New method helps predict extreme floods in Andes
Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
This might allow for improved disaster preparedness. As the complex systems technique builds upon a mathematical comparison that can be utilised for any time series data, the approach could be applied to extreme events in all sorts of complex systems.
"Current weather forecast models cannot capture the intensity of the most extreme rainfall events, yet these events are of course the most d ...
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Earliest-known lamprey larva fossils unearthed in Inner Mongolia
Lawrence KS (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
Few people devote time to pondering the ancient origins of the eel-like lamprey, yet the evolutionary saga of the bloodsucker holds essential clues to the biological roots of humanity. This week, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a description of fossilized lamprey larvae that date back to the Lower Cretaceous - at least 125 million years ago.
They're the oldest ...
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First Detailed Map Of Carbon Stocks In Mexico Forests Unveiled
Falmouth MA (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
The Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) and Allianza MREDD+ released the first detailed map of aboveground forest carbon stocks of Mexico available for download. This carbon stock inventory is very valuable for Mexico, as one of the first tropical nations to voluntarily pledge to mitigation actions within the context of the United Nation's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradati ...
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Journey to the Center of the Earth
Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
A UC Santa Barbara geochemist studying Samoan volcanoes has found evidence of the planet's early formation still trapped inside the Earth. Known as hotspots, volcanic island chains such as Samoa can ancient primordial signatures from the early solar system that have somehow survived billions of years.
Matthew Jackson, an associate professor in UCSB's Department of Earth Science, and collea ...
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New 'tree of life' traces evolution of a mysterious cotinga birds
Ithaca NY (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
They are some of the brightest, loudest, oddest-looking, least-understood birds on the planet. Some have bulbous crests, long fleshy wattles, or Elvis-worthy pompadours in addition to electric blue, deep purple, or screaming orange feathers. But thanks to a comprehensive new evolutionary "tree of life" generated for the tropical cotinga family of South America, the door is now open to new discov ...
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Rising sea levels of 1.8 meters in worst-case scenario
Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
The climate is getting warmer, the ice sheets are melting and sea levels are rising - but how much? The report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013 was based on the best available estimates of future sea levels, but the panel was not able to come up with an upper limit for sea level rise within this century. Now researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute and their ...
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Weather History Time Machine
San Diego CA (SPX) Oct 17, 2014 -
During the 1930s, North America endured the Dust Bowl, a prolonged era of dryness that withered crops and dramatically altered where the population settled. Land-based precipitation records from the years leading up to the Dust Bowl are consistent with the telltale drying-out period associated with a persistent dry weather pattern, but they can't explain why the drought was so pronounced and lon ...
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