Earthwitness » for a better now.: 2010

Volcanoes have shifted Asian rainfall

Scientists have long known that large volcanic explosions can affect the weather by spewing particles that block solar energy and cool the air. Some suspect that extended "volcanic winters" from gigantic blowups helped kill off dinosaurs and Neanderthals. In the summer following Indonesia's 1815 Tambora eruption, frost wrecked crops as far off as New England, and the 1991 blowout of the Philippines' Mount Pinatubo lowered average global temperatures by 0.7 degrees F — enough to mask the effects of man-made greenhouse gases for a year or so.

Now, scientists have shown that eruptions also affect rainfall over the Asian monsoon region, where seasonal storms water crops for nearly half of earth's population. Tree-ring researchers at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory showed that big eruptions tend to dry up much of central Asia, but bring more rain to southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar — the opposite of what many climate models predict. Their paper appears in an advance online version of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Credit: USGSThe amount of water flowing in streams and rivers has been significantly altered in nearly 90 percent of waters that were assessed in a new nationwide USGS study. Flow alterations are a primary contributor to degraded river ecosystems and loss of native species.

"This USGS assessment provides the most geographically extensive analysis to date of stream flow alteration," said Bill Werkheiser, USGS Associate Director for Water. "Findings show the pervasiveness of stream flow alteration resulting from land and water management, the significant impact of altered stream flow on aquatic organisms, and the importance of considering this factor for sustaining and restoring the health of the Nation's streams and ecosystems."

Rosenstiel School scientists illustrate threat of increased carbon dioxide to coral reproduction

A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggests that over the next century recruitment of new corals could drop by 73 per cent, as rising CO₂ levels turn the oceans more acidic. The research findings reveal a new danger to the already threatened Caribbean and Florida reef Elkhorn corals

Breakthrough in cancer vaccine research

Researchers at the University of Cambridge hope to revolutionise cancer therapy after discovering one of the reasons why many previous attempts to harness the immune system to treat cancerous tumours have failed.

Poplars, aspens, other trees provide extensive "ecosystem services."
Credit: USDAChemicals known as oxygenated volatile organic compounds (oVOCs) affect environment, human health

Vegetation plays an unexpectedly large role in cleansing the atmosphere, a new study finds.

The research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., uses observations, gene expression studies, and computer modeling to show that deciduous plants absorb about a third more of a common class of air-polluting chemicals than previously thought.

A single moss campion plant shows the influence of climate change on entire populations.
Credit: Tracy Feldman Researchers measure survival, reproduction of thousands of arctic and alpine plants over six years

As Earth's climate warms, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges away from the equator or to higher elevations.

While scientists have documented such shifts for many plants and animals, the ranges of others seem stable.

Small is beautiful in hydroelectric power plant design, and good for the environment

Hydroelectric power is the oldest and the "greenest" source of renewable energy. In Germany, the potential would appear to be completely exploited, while large-scale projects in developing countries are eliciting strong criticism due to their major impact on the environment.

Disease in rural China linked to polluted coal

In remote, rural areas of southwestern China, villagers cook and dry their clothes by burning pieces of coal they pick up off the ground. This fuel releases a toxin that may be poisoning millions of people, according to an ongoing investigation by chemists at the University at Buffalo in New York. The researchers are presenting their work today at the AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition, which takes place this week at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.

The toxin in question is fluoride, which binds to calcium in the human body and causes the disease fluorosis. This condition, which affects millions in China's Guizhou province, can cause dental problems, such as discolored and pitted teeth, as well as joint pain, muscular degeneration, and deformities in joints and the spine.

International marine scientists say that a huge coral death which has struck Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean reefs over recent months has highlighted the urgency of controlling global carbon emissions.

Many reefs are dead or dying across the Indian Ocean and into the Coral Triangle following a bleaching event that extends from the Seychelles in the west to Sulawesi and the Philippines in the east and include reefs in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and many sites in western and eastern Indonesia.

