FAIRBANKS, Alaska, March 4 (UPI) — U.S.-led scientists say part of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane has started leaking the gas into the Earth’s atmosphere.
The international team of researchers warns the release of just a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.
The scientists led by the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Assistant Professor Natalia Shakhova and Associate Professor Igor Semiletov say the frozen methane is becoming unstable because of the melting of permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf.
The scientists said their study suggests the permafrost that had long been thought to be an impermeable barrier has become perforated.
“The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world’s oceans,” said Shakhova. “Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap.”
Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
The East Siberian Arctic Shelf is a methane-rich area that encompasses more than 772,000 square miles of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean, more than three times as large as the Siberian wetlands that have been considered the primary Northern Hemisphere source of atmospheric methane.
“The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict,” Shakhova said.
The research is reported in the journal Science.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
Further information:
Posted in
Review green business profiles, read environmental news articles and browse green job listings for the New York (New York) area.
Browse through EcoWorld's listings of green business and environmental job listings for Los Angeles and other regions of California.
Review green business profiles, read environmental news articles and browse green job listings for the Chicago (Illinois) area.
Review green business profiles, read environmental news articles and browse green job listings for the Houston (Texas) area.
Review green business profiles, read environmental news articles and browse green job listings for the Phoenix (Arizona) area.
Review green business profiles, read environmental news articles and browse green job listings for the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) area.
At EcoWorld, we pride ourselves on providing accurate information on businesses, jobs, and articles that are local and relevant to the San Antonio, Texas area. If you can't find the type of information you're after, be sure to look into listings for other cities and towns of Bexar County or elsewhere in Texas.
At EcoWorld, we pride ourselves on providing accurate information on businesses, jobs, and articles that are local and relevant to the Dallas, Texas area. If you can't find the type of information you're after, be sure to look into listings for other cities and towns of Dallas County or elsewhere in Texas.
At EcoWorld, we pride ourselves on providing accurate information on businesses, jobs, and articles that are local and relevant to the San Diego, California area. If you can't find the type of information you're after, be sure to look into listings for other cities and towns of San Diego County or elsewhere in California.
At EcoWorld, we pride ourselves on providing accurate information on businesses, jobs, and articles that are local and relevant to the San Jose, California area. If you can't find the type of information you're after, be sure to look into listings for other cities and towns of Santa Clara County or elsewhere in California.
ATLANTA, March 4 (UPI) — U.S. and Dutch scientists say they’ve found climate change is increasing the spread of malaria in some countries, along with migration and land-use changes.
The researchers — Luis Fernando Chaves of Emory University in Atlanta and Constantianus Koenraadt at Wageningen University in the Netherlands — say their study was designed to resolve conflicting scientific conclusions as to of why malaria has been spreading into highland areas of East Africa, Indonesia, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
“We assessed … conclusions from both sides and found that evidence for a role of climate in the dynamics is robust,” they said. “However, we also argue that over-emphasizing a role for climate is misleading for setting a research agenda, even one which attempts to understand climate change impacts on emerging malaria patterns.”
Some studies link the spread of mosquitoes that carry the disease to the insects seeking warmer climates, the scientists said. But other studies found no evidence of warming in the highland regions, which would rule out climate change as a cause.
Chaves and Koenraadt re-examined more than 70 of the studies and said they found those ruling out a role for climate change often used inappropriate statistical tools, thereby casting doubt on the conclusions.
In contrast, they said they found most studies concluding climate change is playing a role in highland malaria were statistically strong,
The research appears in the current issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
BERLIN, March 4 (UPI) — The German branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said a polar bear housed at the Berlin Zoo should be castrated to avoid breeding.
Frank Albrecht, the head of the PETA branch, said if Knut the polar bear is not castrated, the popular Berlin Zoo attraction could end up mating with a female polar bear on loan from the Munich Zoo, The Times of London said Thursday.
