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Archive for August 26th, 2014
The Earth Can Support More Plant Life Than Previously Thought
Posted by Nature World: None Given on August 26th, 2014
Nature World: Researchers have concluded that the planet can support a lot more plant life than experts once thought, even in its current state, according to a recent study.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, details how the "theoretical limit of terrestrial plant productivity" - that is, not exclusively crop yeild, but tree and flower growth as well - has been severely underestimated in the past.
"When you try to estimate something over the whole planet, you have to...
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Drought Causes Western US to Rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2014
Environmental News Network: Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered that the growing, broad-scale loss of water is causing the entire western U.S. to rise up while investigating ground-positioning data from GPS stations.
Scripps researchers Adrian Borsa, Duncan Agnew, and Dan Cayan found that the water shortage is causing an "uplift" effect up to 15 millimeters (more than half an inch) in California's mountains and on average four millimeters (0.15 of an inch) across the west. From the...
Climate Change Impacts Already ‘Inevitable,’ May Soon Be ‘Irreversible’
Posted by Newsweek: None Given on August 26th, 2014
Newsweek: The effects of climate change will be “severe, pervasive and irreversible” within the next few decades if countries burn more than just one-quarter of the fossil fuel reserves already found, according to a major new U.N. draft report. Already, failure to heed earlier scientific advice regarding fossil fuel emissions have “made large-scale climatic shifts inevitable,” but a significant reduction of emissions now could still slow these changes, and buy the human race some time to adapt to an altered...
Science group says climate change worsening, dangerous
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2014
USA Today: Human influence on the planet's climate is clear and having "widespread and consequential impacts on human and natural systems," some of which may be irreversible, says a draft report out today from a United Nations science panel.
"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia," the report says. "The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen."...
Goldilocks Plant Growth May Make River Deltas Resilient
Posted by Nature World: None Given on August 26th, 2014
Nature World: Research by Indiana University geologists suggests that goldilocks plant growth - not too little and not too much - may make river deltas resilient to environmental factors that threaten their existence.
This "just right" amount of vegetation is the most effective way of stabilizing these freshwater areas, such as those near the mouth of the Mississippi River, which are under threat as sea levels rise.
Vegetation on marsh surfaces in river deltas can slow the flow of water and cause more sediment...