 |
 |
| January 21, 2014 |
 Soil Microbes Alter DNA in Response to Warming Atlanta GA (SPX) Jan 21, 2014 - As scientists forecast the impacts of climate change, one missing piece of the puzzle is what will happen to the carbon in the soil and the microbes that control the fate of this carbon as the planet warms. Scientists studying grasslands in Oklahoma have discovered that an increase of 2 degrees Celsius in the air temperature above the soil creates significant changes to the microbial ecosy ... more |  |
Meltwater from Tibetan glaciers floods pastures Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 21, 2014 - The earth is warming up, the glaciers are shrinking. However, not all meltwater is causing sea-level rise as feared. In Tibet, as measurements taken by an international team of researchers including the University of Zurich reveal, a significant proportion of the meltwater remains on land. The consequences are, however, equally negative: it can cause lakes without an outlet to overflow and ... more |  |
Exposure to pesticides results in smaller worker bees London, UK (SPX) Jan 21, 2014 - Exposure to a widely used pesticide causes worker bumblebees to grow less and then hatch out at a smaller size, according to a new study by Royal Holloway University of London. The research, published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, reveals that prolonged exposure to a pyrethroid pesticide, which is used on flowering crops to prevent insect damage, reduces the size of individual b ... more |  |
New Biomolecular Archaeological Evidence for Nordic "Grog," Trade Philadelphia PA (SPX) Jan 21, 2014 - Winters in Scandinavia were long and cold in the Bronze and Iron Ages, then as now-but a blazing fire was not the only thing to keep people warm. From northwest Denmark, circa 1500-1300 BC, to the Swedish island of Gotland as late as the first century AD, Nordic peoples were imbibing an alcoholic "grog" or extreme hybrid beverage rich in local ingredients, including honey, bog cranberry, l ... more |  |
 Streamflow Alteration Impacts Fish Diversity in Local Rivers Washington DC (SPX) Jan 20, 2014 - A new USGS study quantifies change in fish diversity in response to streamflow alteration in the Tennessee River basin. The USGS study highlights the importance of the timing, magnitude, and variability of low streamflows and the frequency and magnitude of high streamflows as key characteristics critical to assessing how fish communities change in response to streamflow alteration. This st ... more |  |
| |
 California declares drought emergency Los Angeles (AFP) Jan 17, 2014 - California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Friday due to what could be the western US state's worst drought in a century, which has sparked wildfires and hurt farmers. The declaration allows authorities to access federal help to battle the dry spell that has left huge swaths of tinder-dry forest vulnerable to going up in flames. On Thursday, a massive blaze raged just ... more |  |
Uruguay farmers set against open-pit iron ore mine Montevideo, Uruguay (UPI) Jan 16, 2013 - Uruguayan miners and environmentalists are increasingly set against President Jose Mujica going ahead with an open-pit iron ore mine's development, which they want scrapped. The 78-year-old former guerrilla leader, who sees the Valentines iron ore mine as a crowning legacy of his presidency, has angered traditional constituencies of supporters with moves critics say are neither fair nor ... more |  |
Limited water predicted west of the Continental Divide Washington (UPI) Jan 16, 2013 - A limited water supply is predicted west of the Continental Divide - west of the Rocky Mountains, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. In its first forecast for the year, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service National Water and Climate Center also predicts normal water supply east of the Continental Divide. The Continental Divide is the principal, and largely mountaino ... more |  |
New discovery could stimulate plant growth and increase crop yields Durham, UK (SPX) Jan 16, 2014 - Scientists led by experts at Durham University have discovered a natural mechanism in plants that could stimulate their growth even under stress and potentially lead to better crop yields. Plants naturally slow their growth or even stop growing altogether in response to adverse conditions, such as water shortage or high salt content in soil, in order to save energy. They do this by m ... more |  |
China farmers build wall of cash with $2.2 mn payout: report Beijing (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Farmers in one of the poorest counties in a Chinese province built a wall of cash from more than $2 million paid out in year-end bonuses, a report said Wednesday. The farmers, members of a co-operative in Liangshan county in the southwestern province of Sichuan, stacked bundles of 100-yuan banknotes into a wall two metres (seven feet) long and half a metre high before handing out the dividen ... more |  |
 | |
European Parliament votes pollen is part of honey Brussels (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - After years of wrangling and a ruling by the EU's top court, the European Parliament agreed Wednesday that pollen is a constituent of honey and not an added ingredient. The distinction may seem arcane but it has important implications for the industry since it determines how honey jars are labelled when it comes to levels of pollen from genetically modified plants. Purity is a key sellin ... more |  |
