ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Planning by postcode: How prepared are cities for climate change?
• Seasonal carbon dioxide range expanding as more is added to Earth's atmosphere
• 'Grammar' plays key role in activating genes
• Protein required for cell movement identified
• Novel worm community affects methane release in ocean
• Protein that helps plants tolerate drought, flooding, other stresses discovered
• Young or old, song sparrows experience climate change differently from each other
• Melting water's lubricating effect on glaciers has only 'minor' role in future sea-level rise
• Climate benefit for cutting soot, methane smaller than previous estimates
• Soil biodiversity will be crucial to future land management and response to climate change
• Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe
• Irrigation in arid regions can increase malaria risk for a decade
• Communicating nightingales: Older males trill better
• Protein that delays cell division in bacteria may lead to identification of new antibiotics
• How 'teamwork' between egg and sperm works: Little-known protein identified in vertebrate fertilization process
• Simulating flow from volcanoes and oil spills
• California seafloor mapping reveals hidden treasures
• Sense of smell: The nose and the brain make quite a team... in disconnection
• Scientists have found new evidence to show how early humans migrated into Europe
• Killer fish with teeth? Danish swimmers escape waters fearing killer fish
• Weeds threaten carbon offset programs

Planning by postcode: How prepared are cities for climate change? Posted: 12 Aug 2013 05:35 PM PDT New 'Urban Climate Change Preparedness Score' highlights huge variations in the state of readiness for climate change across the UK, and will now be used to assess the preparedness of cities around the world.

Seasonal carbon dioxide range expanding as more is added to Earth's atmosphere Posted: 12 Aug 2013 02:03 PM PDT Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise and fall each year as plants, through photosynthesis and respiration, take up the gas in spring and summer, and release it in fall and winter. Now the range of that cycle is expanding as more carbon dioxide is emitted from burning fossil fuels and other human activities.

'Grammar' plays key role in activating genes Posted: 12 Aug 2013 02:03 PM PDT Researchers have probed deep into the cell's genome, beyond the basic genetic code, to begin learning the "grammar" that helps determine whether or not a gene gets switched on to make the protein it encodes.

Protein required for cell movement identified Posted: 12 Aug 2013 02:03 PM PDT Researchers have now illuminated a crucial step in the process of cell movement. The protein they examined, Exo70, induces a reshaping of the cell's plasma membrane, a necessary step in how a cell migrates from one location to another.

Novel worm community affects methane release in ocean Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:51 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a super-charged methane seep in the ocean off New Zealand that has created its own unique food web, resulting in much more methane escaping from the ocean floor into the water column. It will not make it into the atmosphere, where it could exacerbate global warming. However, the discovery does highlight scientists' limited understanding of the global methane cycle -- and specifically the biological interactions that create the stability of the ocean system.

Protein that helps plants tolerate drought, flooding, other stresses discovered Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:49 PM PDT Researchers have uncovered a protein that plays a vital role in how plant roots use water and nutrients, a key step in improving the production and quality of crops and biofuels.

Young or old, song sparrows experience climate change differently from each other Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:44 PM PDT What's good for adults is not always best for the young, and vice versa. At least that is the case with song sparrows and how they experience the effects of climate change, according to recent studies.

Melting water's lubricating effect on glaciers has only 'minor' role in future sea-level rise Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:44 PM PDT Concerns that melting water would speed up the decline of Greenland's ice sheet have been allayed by new research which shows the lubricating effect of water beneath glaciers will not significantly add to sea-level rise.

Climate benefit for cutting soot, methane smaller than previous estimates Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:44 PM PDT Cutting the amount of short-lived, climate-warming emissions such as soot and methane in our skies won't limit global warming as much as previous studies have suggested, a new study shows.

Soil biodiversity will be crucial to future land management and response to climate change Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:42 PM PDT Maintaining healthy soil biodiversity can play an important role in optimizing land management programs to reap benefits from the living soil. The findings extend the understanding about the factors that regulate soil biodiversity.

Neandertals made the first specialized bone tools in Europe Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:42 PM PDT Modern humans replaced Neandertals in Europe about 40,000 years ago, but the Neandertals' capabilities are still greatly debated. Some argue that before they were replaced, Neandertals had cultural capabilities similar to modern humans, while others argue that these similarities only appear once modern humans came into contact with Neandertals.

Irrigation in arid regions can increase malaria risk for a decade Posted: 12 Aug 2013 12:35 PM PDT New irrigation systems in arid regions benefit farmers but can increase the local malaria risk for more than a decade — which is longer than previously believed — despite intensive and costly use of insecticides, a new study in northwest India concludes.

Communicating nightingales: Older males trill better Posted: 12 Aug 2013 09:53 AM PDT Older male nightingales perform faster and more demanding trills than their younger rivals. With up to 100 trill elements a second, nightingales belong to the fastest singers.

Protein that delays cell division in bacteria may lead to identification of new antibiotics Posted: 12 Aug 2013 09:53 AM PDT Bacteria adjust to wide fluctuations in food supply by controlling how big they get and how often they divide. Scientists have just worked out the control system E. coli use to delay division so they can bulk up when food suddenly becomes abundant. What can be delayed can also be stopped, so the control system may provide an opportunity to design a new class of antibiotics.

How 'teamwork' between egg and sperm works: Little-known protein identified in vertebrate fertilization process Posted: 12 Aug 2013 09:13 AM PDT Researchers have decoded a previously unknown molecular mechanism in the fertilization process of vertebrates. The team of scientists have identified a specific protein in frog egg extracts that the male basal bodies need, but that is produced only by the reproductive cells of the female. This "teamwork" between the egg and sperm is what makes embryo development possible.

Simulating flow from volcanoes and oil spills Posted: 12 Aug 2013 09:11 AM PDT Some time around 37,000 BCE a massive volcano erupted in the Campanian region of Italy, blanketing much of Europe with ash, stunting plant growth and possibly dooming the Neanderthals. While our prehistoric relatives had no way to know the ash cloud was coming, a recent study provides a new tool that may have predicted what path volcanic debris would take.

California seafloor mapping reveals hidden treasures Posted: 12 Aug 2013 07:34 AM PDT Science and technology have peeled back a veil of water just offshore of California, revealing the hidden seafloor in unprecedented detail.

Sense of smell: The nose and the brain make quite a team... in disconnection Posted: 12 Aug 2013 07:30 AM PDT Scientists have just shown that the representation of an odor evolves after the first breath, and that an olfactory retentivity persists at the central level.

Scientists have found new evidence to show how early humans migrated into Europe Posted: 12 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT Humans originated in Africa.  But what route did they take as they began to disperse around the world 60,000 years ago?  A professor has played a key role in finding the answer to one of the most fundamental questions in the history of humankind.

Killer fish with teeth? Danish swimmers escape waters fearing killer fish Posted: 12 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT The capture in the Danish/Swedish strait of Oresund of a fish some 20 centimeters in size and with long sharp teeth has caused Danish swimmers to leave the water fearing an invasion of meat-eating killer fish, Piranhas. There is, however, no cause for panic, say experts. The fish, though exotic, is a Pacu, not a piranha. Nonetheless, they caution male swimmers to protect their privates when swimming in the sound.

Weeds threaten carbon offset programs Posted: 12 Aug 2013 07:26 AM PDT Researchers have identified gamba grass and other invasive weeds as a potential threat to landholder involvement in environmental offset programs such as the Carbon Farming Initiative. Strategic savanna burning is one way to reduce Australia's carbon emissions and create new markets in northern Australia, but the increased fuel load and emissions from weed infestations could make it unfeasible.

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