Contaminants in groundwater used for public supply

More than 20 per cent of untreated water samples from 932 public wells across the United States contained at least one contaminant at levels of potential health concern, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

About 105 million people — or more than one-third of the nation’s population — receive their drinking water from one of the 140,000 public water systems across the United States that rely on groundwater pumped from public wells. The USGS study focused primarily on source (untreated) water collected from public wells before treatment or blending rather than the finished (treated) drinking water that water utilities deliver to their customers.

Trout and salmon are among the world's most familiar freshwater fishes, but numbers have fallen over recent decades – in some areas, dramatically. Pollution, habitat loss and over-fishing have all been blamed in the past, but new evidence from Cardiff University shows that climate change could be a major factor, putting both species at risk.

The scientists studied populations of young salmon and trout in the River Wye in Wales, traditionally one of the UK's best angling rivers. Professor Steve Ormerod and colleagues from the Cardiff School of Biosciences found salmon numbers fell by 50% and trout numbers by 67% between 1985 and 2004 - even though the river itself became cleaner.

Atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world, has been shown to affect reproduction of fish, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study.

“Concentrations of atrazine commonly found in agricultural streams and rivers caused reduced reproduction and spawning, as well as tissue abnormalities in laboratory studies with fish,” said USGS scientist Donald Tillitt, the lead author of the study published in Aquatic Toxicology. Fathead minnows were exposed to atrazine at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, Mo., and observed for effects on egg production, tissue abnormalities and hormone levels.

Natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth.This is one principal conclusion of a major new assessment of the current state of biodiversity and the implications of its continued loss for human well-being.

The third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), confirms that the world has failed to meet its target to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

CSNOx: 3-in-1 emission abatement system

Low-cost system reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions from ships, power plants and other sites, with no secondary pollutants or emissions

Singapore-based research and technology company, Ecospec Global Technology, has introduced a low-cost system capable of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships, power plants, refineries, and other fossil fuel-burning sites.

The system, called CSNOx, is the first of its kind in the world capable of significantly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx), all in a single system and by a single process. The CSNOx technology not only effectively removes emissions that contribute to climate change but does so without producing secondary pollutants or generating further CO2 emissions. Its compact size and low cost strengthen even further its potential for widespread implementation and positive impact on the environment on a global scale.

EPA releases draft dioxin report for peer review and public comment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached a significant milestone toward the completion of the agency’s dioxin reassessment with the public release of its draft scientific report, EPA’s Reanalysis of Key Issues Related to Dioxin Toxicity and Response to NAS Comments. The draft dioxin report is EPA’s response to key comments and recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences on the agency’s draft dioxin reassessment.

EPA is moving forward with Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to complete the long-awaited dioxin reassessment. This comprehensive human health and exposure risk assessment on dioxin, one of the most toxic environmental contaminants, aims to protect the health of the American public. The draft report will now undergo scientific peer review by independent, external experts as well as public review and comment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a directive requiring BP to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants. Dispersants are a chemical used to break up oil into small droplets so that they are more easily degraded.

The directive requires BP to identify a less toxic alternative – to be used both on the surface and under the water at the source of the oil leak – within 24 hours and to begin using the less toxic dispersant within 72 hours of submitting the alternative.

The evolution of complex life forms may have gotten a jump start billions of years ago, when geologic events operating over millions of years caused large quantities of phosphorus to wash into the oceans. According to this model, proposed in a new paper by Dominic Papineau of the Carnegie Institution for Science, the higher levels of phosphorus would have caused vast algal blooms, pumping extra oxygen into the environment which allowed larger, more complex types of organisms to thrive.

"Phosphate rocks formed only sporadically during geologic history," says Papineau, a researcher at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory, "and it is striking that their occurrences coincided with major global biogeochemical changes as well as significant leaps in biological evolution."

Credit: Rob Owen-WahlThe US President's Cancer Panel Report released today exhorts consumers to choose food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and growth hormones to help decrease their exposure to environmental chemicals that can increase their risk of contracting cancer. Organic products avoid the use of these chemicals.

"Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers... Similarly, exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat raised without these medications," according to the landmark report, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now," submitted to President Obama by Dr. LaSalle Leffall, Jr., an oncologist and professor of surgery at Howard University, and Dr. Margaret L. Kripke, an immunologist at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Credit: US Coast GuardWith millions of gallons crude oil being spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the focus now is on shutting down the leak. However, in the cleanup efforts to come, "extreme caution" must be exercised so as not to make a bad situation even worse, says a leading bioremediation expert with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

"The concentration of detergents and other chemicals used to clean up sites contaminated by oil spills can cause environmental nightmares of their own," says Terry Hazen, a microbial ecologist in Berkeley Lab's Earth Sciences Division who has studied such notorious oil-spill sites as the Exxon Valdez spill into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

Credit: Steven D. AllisonKey players in carbon cycle multiply slowly when overheated
In dark, rich soils on every continent, microbes dealing with the effects of climate change aren't accelerating global warming the way scientists had predicted, a study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine, Colorado State University and Yale University shows.

Results of the study appear in a paper published on-line this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Energy.

Varanus obor, the Sago monitor, or Torch monitor lizard.A newly discovered species of monitor lizard, a close relative of the Komodo dragon, was reported in the journal Zootaxa this week by a professor at UC Santa Barbara and a researcher from Finland.

Sam Sweet, a professor in the department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UCSB, and Valter Weijola, a graduate student at Abo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, are the first to describe the distinctive lizard, which lives in the Moluccan islands of east Indonesia. Sweet is an authority on monitor lizard biology.

Rig on fireA massive explosion occurred at 11 p.m. EST on Transocean's Deepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP, in the Gulf of Mexico. According to initial reports as many as 11 people are unaccounted for. Search and rescue operations are underway.

From data available, this oil spill could easily be one of the worst in the last few decades - with a potential of causing more damage and destruction to environment and marine life than the Exxon Valdez in 1989

Moraca River, MontenegroThe Montenegro government was yesterday handed a 14,764 signature petition asking it to consider alternatives to its four dam plan for the country’s second most important and most scenic River. The plan for multiple dams on the Moraça River, which will inundate areas of the Montegnegro capital’s natural and cultural heritage and threatens flows into the Balkan’s largest lake and its fisheries and bird migration reserves, was drawn up 40 years ago.

Two graphene molecules (dark grey) are caged by sidegroups (blue) attached to each graphene sheet. The sidegroups help prevent the graphene sheets from stacking, as they are prone to do.
Image: Liang-shi LiTo make large sheets of carbon available for light collection, Indiana University Bloomington chemists have devised an unusual solution - attach what amounts to a 3-D bramble patch to each side of the carbon sheet. Using that method, the scientists say they were able to dissolve sheets containing as many as 168 carbon atoms, a first.

The scientists' report will appear in a future issue of Nano Letters, an American Chemical Society journal. "Our interest stems from wanting to find an alternative, readily available material that can efficiently absorb sunlight," said chemist Liang-shi Li, who led the research. "At the moment the most common materials for absorbing light in solar cells are silicon and compounds containing ruthenium. Each has disadvantages."

Household detergents, shampoos may form harmful substance in waste water

Scientists are reporting evidence that certain ingredients in shampoo, detergents and other household cleaning agents may be a source of precursor materials for formation of a suspected cancer-causing contaminant in water supplies that receive water from sewage treatment plants. The study sheds new light on possible environmental sources of this poorly understood water contaminant, called NDMA, which is of ongoing concern to health officials. Their study is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

Sunscreens contain nanoparticles of zinc oxide - used to prevent the damaging effects of sunlight - that can harm colon cells and may be toxic if accidentally eaten.
Credit: iStockScientists are reporting that particle size affects the toxicity of zinc oxide, a material widely used in sunscreens. Particles smaller than 100 nanometers are slightly more toxic to colon cells than conventional zinc oxide. Solid zinc oxide was more toxic than equivalent amounts of soluble zinc, and direct particle to cell contact was required to cause cell death. Their study is in ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.

The number of sea turtles inadvertently snared by commercial fishing gear over the past 20 years may reach into the millions, according to the first peer-reviewed study to compile sea turtle bycatch data from gillnet, trawl and longline fisheries worldwide.

