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Great Plains river basins threatened by pumping of aquifers
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on November 19th, 2011
Science Centric: Suitable habitat for native fishes in many Great Plains streams has been significantly reduced by the pumping of groundwater from the High Plains aquifer - and scientists analysing the water loss say ecological futures for these fishes are 'bleak.'
Results of their study have been published in the journal Ecohydrology.
Unlike alluvial aquifers, which can be replenished seasonally with rain and snow, these regional aquifers were filled by melting glaciers during the last Ice Age, the researchers...
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Biodiversity improves water quality in streams through a division of labour
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on April 9th, 2011
Science Centric: Biologically diverse streams are better at cleaning up pollutants than less rich waterways, and Bradley Cardinale, an assistant professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment, says he has uncovered the long-sought mechanism that explains why this is so. Cardinale reports his findings in the 7 April edition of the journal Nature.
He used 150 miniature model streams, which use recirculating water in flumes to mimic the variety of flow conditions found in natural streams. He grew...
Addressing the nuclear waste issue
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on April 6th, 2011
Science Centric: Researchers from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have an enhanced understanding of a common freshwater alga and its remarkable ability to remove strontium from water. Insight into this mechanism ultimately could help scientists design methods to remove radioactive strontium from existing nuclear waste.
Strontium 90, a major waste component, is one of the more dangerous radioactive fission materials created within a nuclear reactor. It is present in the approximately 80...
India releases tiger numbers as experts convene
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 29th, 2011
Science Centric: The Indian Government today released new tiger population numbers for the first time since 2007, indicating that numbers have increased in the country that has half of the world's remaining wild tigers.
The government estimated current tiger numbers in India at 1,706, up from 1,411 during the last count in 2007. However, the 1,706 figure includes an additional tiger reserve in the count, the Sundarbans, that contained 70 tigers. This area was not counted in 2007.
Therefore, when comparing the...
Study sheds light on how heat is transported to Greenland glaciers
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 29th, 2011
Science Centric: Warmer air is only part of the story when it comes to Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet. New research by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) highlights the role ocean circulation plays in transporting heat to glaciers.
Greenland's ice sheet has lost mass at an accelerated rate over the last decade, dumping more ice and fresh water into the ocean. Between 2001 and 2005, Helheim Glacier, a large glacier on Greenland's southeast coast, retreated 5 miles (8 kilometres) and...
The dark side of spring? Pollution in our melting snow
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 29th, 2011
Science Centric: With birds chirping and temperatures warming, spring is finally in the air. But for University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) environmental chemist Torsten Meyer, springtime has a dark side.
'During the winter months, contaminants accumulate in the snow,' says Meyer, an expert on snow-bound organic contaminants and a post-doctoral fellow at UTSC. 'When the snow melts, these chemicals are released into the environment at high concentrations.'
In a specially designed, temperature-controlled laboratory...
Wind can keep mountains from growing
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 29th, 2011
Science Centric: Wind is a much more powerful force in the evolution of mountains than previously thought, according to a new report from a University of Arizona-led research team.
Bedrock in Central Asia that would have formed mountains instead was sand-blasted into dust, said lead author Paul Kapp.
'No one had ever thought that wind could be this effective,' said Kapp, a UA associate professor of geosciences. 'You won't read in a textbook that wind is a major process in terms of breaking down rock material.'...
Intervention offers ‘best chance’ to save species endangered by climate change
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 18th, 2011
Science Centric: A University of York scientist is proposing a radical programme of 'assisted colonisation' to save species endangered by climate change.
Chris Thomas, Professor of Conservation Biology, says the strategy is applicable across the world, and he suggests Britain as a potential haven for species such as the Iberian lynx, the Spanish Imperial Eagle, the Pyrenean Desman and the Provence Chalkhill Blue butterfly.
In an opinion paper in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Professor Thomas, of the University's...
Plasticity of plants helps them adapt to climate change
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 17th, 2011
Science Centric: The study, which has been published in Trends in Plant Science, provides an overview of plants' molecular and genetic mechanisms, which is important for ecologists, physiologists and molecular biologists, since it covers the prime requirements for anticipating plants' response to global change.
The results show that plants in natural and agricultural systems have 'the capacity to adapt to a changing environment without requiring any evolutionary changes, which always happens over several generations,'...
Social class makes no difference to water contamination risk
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 16th, 2011
Science Centric: Wealthy, well educated people who choose to drink bottled water rather than water from public supplies may be no less exposed to potentially cancer-causing water contaminants, according to new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health.
As part of the EPICURO national bladder cancer study, researchers from all over Spain quizzed 1,270 individuals about their water use and consumption in an effort to discover whether social class has any bearing on exposure...