Emergency management in Arctic: Experts offer seven key recommendations
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Apr 02, 2014 -
Inadequate risk assessment, planning and training are among the gaps in many parts of Canada's Arctic, compounding the challenges of brutal weather, vast distances, difficult transportation and spotty communications and exposing the region's residents to the ever increasing risks of natural and man-made disasters and emergencies, according to a major new report released today.
In the repor ...
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Earth's dynamic interior
Tempe AZ (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
Seeking to better understand the composition of the lowermost part of Earth's mantle, located nearly 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) below the surface, a team of Arizona State University researchers has developed new simulations that depict the dynamics of deep Earth. A paper published March 30 in Nature Geoscience reports the team's findings, which could be used to explain the complex geochemist ...
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Scientists solve the riddle of zebras' stripes
Davis CA (SPX) Apr 02, 2014 -
Why zebras have black and white stripes is a question that has intrigued scientists and spectators for centuries. A research team led by the University of California, Davis, has now examined this riddle systematically. Their answer is published in the online journal Nature Communications.
The scientists found that biting flies, including horseflies and tsetse flies, are the evolutionary dr ...
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Effect of important air pollutants may be absent from key precipitation observations
Exeter, UK (SPX) Apr 02, 2014 -
Pioneering new research from the University of Exeter could have a major impact on climate and environmental science by drastically transforming the perceived reliability of key observations of precipitation, which includes rain, sleet and snow.
The ground breaking study examines the effect that increased aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere, emitted as a result of burning fossil fuels ...
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Satellite Shows High Productivity from US Corn Belt
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
Data from satellite sensors show that during the Northern Hemisphere's growing season, the Midwest region of the United States boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth, according to NASA and university scientists.
Healthy plants convert light to energy via photosynthesis, but chlorophyll also emits a fraction of absorbed light as fluorescent glow that is invisible t ...
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Evacuations as Peru volcano rumbles to life
Lima (AFP) April 01, 2014 -
A volcano in Peru that has not blown its top in four decades spewed more ash skyward on Tuesday, after authorities evacuated villagers to avoid Ubinas's wrath.
The volcano in southwestern Peru blasted back to life causing about 60 villagers from Querapi, near its base, to be relocated Saturday, Ubinas town mayor Pascual Coaquira said.
"We are readying a shelter for refugees from the bla ...
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Powerful quake hits Chile, sparking tsunami warnings
Santiago (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
A powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit near Chile's Pacific coast on Tuesday, sparking tsunami warnings for Chile, Peru and Ecuador, officials said.
The quake struck at 8:46 pm local time (2346 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles), 83 kilometers from Iquique on Chile's northern coast, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is ...
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Norway keeps whaling quota unchanged for 2014
Oslo (AFP) April 01, 2014 -
Norway maintained on Tuesday its quota of previous years to hunt up to 1,286 whales in its waters in 2014, despite whalers repeatedly catching less than the limit.
"This year too, we have decided on a quota which guarantees continuity and a good framework for the whaling sector," Fisheries Minister Elisabeth Aspaker said in a statement.
Norway formally objected to the 1986 commercial wha ...
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Dwarf Planet Discovery Could Help Show Life's Spread Through Solar System
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
On March 26, researchers announced the discovery of 2012 VP133, an estimated 280-mile wide (450-kilometer) object that lies just beyond the Kuiper Belt of icy objects that swarm outside of Neptune's orbit. The new object is nicknamed "Biden" after the vice-president of the United States, because both Joe Biden and 2012 VP133 are "VPs." It is one of only two dwarf planets discovered beyond the Ku ...
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Ancient whodunit may be solved: The microbes did it!
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
Evidence left at the crime scene is abundant and global: Fossil remains show that sometime around 252 million years ago, about 90 percent of all species on Earth were suddenly wiped out - by far the largest of this planet's five known mass extinctions. But pinpointing the culprit has been difficult, and controversial.
Now, a team of MIT researchers may have found enough evidence to convict ...
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