Ecosystems – PossibleThreat Articles

Hidden “electron highways” beneath our feet could revolutionize pollution cleanup

September 26, 2025 0 Comments Air Quality, Earthquakes, Ecology, Ecosystems, Energy and the Environment, Environmental Issues, Environmental Science, Pollution

Electrons flow underground in ways far more extensive than once believed, forming networks that link distant chemical zones. Minerals, organic molecules, and specialized bacteria can act as bridges, creating long-distance electron highways. These discoveries hold promise for pollution cleanup strategies, remote remediation, and protecting ecosystems. Scientists now see the subsurface as an interconnected redox system with exciting practical potential.

News Science

The shocking reason Arctic rivers are turning rusty orange

September 23, 2025 0 Comments Chemistry, Ecology, Ecosystems, Energy and Resources, Environmental Issues, Global Warming, Nature of Water, Organic Chemistry

Researchers found that ice can trigger stronger chemical reactions than liquid water, dissolving iron minerals in extreme cold. Freeze-thaw cycles amplify the effect, releasing iron into rivers and soils. With climate change accelerating these cycles, Arctic waterways may face major transformations.

News Science

Why Alaska’s salmon streams are suddenly bleeding orange

September 22, 2025 0 Comments Earthquakes, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environmental Issues, Environmental Science, Forest, Global Warming, Mining

Warming Arctic permafrost is unlocking toxic metals, turning Alaska’s once-clear rivers into orange, acid-laced streams. The shift, eerily similar to mine pollution but entirely natural, threatens fish, ecosystems, and communities that depend on them—with no way to stop the process once it starts.

News Science

Scientists tout ocean protection progress, give road map for more

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environmental Awareness, Geography, Global Warming, Oceanography, Water

World governments and other leadership bodies are taking vital steps to protect the ocean but more progress is urgently needed, scientists reported today at the Our Ocean Conference.

News Science

Warm ocean water attacking edges of Antarctica's ice shelves

October 10, 2019 0 Comments Climate, Ecosystems, Geography, Global Warming, Ice Ages, Oceanography, Snow and Avalanches, Water

Upside-down 'rivers' of warm ocean water are eroding the fractured edges of thick, floating Antarctic ice shelves from below, helping to create conditions that lead to ice-shelf breakup and sea-level rise, according to a new study. The findings describe a new process important to the future of Antarctica's ice and the continent's contribution to rising seas. Models and forecasts do not yet account for the newly understood and troubling scenario, which is already underway.

News Science

Hush, little baby: Mother right whales 'whisper' to calves

October 9, 2019 0 Comments animals, Dolphins and Whales, Ecosystems, Endangered Animals, Environmental Policy, Exotic Species, Geography, Sea Life

A recent study explores whether right whale mother-calf pairs change their vocalizations to keep predators from detecting them.

News Science

Early humans evolved in ecosystems unlike any found today

October 8, 2019 0 Comments Early Mammals, Ecology, Ecosystems, Fossils, Human Biology, Nutrition, Origin of Life, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Rainforests

To understand the environmental pressures that shaped human evolution, scientists must reconstruct the ecosystems in which they lived. Because putting together the puzzle of millions-of-years-old ecosystems is a difficult task, many studies draw analogies with present-day African ecosystems, such as the Serengeti. A new study calls into question such approaches and suggests that the vast majority of human evolution occurred in ecosystems unlike any found today.

News Science

Sinking groundwater levels threaten the vitality of riverine ecosystems

October 4, 2019 0 Comments Drought Research, Ecosystems, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Policies, Land Management, Resource Shortage, Water, World Development

Groundwater is the world's largest source of freshwater and it is of vital importance for food production. Increasing extraction of groundwater in recent decades has resulted in sinking water tables worldwide. A study by a hydrologist shows that almost 20 percent of the catchments areas where groundwater is pumped suffer from a flow that is too low to sustain freshwater ecosystems. This number is expected to increase to 50 percent by 2050.

News Science

Northern forests have lost crucial cold, snowy conditions

October 3, 2019 0 Comments Climate, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environmental Policies, Land Management, Resource Shortage, Snow and Avalanches, World Development

Winter conditions are changing more rapidly than any other season and researchers have found clear signs of a decline in frost days, snow covered days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy, tourism and human health.

News Science

How the Texas puma saved the Florida panther

October 3, 2019 0 Comments Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology, Ecosystems, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Life Sciences, Wildfires

Scientists have pieced together the first complete picture of the Florida panther genome — work that could serve to protect that endangered population and other endangered species going forward.

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