COLUMBIA, Mo. (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered submerged trees have the potential to be used as carbon credits since they can store carbon for thousands of years.
University of Missouri researchers discovered trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for significantly longer than trees that fall in a forest.
"If a tree is submerged in water, its carbon will be stored for an average of 2,000 years," said Associate Professor Richard Guyette, director of the university's Tree Ring Laboratory. "If a tree falls in a forest, that number is reduced to an average of 20 years, and in firewood, the carbon is only stored for one year."
The team studied trees in northern Missouri, an area with a high number of riparian forests -- forests with natural water flowing through them. They discovered submerged oak trees as old as 14,000 years, potentially some of the oldest in the world.
"Farmers can sell the carbon they have stored in their trees through a carbon credit stock market," Guyette said. "Companies that emit excess of carbon would be able to buy carbon credits to o offset their pollution."
The study was published in the journal Ecosystems.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Showing posts with label Mother Earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother Earth. Show all posts
Monday
Study: Dry Tortugas has signs of recovery
MIAMI (UPI) -- A team of 38 U.S. research divers has completed a 20-day biennial census, measuring how the protected status of the Dry Tortugas is working.
In what is called an unprecedented collaboration, researchers from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Park Service, the Reef Environmental Education Foundation and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington conducted more than 1,700 scientific dives in the Dry Tortugas -- a small group of islands at the tip of the Florida Keys, about 70 miles west of Key West.
The dives at the Tortugas Ecological Reserve and Dry Tortugas National Park's Research Natural Area were designed to determine how the region's ecosystem is rebounding from decades of overfishing and environmental changes.
"We are very encouraged to see stocks have slowly begun to recuperate since the implementation of 'no-take' marine protected areas in the region," said the expedition's chief scientist, Rosenstiel Professor Jerry Ault. "We noted particular improvements in the numbers of snapper, grouper, and coral recruits."
A full report is expected to be issued in September.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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In what is called an unprecedented collaboration, researchers from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Park Service, the Reef Environmental Education Foundation and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington conducted more than 1,700 scientific dives in the Dry Tortugas -- a small group of islands at the tip of the Florida Keys, about 70 miles west of Key West.
The dives at the Tortugas Ecological Reserve and Dry Tortugas National Park's Research Natural Area were designed to determine how the region's ecosystem is rebounding from decades of overfishing and environmental changes.
"We are very encouraged to see stocks have slowly begun to recuperate since the implementation of 'no-take' marine protected areas in the region," said the expedition's chief scientist, Rosenstiel Professor Jerry Ault. "We noted particular improvements in the numbers of snapper, grouper, and coral recruits."
A full report is expected to be issued in September.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Saturday
Study: Pacific coast becoming more acidic
CORVALLIS, Ore. (UPI) -- Scientists aboard a U.S. research ship have discovered high levels of acidified ocean water within 20 miles of the West Coast shoreline.
The international team of researchers aboard Oregon State University's research vessel Wecoma surveying the waters of the continental shelf off the West Coast of North America said their finding raises concern for marine ecosystems from Canada to Mexico.
The scientists said they also discovered the corrosive, acidified water that's being "upwelled" seasonally from the deeper ocean is probably 50 years old. That suggests future ocean acidification levels will increase, since atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have increased rapidly during the past half century.
"When the upwelled water was last at the surface, it was exposed to an atmosphere with much lower CO2 levels than today's," said OSU Associate Professor Burke Hales. "The water that will upwell off the coast in future years already is making its undersea trek toward us, with ever-increasing levels of carbon dioxide and acidity.
"The coastal ocean acidification train has left the station," Hales added, "and there's not much we can do to derail it."
Results of the study appear in the online journal Science Express.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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The international team of researchers aboard Oregon State University's research vessel Wecoma surveying the waters of the continental shelf off the West Coast of North America said their finding raises concern for marine ecosystems from Canada to Mexico.
The scientists said they also discovered the corrosive, acidified water that's being "upwelled" seasonally from the deeper ocean is probably 50 years old. That suggests future ocean acidification levels will increase, since atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have increased rapidly during the past half century.
"When the upwelled water was last at the surface, it was exposed to an atmosphere with much lower CO2 levels than today's," said OSU Associate Professor Burke Hales. "The water that will upwell off the coast in future years already is making its undersea trek toward us, with ever-increasing levels of carbon dioxide and acidity.
"The coastal ocean acidification train has left the station," Hales added, "and there's not much we can do to derail it."
Results of the study appear in the online journal Science Express.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Tuesday
Increasingly intense storms threaten coral
BEDFORD, England (UPI) -- A British scientist suggests hurricanes and other storms are increasing in intensity and are limiting the growth of some corals. The Earthwatch Institute-supported study focused on the ability of corals in Belize to "recruit" new coral into their communities.
