http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/geography/ Geography. Read the latest geographical research from universities and institutes around the world. Geography articles, maps, images. en-us Mon, 12 May 2008 21:05:01 EDT Mon, 12 May 2008 21:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/geography/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094438.htm It's a tough job, but somebody, or at least some dogs, have to do it. In the Cerrado region of Brazil, four dogs trained to detect animal feces by scent are helping researchers monitor rare and threatened wildlife such as jaguar, tapir, giant anteater and maned wolf in and around Emas National Park, a protected area with the largest concentration of threatened species in Brazil. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094438.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101607.htm An international group of scientists has swapped their comfortable offices for one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet to carry out a challenging field campaign that is seen as the key to ensuring the data delivered by ESA's ice mission CryoSat will be as accurate as possible. Mon, 12 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101607.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512153631.htm Over a decade of work and contributions by more than 200 leading conservation scientists have produced a first-ever comprehensive map and database of the diversity of life in the world's freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World divides the world's freshwater systems into 426 distinct conservation units, many of which are rich in species but under increasing pressure from human population growth, rising water use, and habitat alteration. Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512153631.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508132549.htm Research done by the US Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an endangered species, according to a new study. The Interior Department has been ordered to make a determination by May 15. Sat, 10 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508132549.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507132855.htm Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, new research concludes. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise. Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507132855.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133259.htm The Amazon rainforest, so crucial to the Earth's climate system, is coming under threat from cleaner air say prominent climate scientists. The new study identifies a link between reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from burning coal and increasing sea surface temperatures in the tropical north Atlantic, resulting in a heightened risk of drought in the Amazon rainforest. Thu, 08 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133259.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105619.htm Envisat captured Cyclone Nargis making its way across the Bay of Bengal just south of Myanmar on May 1, 2008. The cyclone hit the coastal region and ripped through the heart of Myanmar on Saturday, devastating the country. Thu, 08 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105619.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506100329.htm Using sophisticated unmanned aircraft, research scientists hope to assess Southern California's potential for climate change and better understand the sources of air pollution. Thu, 08 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506100329.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506105139.htm Fallow agricultural land and steppe-formation processes are evidently capable of having a much greater effect on global air quality than was previously assumed. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers after examining a dust cloud that formed over parched fields in southern Ukraine and led to extremely high concentrations of particulate matter in Central Europe. On March 24, 2007, the dust cloud spread across Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic to Germany. Thu, 08 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506105139.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133314.htm National Geographic and the international polling firm GlobeScan will unveil results of a new mechanism for measuring and comparing consumer behavior concerning the environment. Fourteen thousand consumers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the United States were polled in this first-ever study of environmentally sustainable consumption and behavior. The study will be conducted annually and will assess progress people are making to protect the environment. Thu, 08 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133314.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105549.htm Research led by Iowa State University limnologist John Downing finds that ponds around the globe could absorb as much carbon as the world's oceans. Thu, 08 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105549.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094125.htm The Earth's oceans play a vital role in the carbon cycle, making it imperative that we understand marine biological activity enough to predict how our planet will react to the extra 25,000 million tons of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the atmosphere annually. Wed, 07 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094125.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083947.htm Prepare for more floods -- in ways we are not used to. That's the message from experts at Durham University who have studied rainfall and river flow patterns over 250 years. Last summer was the second wettest on record and experts say Britain must prepare for worse to come. Wed, 07 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083947.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105654.htm The Chaiten volcano now erupting in southern Chile is one of 200 to 300 volcanoes in the "Andean Arc" region of Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia considered active by volcanologists, some of which lie in much more densely populated areas, said a geologist who has studied Chaiten. Wed, 07 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507105654.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505120702.htm The asteroid presumed to have wiped out the dinosaurs struck the Earth with such force that carbon deep in the Earth's crust liquefied, rocketed skyward, and formed tiny airborne beads that blanketed the planet, say scientists from the US, UK, Italy, and New Zealand in this month's Geology. Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505120702.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430134246.htm Scientists probing volcanic rocks from deep under the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean have discovered a special geochemical signature until now found only in the southern hemisphere. The rocks were dredged from the remote Gakkel Ridge, which lies under 3,000 to 5,000 meters of water; it is Earth's most northerly undersea spreading ridge. Mon, 05 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430134246.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502113749.htm To date climate change projections, as published in the last IPCC report, only considered changes in future atmospheric composition. This strategy is appropriate for long-term changes in climate such as predictions for the end of the century. However, in order to predict short-term developments over the next decade, models need additional information on natural climate variations, in particular associated with ocean currents. Lack of sufficient data has hampered such predictions in the past. Mon, 05 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502113749.