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1. Earth's Systems and        Resources

2. The Living World

3. Population

4. Energy Resources and Consumption

5. Pollution

6. Global Change

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1. "New landform discovered from the depths of Finnish forest" 1/18/2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180118101338.htm

2. "New source of global nitrogen discovered" 4/5/2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405140946.htm

3. "Formation of supercontinents and strength of ocean tides" 4/11/2018   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180411131614.htm

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A new type of land form was discovered in a Finnish forest. Through laser scanning, researchers John Makinen and Kari Kajuutti noticed that something was different. Similar landforms were found in nearby Sweden.The researchers were puzzled that this landform had yet to be discovered. Kajuutti is calling the new landform murtoo which is derived from the Finnish word murtomaa, meaning broken land.

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In a study by UC Davis, they learned that about 26% of the nitrogen on earth comes from bedrock. This contradicts the previous belief that it almost all comes from the atmosphere. This new finding could alter the future projections of climate change and alter the carbon cycle, which is pivotal in the study of climate change. Nitrogen is needed to help ecosystems absorb CO2 and if a large amount of nitrogen comes from rocks it can help explain why boreal forests are capable of absorbing more CO2. Program director Kendra McLauchlan believes that the impact of these findings is astronomical and will require textbooks to be rewritten.

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Research shows that every 400-600 million years a super continent is formed due to the cycles of the ocean's tides. New projections show that roughly 20 million years into the future another supercontinent will form. The ocean is currently in a strong tidal phase but it will eventually get weaker and the continents will join similar to pangea. If all the continents, the oceans would have low tidal energy which would result in less nutrient mixing and less aquatic life

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1. "Invasive tree species: Call for action to tackle threat to a global biodiversity hotspot" 1/2/2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180102103325.htm

2. "Warming Arctic climate restrains life in cold-adapted mammals" 1/18/2018  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180118100806.htm

3. "Climate Change Denialists Say Polar Bears Are Fine. Scientists Are Pushing Back" 4/10/2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/climate/polar-bears-climate-deniers.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

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An invasive Australian tree is threatening biodiveristy in the natural forest's of Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. The species is named Pittosporum undulatum, known locally as mock orange. It was introduced in the Blue Mountains in Jamaica in the late 19th century. The tree produces seeds that are widely disperesed by the local birds and these trees are invading habitats at high rates. This high rate was caused by Hurricane Gilbert 29 years ago and will be heavily influenced by future hurricanes.

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A new study at Colorado State by Joel Berger is focusing on the warming climate in the Arctic and how it affects the largest mammal in the Arctic, Muskoxen. The warm climate is stressing the mother and young and when rain-on-snow precipitation occurs, it's impossible to find food. And as a result, the babies die of starvation. The smaller size observed in juvenile Muskoxen is associated with poorer health and fitness. Berger says that to better understand the effect of the Arctic's changing climate on Muskoxen, researchers must collaborate.

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The questioning of modern environmental science by our country's lawmakers is concerning to the polar bear population. The arctic is warming up twice as fast as the rest of the planet, but little is being done to limit human-driven climate change. The main cause of this decline is the loss of habitat. Despite the governments belief that polar bears are doing just fine, climate change is caused by humans which is putting the polar bear population at risk.
By continuing to deny the decline of the polar bear population, lawmakers are hoping that it will help dismiss the proof of climate change as a whole.

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1. "Rats sniff out TB in children" 4/9/2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180409103837.htm

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A study shows that rats are better at detecting tuberculosis in children than standard microscopy tests. The research led by Georgies Mgod of Sokoine University of Tanzania that rats were able to detect 68% more cases of tuberculosis in kids. The reason behind this research is that when children are diagnosed with tuberculosis, it emits a particular odor that rats can detect. Tuberculosis is an emerging problem in Sub-Saharan Africa because more and more people are getting this disease and the diagnoses tests are cheap and ineffective.

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1. "Trump Would Open Nearly All U.S. Waters To Drilling. But Will They Drill?" 1/23/2018 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/23/climate/trump-offshore-oil-drilling.html

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The Trump administration wants to open U.S. waters to drilling. Trump's plans will end the decade long effort to protect ocean ecosystems. Also, Trump will change Obama's legacy on environmental issues. To environmentalist's protests, the Obama administration initially wanted to open U.S. waters to drilling; but after the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon, Obama changed his environmental policy. In addition, 15 governors along the coasts oppose Trump's efforts to drill.

