Showing 20 articles starting at article 2201
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Categories: Biology: Botany, Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published Chemical exposure may raise your risk for Parkinson's
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Two years of heavy exposure to TCE, a liquid chemical that lingers in the air, water and soil, may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease by 70%.
Published Rare tropical plant gains appetite for meat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Under certain circumstances, a rare tropical plant develops into a carnivore. A research team has now deciphered the mechanism responsible for this.
Published African smoke over the Amazon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Up to two-thirds of the soot above the central Amazon rainforest originates in Africa. Researchers differentiate soot particles using their relative properties and attribute them to their respective points of origin. They found that bush fires and burning savannah in the north and south of Africa make a substantial contribution to air pollution in the central Amazon all year round, thereby playing an important role in the earth radiation budget and water cycle. This is caused by the efficient transatlantic transport of particles through the atmosphere.
Published About 13,000 years ago, the water outflow from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean was twice that of today’s
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source About 13,000 years ago, a climate crisis caused a global drop in temperatures in the northern hemisphere. This episode of intense cold, known as the Younger Dryas, also caused severe aridity across the Mediterranean basin, which had a major impact on terrestrial and marine ecosystems. But what do we know about the impact of this climate change on water circulation in the Mediterranean?
Published 'Warm Ice Age' changed climate cycles
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Approximately 700,000 years ago, a 'warm ice age' permanently changed the climate cycles on Earth. During this exceptionally warm and moist period, the polar glaciers greatly expanded. A research team identified this seemingly paradoxical connection. The shift in the Earth's climate represents a critical step in our planet's later climate development.
Published South Africa's desert-like interior may have been more inviting to our human ancestors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lining the Cape of South Africa and its southern coast are long chains of caves that nearly 200,000 years ago were surrounded by a lush landscape and plentiful food.
Published Out of this world control on Ice Age cycles
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team, composed of climatologists and an astronomer, have used an improved computer model to reproduce the cycle of ice ages (glacial periods) 1.6 to 1.2 million years ago. The results show that the glacial cycle was driven primarily by astronomical forces in quite a different way than it works in the modern age. These results will help us to better understand the past, present, and future of ice sheets and the Earth's climate.
Published We now know exactly what happens in nature when we fell forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Deforestation is the biggest threat to the planet's ecosystems, and new research has now mapped out exactly what happens when agriculture replaces forestry.
Published Porous crystals made from plant extracts purify water from pharmaceutical pollutants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed porous crystals made from pomegranate extract to capture and degrade pharmaceutical molecules found in local municipal wastewater.
Published With formic acid towards CO2 neutrality
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers develop a new method for the sustainable use of carbon dioxide.
Published Land use linked to water quality and quantity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers recently published a study that focuses on the Sudbury-Assabet and Concord watershed in eastern Massachusetts, and which links hydrological changes, including floods, drought and runoff, to changing patterns of land use.
Published Metal-filtering sponge removes lead from water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have developed a new sponge that can remove metals -- including toxic heavy metals like lead and critical metals like cobalt -- from contaminated water, leaving safe, drinkable water behind. In proof-of-concept experiments, the researchers tested their new sponge on a highly contaminated sample of tap water, containing more than 1 part per million of lead. With one use, the sponge filtered lead to below detectable levels.
Published 'Improved' cookstoves emit more ultrafine particles than conventional stoves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Improved cookstoves, which are widely used for cooking in developing countries, produce twice as many harmful ultrafine air pollution particles (PM0.1) as conventional stoves, according to a new study.
Published Great Basin: History of water supply in one of the driest regions in the USA
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team has reconstructed the evolution of groundwater in the Great Basin, USA -- one of the driest regions on Earth -- up to 350,000 years into the past with unprecedented accuracy. The results shed new light on the effects of climate change on water supply and provide important insights for the sustainable use of groundwater resources.
Published Like ancient mariners, ancestors of Prochlorococcus microbes rode out to sea on exoskeleton particles
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Throughout the ocean, billions upon billions of plant-like microbes make up an invisible floating forest. As they drift, the tiny organisms use sunlight to suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Collectively, these photosynthesizing plankton, or phytoplankton, absorb almost as much CO2 as the world’s terrestrial forests. A measurable fraction of their carbon-capturing muscle comes from Prochlorococcus — an emerald-tinged free-floater that is the most abundant phytoplankton in the oceans today. New research suggests the microbe's ancient coastal ancestors colonized the ocean by rafting out on chitin particles.
Published Human ancestors preferred mosaic landscapes and high ecosystem diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study finds that early human species adapted to mosaic landscapes and diverse food resources, which would have increased our ancestor's resilience to past shifts in climate.
Published Nature is changing as land abandonment increases
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Abandoned lands could be both an opportunity and a threat for biodiversity; a recent article highlights why abandoned lands are critical in the assessment of global restoration and conservation targets.
Published Paper refutes assertion that effects of bottom trawling on blue carbon can be compared to that of global air travel
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new paper refutes previous findings on the amount of CO2 released from the seabed by bottom trawling. The previous paper made significant headlines around the world on release in 2021, as it equated the carbon released by bottom trawling to be of a similar magnitude to the CO2 created by the global airline industry.
Published Dark clouds on the horizon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our industrialized society releases many and various pollutants into the world. Combustion in particular produces aerosol mass including black carbon. Although this only accounts for a few percent of aerosol particles, black carbon is especially problematic due to its ability to absorb heat and impede the heat reflection capabilities of surfaces such as snow. So, it's essential to know how black carbon interacts with sunlight. Researchers have quantified the refractive index of black carbon to the most accurate degree yet which might impact climate models.
Published New study reveals boreal wetlands are a large source of reactive vapors in a warming climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Boreal wetlands are a significant source of isoprene and terpenes, a class of highly reactive organic compounds that have a substantial impact on the Earth's climate, according to a new study.