Albrecht said such breeding efforts would essentially represent an act of incest and could result in offspring suffering from genetic abnormalities.
“They have a common grandfather, Olaf, and they are therefore cousins,” he said.
“A long-term cohabitation between Giovanna and Knut is only feasible if Knut is castrated.”
The Times said it is likely Giovanna will return to the Munich Zoo before the two bears become sexually mature enough to procreate.
“We’ll send Giovanna back to Munich, by the autumn at the latest,” Berlin Zoo senior bearkeeper Heiner Klos said.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has identified the source of recent food contamination by salmonella bacteria.
Officials said the Salmonella Tennessee bacterium was found in a Las Vegas company’s equipment that manufactures hydrolyzed vegetable protein, a common ingredient used as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, including soups, sauces, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings.
The manufacturer of the affected product is Basic Food Flavors Inc. and the FDA said only hydrolyzed vegetable protein manufactured by that company is involved in the contamination.
The company said it is recalling all hydrolyzed vegetable protein in powder and paste produced since Sept. 17.
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections.
The FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies and state health departments say they are monitoring and assessing the potential risks of illness from the affected products.
The FDA says consumers can find additional information and a list of all recalled products at http://www.foodsafety.gov.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
STONINGTON, Conn., March 4 (UPI) — Police in a Connecticut town are warning residents to be wary of an aggressive red-tailed hawk blamed for at least five attacks on humans.
Stonington police Capt. Jerry Desmond said the attacks date back to the summer and the latest incident involved the bird of prey cutting the side of a woman’s head with its talons, The Day, New London, Conn., reported Thursday.
“We’re concerned because the bird seems to be becoming more and more territorial,” Desmond said.
Kathy Baker, the woman attacked by the hawk Tuesday, said she was released from the hospital after the cut to the left side of her head was cleaned and she was given a tetanus shot.
“I know the people it’s happened to so I thought it might happen to me sooner or later,” Baker said. “I just hope they can do something to get rid of it.”
Superintendent of Schools Leanne Masterjoseph said children will be kept inside during recess until the situation is resolved.
Animal Control Officer Rae-Jean Davis said officials have no plans to kill the bird, but they may move its nest to an area further away from humans.
“It’s in a bad area,” she said.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, March 4 (UPI) — U.S.-led scientists say part of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane has started leaking the gas into the Earth’s atmosphere.
The international team of researchers warns the release of just a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.
The scientists led by the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Assistant Professor Natalia Shakhova and Associate Professor Igor Semiletov say the frozen methane is becoming unstable because of the melting of permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf.
The scientists said their study suggests the permafrost that had long been thought to be an impermeable barrier has become perforated.
“The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world’s oceans,” said Shakhova. “Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap.”
Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
The East Siberian Arctic Shelf is a methane-rich area that encompasses more than 772,000 square miles of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean, more than three times as large as the Siberian wetlands that have been considered the primary Northern Hemisphere source of atmospheric methane.
“The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict,” Shakhova said.
The research is reported in the journal Science.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
SALT LAKE CITY, March 3 (UPI) — An international team of paleontologists says it has discovered a new species of dinosaur-like animals called Asilisaurus kongwe.
The first bones of the new species — part of a newly recognized group known as silesaurs — came from the Triassic Period in Africa and were found in 2007, scientists said.
The team — including included Randall Irmis, curator of paleontology at the Utah Museum of Nature History — said Asilisaurus falls just outside of the dinosaur family tree. The species lived approximately 10 million years earlier than the oldest known dinosaurs.
Fossil bones of at least 14 individuals were recovered from a single bone bed in southern Tanzania. The researchers said the species stood about 1.5 to 3 feet tall at the hips, were 3 to 10 feet long and weighed about 22 to 66 pounds. They walked on four legs and most likely ate plants or a combination of plants and meat.
“The crazy thing about this new dinosaur discovery is that it is so very different from what we all were expecting, especially the fact that it is herbivorous and walked on four legs, Irmis said.
