Futurity.org » temperature

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.

Minnows may inherit ideal temperatures

Jacob Levich-Stony Brook — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:28:08 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — Fish can be preconditioned to grow fastest in the same water temperature their parents experienced, say researchers.

This preconditioning, known as transgenerational plasticity (TGP), occurs whenever environmental cues experienced by either parent prior to fertilization change how offspring respond to the environment.

Snowflake science: Why so thin and flat?

Kimm Fesenmaier-Caltech — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:26:20 +0000

CALTECH (US) — New research from “snowflake guru” Kenneth Libbrecht sheds light on the mystery of why “stellar” snowflakes wind up so thin and flat.

Few people pay close attention to the form that snow crystals—a.k.a. snowflakes—take as they fall from the sky. But in the late 1990s, Libbrecht’s interest in the tiny white doilies was piqued.

Apply heat. Watch materials shrink

Marcus Woo-Caltech — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:54:42 +0000

CALTECH (US) — Most materials expand when heated, but a few actually contract. Now engineers have figured out how one of these curious materials does the trick.

The findings, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, will lead to a deeper understanding of all kinds of materials, say researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Trees lag behind climate change

Tim Lucas-Duke — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:04:06 +0000

DUKE (US) — More than half of eastern US tree species examined in a massive new study aren’t adapting to climate change as quickly or consistently as predicted.

“Many models have suggested that trees will migrate rapidly to higher latitudes and elevations in response to warming temperatures, but evidence for a consistent, climate-driven northward migration is essentially absent in this large analysis,” says James S. Clark, professor of environment at Duke University.

Nearly 59 percent of the species examined by Clark and his colleagues showed signs that their geographic ranges are contracting from both the north and south. Fewer species—only about 21 percent—appeared to be shifting northward as predicted. About 16 percent seemed to be advancing southward, and around 4 percent appeared to be expanding in both directions.

No real warming from urban ‘heat island’

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:02:02 +0000

STANFORD (US) — The urban ‘heat island’ effect contributes less than 5 percent to overall global warming, far less than greenhouse gas or black carbon, new research shows.

The study also finds that if all the roofs in urban areas were painted white, warming would increase, not decrease, as previously believed.

Crystal takes temperatures to extremes

Peter Dunn-Warwick — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:47:43 +0000

U. WARWICK (UK) — Researchers have developed a form of crystal that can deliver highly accurate temperature readings, ranging from -120 to +680 degrees centigrade.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and Oxford University used a “birefringent” crystal, which splits light passing through it into two separate rays.

Reset plants’ clock to wintertime

Layne Cameron-Michigan State — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:27:10 +0000

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — A circadian clock helps plants know when it’s time to kick their tolerance to freezing temperatures into high gear.

The new research should help in the development of “designer plants” that can withstand extreme stress brought on by weather and drought.

Heat helped hasten life’s beginnings

Leslie Lang-UNC — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:16:45 +0000

UNC CHAPEL HILL (US) — The time required for evolution on a warm earth is shorter than previously thought, according to new research investigating the effect of temperature on extremely slow chemical reactions.

Enzymes, proteins that jump-start chemical reactions, are essential to life within cells of the human body and throughout nature.

When do newborns first feel cold?

Carl Marziali-USC — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:57:55 +0000

USC (US)—Cold sensing neural circuits in newborn mice take around two weeks to become fully active, according to a new study.

The finding adds to understanding of the cold sensing protein TRPM8 (pronounced trip-em-ate), first identified in a Nature paper in 2002 by David McKemy of the University of Southern California.