"Increasing evidence now shows that storms are becoming more intense due to climate change," said lead author and Earthwatch scientist James Crabbe from the University of Bedfordshire. Coral reefs, which can expand for thousands of years, form when free-swimming coral larvae in the ocean attach to rocks or other hard surfaces and begin to develop.
"If the storms don't destroy corals outright, they render them more susceptible to disease," said Crabbe, "and that is certainly apparent on the Belize reefs." He said his findings have implications for marine park managers.
"They may need to assist coral recruitment and settlement (during hurricane years) by establishing coral nurseries and then placing the baby corals (larvae) in the reef at discrete locations" or by setting up artificial reef blocks to help the corals survive. The research that included Edwin Martinez, Earthwatch field director in Belize, appears in the May issue of the journal Marine Environmental Research.
Copyright 2008 by United Press Internationa
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"Increasing evidence now shows that storms are becoming more intense due to climate change," said lead author and Earthwatch scientist James Crabbe from the University of Bedfordshire. Coral reefs, which can expand for thousands of years, form when free-swimming coral larvae in the ocean attach to rocks or other hard surfaces and begin to develop.
"If the storms don't destroy corals outright, they render them more susceptible to disease," said Crabbe, "and that is certainly apparent on the Belize reefs." He said his findings have implications for marine park managers.
"They may need to assist coral recruitment and settlement (during hurricane years) by establishing coral nurseries and then placing the baby corals (larvae) in the reef at discrete locations" or by setting up artificial reef blocks to help the corals survive. The research that included Edwin Martinez, Earthwatch field director in Belize, appears in the May issue of the journal Marine Environmental Research.
Copyright 2008 by United Press Internationa
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Record low 2008 Arctic ice a probability
BOULDER, Colo. (UPI) -- U.S. climate scientists are forecasting a 3-in-5 chance of record low amounts of Arctic sea ice forming this year. The University of Colorado-Boulder researchers said their forecast of a 59 percent chance of record low Arctic sea ice is based on satellite data, temperature records and a preponderance of younger and thinner ice.
The scientists at the university's Center for Astrodynamics Research noted the extent of Arctic sea ice has declined roughly 10 percent during the past decade, culminating in a record 2007 minimum ice cover of 1.59 million square miles. That broke the 2005 record by 460,000 square miles -- an area the size of Texas and California combined. Changes in Arctic sea ice are "one of the more compelling and obvious signs of climate change," said Sheldon Drobot, who leads the center's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group.
He said continued Arctic sea ice declines likely will negatively impact various kinds of wildlife, including polar bears, walruses and seals. The University of Colorado-Boulder's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group says it is the only research group in the world issuing seasonal Arctic sea ice forecasts based on probability.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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The scientists at the university's Center for Astrodynamics Research noted the extent of Arctic sea ice has declined roughly 10 percent during the past decade, culminating in a record 2007 minimum ice cover of 1.59 million square miles. That broke the 2005 record by 460,000 square miles -- an area the size of Texas and California combined. Changes in Arctic sea ice are "one of the more compelling and obvious signs of climate change," said Sheldon Drobot, who leads the center's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group.
He said continued Arctic sea ice declines likely will negatively impact various kinds of wildlife, including polar bears, walruses and seals. The University of Colorado-Boulder's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group says it is the only research group in the world issuing seasonal Arctic sea ice forecasts based on probability.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Where Global Warming Begins
Watch Video Animations of U.S. Carbon Dioxide Pollution
Just where is all that global warming pollution coming from?
The Northeast pumps out an awful lot of carbon dioxide, but the Southeast, Midwest and Southern California are also responsible for voluminous pollution that billows out each day.
The precise sources of carbon dioxide have now been mapped, with 100 times more detail than was previously available, by Vulcan project researchers at Purdue University.
The high-resolution, interactive maps combine emissions data from power plants, factories and vehicles. The maps and movies compare the relative contribution of pollution from various parts of the country on an hourly basis. One of the most striking things one sees when watching the animations is the day-night "breathing" cycle of our pollution, with a long exhale of pollution all day, followed by a sharp decline each night. Seasonal spikes – such as those when hot days prompt millions of Americans to turn up their air conditioners – are also evident.
The maps also highlight an important political reality: While states in the Northeast, upper Midwest and West have agreed to state-level compacts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the nation's pollution won't be significantly cut until the South joins in. Depending on the estimate, the U.S. is the world's biggest, or second-biggest (next to China) producer of greenhouse gas emissions; it produces 25% of the world's carbon dioxide pollution, the key ingredient in atmospheric change fueling global warming.
"Before now the only thing policy-makers could do was take a big blunt tool and bang the U.S. economy with it," said Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric science at Purdue University and leader of the project. "Now we have more quantifiable information about what is happening in neighborhoods, on roads and in industrial areas, and track the CO2 by the hour. This offers policy-makers something akin to a scalpel instead."
Watch video here here
What can you say about this guys!! Hope that everyone will continue to take care for Mother earth!!!
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