The discovery that involved scientists from the University of Texas at Austin, the Burke Museum and the University of Washington in Seattle, the Field Museum in Chicago, the Iziko South African Museum and Germany’s Humboldt University appears in the journal Nature.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
ORLANDO, Fla., March 3 (UPI) — Central Florida Zoo officials said the third-oldest Asian zoo elephant on record has died at 63.
The elephant, named Mary, died Tuesday night, WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., reported Wednesday.
“This is a very sad occurrence. A necropsy is being conducted to determine the specific cause of death,” Bonnie Breitbeil, Director of Animal Collections, said. “Staff is deeply saddened as we feel we have lost a very dear friend. Additionally, elephants, just like people, go through a mourning process.”
Mary was the matriarch of her group since coming to the Central Florida Zoo in 1983. She was born at the Nehru Zoological Park in India in 1946, came to America in 1952 to the Polack Bros. Circus and retired to the Dallas Zoo in 1956 before her final move to Florida, WKMG-TV said.
The Central Florida Zoo is accepting donations in the elephant’s memory, to be sent to the Elephant Conservation Program to help endangered elephants in the wild.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
SANTIAGO, Chile, March 3 (UPI) — Chilean President Michelle Bachelet faces growing criticism that her government’s response to last week’s earthquake was too little, too late, observers say.
In a radio interview, Bachelet said she resented the allegations against the government, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
“Everyone claims to be a general after the war,” she said.
The military’s emergency response system failed to give timely warning a tsunami might strike, critics say, and they charge the government with being slow to utilize its relief resources, the Times reported.
Such accusations, Bachelet said, were inflaming public anxiety — which she called “collective psychosis” — threatening to create countrywide instability.
“I understand people’s pain and fear,” she said, “but in this period of emergency, unfounded rumors only add to the unease and fear.”
The death toll had exceeded 800 by Wednesday, and overall damage estimates have been as high as $30 billion, the Times reported.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
URBANA, Ill., March 4 (UPI) — An apple a day may indeed keep the doctor away by reducing inflammation associated with obesity-related diseases, U.S. researchers say.
Gregory Freund, a professor at the University of Illinois, says soluble fiber found in oats, apples and nuts reduces inflammation associated with obesity-related diseases and strengthens the immune system.
“Soluble fiber changes the personality of immune cells — they go from being pro-inflammatory, angry cells to anti-inflammatory, healing cells that help us recover faster from infection,” Freund said in a statement.
Soluble fiber causes increased production of the anti-inflammatory protein interleukin-4, Freund said.
In the study, laboratory mice consumed low-fat diets that were identical except that they contained either soluble or insoluble fiber. After six weeks on the diet, the animals had distinctly different responses when the scientists induced illness by introducing a substance — lipopolysaccharide — that causes the body to mimic a bacterial infection.
“Two hours after lipopolysaccharide injection, the mice fed soluble fiber were only half as sick as the other group, and they recovered 50 percent sooner,” Freund said.
The study is published online ahead of print in the May issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
PARIS, March 4 (UPI) — The European Space Agency says it has updated its 12-year-old Eduspace Web site that’s designed for Europe’s secondary students and teachers.
“Since its introduction in 1998, (Eduspace) has provided an invaluable educational resource by making available catalogues of Earth imagery and a sophisticated image processing software package called LEOWorks, which enables satellite imagery to be manipulated and analyzed on school computers,” the ESA said.
“The new version of Eduspace is easier to navigate and use,” the space agency said. “The cornerstones of the Web site are the case studies. They provide teachers and students with examples of in-depth studies of a selected area, within a particular theme. The background information and varied exercises are intended to provide a valuable source of ideas about how to introduce Earth observation from space into the classroom.”
Eduspace is currently available in eight languages: English, French, German, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, ESA officials said, noting other language versions are planned.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.