Showing 20 articles starting at article 1221

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Animals, Geoscience: Geography

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research provides clear evidence of a human 'fingerprint' on climate change and shows that specific signals from human activities have altered the temperature structure of Earth's atmosphere.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

While conducting a study of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland, researchers uncovered a previously unseen way in which the ice and ocean interact. The glaciologists said their findings could mean that the climate community has been vastly underestimating the magnitude of future sea level rise caused by polar ice deterioration.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Discarded or drifting in the ocean, plastic debris can accumulate on the water's surface, forming floating islands of garbage. Although it's harder to spot, researchers suspect a significant amount also sinks. In a new study in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, one team used computer modeling to study how far bits of lightweight plastic travel when falling into the Mediterranean Sea. Their results suggest these particles can drift farther underwater than previously thought.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Birds across the Americas are getting smaller and longer-winged as the world warms, and the smallest-bodied species are changing the fastest.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study provides the first observational evidence of the stabilization of the anti-cyclonic Beaufort Gyre, which is the dominant circulation of the Canada Basin and the largest freshwater reservoir in the Arctic Ocean.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A limited menu of prey may weave a tangled food web by emboldening wolf spiders of multiple species to dine on each other and even cannibalize their own, says a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Because contrasting societal views have created an approach that simultaneously manages horses on the range as wildlife, livestock and pets, current U.S. government programs are incapable of succeeding, according to researchers.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have used sub-surface imaging and aerial surveys to see through floodplains in the Red Lily Lagoon area of West Arnhem Land in Australia. These ground-breaking methods showed how this important landscape in the Northern Territory was altered as sea levels rose about 8,000 years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Phytosterols are good for your health, but humans and other animals are not able to make them themselves, only plants can. To acquire phytosterols, humans are increasingly turning to supplements, green smoothies, or a Mediterranean diet with plenty of plant-based foods. Researchers have now discovered that tiny gutless worms from the Mediterranean can synthesize phytosterols on their own. Their study provides evidence that many other animals also have the genes needed to make their own phytosterols.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research begins to unravel the role dust plays in nourishing global ocean ecosystems while helping regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For decades, scientists have used the amount of seaweed at the ocean's surface as a proxy for the health of coral reefs below. However, a new global study of more than 1,200 marine locations over a 16-year period reveals that this approach has been misleading -- and may even have hidden signs of reef stress.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With glaciers melting at unprecedented rates due to climate change, invertebrates that live in the cold meltwater rivers of the European Alps will face widespread habitat loss, warn researchers. Many of the species are likely to become restricted to cold habitats that will only persist higher in the mountains, and these areas are also likely to see pressures from the skiing and tourism industries or from the development of hydroelectric plants.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the face of global warming and other environmental changes, corals in the Atlantic Ocean have declined precipitously in recent years, while corals in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are faring better. By describing several species of symbiotic algae that these corals need to grow, an international team has found that these mutualistic relationships from the Indo-Pacific may be more flexible and ultimately resilient to higher ocean temperatures than those in the Atlantic.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Like animals, many plant species are struggling to adapt to a human-dominated planet. However, plants are often overlooked in conservation efforts, even though they are cheaper and easier to protect than animals and play a pivotal role in bolstering our food, fuel, and medical systems. A plant ecologist suggests an approach for preventing all future land plant extinctions across the globe which includes training more plant experts, building an online 'metaherbarium,' and creating 'microreserves.'

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Greenlandic ice is teeming with life, both on the surface and underneath. There are microscopic organisms that until recently science had no idea existed. There is even evidence to suggest that the tiny creatures color the ice and make it melt faster.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting rapidly, raising concerns it could cross a tipping point of irreversible retreat in the next few decades if global temperatures rise 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius (2.7 to 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. New research finds that 6,000 years ago, the grounded edge of the ice sheet may have been as far as 250 kilometers (160 miles) inland from its current location, suggesting the ice retreated deep into the continent after the end of the last ice age and re-advanced before modern retreat began.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Innovating, i.e. the ability to find solutions to new problems or innovative solutions to known problems, it provides crucial benefits for the adaptation and the survival of human beings as well as for animals. What are the characteristics that make specific species or animals to be innovative? A study has analyzed this cognitive skill in ungulates, a group of mammals such as dromedaries, horses and goats, characterized by walking on the tip of their toes or hooves. The results show that those individuals that are less integrated in the group and those that are more afraid of new objects were the best at solving a challenge posed by the researchers: opening a food container.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are investigating the causes and consequences of the worldwide insect decline as well as considering potential countermeasures.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As the Arctic warms and loses sea ice, trans-Arctic shipping has increased, reducing travel time and costs for international trade. However, a new study finds that the Arctic Ocean is getting foggier as ice disappears, reducing visibility and causing costly delays as ships slow to avoid hitting dangerous sea ice.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Each year approximately 10 million waterfowl fly north to their breeding grounds in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, but the landscape that greets them has changed. Weather patterns and agricultural practices have significantly transformed the pothole-dotted native grasslands that waterfowl have used for thousands of years.