Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is the largest ever measured

Scientists have determined this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone,” an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life, is 8,776 square miles, an area about the size of New Jersey. It is the largest measured since dead zone mapping began there in 1985.

The measured size is close to the 8,185 square miles forecast by NOAA in June. 

Financial Incentives Could Conserve Tropical Forest Diversity

The past few decades have seen the rise of global incentive programs offering payments to landowners to help reduce tropical deforestation. Until now, assessments of these programs have largely overlooked decreases in forest diversity. In what might be a first of its kind study, University of Missouri researchers have integrated forest imaging with field-level inventories and landowner surveys to assess the impact of conservation payments in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin forests. They found that conservation payment programs are making a difference in the diversity of tree species in protected spaces. Further, the species being protected are twice as likely to be of commercial timber value and at risk of extinction.

NASA Looks at Tropical Cyclones Irwin and Hilary Rainfall and Fujiwara Effect

NASA used satellite data to tally the rainfall generated by Hurricanes Hilary and Irwin as they interacted in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Climate change could put rare bat species at greater risk

An endangered bat species with a UK population of less than 1,000 could be further threatened by the effects of global warming, according to a new study led by the University of Southampton.

Alkaline Soil, Sensible Sensor

Producers sometimes face challenges that go deep into the soil. They need answers to help the soil, on site. A portable field sensor can accurately measure minerals in soils more easily and efficiently than existing methods. And a research team, including a middle school student and her scientist father, can confirm it.

NASA Look at Tropical Storm Nalgae in Infrared Light

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Nalgae and gathered temperature data to determine the location of the most powerful storms. 

Loss of 350 miles of Great Plains streams causing changes in aquatic food web

The food web in Great Plains streams could be unraveling, according to a Kansas State University ecologist.

Keith Gido, professor of biology, and Josh Perkin, a Kansas State University alumnus, recently published "Groundwater declines are linked to changes in Great Plains stream fish assemblages" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research maps the loss of stream habitat for many small fish in the Great Plains region and attributes it to declining groundwater sources.

NASA Keeps an Eye on Typhoon Noru

NASA’s Aqua satellite is keeping track of Typhoon Noru as it continues its slow trek through the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.

On August 2, 2017 at 12:05 a.m. EDT (0405 UTC) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Typhoon Noru. The MODIS image shows a symmetric band of thunderstorms completely surrounding a well-defined eye feature.

Geoscientists explain puzzling pockets of rock deep in Earth's mantle

A team led by geoscientists from Arizona State University and Michigan State University has used computer modeling to explain how pockets of mushy rock accumulate at the boundary between Earth's core and mantle.

Historical wildlife trends reliable for predicting species at risk

Scientists at the University of York have shown that using historical wildlife data provides a more accurate measure of how vulnerable certain species might be to extinction from climate change.

Some of the methods used to predict at risk species are trend-based – an indicator of what happens gradually over time – while others are trait based, which uses signs of climate change in the current environment.