http://www.enn.com/ ENN RSS News http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40685 As the climate gets warmer, arid soils lose nitrogen as gas, reports a new Cornell study. This could lead to deserts with even less plant life than they sustain today, say the researchers. Available nitrogen is second only to water as the biggest constraint to biological activity in arid ecosystems, but before now, ecologists struggled to understand how the inputs and outputs of nitrogen in deserts balance. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40678 Hurricane Ida continues to move north towards the US Gulf Coast this morning. At 3am it was in the central part of the Gulf of Mexico, moving north-northeastward at 16 mph. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40676 Hurricane Ida strengthened off the Mexican resort city of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday as the storm's heavy rains killed at least 42 people in El Salvador. El Salvador's interior minister said more victims were expected to be found as rescue workers moved into areas cut off by mudslides in the Central American nation. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40675 U.S. Midwest weather is seen mostly dry through the next week, ideal for the corn and soybean harvest, a forecaster said on Friday. "This is outstanding weather. Considering the time of the year, this is about as good as you're going to get," said Mike Palmerino with DTN Meteorlogix. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40672 Dr. Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington provided a balanced look at the potential benefits and also the costs and possible harm that geoengineering techniques could offer in our quest to find a “Magic Bullet”� to counter global warming. Can global warming be mitigated by a technological fix such as injecting light-blocking particles into the atmosphere or chemically “scrubbing”� excess greenhouse gases from the atmosphere? Department of Global Ecology scientist Ken Caldeira addressed this question in his testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology in a hearing titled “Geoengineering: Assessing the Implications of Large-Scale Climate Intervention”� on November 5, 2009. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40666 A 10-ton fishing boat has been sunk by gigantic jellyfish off eastern Japan. The crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40665 The latest global assessment of biodiversity ruled yesterday that an additional 11 species are either fully extinct or extinct outside of captivity. As climate change, invasive species, and habitat destruction place greater pressure on wildlife, more species are disappearing at rates faster than conservationists can react to ensure the species' survival. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40664 Negotiators meeting this week in Barcelona for the last round of UN climate talks before a big conference in Copenhagen next month are working on negotiating texts that have no reference to water and its management as tools for climate change adaptation. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40663 A new study reported by the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and the University of Rochester sheds light on how the continents move, and oceans are created. In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial. Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans, and the rift is indeed likely the beginning of a new sea. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40662 President Lyndon Johnson and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made stark warnings about global warming decades ago, but convincing evidence for action only amassed in recent years, experts say. A 190-nation U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December is due to agree a new U.N. pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions to slow a rise in temperatures to prevent floods, droughts, wildfires or rising sea levels. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40661 In an unprecedented collaboration, over thirty major organizations have joined forces to invite young Americans to discover nature by entering the Robert Bateman "Get to Know" Contest. These partners include the US Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Federation, the Children & Nature Network, the Wyland Foundation, and many others. The Get to Know Contest invites any American age 18 or younger to go outdoors, to "get to know" their wild neighbors, and then to share their experience by creating art, writing, or photography. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40657 Ice cores are important tools to identify Earth’s past climate. They enable us to peer back in time to identify species of insects trapped in ice as well as isotopes oxygen and dust particles that were deposited at various time in the past. The ratio of oxygen isotopes in the ice allows researchers to determine whether temperatures were warmer or cooler when the snow that eventually turned to ice was deposited on the glacier. The dust content gives scientists clues about the rate of precipitation at the site. The thicker the core (longer cores) the longer into the past we can see. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40654 Hundreds of birds are washing up on the shores of the U.S. Pacific Northwest coated with a foamy sea slime, scientists say. Research suggests that recently, the blooms are larger, lasting longer, and happening with greater frequency. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40649 Chinese workers are trying to clean up dangerous chemicals in the central reaches of the Yangtze river and an oil spill near an eastern Chinese port, after two shipping accidents this weekend. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40648 Radioactive debris has been found in canyons that drain into the Rio Grande, but officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory say there's no health risk. More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico. Isolated on a high plateau, the Los Alamos National Laboratory seemed an ideal place to store a bomb factory's deadly debris. But the heavily fractured mountains haven't contained the waste, some of which has trickled down hundreds of feet to the edge of the Rio Grande, one of the most important water sources in the Southwest. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40643 The multiyear ice covering the Arctic Ocean has effectively vanished, a startling development that will make it easier to open up polar shipping routes, an Arctic expert said on Thursday. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40642 Just when you think all human activities are making the environment worse, news comes that our efforts to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts (0ur environmental footprint) are doing some good. According to a new U.S. Geological Survey report, the U S is using less water now than during the peak years of 1975 and 1980, despite a 30 percent population increase during the same time period. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40640 Although it is a heavily urbanized nation, fully two-thirds of Japan remains woodlands. Yet many of the forests are timber plantations inhospitable to wildlife, especially black bears, which are struggling to survive in one of the most densely populated countries on Earth. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40635 Between fiery destruction, mudslides, and ash clouds that blot out the sun, volcanoes aren't short on spectacular threats to human life. But on the island of Hawaii, residents living downwind of the actively erupting Kilauea volcano are at risk of a range of more subtle health problems, including bronchitis, asthma attacks, lung infections, and sore throats thanks to volcanic air pollution, according to a new study. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40634 President Barack Obama will announce the largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy during a visit to Florida, an Obama administration official said on Monday. The announcement will involve the smart grid, which will help bring energy from clean domestic sources to consumers in 49 states and help build a strong and more reliable electricity grid http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40633 Aflatoxin, found in mold on nuts and grains can cause liver cancer if consumed in large quantities. University California, Irvine researchers for the first time have discovered what triggers the toxin to form, which could lead to methods of limiting its production. Sheryl Tsai, lead author of a study appearing Oct. 22, in the journal Nature that reports the finding. Dr. Tsai is an associate professor of molecular biology & biochemistry, chemistry, and pharmaceutical sciences. "It's shocking how profoundly these molds can affect public health," said Dr. Tsai http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40632 Fewer U.S. citizens consider climate change to be a "serious threat" compared to two years ago, even as scientific evidence demonstrates that the problem has become increasingly severe, according to a recent nationwide public opinion poll. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press survey suggests that climate change campaigns are not adequately explaining the latest science to an audience that needs to reduce emissions substantially in order for the world to avoid the most damaging effects of global warming. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40631 A study by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang of the World Bank looked at the relative importance of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses from oil, natural gas, and coal compared to the life cycle and supply chain emissions of domesticated animals raised for food. They conclude that greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food account for 51% of annual emissions caused by humans and should be given higher priority in global efforts to fight climate change. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40630 Senator Barbara Boxer released a 923-page draft of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act over the weekend, the Senate version of climate and energy legislation, for the first time specifying emissions allocations and costs proposed in the bill. "We've reached another milestone as we move to a clean energy future, creating millions of jobs and protecting our children from dangerous pollution," Boxer, chairperson of the Environmental and Public Works Committee, who wrote the bill with Senator John Kerry, said on Friday. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40627 Did a massive meteor cause the extinction of the Dinosaurs? Could such an impact cause our extinction? There are a lot of large objects in space, and they are all on the move. How can we know if one is heading our way? NASA tracks these objects, and those which might travel near Earth are tracked carefully. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on these near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth.