Futurity.org » Earth & Environment

Weeds grow more resistant to herbicides

A'ndrea Elyse Messer-Penn State — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:24:17 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — Over-reliance on one type of herbicide for weed control on US farms has created a dramatic increase in the number of genetically resistant weeds, a new study shows.

The answer, agricultural researchers say, lies in an integrated weed management program.

Glaciers shed billions of tons, satellites show

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:47:58 +0000

U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Ice caps and glaciers outside the regions of Greenland and Antarctica are shedding roughly 150 billion tons of ice annually.

The finding by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder is from the first comprehensive satellite study of the contribution of the world’s melting glaciers and ice caps to global sea level rise.

As gas booms, calls for hydrofracking rules

Mark Golden-Stanford — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:49:40 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Disclosing chemicals used on federal land is only one step toward ensuring the safety of hydraulic fracturing, the booming technology that offers economic and environmental benefits, according to geophysicist Mark Zoback.

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama praised the potential of the nation’s supply of natural gas buried in shale and echoed recommendations for safe extraction made by an advisory panel for regulatory reform.

Tree rings fail to capture climate after volcanos

A'ndrea Elyse Messer-Penn State — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:16:11 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — Some climate cooling caused by past volcanic eruptions may not be evident in tree-ring reconstructions of temperature change, a new study suggests.

Large enough temperature drops lead to greatly shortened or even absent growing seasons, according to climate researchers who compared tree-ring temperature reconstructions with model simulations of past temperature changes.

“We know these tree rings capture most temperature changes quite well,” says Michael Mann, professor of meteorology and geosciences at Penn State. “But the problem appears to be in their response to the intense short-term cooling that occurs following a very large volcanic eruption.

New hot spring may predict volcano blasts

Tim Green-U. Texas — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:04:52 +0000

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — Scientists have discovered a new type of hot spring, a “terrestrial smoker,” along the banks of a volcanic lake in the Philippines.

These “terrestrial smokers” are cousins to submarine black smokers, hydrothermal vents on the seafloor that spew plumes of hot, nutrient-rich water and often support rich communities of life.

Map charts future for Scotland’s wild lands

Richard Ashby-Leeds — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:11:51 +0000

U. LEEDS (UK) — A new map detailing Scotland’s wild areas is expected to help local authorities make decisions about development and land use.

The map, published by the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) using a method developed by the Wildland Research Institute (WRi) at the University of Leeds, should also help the tourism industry promote Scotland’s wild landscapes to visitors and walkers.

‘Blue holes’ may hint at life’s origins

Keith Randall-Texas A&M — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:07:52 +0000

TEXAS A&M (US) — Researchers say underwater caves may provide clues about how ocean life formed on Earth—and perhaps suggest marine life on other planets.

Tom Iliffe, professor of marine biology at Texas A&M University, and graduate student Brett Gonzalez examined three “blue holes” in the Bahamas and found that layers of bacterial microbes exists in all three, but each cave had specialized forms of such life and at different depths.

Volcanoes likely sparked Little Ice Age

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:47:42 +0000

U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Four massive tropical volcanic eruptions that occurred over a span of 50 years may have triggered Earth’s enigmatic Little Ice Age.

A new study suggests the period of cooling temperatures that began abruptly after the Middle Ages between A.D. 1275 and 1300 and lasted into the late 19th century was caused by repeated, explosive volcanism and sustained by a self-perpetuating sea ice-ocean feedback system in the North Atlantic Ocean, says Gifford Miller, professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

American ozone depletes European wheat

Richard Ashby-Leeds — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:03:34 +0000

U. LEEDS (UK) — Air pollution from North America causes Europe to lose 1.2 million tons of wheat a year, a new study shows.

Published in the journal Biogeosciences, the research shows for the first time the extent of the Northern Hemisphere’s intercontinental crop losses caused by ozone—and also suggests that increasing levels of air pollution from one continent may partly offset efforts to cut carbon emissions in another.

Harvest biofuel algae with microbubbles

Shemina Davis-Sheffield — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:27:14 +0000

U. SHEFFIELD (UK) — Thanks to microbubble technology, harvesting algae for use as a biofuel could become easier and more affordable.

The technique, developed at the University of Sheffield, builds on previous research in which microbubbles were used to improve the way algae is cultivated. Previously, there has been no cost-effective method of harvesting and removing the water from the algae for it to be processed effectively.