, and energy and water shortages, are not only ineffective, but also making many of these crises worse.

Amphibian chytrid fungus reaches Madagascar Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:24 AM PST The chytrid fungus, which is fatal to amphibians, has been detected in Madagascar for the first time. This means that the chytridiomycosis pandemic has now reached a biodiversity hotspot. Researchers are therefore proposing an emergency plan. This includes monitoring the spread of the pathogenic fungus, building amphibian breeding stations and developing probiotic treatments, say the scientists.

'Blue-green algae' proliferating in lakes Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:49 AM PST The organisms commonly known as blue-green algae have proliferated much more rapidly than other algae in lakes across North America and Europe over the past two centuries -- and in many cases the rate of increase has sharply accelerated since the mid-20th century, according to an international team of researchers.

Finland: Wheat harvest turned larger than oat for the first time in a century Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:48 AM PST On the average, the Finnish grain crop harvest has been over four billion kilograms every other year in the 2000s. In 2014, this figure was exceeded for the seventh time. For the first time in the over hundred years that crop statistics have been compiled in Finland, the wheat crop was slightly larger than that of oat. In recent years, barley, wheat and oat crops have been sufficient to enable exporting. The same does not apply to rye.

Suspended soils maintain rainforest ecosystems, says researcher Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:48 AM PST The bird’s nest fern, a plant commonly found in many of our homes, has a critical place in maintaining the biodiversity and the ecosystems of the world’s rainforests, researchers say.

Drilling ancient African lakes sheds light on human evolution Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:47 AM PST How was human evolution and migration influenced by past changes in climate? Researchers hope to find out.

Forest tree seeds stored in the Svalbard seed vault Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:47 AM PST A new method for the conservation of the genetic diversity of forest trees will see its launch on 26 February 2015, as forest tree seeds are for the first time stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Spitsbergen Island, protected by permafrost. Conserving the genetic resources of forest trees is part of the mandate of the Natural Resources Institute Finland.

Lake Tahoe research provides new insights on global change Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:44 AM PST A study on how natural and human-made sources of nitrogen are recycled through the Lake Tahoe ecosystem provides new information on how global change may affect the iconic blue lake.

Causes of Great Lakes smelt population decline are complex Posted: 25 Feb 2015 01:40 PM PST The reasons for the dwindling population of smelt prey fish in the Great Lakes to near historic lows are more complicated than previously believed, new research suggests. Although results of the 2014 study show that the number of smelt surviving their first few months actually has been rising since 2000, the increase in hatchlings isn't producing more adults. Whatever the cause, the loss of adult rainbow smelt is keeping the population on a downward trend even as offspring survival improves.

Climate-warmed leaves change lake ecosystems Posted: 25 Feb 2015 06:43 AM PST Rising soil temperatures significantly affect autumn leaves and consequently the food web, appearance and biochemical makeup of the lakes and ponds those leaves fall into, a new study finds.