Formation of ice crystals is necessary for precipitation formation in many clouds, and the numbers of crystals formed is linked to the abundance of larger aerosol particles in the atmosphere, according to a study led by Paul DeMott and Anthony Prenni, research scientists in the Atmospheric Science department at Colorado State, appearing in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Continue Reading →
Posts Tagged ‘Environment’
As global warming raises ocean temperatures, many corals blanch and die, a phenomenon called “coral bleaching.” And pumping large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere could make the ocean more acidic, further decimating corals and the fish that depend on them for food and shelter.
Millions of people inhabit coral reefs around the world, putting additional pressure on reef menageries. Establishing sustainable fisheries, even at remote islands and atolls, could significantly slow the decline of many reefs, say marine ecologists. Continue Reading →
Green buildings doesn’t protect human health from environmental hazards- from the new report of Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI)
The lead author of this study is John Wargo, Ph.D., professor of Risk Analysis and Environmental Policy at Yale University.
Wargo summarized the study, “Although the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program has effectively encouraged energy efficiency in buildings, tighter buildings often concentrate chemicals released from building materials, cleaning supplies, fuel combustion, pesticides and other hazardous substances.” Continue Reading →
Norman, Okla.—Scientists at the University of Oklahoma and the Fudan University in Shanghai, China, have found that reforestation and afforestation — the creation of new forests — may lower the potential of forests for climate change lessening.
Yiqi Luo, professor of ecology in the OU College of Arts and Sciences Department of Botany and Microbiology, and Changzhang Liao, Bo Li and Changming Fang, professors of ecology in the Fudon University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, examined whether plantations have the same ecosystem carbon stock as natural forests.
By synthesizing 86 experimental studies between plantations and their natural forest counterparts, Luo and colleagues found plantations substantially reduce carbon stock in ecosystems in comparison with natural forests. Continue Reading →
