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Increase in Global Warming Threatens Habitats of Freshwater Fish Species

The habitats of freshwater fish species are threatened by global warming, mainly due to rising water temperatures. A 3.2-degree Celsius increase in global mean temperature would threaten more than half of the habitat for one third of all freshwater fish species.

16 Mar 2021

Study Reveals Extent and Impact of Climate Change on Tropical Mountains

The tropics are known to drive atmospheric and ocean circulation in the world, and hence have a crucial role to play in interpreting both the past and upcoming climate change.

15 Mar 2021

New Insights on the Fate of Spilled Oil in the Marine Environment

A new study lead by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science demonstrates that under realistic environmental conditions oil drifting in the ocean after the DWH oil spill photooxidized into persistent compounds within hours to days, instead over long periods of time as was thought during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

15 Mar 2021

Researchers Receive NASA Grant to Assess Changes in Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot

The Madre de Dios River watershed in southeastern Peru is a tropical biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon and home to uncontacted Indigenous peoples, which has come under threat in recent years due to an expansion in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

11 Mar 2021

Global Sustainable Development Will Have Mixed Impacts on the World's Forests

Global targets to improve the welfare of people across the planet will have mixed impacts on the world's forests, according to new research.

11 Mar 2021

Study Shows Climate Change-Related Population Declines in Tropical Birds

The mountain forests of Tanzania are more than 9,300 miles away from Salt Lake City, Utah. But, as in eastern Africa, the wild places of Utah depend on a diversity of birds to spread seeds, eat pests and clean up carrion. Birds keep ecosystems healthy. So if birds in Tanzania are in trouble in a warming climate, as found in a recent study by University of Utah researchers, people in Utah as well as in the African tropics should pay attention.

10 Mar 2021

New Insights into the Role of Legume Trees in Supporting Tropical Forest Growth

Researchers have found that nitrogen-fixing legume trees can support themselves and surrounding trees not only with increased access to nitrogen, but with other key nutrients through enhanced mineral weathering.

9 Mar 2021

Economic Benefits of Conserving Natural Sites "Outweigh" the Profit Potential of Exploitation

The economic benefits of conserving or restoring natural sites "outweigh" the profit potential of converting them for intensive human use, according to the largest-ever study comparing the value of protecting nature at particular locations with that of exploiting it.

9 Mar 2021

Global Atmospheric Drying Could Reduce Crop Yields and Make Trees Shorter

A global observation of an ongoing atmospheric drying -- known by scientists as a rise in vapor pressure deficit -- has been observed worldwide since the early 2000s. In recent years, this concerning phenomenon has been on the rise, and is predicted to amplify even more in the coming decades as climate change intensifies.

9 Mar 2021

Northern California's Species-Rich Kelp Forests Replaced by "Urchin Barrens"

Satellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by "urchin barrens," where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and other algae.

8 Mar 2021