ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Study provides insights on protecting world's poor from climate change
• An unprecedented threat to Peru's cloud forests
• Calculating the true cost of a ton of mountaintop coal
• Pacific humpback whale abundance higher in British Columbia
• Australian tarantula venom contains novel insecticide against agricultural pests
• Paleorivers across Sahara may have supported ancient human migration routes
• Orangutans plan their future route and communicate it to others
• The final nail in the Jurassic Park coffin: Next generation sequencing reveals absence of DNA in sub-fossilized insects
• Researchers move endangered mussels to save them
• Crop-raiding elephants flee tiger growls
• Climate change may speed up forests' life cycles
• Pumping draws arsenic toward a big-city aquifer
• In odd-looking mutant, clues about how maize plants control stem cell number
• Unusual mechanism of DNA synthesis could explain genetic mutations
• Hottest days in some parts of Europe have warmed four times more than the global average
• Global warming could change strength of El Niño
• Tiny number of Asian carp could be big problem for Great Lakes
• Biodegradable cabinet: A new approach to sustainability
• Selection drives functional evolution of large enzyme families
• Bacteria enhance growth of fruit trees up to 40 percent
• Substance that gives grapefruit its flavor and aroma could give insect pests the boot
• Fungal sex can generate new drug resistant, virulent strains
• Researchers map carbon footprint of UK towns and cities

Study provides insights on protecting world's poor from climate change Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:48 PM PDT The worst impacts of climate change on the world's poorest fishing communities can likely be avoided by careful management of the local environment and investing in the diversification of options for local people, according to new research.

An unprecedented threat to Peru's cloud forests Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:48 PM PDT Researchers have pieced together startling new evidence that shows rapid 21st century warming may spell doom for tree species in Peruvian cloud forests, with species losing 53-96 percent of their populations.

Calculating the true cost of a ton of mountaintop coal Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:48 PM PDT To meet current US coal demand through surface mining, an area of the Central Appalachians the size of Washington, D.C., would need to be mined every 81 days. A one-year supply of coal would require converting about 310 square miles of the region's mountains into surface mines, according to a new analysis.

Pacific humpback whale abundance higher in British Columbia Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:47 PM PDT Humpback whale populations are on the rise in the coastal fjords of British Columbia, doubling in size from 2004 to 2011.

Australian tarantula venom contains novel insecticide against agricultural pests Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:47 PM PDT Spider venoms are usually toxic when injected into prey, but a new protein discovered in the venom of Australian tarantulas can also kill prey insects that consume the venom orally. The protein is strongly insecticidal to the cotton bollworm, an important agricultural pest.

Paleorivers across Sahara may have supported ancient human migration routes Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:47 PM PDT Three ancient river systems, now buried, may have created viable routes for human migration across the Sahara to the Mediterranean region about 100,000 years ago.

Orangutans plan their future route and communicate it to others Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:46 PM PDT Male orangutans plan their travel route up to one day in advance and communicate it to other members of their species. In order to attract females and repel male rivals, they call in the direction in which they are going to travel. Anthropologists have found that not only captive, but also wild-living orangutans make use of their planning ability.

The final nail in the Jurassic Park coffin: Next generation sequencing reveals absence of DNA in sub-fossilized insects Posted: 11 Sep 2013 03:46 PM PDT It is hardly possible to talk about fossil insects in amber without the 1993 movie Jurassic Park entering the debate. The idea of recreating dinosaurs by extracting DNA from insects in amber has held the fascination of the public for two decades. Claims for successful extraction of DNA from amber up to 130 million-years-old by various scientists in the early 1990s were only seriously questioned when a study at the Natural History Museum, London, was unable to replicate the process. The original claims are now considered by many to be a text-book example of modern contaminant DNA in the samples. Nonetheless, some scientists hold fast to their original claims.Research can now confirm that the existence of DNA in amber fossils is highly unlikely.

Researchers move endangered mussels to save them Posted: 11 Sep 2013 01:10 PM PDT Researchers have transported two endangered freshwater mussel species from Pennsylvania to Illinois in an attempt to re-establish their populations in the western part of the Ohio River Basin.