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430152030.htm Climate scientists using computer models to simulate the 1930s Dust Bowl on the US Great Plains have found that dust raised by farmers probably amplified and spread a natural drop in rainfall, turning an ordinary drying cycle into an agricultural collapse. The researcher say the study raises concern that current pressures on farmland from population growth and climate change could worsen current food crises by leading to similar events in other regions. Sun, 04 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430152030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502120306.htm Officials declared a commercial fishery failure for the West Coast salmon fishery due to historically low salmon returns. Hundreds of thousands of fall Chinook salmon typically return to the Sacramento River every year to spawn. This year, scientists estimate that fewer than 60,000 adult Chinook will make it back to the Sacramento River. Fri, 02 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502120306.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501180253.htm Fewer caribou calves are being born -- and more of them are dying -- in West Greenland as a result of a warming climate. The researchers believe that caribou may serve as an indicator species for climate changes including global warming. The research shows that the timing of peak food availability no longer corresponds to the timing of caribou births. Fri, 02 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501180253.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501062734.htm The relatively recent expansion of China's overseas trade probably accounts for China's being less invaded than the United States by alien plants, but the potential for invasion of China by shrubs, trees, climbers and aquatic plants is high. Decisive action is needed now to avert potentially large economic losses from invasive plants in China and other countries in Asia. Fri, 02 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501062734.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430141200.htm Scientists have discovered a new climate pattern, the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation. This pattern explains, for the first time, changes in the water important in helping commercial fishermen understand fluctuations in the fish stock. They're also finding that as the Earth is warming, large fluctuations in these factors could help climatologists predict how oceans will respond in a warmer world. Fri, 02 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430141200.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430152025.htm The USGS recently collected new information to aid in resource and hazards assessments of Afghanistan. This survey presents valuable new information to policymakers, potential private investors, and the public in that the data will help identify fault lines and the potential location of undiscovered water, oil and gas, and non-fuel mineral resources in Afghanistan. Data was acquired from an airborne geophysical and photographic survey of the country. Fri, 02 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430152025.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501143406.htm Scientists confirm computer model predictions that oxygen-depleted zones in tropical oceans are expanding, possibly because of climate change. Oceanographers have discovered that oxygen-poor regions of tropical oceans are expanding as the oceans warm, limiting the areas in which predatory fishes and other marine organisms can live or enter in search of food. Fri, 02 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501143406.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430124607.htm New calculations indicate the record low minimum extent of sea ice across the Arctic last September has a three-in-five chance of being shattered again in 2008 because of continued warming temperatures and a preponderance of younger, thinner ice. Warming temperatures, preponderance of young, thin ice drives prediction. Fri, 02 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430124607.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501091349.htm Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of the world's largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming. Thu, 01 May 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501091349.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429120817.htm The state of Alaska has the dubious distinction of leading the lower 48 in the effects of a warming climate. Small villages are slipping into the sea due to coastal erosion, soggy permafrost is cracking buildings and trapping trucks. In an effort to better understand how the Pacific Northwest fits into the larger climate-change picture, scientists are heading to Denali National Park on the second leg of a multi-year mission to recover ice cores from glaciers in the Alaska wilderness. Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429120817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175339.htm Recent additions to the premier collection of Southern Ocean sediment cores at Florida State University's Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility will give international scientists a close-up look at fluctuations that occurred in Antarctica's ice sheet and marine and terrestrial life as the climate cooled considerably between 20 and 14 million years ago. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175339.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095100.htm Over millions of years carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been moderated by a finely-tuned natural feedback system -- a system that human emissions have recently overwhelmed. Scientists have now linked the pre-human stability to connections between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the breakdown of minerals in the Earth's crust. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095100.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429130927.htm Bison can repopulate large areas from Alaska to Mexico over the next 100 years provided a series of conservation and restoration measures are taken, according to continental assessment of this iconic species. Bison once numbered in the tens of millions but were wiped out by commercial hunting and habitat loss. By 1889 fewer than 1,100 animals survived. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429130927.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428104521.htm A new NASA satellite mission will make global soil moisture and other measurements essential to the accuracy of weather forecasts and predictions of global carbon cycle and climate. At present, scientists have no network for gathering soil moisture data as they do for rainfall, winds, humidity and temperature. SMAP will change that. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428104521.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424153833.htm After finding more than 300 surface faults in Harris County, a geologist now has information that could be vitally useful to the region's builders and city planners. This information -- the most accurate and comprehensive of its kind -- was discovered using advanced radar-like laser technology. Although geologists have long known of the existence of faults in Southeast Texas, only recently have researchers produced a comprehensive map pinpointing the locations of the faults. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424153833.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424152254.htm Europeans want to peek into the world's soil and see how dry various regions are. The European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite this fall as researchers try to learn more about the amount of moisture in the ground in the United States and around the world. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424152254.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424141929.htm Monitoring Earth's rising greenhouse gas levels will require a global data collection network 10 times larger than the one currently in place in order to quantify regional progress in emission reductions, according to a new research. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424141929.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428130641.htm Before ice first began to form in Antarctica around 34 million years ago, the Earth was a very different place - but then greenhouse conditions swiftly gave way to an icehouse climate, causing the oceans to become less acidic. Scientists have been piecing together how Earth's changing climate affected ocean chemistry during this period of transition. Their work sheds light on the links between glaciation and the ocean carbon cycle. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428130641.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425081709.htm Living organisms can be used to track the dispersal of atmospheric pollutants, particulates and trace elements. Biomonitoring can be used in environments where a technological approach to monitoring is not only difficult and costly but may be impossible. Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425081709.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424112455.htm The Wildlife Conservation Society recently launched a four-year study to determine if climate change is affecting populations of a quintessential Arctic denizen: the rare musk ox. The research team will be assessing how musk ox are faring in areas along the Chukchi and northern Bering Seas, and the extent to which snow and icing events, disease, and possibly predation may be driving populations. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424112455.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425095207.htm More than 20 years of continuous measurements and a dose of "belief" yield discovery of subtle ocean currents that could dramatically improve forecasts of climate, ecosystem changes. A scientific team detected the presence of crisscrossing patterns of currents running throughout the world's oceans. The new data could help scientists significantly improve high-resolution models that help them understand trends in climate and marine ecosystems. Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425095207.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423153318.htm Geologists studying deposits of volcanic glass in the western United States have found that the central Sierra Nevada largely attained its present elevation 12 million years ago, roughly 8 or 9 million years earlier than commonly thought. The finding has implications not only for understanding the geologic history of the mountain range, but for modeling ancient global climates. Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423153318.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423135236.htm The 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru had a global impact on human society, according to geologists. The eruption is known to have put a large amount of sulfur into the atmosphere, and tree ring studies show that 1601 was a cold year, but no one had looked at the agricultural and social impacts. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423135236.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423185112.htm Geologists can now explain how one of the largest continents ever to exist met its demise. Gondwana was a 'supercontinent' that existed between 500 and 180 million years ago. For the past four decades, geologists have debated how Gondwana eventually broke up, developing a multitude of scenarios which can be loosely grouped into two schools of thought -- one theory claiming the continent separated into many small plates, and a second theory claiming it broke into just a few large pieces. A new computer model shows that the supercontinent cracked into two pieces, too heavy to hold itself together. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423185112.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424113454.htm A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole could modify climate change in the southern hemisphere and even amplify Antarctic warming, according to scientists. While Earth's average surface temperatures have been increasing, the interior of Antarctica has exhibited a unique cooling trend during the austral summer and fall caused by ozone depletion, they said. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424113454.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423181652.htm Last year alone global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, increased by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons. Additionally methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. NOAA scientists released these and other preliminary findings Aprill 23 as part of an annual update to the agency's greenhouse gas index, which tracks data from 60 sites around the world. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423181652.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416091012.htm Deep-sea sharks have been tagged and tracked and their habitats precisely mapped in world-first research to test the conservation value of areas closed to commercial fishing. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416091012.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422103901.htm Although many people think that California "owns" all the earthquakes, Ohio also has its share of faults. Unlike another earthquake that woke people on another April 18, 102 years ago, this quake was fairly mild. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422103901.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422150659.htm Score one for the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate, as geneticists have shown that environmental factors such as lifestyle and geography play a large role in whether certain genes are turned on or off. By studying gene expression of white blood cells in 46 Moroccan Amazighs, or Berbers -- including desert nomads, mountain agrarians and coastal urban dwellers -- the researchers in Morocco and the United States showed that up to one-third of genes are differentially expressed due to where and how the Moroccan Amazighs live. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422150659.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421111622.htm The Antarctic deep sea is getting colder, which might stimulate the circulation of the oceanic water masses. Scientists studied ocean currents as well as the distribution of temperature, salt content and trace substances in Antarctic sea water. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421111622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421160728.htm Increased carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is causing microscopic ocean plants to produce greater amounts of calcium carbonate (chalk) - with potentially wide ranging implications for predicting the cycling of carbon in the oceans and climate modelling. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421160728.htm