The study, which was published online April 6 in the journal Conservation Letters, analyzed data compiled from peer-reviewed papers, government reports, technical reports, and symposia proceedings published between 1990 and 2008. All data were based on direct onboard observations or interviews with fishermen. The study did not include data from recreational fishing.

Abbas Alizadeh, an archaeologist with the University of Chicago, passes a piece of broken pottery to Gil Stein, Director of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago (right) and a leader of an excavation in Syria which is uncovering artifacts from a society that flourished just before the formation of urban civilization in the ancient Middle East.
Credit: Oriental Institute, University of ChicagoThirty-one acres in extent, Tell Zeidan is situated where the Balikh River joins the Euphrates River in modern-day Syria. The location was at the crossroads of major trade routes across ancient Mesopotamia that followed the course of the Euphrates River valley.

Stein said Tell Zeidan may have been one of the largest Ubaid temple towns in northern Mesopotamia, and that it was as large or larger than any previously known contemporary Ubaid towns in the southern alluvial lowlands of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today southern Iraq. However, because the site was not occupied after about 4,000 B.C., the prehistoric strata of Tell Zeidan are immediately accessible beneath the modern-day ground surface instead of being buried beneath layers of deposits from later periods.

New research by a team of ecologists and hydrologists shows that water temperatures are increasing in many streams and rivers throughout the United States. The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, documents that 20 major U.S. streams and rivers – including such prominent rivers as the Colorado, Potomac, Delaware, and Hudson – have shown statistically significant long-term warming.

By analyzing historical records from 40 sites located throughout the United States, the team found that annual mean water temperatures increased by 0.02-0.14°F (0.009-0.077°C) per year. Long-term increases in stream water temperatures were typically correlated with increases in air temperatures, and rates of warming were most rapid in urbanized areas.

Dutch police hold illicit whale meat shipment following Greenpeace Action

Following a Greenpeace action which began early this morning, Rotterdam port police have promised that a whale meat shipment en route to Japan from Iceland will remain at the port. The owners of the container ship NYK ORION have decided to off load the Fin whale meat rather than become complicit in the trade in an endangered species.

"Today Greenpeace was able just in time to prevent this shipment of whale meat from continuing, such action should no longer be necessary," said Pavel Klinckhamers, Greenpeace oceans campaigner. "The Dutch authorities must ensure that whale meat never again comes to the Rotterdam harbour. They must work to end the whale meat trade."

Energy crops impact environmental quality

Crop residues, perennial warm season grasses, and short-rotation woody crops are potential biomass sources for cellulosic ethanol production. While most research is focused on the conversion of cellulosic feeedstocks into ethanol and increasing production of biomass, the impacts of growing energy crops and the removal of crop residue on soil and environmental quality have received less attention. Moreover, effects of crop residue removal on soil and environmental quality have not been compared against those of dedicated energy crops.

In the March-April 2010 issue of Agronomy Journal, published by the American Society of Agronomy, Dr. Humberto Blanco reviewed the impacts of crop residue removal, warm season grasses, and short-rotation woody crops on critical soil properties, carbon sequestration, and water quality as well as the performance of energy crops in marginal lands.

An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist participated in a project to fine-tune computer models that can indicate when forest "carbon sinks" become net carbon generators instead. The results will help pinpoint the effectiveness of trees in offsetting carbon releases that contribute to higher atmospheric temperatures and global climate change.

ARS plant physiologist Erik Hamerlynck teamed up with Rutgers University biologist Karina Schafer and U.S. Forest Service colleagues Kenneth Clark and Nicholas Skowronski to calibrate the Canopy Conductance Constrained Carbon Assimilation (4C-A) model, a computer program that generates carbon balance estimates for tree canopies. Hamerlynck works at the ARS Southwest Watershed Research Center in Tucson, Ariz.

University of Chicago’s Susan Kidwell and Adam Tomašových examine collections of mollusks at the Smithsonian Institution. In a paper to appear in the May issue of American Naturalist, the paleontologists explore how the ecological information provided by fossil assemblages is determined by their process of accumulation.
Credit: Bill DenisonPaleontologists can't always get what they want, to paraphrase the Rolling Stones, but sometimes they can get what they need, according to a study that will appear in the May issue of the American Naturalist.

The fossil record captures both the broad sweep of evolutionary changes in life on earth as well as ecological responses to shorter-term local and regional environmental shifts. And yet the amount of variability seen among successive fossil assemblages tends to be low compared to that ecologists see over shorter time periods. This suggests that communities are extremely resilient or resistant to change over decades to centuries.

Visual color and turbidity changes of gold nanoparticles resulted from different concentrations of melamine (decreasing from left to right).
Credit: Fang Wei and Na LIUniversity of Miami engineer and her collaborators are using gold nanoparticles to develop a quick, simple and efficient detection method for melamine in dairy products.

University of Miami assistant professor in the College of Engineering, Na Li and her collaborators have developed a fast, economical and easy method to detect melamine in milk. Melamine is the compound found in contaminated pet food and in tainted dairy products from China in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The laced dairy products were responsible for sickening thousands of people, especially children. The situation caused recalls of Chinese dairy products all over the world.

Monitoring melamine-tainted products continues to be a worldwide concern. Melamine is an industrial substance commonly used in plastics and fertilizers. Since Melamine is high in nitrogen, when added to foods it can make the products appear higher in protein value during standard testing. However, when ingested, the chemical can cause serious health problems and in some cases death.

Stone Age Scandinavians unable to digest milk

The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant. This has been shown by a new study carried out by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The study, which has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, supports the researchers' earlier conclusion that today's Scandinavians are not descended from the Stone Age people in question but from a group that arrived later.

"This group of hunter-gatherers differed significantly from modern Swedes in terms of the DNA sequence that we generally associate with a capacity to digest lactose into adulthood," says Anna Linderholm, formerly of the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, presently at University College Cork, Ireland.

Unroasted coffee beans contain proteins that kill insects, a finding that may lead to new insecticides for protecting food crops.
Credit: Fernando Rebelo, Wikimedia CommonsScientists in Brazil are reporting for the first time that coffee beans contain proteins that can kill insects and might be developed into new insecticides for protecting food crops against destructive pests. Their study, which suggests a new use for one of the most important tropical crops in the world, appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

Innovative thinking on agriculture in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Nations of the Greater Mekong Subregion need to 'rethink' their agricultural industries to meet future food needs, given the social shifts and climate changes that are forecast for the coming decades. With better farming practices, and by managing agriculture within the wider context of natural ecosystems, nations could boost production and increase the wealth and resilience of poor people in rural communities. Demand for food is forecast to double by 2050, as populations swell and people's dietary choices change. If governments act now, they will be better placed to meet this target and withstand the more severe climatic changes likely to affect the GMS beyond 2050.

Dr Tom H. Rich with the Australian tyrannosauroid fossil. | Image: Jon Augier | Source: Museum VictoriaFossils discovered by Australian scientists have provided the first ever evidence of tyrannosaur dinosaurs in the southern continents. A hip bone found at Dinosaur Cove in Victoria has been identified as belonging to a relative of the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex.

The discovery of the fossil sheds new light on the evolutionary history of this group of dinosaurs and raises the crucial question of why it was only in the northern hemisphere that tyrannosaurs evolved into giant predators like Tyrannosaurus rex. The specimen suggests there may well be more tyrannosaurs on the southern continents.

Oxfam calls for urgent response to warning signs, citing delays that cost lives last time the region faced a severe food shortfall

Almost 10 million people across the Sahel region of West Africa are threatened with a severe food shortage, international aid agency Oxfam said today. The worst affected country is Niger where 8 million people are at risk. Some 2 million people are threatened in Chad and a substantial number of people are expected to be affected in Mali in the coming months. Parts of Nigeria and Burkina Faso are also at risk.

Greenpeace divers with underwater banner reading 'Where have all the tuna gone' in Balearic Islands, Spain - a breeding ground for the bluefin tuna. ©Greenpeace/Gavin NewmanGreenpeace condemns governments for putting short-term economic interests ahead of the long-term survival of endangered species.

