https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6 Alpert Approved en-us 2017-01-23 21:57:07 UTC 2017-05-12 18:04:31 UTC hello@padlet.com 17arvelod https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148887292 Plants fix carbon dioxide by using the Calvin Cycle. This is a process in which the plants turn the carbon dioxide into glucose. Unfortuntely, the rate at which plants do this globally cannot keep up with the increased amount of C02 in the air, due to humans. Thus, there is climate change.
 Scientists in Germany have created a similar  process , dubbed the CETCH cycle that turns CO2 into glyoxylate. They modified the Calvin cycle which they saw as innefficient. Mainly, they replaced the main biological tool of this process, RuBisCO, with a modified process called ECR.
It's promising what they they were able to accomplish this through a series of enzymes. Their process was found to be 25% more efficient.  Ultimately,  the hope is that this technolgy can be genetically engineered into a living organism. This would dramatically turn the tides in terms of carbon buildup in the atmosphere and possibly give us a new source of energy. While promising, wide scale use of this technology seems to be many years away.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a23938/fix-carbon-dioxide-useful-products/]]> 2017-01-23 22:15:08 UTC https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148887292 17arvelod https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148897078 Everyone knows melting ice caps are threatening the polar bear species. Sadly, that is not the only concern according to this article. The bears' bodies were found to have high amounts of toxic chemicals. The chemicals can damage the bears' ability to reproduce and increase the risk for cancer. Many of the chemcials were banned or restricted in the 1970s and 1980s but their effects are still being felt.
Since polar bears are at the top of their food chain they ingest large amounts because the chemicals build up as they move up the chain.
It's positive that most of the chemicals that caused these problems have been banned and their prevalence is decreasing. However, a chemical called PFOS has only been "restricted"  not banned and this is dramatically slowing progress. It;s crucial that This issue needs to be dealt with or else it , combined with climate change will quickly wipe out the rest of the polar bears.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/polar-bear-cubs-at-high-risk-from-toxic-industrial-chemicals-despite-bans/]]> 2017-01-24 00:03:18 UTC https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148897078 17arvelod https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148898747 Ticks are rapidly killing moose in New England, especially in New Hampshire. It's not unusual for a group of ticks to kill a moose, but it is now happening much more often. Due to warmer temperatures in longer streches of time, ticks are able to survive more easily. They attach themselvess to moose, especially calves and kill them. In some parts 70% of all calves are killed by ticks.
Researchers in Maine, new Hampshire, and Vermont are currently tagging moose to track this trend . They are finding the mortality rate consistenly increasing as the temperatures keep rising and the moose cannot replace the blood lost fast enough.
This is signifigant mainly becasue it is yet another effect of climate change. Some experts suggest hunting could be the solution to this problem because a decline in the moose population would mean a decline in the tick population. Eventually, it is predicted that  the tick population will increase too much to sustain itself and a new lower moose and tick equilibrium will arise.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/ticks-thriving-in-warm-weather-take-a-ghastly-toll-on-new-england-moose.html ]]> 2017-01-24 00:27:39 UTC https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148898747 17arvelod https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148900471 Southern California was recently smacked with a record breaking storm. There was extreme flooding and unusually high rainfall, up to 4 inches in some areas. This storm was part of a shift to rainier weather in the state following their 5 year drought. Los Angles has recived 216% of its normal rainfall. There was lots of flooding, damages, and at least one fatality reported. Evacuations have been ordered in some areas due to fear of mudslides. The rain was a sort of "super storm", a combination of specific circumstances. Accoring to meteorologic  Ben Albright " We had a very intense atmospheric river with a lot of moisture and an area of lift".
Interestingly, this rainy trend is expected to continure as time progresses. This can be seen as a positive, a change from drought season and a negative, due to the flooding and damages these stroms can cause. It will be interesting to study how the season progresses. It raises the question of how ecosystems previously in a drought will react to this newfoudn rainfall.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-new-storm-california-floods-muslides-snow-20170121-story.html]]> 2017-01-24 00:56:43 UTC https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148900471 17arvelod https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148902096 According to a report published in the journal of the National Academy of  Sciences, only 7,100 cheetahs remain. The decline is due to a decrease in habitat because the lands are being used for farming. This rapid decline has gone unnoticed because the animals which are known for being extremely fast and elusive are difficult to study. Additionally cub trafficking is damaging the population.
 Experts are calling for the cheetah to be reclassified as endangred rather than vulnerable and for a change in conservation efforts.
This is important because it is another reason to switch to an incentive based approach to conservation, where local communities are paid to protect the species is being suggested by many experts. This style of conservation is becoming more and more favored. Protecting certain lands oftentimes isn't enough, especially for species like the cheetah that need a large amount of space to survive.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38415906]]> 2017-01-24 01:16:43 UTC https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148902096 17arvelod https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148904116 A study conducted by various wildlife ecologists concluded that reintroducing the cougar into states where it had been wiped out in the 1900s would lessen the number of deer and car collisions. This in turn would save people from injury, death, and save huge amounts of money from damages. The scientists used mathematical models with infromation like how many deers the average cougar would kill, how many of these accidents occur, and  how much land would be needed, to come up with their conclusions. Although, the the study was careful to note that it was not advocating for humans to reintoduce the cougar into these regions themselves. Simply, it was making an observation and advising humans not to fight when cougar populations start to rise. This is an example of the enviroment being ocunterintuitive. It is a reminder that when it comes to enviromental science and science in general it's better to look at the data than trust your gut. There has been a small resurgence of the species in some states already. Although more cougars would cause more cougar induced deaths they'd make for less total deaths. Ths is an ecologically interesting approach.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/science/too-many-deer-on-the-road-let-cougars-return-study-says.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&smtyp=cur ]]> 2017-01-24 01:42:15 UTC https://padlet.com/17arvelod/lp0wthos8pp6/wish/148904116