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UrduThe construction of a major railway through Kenya will have long-term environmental impacts on the area, suggesting more work needs to be done to limit the damage on future infrastructure projects, a major study reveals. The biggest impact of the…
Tag: Geography
Half of global wastewater treated, rates in developing countries still lagging
A new study by scientists at Utrecht University and the United Nations University concludes that about half of global wastewater is treated, rather than the previous estimate of 20%. Despite this promising finding, the authors warn that treatment rates in…
Man-made borders threaten wildlife as climate changes
Walls and fences designed to secure national borders could make it difficult for almost 700 mammal species to adapt to climate change, according to new research. The study led by Durham University, UK, is the first to look at how…
Fast-growing parts of africa see a surprise: less air pollution from seasonal fires
But growing urban emissions mean reprieve may be only temporary
Combined bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire spell uncertain future for forests
Bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire alone are not a death sentence for Colorado’s beloved forests–but when combined, their toll may become more permanent, shows new research from the University of Colorado Boulder. It finds that when wildfire follows a severe…
Where Black Americans Will Travel Farther than Whites for COVID-19 Vaccination
Similar to the idea of “food deserts,” many urban Black neighborhoods lack pharmacies, clinics, hospitals or health centers that can administer COVID-19 vaccines. The analysis, including a detailed facility map, points to the places where there is a need for temporary mass vaccination sites.
Global warming found to be culprit for flood risk in Peruvian Andes, other glacial lakes
As the planet warms, glaciers are retreating and causing changes in the world’s mountain water systems. For the first time, scientists at the University of Oxford and the University of Washington have directly linked human-induced climate change to the risk…
The Arctic Ocean was covered by a shelf ice and filled with freshwater
The Arctic Ocean was covered by up to 900 m thick shelf ice and was filled entirely with freshwater at least twice in the last 150,000 years. This surprising finding, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature ,…
Díaz, Lavorel and Westoby win the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology
The award has gone in this thirteenth edition to Sandra Díaz, Sandra Lavorel and Mark Westoby for cataloguing plant traits and their functions in ecosystems worldwide
Drone and landsat imagery shows long-term change in vegetation cover along intermittent river
Study examines vegetation cover change in the Kuiseb river in the Namib desert
Kangaroo overgrazing could be jeopardising land conservation, study finds
The native species has reached numbers that are contributing to drier soil and less vegetation – and may be more damaging to conservation areas than rabbits.
Scientists advocate breaking laws – of geography and ecology
Recent global calamities – the pandemic, wildfires, floods – are spurring interdisciplinary scientists to nudge aside the fashionable First Law of Geography that dictates “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” Geography,…
Much to glean when times are rough
Scientists say stable seafood consumption amongst the world’s poorer coastal communities is linked to how local habitat characteristics influence fishing at different times of the year. In the coastal communities of low-income countries, the seafood people catch themselves is often…
Improved model estimates impact of ozone on soy crops
The impact of ozone on soybean production can be predicted more accurately thanks to improvements to a computer modelling system. Surface ozone is a pollutant that affects plant growth by entering leaves and reducing the rate of photosynthesis, and rising…
Are plastics and microplastics in the Ocean on the increase?
The answer might not be so straightforward
Geological phenomenon widening the Atlantic Ocean
An upsurge of matter from deep beneath the Earth’s crust could be pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa, new research has found.
Culture shapes willingness to share personal data to reduce COVID-19 spread
Culture, civic-mindedness and privacy concerns influence how willing people are to share personal location information to help stem the transmission of COVID-19 in their communities, a new study finds.
Doctoral student leads paleoclimate study of precipitation and sea ice in Arctic Alaska
Findings demonstrate the interconnectedness of the Arctic and North Pacific on multimillennial timescales, consistent with future projections of less sea ice and more precipitation in Arctic Alaska
Counting elephants from space
For the first time, scientists have successfully used satellite cameras coupled with deep learning to count animals in complex geographical landscapes, taking conservationists an important step forward in monitoring populations of endangered species.
Understanding future species distribution: new data for biogeographers
Climate change impacts, affecting primarily ecosystems’ functions and consequently human sectors, have become a crucial topic. Observed and expected variations in climate conditions can in fact undermine the ecosystems’ ecological equilibrium: average climate patterns, mainly represented by intra-annual (monthly to…
New study of Earth’s crust shows global growth spurt three billion years ago
Curtin University researchers have used ancient crystals from eroded rocks found in stream sediments in Greenland to successfully test the theory that portions of Earth’s ancient crust acted as ‘seeds’ from which later generations of crust grew. The findings not…
Research Confirms Increase in River Flooding and Droughts in U.S., Canada
Regional study describes changes in extreme streamflow over last century
Magnets dim natural glow of human cells, may shed light on how animals migrate
Researchers in Japan have made the first observations of biological magnetoreception – live, unaltered cells responding to a magnetic field in real time.
New bacterial culture methods could result in the discovery of new species
The culture-dependent study allowed to isolate a surprisingly large number of diverse and previously unreported bacterial strains from the Tabernas Desert
A robotic revolution for urban nature
Drones, robots and autonomous systems can transform the natural world in and around cities for people and wildlife. International research, involving over 170 experts and led by the University of Leeds, assessed the opportunities and challenges that this cutting-edge technology…
Subscriptions to satellite alerts linked to decreased deforestation in Africa
MADISON, Wis. — Deforestation dropped by 18 percent in two years in African countries where organizations subscribed to receive warnings from a new service using satellites to detect decreases in forest cover in the tropics. The carbon emissions avoided by…
Surveys identify relationship between waves, coastal cliff erosion
Study shows waves, rainfall important parts of erosion process, providing new opportunity to improve forecasts
Human-made landscape promotes coexistence of two normally separated Andean warblers
Two Andean warbler species that typically occur at different elevations and hunt by tricking insects to escape can co-occur at the same elevation due to fragmentation of tropical montane forests caused by human agricultural practices
Caspian crisis: Sinking sea levels threaten biodiversity, economy and regional stability
The water levels of the Caspian Sea will be 9 to 18 meters lower than they are now, German and Dutch researchers calculate. In the Nature-journal Communications Earth & Environment they urge the world to act.
Scientists and philosopher team up, propose a new way to categorize minerals
A diamond lasts forever, but that doesn’t mean all diamonds have a common history
Melody of an Alpine summit falling apart
Seismometers listen to the resonance vibration of the Hochvogel, Allgäu
Current food production systems could mean far-reaching habitat loss
The global food system could drive rapid and widespread biodiversity loss if not changed, new research has found. Findings published in Nature Sustainability shows that the global food system will need to be transformed to prevent habitat loss across the…
New model reveals previously unrecognized complexity of oceanic earthquake zones
University of Tsukuba researchers have developed a state-of-the-art model, which has revealed major complexity in rupture processes even in simple oceanic faults
Fire-resistant tropical forest on brink of disappearance –
Research on Indonesia shows effect of human modification
Geology: Alpine summits may have been ice-free during life of Tyrolean Iceman
Alpine summits at 3,000 to 4,000 m may have been ice free until about 5,900 years ago, just before the lifetime of the Tyrolean Iceman (Oetzi), when new glaciers started to form, according to a study published in Scientific Reports…
Greenland ‘knickpoints’ could stall spread of glacial thinning
The jagged terrain of Greenland’s mountains is protecting some of the island’s outlet glaciers from warm coastal waters, according to a team of researchers that included scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and NASA. Outlet glaciers protrude from…
Plant diversity in Germany on the decline
Most comprehensive evaluation of the occurrence of vascular plants in Germany to date
A well-rooted study
Using remote sensing to keep an eye on the trees offers an effective way to monitor groundwater along river corridors in the Southwest
Climate change caused the demise of Central Asia’s river civilizations, not Genghis Khan
A new study challenges the long-held view that the destruction of Central Asia’s medieval river civilizations was a direct result of the Mongol invasion in the early 13th century CE.
Study: Oregon’s Western Cascades watershed to experience larger, more frequent fires
The Clackamas Basin rarely experiences the intense fire activity that burned in the watershed during the Labor Day fires, but new research out of Portland State University shows that wildfires like the Riverside Fire, which grew to 138,000 acres within days, could become more common under a warming climate, even under non-extreme wind conditions.
Critical temperature for tropical tree lifespan revealed
For the first time scientists have provided clear evidence that tropical tree lifespan decreases above a critical temperature threshold. Findings, published today (14 December) in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) show that across the tropics,…
Can sting rays and electric rays help us map the ocean floor?
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have completed a feasibility study indicating that electric rays and sting rays equipped with pingers will be able to map the seabed through natural exploration The ocean is…
“Birthday” of the roof of the world recalibrated
Third Pole rose to modern height much later than previously thought
First-known fossil iguana burrow found in the Bahamas
The finding fills in a gap of scientific knowledge for a prehistoric behavior of an iconic lizard
New study helps pinpoint when earth’s plate subduction began
Several billion-year-old rocks tell the story of the planet’s transition from alien landscape to one of continents, oceans, and ultimately life
Index reveals integrity issues for many of the world’s forests
Only 40 per cent of forests are considered to have high ecological integrity, according to a new global measure, the Forest Landscape Integrity Index. The Index was created by 47 forest and conservation experts from across the world, including Professor…
Warm oceans helped first human migration from Asia to North America
New research reveals significant changes to the circulation of the North Pacific and its impact on the initial migration of humans from Asia to North America. The new international study led by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at…
Assessment of racial/ethnic disparities in hospitalization, mortality in patients with COVID-19 in New York City
What The Study Did: COVID-19 outcomes based on race and ethnicity were compared in this observational study of patients in a large health system in New York City, and the association of any disparities with coexisting medical conditions and neighborhood characteristics…
Ancient migration was choice, not chance
Paleolithic people likely colonized the Ryukyu Islands intentionally
Greenland ice sheet faces irreversible melting
In a study published this week in The Cryosphere, researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and University of Reading demonstrate how climate change could lead to irreversible sea level rise as temperatures continue to rise and the Greenland ice sheet continues to decline.