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Hot with decades of drought: Expectations for the Southwest
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on December 14th, 2010
Science Centric: An unprecedented combination of heat plus decades of drought could be in store for the Southwest sometime this century, suggests new research from a University of Arizona-led team.
To come to this conclusion, the team reviewed previous studies that document the region's past temperatures and droughts.
'Major 20th century droughts pale in comparison to droughts documented in palaeoclimatic records over the past two millennia,' the researchers wrote. During the Medieval period, elevated temperatures...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Hot with decades of drought: Expectations for the SouthwestDecline of West Coast fog brought higher coastal temperatures last 60 years
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on December 14th, 2010
Science Centric: Fog is a common feature along the West Coast during the summer, but a University of Washington scientist has found that summertime coastal fog has declined since 1950 while coastal temperatures have increased slightly.
Fog formation appears to be controlled by a high-pressure system normally present off the West Coast throughout the summer, said James Johnstone, a postdoctoral researcher with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the UW.
'The behaviour of that high-pressure...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Decline of West Coast fog brought higher coastal temperatures last 60 yearsEutrophication makes toxic cyanobacteria more toxic
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on December 6th, 2010
Science Centric: Continued eutrophication of the Baltic Sea, combined with an ever thinner ozone layer, is favouring the toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
'There are several species of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, that can form surface blooms in the Baltic Sea,' explains Malin Mohlin from the University of Gothenburg's Department of Marine Ecology. 'Which species ends up dominating a bloom depends partly on how they deal with an increased...
Poor stream health imperils fish
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on December 2nd, 2010
Science Centric: 'Of the 675 fish species found in southeastern waters, more than 25 percent are considered imperilled,' Donald J. Orth, the Thomas H. Jones Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment, told the audience of scientists during his keynote address at the Southeastern Fishes Council annual meeting in mid November 2010 in Athens, Ga. The theme of the meeting was 'Got Water? At the Crossroads of Fish Conservation and Water Supply.'
Orth's...
Many coastal wetlands likely to disappear this century
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on December 2nd, 2010
Science Centric: Many coastal wetlands worldwide - including several on the U.S. Atlantic coast - may be more sensitive than previously thought to climate change and sea-level rise projections for the 21st century.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists made this conclusion from an international research modelling effort published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union. Scientists identified conditions under which coastal wetlands could survive rising sea...
United States: Detroit’s urban farms could provide a majority of produce for local residents
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on November 17th, 2010
Science Centric: Transforming vacant urban lots into farms and community gardens could provide Detroit residents with a majority of their fruits and vegetables.
As city officials ponder proposals for urban farms, a Michigan State University study indicates that a combination of urban farms, community gardens, storage facilities and hoop houses - greenhouses used to extend the growing season - could supply local residents with more than 75 percent of their vegetables and more than 40 percent of their fruits.
The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Detroit’s urban farms could provide a majority of produce for local residentsInvading weed threatens devastation to western rangelands
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on November 12th, 2010
Science Centric: A new field study confirms that an invasive weed called medusahead has growth advantages over most other grass species, suggesting it will continue to spread across much of the West, disrupt native ecosystems and make millions of acres of grazing land almost worthless.
The research, by scientists from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service, was one of the most comprehensive studies ever done that compared the 'relative growth rate' of this invasive annual grass to that of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Invading weed threatens devastation to western rangelandsLeaking underground CO2 storage could contaminate drinking water
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on November 12th, 2010
Science Centric: Leaks from carbon dioxide injected deep underground to help fight climate change could bubble up into drinking water aquifers near the surface, driving up levels of contaminants in the water tenfold or more in some places, according to a study by Duke University scientists.
Based on a year-long analysis of core samples from four drinking water aquifers, 'We found the potential for contamination is real, but there are ways to avoid or reduce the risk,' says Robert B. Jackson, Nicholas Professor...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Leaking underground CO2 storage could contaminate drinking water