“Too many governments at CITES have voted to protect profits not endangered species,” said Oliver Knowles, Greenpeace International Oceans Campaigner. “This conference has been a disaster for conservation.”

Scientists in Wisconsin are reporting discovery of a way to lower the cost of converting wood, corn stalks and leaves, switch grass, and other non-food biomass materials into ethanol fuel. They describe their process, which reduces amounts of costly enzymes needed to break down tough fibrous cellulose matter in biomass for fermentation into alcohol, here today at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

"We believe our finding will have a major impact on the economics of cellulose to biofuels conversions," said Rajai Atalla, Ph.D. "We think it can make cellulose significantly more competitive with corn as the primary source of glucose as a feedstock for biofuels." Atalla is the founder of Cellulose Sciences International in Madison, Wisc.

Soils release more carbon dioxide as globe warms.

Twenty years of field studies reveal that as the Earth has gotten warmer, plants and microbes in the soil have given off more carbon dioxide. So-called soil respiration has increased about one-tenth of 1 per cent per year since 1989, according to an analysis of past studies in today's issue of Nature.

Boreal forest Having a large-scale boreal forest biomass inventory would allow scientists to understand better the carbon cycle and to predict more accurately Earth’s future climate. However, obtaining these maps has been wrought with difficulty – until now.

A new processing algorithm has been developed using stacks of images from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on ESA’s Envisat satellite that allows for the retrieval of boreal forest biomass well beyond the levels that have been previously reported.

Pollution from Asia circles globe at stratospheric heights

The economic growth across much of Asia comes with a troubling side effect: pollutants from the region are being wafted up to the stratosphere during monsoon season. The new finding, in a study led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, provides additional evidence of the global nature of air pollution and its effects far above Earth's surface.

The international study is being published Thursday in Science Express. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor, together with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

Greenland ice sheet losing mass on northwest coast

Ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet, which has been increasing during the past decade over its southern region, is now moving up its northwest coast, according to a new international study.

Led by the Denmark Technical Institute's National Space Institute in Copenhagen and involving the University of Colorado at Boulder, the study indicated the ice-loss acceleration began moving up the northwest coast of Greenland starting in late 2005. The team drew their conclusions by comparing data from NASA's Gravity and Recovery Climate Experiment satellite system, or GRACE, with continuous GPS measurements made from long-term sites on bedrock on the edges of the ice sheet.

Senecio inaequidens, a plant native to the mountains of South Africa, has been spreading rapidly along the roads and railway embankments in Germany since the 1950s.In the coming decades, climate change is set to produce worldwide changes in the living conditions for plants, whereby major regional differences may be expected to occur. Thus today´s cool, moist regions could in future provide habitats for additional species, and in arid and hot regions the climatic prerequisites for a high degree of plant diversity will deteriorate. This is the conclusion reached in a new study by scientists at the Universities of Bonn, Göttingen and Yale, and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society London. The study was funded by the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz and the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).

A United Nations meeting on endangered species trade adjourned today after two weeks of negotiations marked by the repeated rejection of proposals to better protect marine species, such as the Atlantic bluefin tuna, corals and several shark species.

Trade issues on marine species failed to attract the necessary support at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which meets once every three years.

A single unit of the new desalination device, fabricated on a layer of silicone. In the Y-shaped channel (in red), seawater enters from the right, and fresh water leaves through the lower channel at left, while concentrated brine leaves through the upper channel.
Photo: Patrick Gillooly/MITCould lead to small, portable units for disaster sites or remote locations.

A new approach to desalination being developed by researchers at MIT and in Korea could lead to small, portable desalination units that could be powered by solar cells or batteries and could deliver enough fresh water to supply the needs of a family or small village. As an added bonus, the system would also remove many contaminants, viruses and bacteria at the same time.

At the close of the world’s largest wildlife trade convention meeting, global conservation organization WWF welcomes the statement today by the regional fisheries management organization in charge of the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery – the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, ICCAT – that its members should agree and implement a scientifically sound recovery plan for the species when they meet in November in Paris, France.