Crop-raiding elephants flee tiger growls Posted: 11 Sep 2013 01:10 PM PDT Wild Asian elephants slink quietly away at the sound of a growling tiger, but trumpet and growl before retreating from leopard growls, researchers have found. The work could help Indian farmers protect their crops from marauding elephants and save the lives of both people and animals.

Climate change may speed up forests' life cycles Posted: 11 Sep 2013 01:10 PM PDT Many climate studies have predicted that tree species will respond to global warming by migrating via seed dispersal to cooler climates. But a study of 65 different species in 31 eastern states finds that nearly 80 percent of the species are staying in place and speeding up their life cycles.

Pumping draws arsenic toward a big-city aquifer Posted: 11 Sep 2013 10:19 AM PDT Naturally occurring arsenic pollutes wells across the world, especially in south and southeast Asia, where an estimated 100 million people are exposed to dangerous levels. Now, scientists working in Vietnam have shown that massive pumping of groundwater from a clean aquifer is slowly but surely drawing the poison into the water fro a nearby polluted one. The study, done near Hanoi, confirms suspicions that booming water usage could eventually threaten millions more people across Asia.

In odd-looking mutant, clues about how maize plants control stem cell number Posted: 11 Sep 2013 10:19 AM PDT Plant geneticists have presented first evidence of a functional interaction in maize between an important class of signaling molecule called a G protein, which binds receptors, and an unexpected class of cell-surface receptors.

Unusual mechanism of DNA synthesis could explain genetic mutations Posted: 11 Sep 2013 10:17 AM PDT Researchers have discovered the details of how cells repair breaks in both strands of DNA, a potentially devastating kind of DNA damage.

Hottest days in some parts of Europe have warmed four times more than the global average Posted: 11 Sep 2013 09:07 AM PDT Some of the hottest days and coldest nights in parts of Europe have warmed more than four times the global average change since 1950, according to a new article.

Global warming could change strength of El Niño Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT Global warming could impact the El Niño Southern Oscillation, altering the cycles of El Niño and La Niña events that bring extreme drought and flooding to Australia and many other Pacific-rim countries.

Tiny number of Asian carp could be big problem for Great Lakes Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT A tiny number of Asian carp could establish a population of the invasive fish in the Great Lakes, according to new research.

Biodegradable cabinet: A new approach to sustainability Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:30 AM PDT A furniture design academic has started creating furniture made from 100 per cent biodegradable material, which can be composted at the end of its lifespan.

Selection drives functional evolution of large enzyme families Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:29 AM PDT Researchers show in a new study how natural selection drives functional evolution of a large protein family in conifer trees. The study sheds light on the mechanisms and adaptive significance of gene family evolution.

Bacteria enhance growth of fruit trees up to 40 percent Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:29 AM PDT Improvement in reforestation and agriculture is possible thanks to new work. Scientists used different strains of fungi and bacteria to promote development and health in trees, which have enabled them to accelerate growth of different species up to 40 percent.

Substance that gives grapefruit its flavor and aroma could give insect pests the boot Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:27 AM PDT The citrus flavor and aroma of grapefruit — already used in fruit juices, citrus-flavored beverages, and prestige perfumes and colognes — may be heading for a new use in battling mosquitoes, ticks, head lice and bedbugs thanks to a less expensive way of making large amounts of the once rare and pricey ingredient, scientists say.

Fungal sex can generate new drug resistant, virulent strains Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:54 PM PDT Sex between genetically identical organisms has been found to create genetic changes and diversity where it did not previously exist. Studies of a fungus called Cryptococcus showed the process of sexual reproduction can result in extra copies of chromosomes that can be beneficial to the organism's survival. The discovery contributes to the understanding of sex, and lends insight into how pathogenic microbes can evolve to cause and spread diseases.

Researchers map carbon footprint of UK towns and cities Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:53 PM PDT The London borough of Newham is famed for producing talents such as Idris Elba, Plan B and Mo Farrah, whilst also playing host to the Olympic Stadium and West Ham United Football Club. Now an international group of researchers have found that its residents have the smallest carbon footprint in the UK.

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