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Archive for February 16th, 2016
High risk of bankruptcy for one-third of oil firms: Deloitte
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2016
Reuters: Roughly a third of oil producers are at high risk of slipping into bankruptcy this year as low commodity prices crimp their access to cash and ability to cut debt, according to a study by Deloitte, the auditing and consulting firm.
The report, based on a review of more than 500 publicly traded oil and natural gas exploration and production companies across the globe, highlights the deep unease permeating the energy sector as crude prices sit near their lowest levels in more than a decade, eroding...
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Impact climate change on parasite infections depends on host immunity
Posted by PhysOrg: Sam Sholtis on February 16th, 2016
PhysOrg: New research demonstrates how climate change and the immune reaction of the infected individual can affect the long-term and seasonal dynamics of parasite infections. The study, led by Penn State scientists, assessed the infection dynamics of two species of soil-transmitted parasites in a population of rabbits in Scotland every month for 23 years. The study's results could lead to new strategies for the treatment and prevention of infections from similar parasites in humans, livestock, and wildlife....
January sets record for world’s most unusually warm month
Posted by Mashable: None Given on February 16th, 2016
Mashable: Global warming went into overdrive in January, leading to astounding temperature records.
January was the globe's most unusually warm month ever recorded, and the past three months have been the most unusually warm three-month period on record as well, according to new findings from NASA.
January was also the warmest such month on record, NASA found, in preliminary data released this weekend by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.
The data, which is subject to adjustment...
Timely flood warnings for downstream Nepal and India
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on February 16th, 2016
SciDevNet: Communities in flood-prone areas often do not have access to information about flood forecasting. As a result, they do not have sufficient time to evacuate and put their cattle and belongings in a safe area. The new Community-Based Flood Early Warning system, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)'s new initiative, now allows communities downstream to access almost real-time information about the water level upstream.
The system is cheap (at US$1,000) and the technology...
How humans impacted the Everglades
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Dotting the landscape of Everglades National Park are teardrop-shaped elevations of hardwood trees (or hammocks) named, "tree islands." The significance of tree islands as the only dry ground has long been acknowledged, but their significance also lies beneath the earth, as archeological findings from a dig in 2010 present data that prehistoric humans played a significant role in the formation of tree islands, and in turn, the archeological discoveries should be considered in current Everglades restoration...
Better water management could halve global food gap
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Improved agricultural water management could halve the global food gap by 2050 and buffer some of the harmful climate change effects on crop yields. For the first time, scientists investigated systematically the worldwide potential to produce more food with the same amount of water by optimizing rain use and irrigation. They found the potential has previously been underestimated. Investing in crop water management could substantially reduce hunger while at the same time making up for population growth....
Improved irrigation backed halve food gap
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on February 16th, 2016
SciDevNet: If all farmers adopted well-known water management methods, global food production could expand as much as 41 per cent, scientists have shown.
Scientists modelled 35 "ambitious yet achievable' water management strategies and found that improved irrigation could halve the world's food gap, researchers write in a paper published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. This means the potential increase in crop yields could provide half the calories needed to eradicate hunger worldwide by 2050,...