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Higher carbon dioxide may give pines competitive edgePine trees grown for 12 years in air one-and-a-half times richer in carbon dioxide than today's levels produced twice as many seeds of at least as good a quality as those growing under normal conditions, a Duke University-led research team reported Monday, Aug. 3 at a national ecology conference.
Missing link to cloud formation foundNew chemical research shows how cloud seedlings form over forested areas. The discovery of an unknown hitherto chemical compound in the atmosphere may help to explain how and when clouds are formed. The discovery of the so called dihydroxyepoxides (an aerosol-precursor), is reported in Science by a team comprising of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Copenhagen (UoC).
Climate models confirm more moisture in atmosphere attributed to humansWhen it comes to using climate models to assess the causes of the increased amount of moisture in the atmosphere, it doesn't much matter if one model is better than the other. They all come to the same conclusion: Humans are warming the planet, and this warming is increasing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.
Scientists create first three-dimensional global map of electrical conductivity in Earth's mantleAs tags on household appliances warn, water conducts electricity extremely well. Now, scientists have found that enhanced electrical conductivity in parts of Earth's mantle may signal the presence of water far below our planet's surface.
A hard rain's gonna fall
Heavier rainstorms lie in our future. That's the clear conclusion of a new MIT and Caltech study on the impact that global climate change will have on precipitation patterns.
The sky is not falling: pollution in Eastern China cuts light, useful rainfall
New research shows that air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country. The results suggest that bad air quality might be affecting the country's ability to raise crops as well as contributing to health and environmental problems.
Flat bacteria in nanoslitsIt appears that bacteria can squeeze through practically anything. In extremely small nanoslits they take on a completely new flat shape. Even in this squashed form they continue to grow and divide at normal speeds. This has been demonstrated by research carried out at TU Delft's Kavli Institute of Nanoscience.
World's last great forest under threatThe world's last remaining "pristine" forest - the boreal forest across large stretches of Russia, Canada and other northern countries - is under increasing threat, a team of international researchers has found.
Tropical storms endure over wet land, fizzle over dry
If it has already rained, it's going to continue to pour, according to a Purdue University study of how ocean-origin storms behave when they come ashore.
Map characterizes active lakes below Antarctic iceLakes in Antarctica, concealed under miles of ice, require scientists to come up with creative ways to identify and analyze these hidden features. Now, researchers using space-based lasers on a NASA satellite have created the most comprehensive inventory of lakes that actively drain or fill under Antarctica's ice. They have revealed a continental plumbing system that is more dynamic than scientists thought.
Lightning's mirror image ... Only much biggerWith a very lucky shot, scientists have captured a one-second image and the electrical fingerprint of huge lightning that flowed 40 miles upward from the top of a storm.
Scientists propose Antarctic location for missing' ice sheetNew research by scientists at UC Santa Barbara indicates a possible Antarctic location for ice that seemed to be missing at a key point in climate history 34 million years ago. The research, which has important implications for climate change, is described in a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
The Actic offers more evidence of human influences on climate changeA new study indicates that Arctic temperatures suddenly increased during the last 50 years of the period from 1 AD to the year 2000. Because this warming occurred abruptly during the 20th Century while atmospheric greenhouse gases were accumulating, these findings provide additional evidence that humans are influencing climate.
Humans causing erosion comparable to world's largest rivers and glaciers
A new study finds that large-scale farming projects can erode the Earth's surface at rates comparable to those of the world's largest rivers and glaciers.
Slowly slip-sliding faults don't cause earthquakesSome slow-moving faults may help protect some regions of Italy and other parts of the world against destructive earthquakes, suggests new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.
Improved seismology tools can detect and locate low-yield nuclear explosionsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory is leading a joint project with Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, as well as the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) and Quantum Technology Sciences, Inc., to improve the accuracy of regional seismic travel time (RSTT) predictions to detect and locate low-yield nuclear explosions.
Stop emitting CO2 or geoengineering could be our only hopeThe future of the Earth could rest on potentially dangerous and unproven geoengineering technologies unless emissions of carbon dioxide can be greatly reduced, the latest Royal Society report has found.
Scientists uncover solar cycle, stratosphere, and ocean connectionsSubtle connections between the 11-year solar cycle, the stratosphere, and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according to research appearing this week in the journal Science. The study can help scientists get an edge on eventually predicting the intensity of certain climate phenomena, such as the Indian monsoon and tropical Pacific rainfall, years in advance.
Half of the fish consumed globally is now raised on farmsAquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude. Their findings are published in the Sept. 7 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
New research confirms potential deadly nature of emerging new monkey malaria species in humansResearchers in Malaysia have identified key laboratory and clinical features of an emerging new form of malaria infection. The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, confirms the potentially deadly nature of the disease.