Climate change, tornadoes and mobile homes: A dangerous mix

Tornadoes and mobile homes don’t mix to begin with, but throw in the volatility of climate change and the potential for massive property damage and deaths is even higher in coming decades, indicates a new study by Michigan State University researchers.

Decades of Data on World's Oceans Reveal a Troubling Oxygen Decline

A new analysis of decades of data on oceans across the globe has revealed that the amount of dissolved oxygen contained in the water – an important measure of ocean health – has been declining for more than 20 years.

A Lot of Galaxies Need Guarding in this NASA Hubble View

Much like the eclectic group of space rebels in the upcoming film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has some amazing superpowers, specifically when it comes to observing innumerable galaxies flung across time and space.

Silicon Valley's Mission to Save California Ag From Dying of Thirst

When George McFadden sits at his computer to analyze crop photos, he looks like a doctor pointing out trouble spots on an X-ray. He identifies unnatural lines, “blob-like” patterns, and streaks clouding a field. All can indicate a troubling diagnosis.

Robots may bring reef relief

A study authored by University of Delaware professor Art Trembanis and colleagues reveals new details about deep sea reefs — known as mesophotic reefs — near the island of Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean.

While coral reefs worldwide are in decline, the waters surrounding Bonaire comprise a marine park known as a scuba “diver’s paradise” because it contains some of the most well-preserved coral reefs in the Caribbean basin.

Trembanis and colleagues used autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to map these deep sea reefs, situated 100 to over 500 feet (30 to over 150 meters) below the ocean surface, which are considered a lifeline for shallow reef recovery due to stressors like warming (bleaching), ocean acidification, over fishing and other deteriorations.

Time to develop British Columbia wave energy advantage: new report

British Columbia now has enough detailed information about the height, frequency and direction of its coastal waves to start developing and testing wave energy converters in the ocean, according to a new report released at an energy conference at the University of Victoria today.

Produced by the UVic-led Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions and co-authored by researchers at UVic’s West Coast Wave Initiative (WCWI), Wave Energy: A Primer for British Columbia summarises key research findings about the magnitude of BC’s wave energy potential, explains how wave energy converters work, and examines the opportunities and challenges of the sector.

Clean energy survey studies British Columbia First Nations involvement

A new survey on clean energy was released this week by the BC First Nations Clean Energy Working Group in partnership with UVic’s School of Environmental Studies and Clean Energy BC. The survey, “First Nations and Renewable Energy Development in BC,” had 105 responses from the 203 First Nations in BC. According to its co-author, Kara Shaw of UVic's School of Environmental Studies, this is the first attempt to document the range and impacts of renewable energy development by First Nations in this province.

Stanford researchers analyze what a warming planet means for mosquito-borne diseases

As temperatures rise with climate change, mosquito season extends past the summer months in many parts of the world. The question has been how this lengthened season influences the risk of being infected with mosquito-born diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

Now, in a paper published on April 27 in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Stanford researchers modeled how rising temperatures might influence mosquito behavior and disease risk around the world. The researchers also calibrated their model with field data on human infections of mosquito-borne diseases.

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Spots Formation of Tropical Cyclone Donna

The tropical low pressure area previously known as System 99P organized and developed into tropical cyclone Donna in the South Pacific and now threatens Vanuatu. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided visible and infrared data on the newly developed storm.

Donna developed into a tropical storm on May 2 at 2100 UTC (5 p.m. EDT) about 484 nautical miles northwest of Suva, Fiji.    

On May 3 at 0224 UTC (May 2 at 10:24 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of the newly developed tropical storm. The VIIRS image showed strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation and extending to the north in a large thick band.

WSU researchers find wealth of fish at deep Hawaiian reef

Washington State University marine biologists for the first time have documented a wealth of fish in the “vastly underexplored” deep coral reefs off Hawaii Island.

The study gives fishery managers a more complete picture of fish species and habitat around the Big Island, home to a thriving aquarium fish trade, as well as other deep waters around the globe, said Cori Kane, a doctoral student at WSU Vancouver.