Environmental Issues – Page 7 – PossibleThreat Articles

A tool to understand how ecosystems are responding to a changing climate

October 3, 2019 0 Comments Climate, Earthquakes, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Issues, Global Warming, Weather

As climate change accelerates, recording shifts in plant flowering times is critical to understanding how changes in climate will impact ecosystem interactions. To help measure these shifts, researchers have introduced a new quantitative measure of phenological status, called the 'phenological index,' that improves scoring of developmental stage in herbarium specimens, and predicts a higher degree of phenological advancement in response to climate change.

News Science

Environmental cost of formula milk should be a matter of global concern

October 3, 2019 0 Comments Agriculture and Food, Breastfeeding, Cows, Sheep, Pigs, Environmental Issues, Environmental Policy, Folic Acid, Global Warming, Infant's Health, Nature

'The production of unnecessary infant and toddler formulas exacerbates environmental damage and should be a matter of increasing global concern,' argue experts.

News Science

Aspirin may halve air pollution harms

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Air Pollution, Air Quality, Diseases and Conditions, Environmental Issues, Lung Cancer, Lung Disease, Pollution, Public Health Education

A new study is the first to report evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin may lessen the adverse effects of air pollution exposure on lung function. The researchers found that the use of any NSAID nearly halved of the effect of PM on lung function, with the association consistent across all four weekly air pollution measurements from same-day to 28 days prior to the lung function test.

News Science

Warming impedes a coral defense, but hungry fish enhance it

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Coral Reefs, Ecology, Environmental Issues, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Global Warming, Marine Biology

Corals exude chemical defenses against bacteria, but when heated in the lab, those defenses lost much potency against a pathogen common in coral bleaching. There's hope: A key coral's defense was heartier when that coral was taken from an area where fishing was banned and plenty of fish were left to eat away seaweed that was overgrowing corals elsewhere.

News Science

Environmental toxins impair immune system over multiple generations

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Issues, Environmental Science, Immune System, Influenza, Lymphoma, Medical Topics, Pollution, Sustainability

New research shows that maternal exposure to a common and ubiquitous form of industrial pollution can harm the immune system of offspring and that this injury is passed along to subsequent generations, weakening the body's defenses against infections such as the influenza virus.

News Science

Managing stormwater and stream restoration projects together

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Drought Research, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environmental Issues, Floods, Pollution, Sustainability, Water

A unified approach may benefit water quality, environment more than piecemeal.

News Science

Exposure to BPA in the womb linked to wheezing and poorer lung function in children

October 1, 2019 0 Comments COPD, Environmental Issues, Global Warming, Lung Cancer, Lung Disease, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Severe Weather, Wildfires

Pregnant women exposed to higher levels of the commonly used chemical bisphenol A (BPA) are more likely to have children who suffer with wheezing and poorer lung function, according to new research.

News Science

Rising ozone is a hidden threat to corn

October 1, 2019 0 Comments Air Quality, Atmosphere, Botany, Endangered Plants, Environmental Issues, Food and Agriculture, Nature, Ozone Holes

By exposing a genetically diverse group of corn plants in the field to future ozone levels, researchers discovered hidden vulnerabilities.

News Science

Microbes in warm soils released more carbon than those in cooler soils

October 1, 2019 0 Comments Climate, Environmental Issues, Forest, Fungus, Global Warming, Nature, Organic, Soil Types

Simply by moving tropical soils down a mountainside into warmer environments, a team has discovered that much more CO2 may be released due to increased microbial activity as soils warm.

News Science

Collapse of desert bird populations likely due to heat stress from climate change

October 1, 2019 0 Comments Bird Flu Research, Birds, Climate, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Issues, Nature, Water, Zoology

Last year, biologists discovered that bird populations in the Mojave Desert had crashed over the past 100 years. The biologists now have evidence that heat stress is a key cause. Simulations with a computerized 'virtual bird' suggest that with higher temperatures, birds need more water to keep cool. Larger insectivores or carnivores should be most affected, and small seed-eaters less so if drinking water is available: just as the biologists reported last year.