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Tag Archives: global warming

Fungi as carbon keepers

By Stephen Ornes / April 11, 2013

A recent study of forested Swedish islands found that tiny fungi in the soil store most of the carbon found in the forest floor. Credit: Photo courtesy of Karina Clemmensen

A common type of fungus stores most of a forest floor’s carbon underground

Posted in Environment & Pollution, Microbes, Fungi & Algae | Tagged carbon, carbon dioxide, ecology, Erik Hobbie, fungus, getinvolved, global warming, greenhouse gas, Karina Clemmensen, roots, soil, Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, trees, University of New Hampshire, Uppsala

Cool Jobs: Green Science

By Sharon Oosthoek / March 14, 2013

White spruce grow across northern North America, from Alaska to Labrador. As Arctic temperatures rise, spruce are spreading even farther north. Credit: Mark W. Skinner at USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Scientists get at the root (and stem, leaf, flower, fruit and seed) of the relationship between plants and their environment

Posted in Agriculture, Plants, STEM Careers | Tagged air pollution, air pollution control, albedo, allelopathy, arabidopsis, benzene, Bill Wolverton, birch, botany, climate change, contaminants, cool jobs, ecology, feature, forests, formaldehyde, global warming, greenhouse effect, greenhouse effectPlants, herbicide, houseplants, Joseph Jez, juglone, Labrador, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, plant chemistry, plants, Pollination, pollinator, Quebec, rice, seeds, Serge Payette, sorghum, spruce, topstories, transpiration, tree line, trees, trichloroethylene, tundra, Université Laval, Washington University, weed killers, X-ray crystallography

Predators as climate helpers

By Janet Raloff / February 18, 2013

This freshwater stickleback eats the tiny animals in stream water that graze on plants and algae. This predation allows those plants and algae to collect and store carbon, rather than letting it escape into the atmosphere. Credit: Nicole Bedford, UBC

In lakes and streams, fish and insects can help protect aquatic plants that gobble up greenhouse gas

Posted in Earth & Sky, Environment & Pollution, Weather & Climate | Tagged algae, bromeliad, carbon dioxide, climate, damselfly, ecology, ecosystem, food chain, food web, getinvolved, global warming, grazers, greenhouse gases, James Estes, John Richardson, phytoplankton, ponds, predators, primary production, Santa Cruz, stickleback, stonefly, streams, topstories, Trisha Atwood, trophic levels, University of British Columbia, University of California, zooplankton

Climate’s troublesome kids

By Stephen Ornes / January 30, 2013

During a climate event known as El Niño (shown on the left), the surface of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean warms along the equator (red). During a La Niña event (on the right), the same region cools (blue). Credit: NOAA

The recurring climate events El Niño and La Niña trigger long-lived changes to weather around the world

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Benjamin Giese, buoys, Carmen Boening, climate, climate change, Columbia University, currents, drought, El Niño, ENSO, equator, feature, flooding, global warming, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, La Nina, Miriam Marlier, NASA, NOAA, satellites, Southern Oscillation, storms, Texas A&M University, topstories, trade winds, weather, wildfire

Less ice, more seawater

By Stephen Ornes / December 20, 2012

Meltwater on the Greenland ice sheet carved this canyon.

Credit: Ian Joughin

Shrinking ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels, large-scale study confirms

Posted in Earth | Tagged Andrew Shepherd, Antarctica, Arctic, climate change, earth science, England, environmental science, getinvolved, glacier, global warming, Greenland, ice sheet, icebergs, Penn State University, satellites, sea level rise, snow, topstories, University of Leeds

Trees on the edge

By Stephen Ornes / December 14, 2012

A dead beech tree in Scotland. The majority of the world’s trees, including this type, would be pushed close to the point of death in a serious drought, a new study reports. Credit: Dr. Hervé Cochard (INRA, Clermont-Ferrand, France)

Serious drought is a threat to most trees, worldwide survey finds

Posted in Environment & Pollution | Tagged Brendan Choat, climate change, David Breshears, drought, ecology, getinvolved, global warming, plant physiology, plants, University of Arizona in Tucson, University of Western Sydney, xylem

Evolution of a Frankenstorm

By Stephen Ornes / November 15, 2012

Sandy the superstorm hit the U.S. East Coast just before Halloween, devastating cities in New Jersey and New York. Credit: Robert Simmon/NASA/NOAA GOES Project science team

Huge, late October hurricane turned into a superstorm that savaged much of the eastern United States

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Atlantic City, atmospheric pressure, Caribbean, climate, climate change, earth science, flood, getinvolved, global warming, hurricane, jet stream, National Hurricane Center, ridge, Sandy, Shuyi Chen, storm surge, topstories, tropical wave, trough, University of Miami

Watching our seas rise

By Douglas Fox / November 8, 2012

Satellites, coral reefs, ancient Roman fishponds and sinking cities help us understand how humans are changing sea level

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Antarctica, Bruce Douglas, carbon dioxide, climate, climate change, corals, El Niño, ENSO, feature, Fernando Siringan, Florida State University, Fossil fuels, glaciers, global change, global warming, greenhouse gases, Greenland, Harold Wanless, Helsinki University of Technology, hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, Jason 2, Jason-3, Jeremy Weiss, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jonathan Overpeck, Josh Willis, JPL, KAMANAVA, Martin Vermeer, meltwater, Meltwater Pulse 1A, NASA, New Orleans, NOAA, ocean height, Paul Hearty, reefs, Robert Deyle, Roman fish ponds, satellites, sea level rise, subsidence, tide gauge, topstories, University of Arizona, University of Miami, University of North Carolina, University of the Philippines

Bird malaria moves north

By Stephen Ornes / October 10, 2012

Black-capped chickadees, like the one shown here, stay in Fairbanks, Alaska, year-round. Scientists report that some of the birds have been found with avian malaria, suggesting that the germ that causes the disease has established itself in the far North. Credit: Mdf/wikipedia

Germs that cause a so-called tropical disease make themselves at home in frosty Alaska

Posted in Animals | Tagged Adaptation, avian malaria, birds, blood, climate change, disease, disease ecology, ecology, epidemiology, evolution, getinvolved, global warming, malaria, microbes, microbiology, mosquito, parasite, protozoa, Ravinder Sehgal, Robert Fleischer, San Francisco State University, Smithsonian Institution, tropical disease

Icy inns at Earth’s end

By Stephen Ornes / September 26, 2012

Penguins like icebergs because they offer a safe perch in waters full of food — and foes. Credit: Nate Biletnikoff/National Science Foundation

Intrepid researchers discover icebergs host large and lively communities of life

Posted in Earth | Tagged B-15A, feature, global warming, Iceberg Alley, icebergs, Ken Smith, krill, leopard seals, Paul McGill, Penguins, phytoplankton, Ron Kaufmann, topstories, Weddell Sea

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