Ocean’s deadly low-oxygen zones growing, are sensitive to small changes in climate

By Kim DeRose, kderose@support.ucla.edu 16 June 2011 Fluctuations in climate can drastically affect the habitability of marine ecosystems, according to a new study by UCLA scientists that examined the expansion and contraction of low-oxygen zones in the ocean. The UCLA research team, led by assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences Curtis Deutsch, used a specialized […]

Record ‘dead zone’ predicted in Gulf of Mexico for Summer 2011

By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY16 Jun 2011 The so-called dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — a region of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana and Texas coasts that is harmful to sea life — is predicted to be the largest ever recorded when it develops later this summer, scientists report. The unusually large size […]

A report card for China’s environment

By Jonathan Watts3 June 2011 The Chinese government issued its annual “State of the Environment” report on Friday. Here are the highlights along with my interpretation and year-end grade for each subject based on the following standard: A – World classB – GoodC – PassableD – Poor but showing signs of improvementE – Poor and […]

Damaging the Earth to feed its people

By JUSTIN GILLIS4 June 2011 On a warming planet, humanity faces a great challenge in feeding itself at reasonable cost in the coming century, as I explain in Sunday’s paper. An issue I raise only in passing in the article is that agriculture itself is one of the earth’s greatest environmental threats. To put a […]

China’s seven river systems are all polluted

By Mu Qing, Epoch Times Staff6 June 2011 The overall environmental situation in China is very grim with all seven major river systems polluted, according to Li Ganjie, Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, speaking at a press conference on June 3 to discuss the Report of the State of the Environment […]

Scientists argue against conclusion that bacteria consumed Deepwater Horizon methane

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2011) — A technical comment published in the May 27 edition of the journal Science casts doubt on a widely publicized study that concluded that a bacterial bloom in the Gulf of Mexico consumed the methane discharged from the Deepwater Horizon well. The debate has implications for the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem […]

Greenhouse ocean study offers warning for future

Contact: David Ellis (email)websiteMedia OfficerMarketing & Strategic CommunicationsThe University of AdelaideBusiness: +61 8 8303 5414Mobile: +61 421 612 762 The mass extinction of marine life in our oceans during prehistoric times is a warning that the Earth will see such an extinction again because of high levels of greenhouse gases, according to new research by […]

Sewage-derived nitrogen increasingly polluting Caribbean ecosystems

Contact: Maggie Barrettbarrett@american.edu202-885-5951American University (American University) A study published in the journal Global Change Biology finds that while fertilizer has been the dominant source of nitrogen pollution in Caribbean coastal ecosystems for the past 50 years, such pollution is on the decline. But now, sewage-derived nitrogen is increasingly becoming the top source of such pollution […]

Scientists surprised, cautious over environment’s apparent post-oil spill recovery

By Ben Raines, Press-Register 21 April 2011 Researchers contacted by the Press-Register expressed almost uniform surprise at the apparent rebound in nearshore environments a year after 200 million gallons of oil began pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. With the caveat that much remains unknown — and problems could still emerge at any time — […]

Algae and bacteria hogged oxygen after ancient mass extinction, slowing recovery of marine life: Stanford researchers

After the biggest mass extinction in Earth’s history – 250 million years ago – algae and bacteria in the ocean rebounded so fast that they consumed virtually all the oxygen in the sea, slowing the recovery of the rest of marine animals for several million years. BY LOUIS BERGERONMarch 24, 2011 A mass extinction is […]

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