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Study Helps Explain Greenland Glaciers’ Varied Vulnerability to Melting

More accurate maps of bed topography reveal physical processes controlling retreat.

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Global Warming Increases the Risk of Avalanches

The impacts of global warming are felt especially in mountainous regions, where the rise in temperatures is above average, affecting both glacierized landscapes and water resources. The repercussions of these changes are manifold and varied, from retreating glaciers to an increase in the frequency and intensity of snow avalanches. A team of researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has employed dendrochronology– the reconstruction of past disasters as recorded in growth series of trees– to disentangle the role of global warming in the triggering avalanches. The results of this study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academic of Science – PNAS.

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Mountains Become Islands: Ecological Dangers of Increasing Land Use in East Africa

The mountains of East Africa are a treasure trove of biodiversity. However, their ecosystems may be at a higher risk than previously realized. Dr. Andreas Hemp and Dr. Claudia Hemp have discovered that Mount Kilimanjaro is turning into an "ecological island". Agriculture and housing construction have eliminated the natural vegetation that used to serve as a bridge to the surrounding area, enabling the diversity of species to develop to its current levels. Neighbouring mountain regions are presumably also being isolated from their surrounding areas. The researchers have published their study in the journal Global Change Biology.

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Eastern Mediterranean Summer Will be Two Months Longer by End of 21st Century

The eastern Mediterranean — an area that covers Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and southern Turkey — is experiencing monumental climate changes poised to significantly affect regional ecosystems and human health. According to a new Tel Aviv University study, these changes will alter the duration of summer and winter in the region by the end of this century.

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Growing Need for Urban Forests as Urban Land Expands

A new USDA Forest Service study projects that urban land in Lower 48 states will more than double between 2010 and 2060, which will affect forest and agricultural lands that are being converted to urban uses as well as expand the importance of urban forests in relation to environmental quality and human well-being.

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'Lazy Lawn Mowers' Can Help Support Suburban Bee Populations and Diversity

Homeowners concerned about the decline of bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects need look no further than their own back yards, says ecologist Susannah Lerman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the USDA Forest Service. In new research, she and colleagues suggest that homeowners can help support bee habitat in suburban yards, specifically their lawns, by changing lawn-mowing habits.

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Digging Deep: Harnessing the Power of Soil Microbes for More Sustainable Farming

There’s a farm in Arkansas growing soybeans, corn, and rice that is aiming to be the most scientifically advanced farm in the world. Soil samples are run through powerful machines to have their microbes genetically sequenced, drones are flying overhead taking hyperspectral images of the crops, and soon supercomputers will be crunching the massive volumes of data collected.

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Research in India Finds Mobile Phone 'Alerts' Plus 'Free Minutes' Improve Childhood Immunization Rates

In a study conducted in rural India, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers working in collaboration with Bal Umang Drishya Sanstha (BUDS), a nonprofit Indian organization focused on child health, have found that mobile phone reminders linked with incentives such as free talk time minutes work better than phone alerts alone to improve childhood immunization rates in poor communities.

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Smoking Linked With Higher Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

The prevalence of diabetes has increased almost 10-fold in China since the early 1980s, with one in 10 adults in China now affected by diabetes. Although adiposity is the major modifiable risk factor for diabetes, other research in China suggests this can explain only about 50% of the increase in diabetes prevalence over recent decades, suggesting other lifestyle factors, including smoking, may play a role in the aetiology of diabetes. In recent decades, there has been a large increase in cigarette smoking in China, especially among men. About two thirds of Chinese men now smoke, consuming roughly 40% of the world’s cigarettes.

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Chain Reaction of Fast-Draining Lakes Poses New Risk for Greenland Ice Sheet

A growing network of lakes on the Greenland ice sheet has been found to drain in a chain reaction that speeds up the flow of the ice sheet, threatening its stability. 

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