Der SPIEGEL berichtet am 4 August über die potenzielle Gefahr durch die mit dem Klimawandel eingewanderte Sandmücke. SPIEGEL: Der Klimawandel verändert Lebensräume – und kann damit auch die Gesundheit von Deutschen bedrohen. Forscher haben jetzt Sandmücken, potenzielle Überträger der gefährlichen Leishmaniose, in Hessen gefunden – so weit nördlich wie nie zuvor. “Es handelt sich um…
A contamination with the hepatotoxic microcystin, of the water supply in Toledo, Ohio, resulted in warnings for approx. 500,000 residents not to drink or use tap water. NBC: Sewage from treatment plants and fertilizer from farms streamed into the lake, triggering an algae bloom near an intake valve that sends water to Toledo and more than a dozen surrounding communities. The…
The study New constraints on atmospheric CO2 concentration for the Phanerozoic (DOI: 10.1002/2014GL060457), by Peter J. Franks, Dana L. Royer, David J. Beerling , Peter K. Van de Water, David J. Cantrill, Margaret M. Barbour, and Joseph A. Berry, estimates CO2 in Earth history based on a new climate proxy. Estimates are in particular based…
Recently a mysterious Siberian crater has been discovered, which subsequently raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the crater formation. Theories include Pingo formation and connections to the thawing of permafrost (ClimateState reported). Robert Scribbler, summed it up: One theory on the feature is that it might be a pingo — a melting of a permafrost water pocket…
Wikipedia: The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles, 40 AU) from Earth, as part of the solar system Family Portrait series of images. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a fraction of a pixel (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space. The Voyager 1 spacecraft,…
What are the true cost of living in the Anthropocene? Wikipedia: The Anthropocene is an informal geologic chronological term that serves to mark the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth‘s ecosystems. The term was coined recently by ecologist Eugene F. Stoermer and has been widely popularized by the Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen, who regards the…
This article explores the hypothesis that key human adaptations evolved in response to environmental instability. This idea was developed during research conducted by the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program. Natural selection was not always a matter of ‘survival of the fittest’ but also survival of those most adaptable to changing surroundings. By the Smithonian Background Paleoanthropologists – scientists who…
Update: As pointed out by one of the authors, Rhiannon Mondav, the microbe is not considered an entire new discovery. (See comment below). Phys.org explains: Scientists from The University of Queensland have discovered a microbe that is set to play a significant role in future global warming. UQ’s Australian Centre for Ecogenomics researcher Ben Woodcroft said…
Repost from 2012: Kate Scow – Professor of Soil Science and Microbial Ecology, UC Davis setup an excellent wiki entry about flooding on soils. Flooded soils occur with complete water saturation of soil pores, and generally result in anoxic conditions of the soil environment. Flooded soil environments may include such ecosystem as: rice paddies; wetlands (swamps,…