Author Archive

Climate Change Too Fast for Ectotherms?

Nature World: Ecotherms like reptiles, amphibians and fish are normally able to adapt to changes in the climate, and have done so in the past, but this time around climate change may be moving too fast for these animals to keep up, a new study suggests. Many animals can adapt to a warming world by modifying the function of their cells and organs in order to compensate for such environmental shifts. But with the overall global temperature expected to climb 3.6 degrees Celsius (38.5 Fahrenheit) by the end of...

California’s Drought: Don’t Blame Climate Change, NOAA

Nature World: The NOAA has just released a new report on the historic drought that has been affecting California for the last three years. Stunningly, investigators are saying that human-driven climate change is not to blame, and it is instead the consequence of natural phenomena. That comes as a big surprise, even for experts, as the ongoing drought was recently revealed to be the worst the region has seen in more than a millennium, with 2014's summer being the driest seen in a whopping 1,200 years. So...

Wetlands Face More Invaders With Climate Change

Nature World: Invasive species are becoming more and more of a problem, especially as climate change warms parts of the Northern Hemisphere, making regions more habitable for invaders. This is particularly true for wetlands, a new study finds, where changing temperatures are tipping the scales in favor of nonnative plant species. The study, published in the journal Ecological Applications, details how factors like changing surface-water temperature, rainfall patterns, and river flow is contributing to the rise...

Why Lizards Have Bird Breath

Nature World: It has long been thought by scientists that birds' one-directional loop through their lungs was a unique characteristic, but a new study shows that lizards too may share this type of breathing. If University of Utah researchers are accurate with their findings, it would mean this unidirectional flow evolved long before the first birds, arising nearly 300 million years ago in a common ancestor of lizards, snakes, crocodiles and dinosaurs including birds. "We thought we understood how these lungs...

Alaska Shows no Sign of Rising Methane Levels, For Now

Nature World: Climate scientists will be happy to hear that Alaska, despite large temperature increases in recent decades, is showing no signs of rising methane levels, at least for now. Previous studies had suggested that methane from Alaskan soils was being released at unusually high rates, but the new NASA-led study, suggests otherwise, and "That's good news, because it means there isn't a large amount of methane coming out of the ground yet," lead author Rachel Chang said in a news release. Methane is...

The World is Doing Well to Protect Valuable Ecosystems

Nature World: A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) suggests that the world is well on track to meet a 2020 target for the expansion of protected ecosystems. This should come as a bit of surprise for many groups, who have been pressing the argument that officials aren't doing enough to protect declining species. The report was released today during the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress, and not only details the rate at which protected areas...

Brazil’s Laws Threaten Ecosystems With the ‘Three Apocalyptic D’s’

Nature World: Brazil's beautiful, diverse, and globally significant ecosystems could face downsizing, downgrading, and delisting - the "three apocalyptic D's" - if a set of new proposed mining laws go into effect. That's at least according to a report recently published in the journal Science, which details how Brazilian policymakers may be willing to let much of the hard work of conservationists over the last five decades be undone in the next 10 years as new mining and dam proposals are approved by their...

Brazil Fights Dengue With Modified Mosquitoes

Nature World: With Jack o' Lanterns rotting on our doorsteps and a crisp chill in the air, the last thing you may be worried about is a mosquito bite. However, these pests are still a very real concern some parts of the world. Experts in Brazil have been releasing modified mosquitoes in the thousands for the last few months in a unique effort to fight the spread of a painful disease known as Dengue fever. The fever is rarely fatal, with only about one percent of all infections resulting in severe hemorrhagic...

Death in Moderation is Good for Animal Population

Nature World: It may sound a bit backwards, but researchers found that a moderate amount of death in an animal population may actually help boost overall populations, helping experts better understand how to manage threatened fish and wildlife stocks. A study recently published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution details how most animal populations actually benefit in some way from the loss of an individual. However, this benefit heavily depends on the size and developmental stage of the creatures...

Rising Temperatures Could Stall the Fight Against Disease

Nature World: Water is one of the most common agents of illness, especially in highly populated regions with shared utilities. Now, a new report details how rising water temperatures across the globe could result in the increased prevalence of water-borne illnesses, making the prevention of disease far more difficult. That's at least according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change that details how China in particular could severely suffer from rising surface water temperatures. Nature World...