news 2009

The University of Plymouth's world-leading ocean acidification research has been highlighted in a United Nations report launched at the end of the Copenhagen Climate Change summit. 'Scientific Synthesis of the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity', compiled by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is the most comprehensive overview to date of all existing scientific evidence on ocean acidification - including breakthrough research led by the University of Plymouth’s Jason Hall-Spencer.

Independent whether we consider grapevines in the vineyard or tomatoes in the greenhouse: how well plants are being supplied with water can be viewed by an innovative magnetic probe that is simply clamped to the leaves.

Farmers and pastoralists in a maize-growing region of Eastern Kenya. A new study finds that climate change could severely harm crop productivity and increase the likelihood that disadvantaged rural populations will take up arms. (Marshall Burke photo) BERKELEY — Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent within the next two decades, according to a new study led by a team of researchers at University of California, Berkeley, and published in today's (Monday, Nov.

New insights into the genetic basis of rheumatoid arthritis are reported in two papers published online in the scientific. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have participated in both studies. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an acquired, chronic autoimmune disease, characterized by inflammation of the lining of multiple joints.

The research findings, published in the Journal of Ecology, show that climate change during the winter months is having a significant impact on the plant life in parts of the Arctic. Research into this area has received little attention when compared with summer warming studies, despite the detrimental effects winter warming is having.

Studies of biodiversity at sites such as Colorado's 12,100-foot Hasley Pass are used to estimate total plant species richness over extensive alpine habitat in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. (John Harte/UC Berkeley) BERKELEY — Ask biologists how many species live in a pond, a grassland, a mountain range or on the entire planet, and the answers get increasingly vague.

A University of Plymouth lecturer is the lead author of a prestigious new Royal Society publication examining the effects of plastics on the environment and human health. Richard Thompson, who is one of the foremost researchers on this topical subject, was chosen to edit the 180 page special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B which is published online today pending hard copy publication towards the end of the summer.

BERKELEY — Deep in the hemlock forests of the Eastern United States, a tiny, aphid-like insect may be playing a giant role in transforming an ecosystem, according to new research by ecologists at the University of California, Berkeley. The understory environment of hemlock forests, characterized by uniformly low light levels and little plant cover, has been significantly altered by the decline of the hemlock canopy caused by an exotic pest, the hemlock woolly adelgid.

BERKELEY — Global warming may include some periods of local cooling, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Results from satellite and ground-based sensor data show that sweltering summers can, paradoxically, lead to the temporary formation of a cooling haze in the southeastern United States.

The finding, published in Geophysical Research Letters, provides more evidence of the intertwining of severe weather and global warming by demonstrating a mechanism by which storms could drive climate change. Many scientists now believe that global warming, in turn, is likely to increase the severity of tropical cyclones.

How can the marine environment benefit our physical and mental health' Could understanding rip currents help save lives' What impact will the Wave Hub have on our coast line' These are just a few of the topics that will be discussed as the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership (PMSP) showcases pioneering research at its first-ever research symposium, 'Marine Science for a Changing World'.

BERKELEY — Long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, is associated with an increased risk of death from respiratory ailments, according to a new nationwide study led by a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. The study, to be published in the March 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed the risk of death for both ozone and fine particulate matter, two of the most prevalent components of air pollution.

The 34 hotspots identified by Conservation International cover 2.3 percent of the Earth's land surface, yet more than 50 percent of the world's plant species and 42 percent of all terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to these areas. All are threatened by human activities. BERKELEY — With limited funding and an inadequate number of scientists, governments in countries containing "hotspots" of threatened biodiversity are wrestling with how to protect plants and animals in disappearing habitats.

BERKELEY — Not only has the average global temperature increased in the past 50 years, but the hottest day of the year has shifted nearly two days earlier, according to a new study by scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University. The average distribution of global temperatures for July and February.

The University of Birmingham's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences has secured funding of £500,000 for a new Facility for Environmental Nanoparticle Analysis and Characterisation (FENAC). Researchers at the facility will analyse the physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles and will look at whether they have significant adverse effects on human and environmental health.