ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• How forests thrive after fires and volcanoes
• Researchers unlock secret of the rare 'twinned rainbow'
• Microbes, sponges, and worms add to coral reef woes
• Forensic tools for catching poachers
• Limits of microbial life in an undersea volcano: Third of Earth's organisms live in rock and sediments
• Correlation between injection wells and small earthquakes discovered
• Researchers peek at the early evolution of sex chromosomes
• Black drink: Evidence of ritual use of caffeinated brew at Cahokia
• New study defines the genetic map of the Jewish diasporas
• Increased productivity, not less energy use, results from more efficient lighting
• New bird species discovered in 'cloud forest' of Peru
• Airborne technology helps manage elephants
• New approaches needed for uncovering, identifying, and treating buried chemical warfare material
• New Hampshire leads contiguous United States in percent tree cover
• Ecology and phylogenetics together offer new views of Earth's biodiversity
• Research links extreme summer heat events to global warming
• Virtual nanoscopy: Like 'Google Earth' for cell biologists
• Hydraulic fracturing poses substantial water pollution risks, analysts say
• Scientists predict impact of ocean acidification on shellfish

How forests thrive after fires and volcanoes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:13 PM PDT Forests hammered by windstorms, avalanches and wildfires may appear blighted, but a researcher says such disturbances can be key to maximizing an area's biological diversity. In fact land managers can alter their practices to enhance such diversity, creating areas with a wide variety of species, including rare and endangered plants and animals, experts say.

Researchers unlock secret of the rare 'twinned rainbow' Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Scientists have yet to fully unravel the mysteries of rainbows, but a group of researchers have used simulations of these natural wonders to unlock the secret to a rare optical phenomenon known as the twinned rainbow.

Microbes, sponges, and worms add to coral reef woes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Microbes, sponges, and worms -- the side effects of pollution and heavy fishing -- are adding insult to injury in Kenya's imperiled reef systems, according to a recent study.

Forensic tools for catching poachers Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT The trade in ivory was largely outlawed in 1989, but poaching continues and remains a serious threat to the African elephant. Seizures of large amounts of ivory, sometimes over a ton, continue to occur. Scientists have now found a way to determine just where the ivory comes from.

Limits of microbial life in an undersea volcano: Third of Earth's organisms live in rock and sediments Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT By some estimates, a third of the Earth's organisms by mass live in our planet's rocks and sediments, yet their lives and ecology are almost a complete mystery. Microbiologists have just revealed the first detailed data about a group of methane-exhaling microbes that live deep in the cracks of hot undersea volcanoes.

Correlation between injection wells and small earthquakes discovered Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Most earthquakes in the Barnett Shale region of north Texas occur within a few miles of one or more injection wells used to dispose of wastes associated with petroleum production such as hydraulic fracturing fluids, according to new research. None of the quakes identified in the two-year study were strong enough to pose a danger to the public.

Researchers peek at the early evolution of sex chromosomes Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Two new studies offer insight into sex chromosome evolution by focusing on papaya, a multimillion dollar crop plant with a sexual problem (as far as growers are concerned) and a complicated past.

Black drink: Evidence of ritual use of caffeinated brew at Cahokia Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT People living 700 to 900 years ago in Cahokia, a massive settlement near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, ritually used a caffeinated brew made from the leaves of a holly tree that grew hundreds of miles away, researchers report.

New study defines the genetic map of the Jewish diasporas Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:11 PM PDT A new genetic analysis focusing on Jews from North Africa has provided an overall genetic map of the Jewish Diasporas. The findings support the historical record of Middle Eastern Jews settling in North Africa during Classical Antiquity, proselytizing and marrying local populations, and, in the process, forming distinct populations that stayed largely intact for more than 2,000 years.

Increased productivity, not less energy use, results from more efficient lighting Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT Improvements in lighting -- from candles to gas lamps to electric bulbs -- historically have led to increased light consumption rather than lower overall energy use by society, researchers argue in a new article.

New bird species discovered in 'cloud forest' of Peru Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT A colorful, fruit-eating bird with a black mask, pale belly and scarlet breast – never before described by science – has been discovered following an expedition to the remote Peruvian Andes.

Airborne technology helps manage elephants Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT For years, scientists have debated how big a role elephants play in toppling trees in South African savannas. Tree loss is a natural process, but it is increasing in some regions, with cascading effects on the habitat for many other species. Using high resolution 3-D mapping, scientists have for the first time quantitatively determined tree losses across savannas of Kruger National Park. They found that elephants are the primary agents.

New approaches needed for uncovering, identifying, and treating buried chemical warfare material Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT The current approach for identifying and destroying buried chemical munitions and related chemical warfare materials uncovered during environmental remediation projects is neither reliable enough nor has the capability to efficiently tackle large-scale projects, says a new report.

New Hampshire leads contiguous United States in percent tree cover Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Tree cover in the nation's Lower 48 states covers 659 million acres, more than one-third of the nation, according to a US Forest Service study of national tree cover and impervious surfaces. New Hampshire leads the nation in percent tree cover (89 percent), followed by Maine (83 percent) and Vermont (82 percent). Percent tree cover is highest in Connecticut (67 percent) and lowest in Nevada (10 percent).

Ecology and phylogenetics together offer new views of Earth's biodiversity Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT Scientists are taking a new look at Earth patterns, studying the biodiversity of yard plants in the US and that of desert mammals in Israel, studying where flowers and bees live on the Tibetan plateau and how willow trees in America's Midwest make use of water.

Research links extreme summer heat events to global warming Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT A new statistical analysis by NASA scientists has found that Earth's land areas have become much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century.

Virtual nanoscopy: Like 'Google Earth' for cell biologists Posted: 06 Aug 2012 09:59 AM PDT Just as users of Google Earth can zoom in from space to a view of their own backyard, researchers can now navigate biological tissues from a whole embryo down to its subcellular structures thanks to recent advances in electron microscopy and image processing.

Hydraulic fracturing poses substantial water pollution risks, analysts say Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:39 AM PDT Researchers find multiple potential threats to water sources posed by hydraulic fracturing as the jobs-producing practice expands.

Scientists predict impact of ocean acidification on shellfish Posted: 06 Aug 2012 05:52 AM PDT An international study will help us to understand and predict the likely impact of ocean acidification on shellfish and other marine organisms living in seas from the tropics to the poles.

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