ScienceDaily: Top Environment News: Borneo deforested 30 percent over past 40 years

Jay OwenEarth Systems Science

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

 

Borneo deforested 30 percent over past 40 years

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 11:13 AM PDT

Forest cover in Borneo may have declined by up to 30% over the past 40 years, according to a new study. he native forests of Borneo have been increasingly impacted by logging, fire, and conversion to plantations since the early 1970s. Borneo lacks island-wide forest clearance and logging documentation, making forest conservation planning difficult, especially for selectively logged forests that have high conservation potential but are vulnerable to being converted to plantations.

 
Scientists find way to trap, kill malaria parasite

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 10:15 AM PDT

Scientists may be able to entomb the malaria parasite in a prison of its own making, researchers report. As it invades a red blood cell, the malaria parasite takes part of the host cell’s membrane to build a protective compartment. The parasite then starts a series of major renovations that transform the red blood cell into a suitable home. But the new research reveals the proteins that make these renovations must pass through a single pore in the parasite’s compartment to get into the red blood cell. When the scientists disrupted passage through that pore in cell cultures, the parasite stopped growing and died.

 
Dispersant from Deepwater Horizon spill found to persist in the environment

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 09:34 AM PDT

Dispersant compound DOSS, which decreases the size of oil droplets and hampers the formation of large oil slicks, remains associated with oil and can persist in the environment for up to four years, a study has demonstrated. The study examined samples collected from deep-sea corals and surrounding sediments collected in Dec. 2010 as well as oil-soaked sand patties found on coastal beaches since July 2010 to the present.

 
Efficient structures help build a sustainable future

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 08:27 AM PDT

Researchers have found that the selection of steel cable structural system for long spans has considerably less environmental impact than a steel truss system to achieve the same structural requirements, through the entire life cycle of the structure. “Thoughtful selection, by the architectural engineer, in the initial stages of the design process, can reduce environmental impact related to the construction process,” said one author of the new study.

 
Hungry, invasive ‘crazy worm’ makes first appearance in Wisconsin, threatens forests

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:57 AM PDT

Wisconsin’s newest invasive species has done its best to stay underground, but the voracious, numerous and mysterious Asian crazy worm has emerged for the first time in the state on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Rising-2 captured highest resolution image of Earth’s surface among satellites in its class

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:09 AM PDT

Microsatellite Rising-2 succeeded in capturing high precision images of Earth’s surface. Using a High Precision Telescope, it captured color images at a spatial resolution of 5m, the highest in the world among 50kg-class satellites.

What do Google searches tell us about our climate change fears?

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:07 AM PDT

Political ideology and education levels affect when people search for climate information, research indicates. Republicans search the net for information about the weather, climate change and global warming during extremely hot or cold spells. Democrats Google these terms when they experience changes in the average temperatures. These are some of the surprising findings from a study that tracked how the temperature fluctuations and rainfall that Americans experience daily in their own cities make them scour the Internet in search of information about climate change and global warming.

 
Tracking the breakup of Arctic summer sea ice

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:05 AM PDT

An international team has placed sensors on and under Arctic sea ice to monitor this season’s retreat. Scientists hope to understand the physics of the ice edge in order to predict summer conditions in the Arctic Ocean.

NOAA’s GOES-R satellite Magnetometer ready for spacecraft integration

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 06:43 PM PDT

The Magnetometer instrument that will fly on NOAA’s GOES-R satellite when it is launched in early 2016 has completed the development and testing phase and is ready to be integrated with the spacecraft.

Eyeing multiple scenarios, conservation scientists can tackle an uncertain future

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 12:42 PM PDT

A new report illustrates that one way to make pro-active decisions in conservation and natural–resource planning today is to consider various scenarios that may unfold tomorrow.

 
Socio-economic change more of a problem for nomads than climate change

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 05:51 AM PDT

Socio-economic change could have a much bigger impact than climate change on grazing lands in the world’s arid regions. This is the conclusion reached by scientists who simulated ecological and social factors in a computer model. The negative effects of climate change can to a certain extent be offset by an increased herd mobility, write the researchers. However, higher income demands and less available grazing land make it increasingly difficult for nomads to move their herds around to secure their livelihoods.