In a statement in Doha, Qatar, today on the last day of the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), ICCAT chair Dr Fabio Hazin told delegates: “Setting management measures not in line with scientific advice is no longer an option. (...) The commitment to recover bluefin tuna stocks in the Atlantic must be strengthened at ICCAT’s forthcoming meeting in Paris in November.”

Time for closer collaboration on wildlife trade

It’s time for joint action and for regulatory bodies to work together to ensure the continued survival of species threatened by wildlife trade, says IUCN at the end of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP15) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in Doha, Qatar.

“CITES CoP15 has highlighted the challenges facing this convention as one of the many existing agreements for managing commercially important species sustainably,” says Sue Mainka, Head of IUCN’s delegation to CITES. “However, the decisions taken at CoP15 should stimulate further evolution of CITES including development of tools and mechanisms needed to support efforts to achieve sustainable management of natural resources. Those resources are fundamental elements of our economy and people’s livelihoods.”

Abundant populations of the deep-sea spider crab Encephaloides armstrongi from c. 1,000 m (lower boundary OMZ) in the Gulf of Oman and the dead bodies of large upper-ocean jellyfish (Crambionella orsini) which can occur in plague proportions in the Gulf of Oman.
Credit: NOCS/NERCSome regions of the deep ocean floor support abundant populations of organisms, despite being overlain by water that contains very little oxygen, according to an international study led by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. But global warming is likely to exacerbate oxygen depletion and thereby reduce biodiversity in these regions, they warn.

The sunlit surface waters tend to be well oxygenated as a result of their connection with the atmosphere. Here, tiny marine algae called phytoplankton thrive. When they die and sink, they are degraded by bacteria, using oxygen from the water column.

BMW Group Middle East, supported by the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD), the Road and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA), Abu Dhabi Municipality and Dubai Municipality, has launched its 'Stay Alert. Stay Alive.' road safety initiative in a bid to raise awareness of the importance of various road safety issues.

Following an independent survey of BMW and MINI customers to help identify what prompts drivers in the GCC region to take risks in their vehicles, BMW Group Middle East has identified the use of seat-belts, and in particular, appropriate child restraints, as the theme of its first campaign under the initiative that is aimed at increasing road safety awareness across the board.

Earth Hour, a global event created to symbolise that each one of us, working together, can make a difference on climate change, will take place on Saturday March 27th at 8.30 PM.

The world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa and the resting place of the UAE’s founding father, the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque will join other iconic UAE landmarks including, the Emirates Palace, Raffles Hotel, ADIA Building, Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Aldar Head Quarters, Sharjah Mega Mall, Sharjah Science Museum, Fairmont, Tecom, Media One Hotel, Dubai World Trade centre, the Yas Hotel and Yas Marina Circuit, Sas Radisson Hotel Blue and more for Earth Hour and ‘flick the switch’ on their signature landmarks, marking their dedication to sustainable development and joining their citizens in adopting low-carbon practices switching off the lights in a decisive display of climate action.

A girl drinking purified water in Kalpitiya.
(Photo: UNDP/CWI/SGP)On the Kalpitiya Peninsula, located on Sri Lanka’s western coast, relatively large scale irrigated monoculture agriculture is practiced. The associated heavy use of fertilizers has led to the contamination of farm and domestic wells with nitrates, which poses the risk of methaemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) and other concerns.

United Nations chemical experts have recommended that two pesticides - endosulfan and azinphos methyl - be included in the Rotterdam Convention's "Prior Informed Consent" procedure.

The Convention's Chemical Review Committee based its recommendation on a review of national regulatory actions to ban these chemicals, due to unacceptable risks to human health and the environment.

Discussion of a long-awaited proposal to ban international commercial trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna was cut short today at the largest wildlife trade convention when an immediate vote was pushed through.

Member governments of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) chose to vote today on the proposal. 72 out of 129 CITES members voted against the trade ban, 43 voted in favour, with 14 abstentions.

