global change biology
Scripps oceanography researchers discover arctic blooms occurring earlier
Warming temperatures and melting ice in the Arctic may be behind a progressively earlier bloom of a crucial annual marine event, and the shift could hold consequences for the entire food chain and carbon cycling in the region.
Scientists at Scr…
Sugarcane bioethanol: Environmental implications
Researchers have long promoted biofuels produced from crop biomass as an environmentally sustainable source of renewable energy. A recent study questions whether the potential climate benefit of sugarcane ethanol is diminished when emissions from la…
Scientists discover agave’s tremendous potential as new bioenergy feedstock
Champaign, IL — February 4, 2011 – An article in the current issue of Global Change Biology Bioenergy reviews the suitability of Agave as a bioenergy feedstock that can sustain high productivity in spite of poor soil and stressful climatic conditi…
Agave fuels global excitement as a bioenergy crop
Scientists found that in 14 independent studies, the yields of two Agave species greatly exceeded the yields of other biofuel feedstocks, such as corn, soybean, sorghum, and wheat. Additionally, even more productive Agave species that have not yet b…
Effects of El Nino land South Pacific reef fish in hot water
Unseasonal warm temperatures caused by El Niño have a profound effect on the fish populations of coral reefs in the South Pacific, scientists have found. An international team of biologists studied the arrival of young fish to the atoll of Ran…
Catastrophic drought looms for capital city of Bolivia
Catastrophic drought is on the near-term horizon for the capital city of Bolivia, according to new research into the historical ecology of the Andes.
If temperatures rise more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius (3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) above those…
Marine animals suggest evidence for a trans-Antarctic seaway
A tiny marine filter-feeder, that anchors itself to the sea bed, offers new clues to scientists studying the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — a region that is thought to be vulnerable to collapse(1).
As part of a study for the Ce…
Greenhouse gas might green up the desert
Missing: around 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas charged with global warming. Every year, industry releases about 22 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And every year, when scientists measure the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it doesn?t add up ? about half goes missing. Figuring in the amount that could be soaked up by oceans, some 7 billion tons still remain unaccounted for. Now, a study conducted at the edge of Israel?s Negev Desert has come up with what might be a piece of the puzzle.