Locust genome exposes "hundreds" of pesticide targets Paris (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Chinese scientists said Tuesday they had unravelled the genetic code of the locust, laying bare "hundreds" of genes that can be targeted by insecticides. The genetic code of Locusta migratoria is remarkably big - at 6.5 gigabytes, it is the largest animal genome sequenced so far, they reported in the journal Nature Communications. Large clusters of the insect's genes are associated with ... more |  |
Cargill invests in Ukraine grain giant Kiev (AFP) Jan 13, 2014 - US agricultural trading giant Cargill has acquired five percent of Ukraine's biggest farming producer Ukrlandfarming, as the companies team-up to boost exports to China and other emerging markets. The deal was finalised late last month, a statement from Ukrlandfarming said on Monday without providing financial terms, though the Financial Times said the stake sold for $200 million, which valu ... more |  |
West Virginia starts lifting water ban Washington (AFP) Jan 13, 2014 - West Virginia on Monday began lifting a ban on tap water imposed in the state last week after a chemical leak into a key river. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Appalachian state had been without water except for flushing toilets since Friday when officials disclosed that chemicals from a plant had been pumped into the Elk River. Water company officials on Monday said testing had s ... more |  |
US 'superweeds' epidemic shines spotlight on GMOs New York (AFP) Jan 13, 2014 - The United States is facing an epidemic of herbicide-resistant "superweeds" that some activists and researchers are blaming on GMOs, an accusation rejected by industry giants. According to a recent study, the situation is such that American farmers are "heading for a crisis." Many scientists blame overuse of herbicides, prompted by seeds genetically modified to resist them. "In part ... more |  |
| ADVERTISEMENT + A Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison Report  Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison The Temperflow? uses a patent pending technology that allows body heat to ventilate out the mattress, while cooler air can flow back into the mattress. See www.Temperflow.com for more information about how their technology works. Or read our comparison report on two different memory foam mattress products.+ Buy a Temperflow? bed today and sleep better tonight! | |
Geography has impact on grapevine moth's success in French vineyards Heidelberg, Germany (SPX) Jan 13, 2014 - 'Location, location, location' is an adage also true for the European grapevine moth, it seems. Research led by Fanny Vogelweith of the Universite de Bourgogne and INRA Bordeaux-Aquitaine in France has shown that these pests are better adapted and more successful in certain French wine-growing regions than in others, because of the variety of grape on which they occur and the abundance of their ... more |  |
Europe to suffer from more severe and persistent droughts Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Jan 13, 2014 - As Europe is battered by storms, new research reminds us of the other side of the coin. By the end of this century, droughts in Europe are expected to be more frequent and intense due to climate change and increased water use. These results, by researchers from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the University of Kassel in Germany, are published today in Hydrology and Eart ... more |  |
Ancient Cambodian city's intensive land use led to extensive environmental impacts London, UK (SPX) Jan 13, 2014 - Soil erosion and vegetation change indicate approximately 400 years of intensive land use around the city of Mahendraparvata in the Phnom Kulen region beginning in the mid 9th century, with marked change in water management practices from the 12th century, according to results published January 8, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Dan Penny from the University of Sydney and colleagues ... more |  |
EU policy is driving up demand for pollination faster than honeybee numbers Reading, UK (SPX) Jan 13, 2014 - Research conducted by the University of Reading's Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, and funded by the EU FP7 project STEP and the Insect Pollinators Initiative Crops project, indicates that demand for pollination services has risen five times as fast as the number of colonies across Europe. The study, led by Professor Simon Potts, compared the number of available honeybee colonies in ... more | |
Japan woman jailed over cow inflation: reports Tokyo (AFP) Jan 10, 2014 - A former pasture manager who lied about the number of cows her company owned in a bid to attract investors has been jailed in Japan, reports said. Kumiko Mikajiri, former president of a now bankrupt pasture, was sentenced to 34 months in prison for inflating the cattle count in a cow ownership scheme. Mikajiri "provided to about 100 customers flyers that said 'you own a cow'... despite a ... more |  |
| ||||
| ||||||||
No comments :
Post a Comment