Eighty five per cent of sturgeon, one of the oldest families of fishes in existence, valued around the world for their precious roe, are at risk of extinction, making them the most threatened group of animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The latest update of the Red List assessed the status of 18 species of sturgeon from all over Europe and Asia and found that all were threatened.

Urgent law enforcement action by governments in Central and West Africa and South-east Asia is crucial to addressing the illicit ivory trade, according to a new analysis of elephant trade data released today.

Detailed regional summaries of the data held in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), the world’s largest database on ivory seizures, highlight the failure of law enforcement in key elephant range States facing an increasing threat from organised crime and the presence of unregulated markets.

New study to show how our body clock controls disease

New treatments for inflammatory lung diseases and a host of other conditions could be developed following a study into the impact of circadian rhythms – or body clock – at The University of Manchester.

In a partnership between the University of Manchester, the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a team of scientists will investigate how our biological clock controls inflammation in lung diseases such Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Reindeer have 'switched off' their body clocks in order to survive the extreme Arctic seasons of polar day, when the sun stays up all day, and polar night, when the sun does not rise above the horizon at all, scientists have discovered.

The body clock, or circadian clock, is the internal mechanism that drives hormone rhythms - and thus a host other functions - in a rhythmic 24-hour fashion. Light-dark cycles drive hormone rhythms via a circuit that involves the eye and nervous system affecting hormone production, in particular melatonin. In most mammals, this wiring circuit also involves the circadian clock, which is able to drive the hormone rhythms even when there is no light dark cycle.

Suzanne Hendrich, an ISU professor in food science and human nutrition, led a study finding that men can experience some cholesterol-lowering benefit from consuming flaxseed lignans. Photo by Jaclyn Hansel, College of Human SciencesA new study from Iowa State University's Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) may give men a way to combat high cholesterol without drugs – if they don't mind sprinkling some flaxseed into their daily diet.

Suzanne Hendrich, an ISU professor in food science and human nutrition, led a study that examined the effects of flaxseed lignan in 90 people diagnosed with high cholesterol. The results showed that consuming at least 150 milligrams of flaxseed lignans per day (about three tablespoons) decreased cholesterol in men, but not women, by just under 10 percent over the three months that they were given the flaxseed.

From climate change to securing sustainable employment: key issues facing the Arab region

UNEP-Led "Environment Outlook for the Arab Region" launched at League of Arab States meeting in Cairo

Multiple challenges are facing the Arab region from climate change and food insecurity to decreasing water availability and unemployment according to a new assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Environment Outlook for the Arab Region (EOAR), compiled at the request of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) says important progress is being made to address sustainability.

Photo: Alicia NavidadAustralian and US scientists have discovered how changes in winds blowing on the Southern Ocean drive variations in the depth of the surface layer of sea water responsible for regulating exchanges of heat and carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere.

The researchers’ findings – published on-line today in Nature Geoscience – provide new insights into natural processes which have a major influence on the rate of climate change.

Climate now: New state of the Climate Snapshot

More extremely hot days, fewer cold ones wetter in the north and drier in the south: this is not a forecast for Australia’s climate but a snapshot of the climate now.

In a joint CSIRO/Bureau of Meteorology statement released today, Australia’s two lead climate science agencies have produced a snapshot of the state of the climate to update Australians about how their climate has changed and what it means.

Credit: OpenCageWWF applauds the confirmation from European Union member states that they will vote for a ban on international commercial trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna during a meeting of the largest wildlife trade convention starting this week.

The 27 EU members said today they would vote to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), joining a growing list of supporting countries, including the United States of America.

Exposure to BPA may cause permanent fertility defects

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have discovered that exposure during pregnancy to Bisphenol A (BPA), a common component of plastics, causes permanent abnormalities in the uterus of offspring, including alteration in their DNA. The findings were reported in the March issue of Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB J.).

Led by Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale, the study is the first to show that BPA exposure permanently affects sensitivity to estrogen.

Governments meeting March 13 for the largest wildlife trade convention will have a unique opportunity to help preserve the world’s oceans and simultaneously stem a worldwide poaching crisis.

The 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP 15) will consider an unprecedented six proposals to better protect marine species - including a crucial ban on the international commercial trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna.