ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Stronger winds may explain puzzling growth of sea ice in Antarctica, model shows
• Human activity affects vertical structure of atmospheric temperature
• Death and disability from air pollution down 35 percent in the US
• Wetlands more cost-effective in nutrient removal, but multiple payments would be of uncertain value
• Clean energy least costly to power America's electricity needs
• How birds got their wings: Fossil data show scaling of limbs altered as birds originated from dinosaurs
• Energy from tides and currents: Best arrangement of tidal sails device determined
• Urban agriculture: The potential and challenges of producing food in cities
• Massive carbon credit sale announced in Madagascar
• Heavily logged forests still valuable for tropical wildlife
• Environmental complexity promotes biodiversity
• First-time measurements in Greenland snowpack show a drop in atmospheric carbon monoxide since 1950s
• French islands under threat from rising sea levels
• Ten-year project redraws the map of bird brains
• Mt. Zion dig reveals possible second temple period priestly mansion
• New organism discovered: Finding will help scientists understand the origins of multicellular life
• Plankton Portal uses crowd-sourcing to classify strange oceanic creatures
• Who was eating salmon 45,000 years ago in the Caucasus? Neandertals probably not as rigid in their diet as thought
• Accurate computer model of RNA tetraloop
• Model of dangerous bee disease in Jersey provides tool in fight against honeybee infections

Stronger winds may explain puzzling growth of sea ice in Antarctica, model shows Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:19 PM PDT Much attention is paid to melting sea ice in the Arctic. But less clear is the situation on the other side of the planet. Despite warmer air and oceans, there's more sea ice in Antarctica now than in the 1970s -- a fact often pounced on by global warming skeptics. The latest numbers suggest the Antarctic sea ice may be heading toward a record high this year. The reason may lie in the winds. A new modeling study shows that stronger polar winds lead to an increase in Antarctic sea ice, even in a warming climate.

Human activity affects vertical structure of atmospheric temperature Posted: 17 Sep 2013 10:23 AM PDT Human influences have directly impacted the latitude/altitude pattern of atmospheric temperature. That is the conclusion of a new report. The research compares multiple satellite records of atmospheric temperature change with results from a large, multi-model archive of simulations.

Death and disability from air pollution down 35 percent in the US Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:50 AM PDT Improvements in US air quality since 1990 have sparked a 35 percent reduction in deaths and disability specifically attributable to air pollution.

Wetlands more cost-effective in nutrient removal, but multiple payments would be of uncertain value Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:48 AM PDT Removing nitrogen from the environment "the natural way" by creating a wetland is a long-term, nutrient-removal solution, more cost effective than upgrading a wastewater treatment plant, but it isn't necessarily socially beneficial to offer landowners multiple payments for the environmental services that flow from such wetlands, according to a new study.

Clean energy least costly to power America's electricity needs Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:48 AM PDT Findings show carbon pollution from power plants can be cut cost-effectively by using wind, solar and natural gas. It's less costly to get electricity from wind turbines and solar panels than coal-fired power plants when climate change costs and other health impacts are factored in, according to a new study.

How birds got their wings: Fossil data show scaling of limbs altered as birds originated from dinosaurs Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:36 AM PDT Birds originated from a group of small, meat-eating theropod dinosaurs called maniraptorans sometime around 150 million years ago. Recent findings from around the world show that many maniraptorans were very bird-like, with feathers, hollow bones, small body sizes and high metabolic rates. But the question remains, at what point did forelimbs evolve into wings -- making it possible to fly?

Energy from tides and currents: Best arrangement of tidal sails device determined Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:36 AM PDT In the long sprint to find new sources of clean, low-cost power, slow and steady might win the race -- the slow-moving water of currents and tides, that is. Just as wind turbines tap into the energy of flowing air to generate electricity, hydrokinetic devices produce power from moving masses of water.

Urban agriculture: The potential and challenges of producing food in cities Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:36 AM PDT In light of their many benefits, urban gardens are popping up across the nation. But the challenges growers face must be understood and addressed if urban gardens are to become widespread and even profitable.

Massive carbon credit sale announced in Madagascar Posted: 17 Sep 2013 09:36 AM PDT The Government of Madagascar and the Wildlife Conservation Society have announced that 705,588 carbon credits are certified for sale from the Makira Forest REDD+ Project.

Heavily logged forests still valuable for tropical wildlife Posted: 17 Sep 2013 08:33 AM PDT New research has found rainforests that have been logged several times continue to hold substantial value for biodiversity and could have a role in conservation.

Environmental complexity promotes biodiversity Posted: 17 Sep 2013 08:33 AM PDT A new study helps explain how spatial variation in natural environments helps spur evolution and give rise to biodiversity.

First-time measurements in Greenland snowpack show a drop in atmospheric carbon monoxide since 1950s Posted: 17 Sep 2013 08:33 AM PDT A first-ever study of air trapped in the deep snowpack of Greenland shows that atmospheric levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in the 1950s were actually slightly higher than what we have today, not lower as has been predicted by computer models. And improved combustion technology has been linked to the lower CO levels.

French islands under threat from rising sea levels Posted: 17 Sep 2013 08:30 AM PDT By the year 2100, global warming will have caused sea levels to rise by 1 to 3 meters. This will strongly affect islands, their flora, fauna and inhabitants. Scientists have studied the impact of rising sea levels on 1,269 French islands throughout the world. Their model shows that between 5% and 12% of these islands could be totally submerged in the future. On a worldwide scale, they predict that about 300 endemic island species are at risk of extinction, while the habitat of thousands of others will be drastically reduced.

Ten-year project redraws the map of bird brains Posted: 17 Sep 2013 06:39 AM PDT Pursuing their interests in using the brains of birds as a model for the human brain, neuroscientists have just completed a mapping of the bird brain based on a 10-year exploration of the tiny cerebrums of eight species of birds.

Mt. Zion dig reveals possible second temple period priestly mansion Posted: 17 Sep 2013 06:39 AM PDT An archaeological dig at Jerusalem's Mount Zion has revealed the lower levels of what appears to be a first-century mansion, perhaps priestly, unusually well-preserved because of the historical vagaries of the city's rebirth following its 70 C.E. destruction by the Romans. The dig is revealing domestic details in the lives of Jesus's enemies, the city's elite classes, including luxury architectural elements and possible commercial interests.

New organism discovered: Finding will help scientists understand the origins of multicellular life Posted: 17 Sep 2013 06:38 AM PDT Researchers have discovered and characterized a new organism that will help scientists understand the molecular mechanisms and ancestral genetic toolkit that enabled animals and fungi to evolve into diverse, multicellular life forms.

Plankton Portal uses crowd-sourcing to classify strange oceanic creatures Posted: 17 Sep 2013 06:03 AM PDT Today, an online citizen-science project "Plankton Portal" launches. Plankton Portal allows you to explore the open ocean from the comfort of your own home. Dive hundreds of feet deep, and observe the unperturbed ocean and the myriad animals that inhabit the earth's last frontier.

Who was eating salmon 45,000 years ago in the Caucasus? Neandertals probably not as rigid in their diet as thought Posted: 17 Sep 2013 06:01 AM PDT Why did anatomically modern humans replace Neandertals in Europe around 40,000 years ago? One hypothesis suggests that Neandertals were rigid in their dietary choice, targeting large herbivorous mammals, such as horse, bison and mammoths, while modern humans also exploited a wider diversity of dietary resources, including fish. This dietary flexibility of modern humans would have been a big advantage when competing with Neandertals and led to their final success. But new research does not support this hypothesis.

Accurate computer model of RNA tetraloop Posted: 16 Sep 2013 05:39 PM PDT A computational model accurately simulates the complex twists of a short sequence of RNA as it folds into a critical hairpin structure known as a "tetraloop."

Model of dangerous bee disease in Jersey provides tool in fight against honeybee infections Posted: 16 Sep 2013 06:11 AM PDT Scientists have modelled an outbreak of the bee infection American foulbrood in Jersey, using a technique which could be applied to other honeybee diseases such as European foulbrood and the Varroa parasite.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Environment News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610