ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Naturally acidic waters of Puget Sound surround labs Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:37 PM PDT Two years of measurements in Puget Sound show that these waters naturally tend to be more acidic, with 13 to 22 percent of the unusual acidity due to human-driven climate change.

Unique proteins found in heat-loving organisms attach to plant matter Posted: 12 Mar 2015 12:41 PM PDT Unique proteins newly discovered in heat-loving bacteria are more than capable of attaching themselves to plant cellulose, possibly paving the way for more efficient methods of converting plant matter into biofuels.

Summer storm weakening leads to more persistent heat extremes Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:29 AM PDT Storm activity in large parts of the US, Europe and Russia significantly calmed down during summers over the past decades, but this is no good news. The weakening of strong winds associated with the jetstream and weather systems prolongs and hence intensifies heat extremes like the one in Russia in 2010 which caused devastating crop failures and wildfires.

Humans adapted to living in rainforests much sooner than thought Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:29 AM PDT An international research team has shed new light on the diet of some of the earliest recorded humans in Sri Lanka. The researchers analyzed the carbon and oxygen isotopes in the teeth of 26 individuals, with the oldest dating back 20,000 years. They found that nearly all the teeth analyzed suggested a diet largely sourced from the rainforest.

Ponds are disappearing in the Arctic Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:36 AM PDT Ponds in the Arctic tundra are shrinking and slowly disappearing, according to a new study. More than 2,800 Arctic tundra ponds in the northern region of Alaska's Barrow Peninsula were analyzed using historical photos and satellite images taken between 1948 and 2010. Over the 62-year period, the researchers found that the number of ponds in the region had decreased by about 17 percent, while pond size had shrunk by an average of one-third.

Some genes 'foreign' in origin and not from our ancestors Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Many animals, including humans, acquired essential 'foreign' genes from microorganisms co-habiting their environment in ancient times, according to new research. The study challenges conventional views that animal evolution relies solely on genes passed down through ancestral lines, suggesting that, at least in some lineages, the process is still ongoing.

Predicting which African storms will intensify into hurricanes Posted: 12 Mar 2015 08:23 AM PDT Most hurricanes over the Atlantic that eventually make landfall in North America actually start as intense thunderstorms in Western Africa one or two weeks earlier, research indicates. This research may help cities and towns better prepare for these hurricanes with far more warning.

Social status has impact on overall health of mammals Posted: 12 Mar 2015 08:23 AM PDT High social status has its privileges -- when it comes to aging -- even in wild animals. In a first-of-its-kind study involving a wild species, researchers have shown that social and ecological factors affect animal health. The results focused on spotted hyenas in Kenya.

Government corruption in South Africa contributes to overfishing, study finds Posted: 12 Mar 2015 07:07 AM PDT Bribery among government officials who inspect fishing along the coast of South Africa contributes to overfishing, according to new study. A researcher examined how corruption has hampered the implementation of the regulations that are meant to keep fishing at sustainable levels.

Post-fire logging can reduce fuels for up to 40 years in regenerating forests, new study finds Posted: 12 Mar 2015 06:23 AM PDT Harvesting fire-killed trees is an effective way to reduce woody fuels for up to four decades following wildfire in dry coniferous forests, a study has found. "Large wildfires can leave behind thousands of acres of fire-killed trees that eventually become fuel for future fires. In the past, post-fire logging has been conducted primarily to recover economic value from those fire-killed trees," said the study's leader.

Low-oxygen impacts on West Coast groundfish, research shows Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:05 PM PDT Low-oxygen waters projected to expand with climate change create winners and losers among deep-dwelling groundfish, new research shows. Some species are adapted to handle low-oxygen conditions such as those increasingly documented off the West Coast, while the same conditions drive other species away.