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1. "Oil spill impacts in coastal wetland" 7/10/2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170710091705.htm

2. "What Is the Clean Power Plan, and How Can Trump Repeal It?" 10/10/2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/climate/epa-clean-power-plan.html

3. "Higher air pollution in Chinese cities tied to higher mortality rate"  11/6/2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171106100658.htm

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A new study confirms that the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still affecting wetland plants. While oil may not be visibly obvious in the marshes today, there are still large amounts of crude oil remaining in the soil in the marshlands. The plants were greatly affected in times of low tides because there is a lack of available oxygen due to the presence of oil and causes stress to wetland plants.

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The Clean Power Plan is a law proposed during the Obama administration that mandates power plants to lower carbon emissions and gave states flexibility in meeting those goals like switching from coal to natural gas or using more solar energy. The law was never taken into effect and has just been repealed by Trump. In what was supposed to be Obama's signature policy on fighting climate change has turned to identify the beliefs displayed by Trump.

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There is a correlation between high pollution and high mortality rates in Chinese cities. This study provides strong evidence of the impact of major air pollution and air quality. It also furthers our knowledge of how areas of high pollution not only increase our risk for certain diseases, but increase our chance of dying. The study also discovered that air quality index is related to geography and temperature. For example, cities have the highest air quality index in winter and the lowest air quality index in the summer. Also, cities with the highest air quality index were located in north China, while cities with the lowest air quality index were located in Southeastern China.

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1. "How future volcanic eruptions will impact Earth's ozone layer" 8/16/2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170816122340.htm

2.  "Watching Wildfires" 10/11/2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171011123811.htm

3. "Can corals adapt to climate change?" 11/1/2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171101141712.htm

4. "Syria Joins Paris Climate Accord, Leaving Only U.S. Opposed" 11/7/2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/climate/syria-joins-paris-agreement.html

5. "2017 Was One of the Hottest Years On Record. And That Was Without El Nino" 1/18/2018  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/18/climate/hottest-year-2017.html

6. "Estuaries may experience accelerated impacts of human-caused CO2" 4/2/2018  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180402160712.htm

7. "Growing Crisis Threatens Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, As Top Aides Eye the Exit" 4/5/2018  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/climate/epa-chief-scott-pruitt-pressure.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront

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This is a new study conducted at Harvard's John. A. Paulson school of Engineering and studies how future volcanic eruptions will effect the earth's ozone layer. To summarize, the next major volcanic eruption could kick-start chemical reactions that would damage earth's already weakened ozone layer. Using chemical modeling, researchers predicted what would happen to the ozone layer if there was another major eruption or different greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

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Studies have shown that climate change has influenced wildfire frequency. A team of researchers from the University of Missouri has created a model that keys in on two variables, temperature and precipitation, to understand how climate influences wildfires. While wildfires can't be completely prevented, the model helps researchers predict the probability of where and why a wildfire will occur.

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A study has shown that cool water corals can only react to changing ocean temperatures if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. Due to climate change, researchers fear that coral will not be able to adapt and may be in danger. In a simulation conducted by researchers at Stanford University, Coral would be able to survive and adapt under mild and moderate conditions. However, under extreme conditions, coral would have trouble adapting and would eventually go extinct.

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Earlier this year in June, Trump decided to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, leaving them along with Syria and Nicaragua as the only other countries to reject the global agreement. The goal of the pact is to limit greenhouse gases and carbon emissions in the atmosphere. However, the reasoning behind the three countries decisions is different. Nicaragua initially refused to sign because the deal didn't go far enough to reduce carbon emissions, while Syria was unable to send representatives because of American and European sanctions during their civil war. Meanwhile, the U.S. has backed out because Trump says that it doesn't benefit the economy. When in reality backing out will hurt us in the long run.

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2017 was the hottest year ever in terms of measuring surface temperatures; and to researchers' surprises, this all happened with no El Nino, which is a shift in tropical weather patterns that is usually linked to record setting heat and contributed to record setting heat the last two years. In order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, scientists predict that global temperatures cannot increase by more than two percent. On top of all of this, Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate accord and repeal the Clean Power Plan.

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Researchers from the EPA and Oregon State University found that human caused CO2 may have twice the impact on coastal estuaries than it does on oceans. At night, water in the estuary had high CO2, low pH, and a lower saturation state. The conditions at night are changing twice as fast as in the day which may

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The head of the EPA has recently been under scrutiny for his current spending habits. Surprisingly he has been kept on the job by Trump when it seems that everyone else has either quit or been fired. Pruitt has excessively traveled first class and expensively housed which raises questions about the chief's decision making in a time when the EPA's budget is being slashed. While some may be puzzled as to why Trump hasn't fired Pruitt, he has rolled back regulations regarding climate change, clean water, and the use of chemical pesticides.