Environment

Aerial Sierra Nevada Forest in Drought (IMAGE)

May 31, 2019 08:14 AM EDT

Thinning Forests, Prescribed Fire Before Drought Reduced Tree Loss

Thinning forests and conducting prescribed burns may help preserve trees in future droughts and bark beetle epidemics expected under climate change, suggests a study from the University of California, Davis.

Disease Suppression: Common Scab (IMAGE)

May 29, 2019 08:56 AM EDT

Chloropicrin Application Increases Production and Profit Potential for Potato Growers

St. Paul, MN (May, 2019)--The chemical compound chloropicrin was first synthesized in 1848 by Scottish chemist John Stenhouse and first applied to agriculture in 1920 when it was used to cure tomato "soil sickness." Over the next decade, it was used to restore pineapple productivity in Hawaii and to address soil fungal problems in California. Over time, it began to be widely used as a fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, and nematicide.

North Atlantic Right Whale Breach (IMAGE)

May 29, 2019 08:29 AM EDT

Climate Driving New Right Whale Movement

EAST BOOTHBAY, Maine - New research connects recent changes in the movement of North Atlantic right whales to decreased food availability and rising temperatures in Gulf of Maine's deep waters. Right whales have been showing up in unexpected places in recent years, putting the endangered species at increased risk.

One of the Project's Oak Forests in Ytterhult, Småland (IMAGE)

May 28, 2019 11:33 AM EDT

Threatened Beetles Benefit from Forest Thinning

Wood-living beetles that use oak trees are a species-rich and threatened animal group in modern forestry and agriculture in southern Sweden. New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that management with conservation thinning can be an effective way to promote these beetles in the long term.

May 27, 2019 02:45 PM EDT

Study Uncovers Surprising Melting Patterns Beneath Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf

The ROSETTA-Ice project, a three-year, multi-institutional data collection survey of Antarctic ice, has assembled an unprecedented view of the Ross Ice Shelf, its structure and how it has been changing over time. In a study published today in Nature Geoscience, the ROSETTA-Ice team members detail how they discovered an ancient geologic structure that restricts where ocean water flows. The discovery suggests that local ocean currents may play a critical role in the ice shelf's future retreat.

May 24, 2019 09:30 AM EDT

Aftershocks of 1959 Earthquake Rocked Yellowstone in 2017-18

On Aug. 17, 1959, back when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, the U.S. had yet to send a human to space and the nation's flag sported 49 stars, Yellowstone National Park shook violently for about 30 seconds. The shock was strong enough to drop the ground a full 20 feet in some places. It toppled the dining room fireplace in the Old Faithful Inn. Groundwater swelled up and down in wells as far away as Hawaii. Twenty-eight people died. It went down in Yellowstone history as the Hebgen Lake earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2.

Cluster of Retrogressive thaw Slumps (IMAGE)

May 24, 2019 08:27 AM EDT

Widespread Permafrost Degradation Seen in High Arctic Terrain

Rapid changes in terrain are taking place in Canada's high Arctic polar deserts due to increases in summer air temperatures.

Unexpected Observation of Ice at Low Temperature, High Pressure Questions Ice, Water theory (IMAGE)

May 23, 2019 09:20 AM EDT

Unexpected Observation of Ice at Low Temperature, High Pressure Questions Water Theory

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 22, 2019--Through an experiment designed to create a super-cold state of water, scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutron scattering to discover a pathway to the unexpected formation of dense, crystalline phases of ice thought to exist beyond Earth's limits.

May 23, 2019 08:58 AM EDT

Strange Martian Mineral Deposit Likely Sourced from Volcanic Explosions

PROVIDENCE, RI [Brown University] -- Ashfall from ancient volcanic explosions is the likely source of a strange mineral deposit near the landing site for NASA's next Mars rover, a new study finds. The research, published in the journal Geology, could help scientists assemble a timeline of volcanic activity and environmental conditions on early Mars.

May 22, 2019 07:15 AM EDT

Stellar Waltz with Dramatic Ending

Astronomers at the University of Bonn and their colleagues from Moscow have identified an unusual celestial object. It is most likely the product of the fusion of two stars that died a long time ago. After billions of years circling around each other, these so-called white dwarfs merged and rose from the dead. In the near future, their lives could finally end - with a huge bang. The researchers are now presenting their findings in the journal Nature.

May 24, 2019 11:48 AM EDT

Have Environmental Regulations Become Too Difficult To Follow?

A brief analysis of the existing state of American environmental policy shows that companies and activists alike have been confounded by regulations recently because they’re grown to dizzying to follow.

May 21, 2019 11:30 AM EDT

Lake Sediment Records Reveal Recent Floods in NW England (UK) Unprecedented

A new study of UK lake sediment records stretching back over several centuries has found that the floods that hit Northern England in 2009 and 2015 ('Storm Desmond'), were the largest in 600 years, pointing to the impact of climate changes on the frequency and magnitude of these extreme events.

Plant Virus for Targeted Pesticide Delivery (IMAGE)

May 21, 2019 09:42 AM EDT

How Plant Viruses Can be Used to Ward Off Pests and Keep Plants Healthy

Imagine a technology that could target pesticides to treat specific spots deep within the soil, making them more effective at controlling infestations while limiting their toxicity to the environment.

All Representatives of Boreocingula (IMAGE)

May 20, 2019 01:39 PM EDT

Pseudohermaphrodite Snails can Help to Access How Polluted the Arctic Seas Are

Ivan Nekhaev, a postdoc at St Petersburg University, studied snails of the genus Boreocingula - tiny gastropods as small as half a centimeter - and first discovered that Arctic micro mollusks can show signs of pseudohermaphroditism. Boreocingula martini adult females grow underdeveloped male genital organs.

May 20, 2019 12:48 PM EDT

Size is Everything

(Jena, Germany) Natural ecosystems are as vulnerable as they are diverse. Environmental changes such as climate change, pollution or the spread of alien species can easily throw an ecosystem off balance. Researchers are therefore investigating how susceptible ecosystems are to disruption. But in their search for answers, they face the problem that the complex network of relationships includes innumerable interactions, which are virtually impossible to record comprehensively and convert into measurable data.