Receive funding for your R&D Projects!
Your partner for subsidy advice
Your partner for subsidy advice
University Park, Pa. Ð Deeply buried ocean sediments may house populations of tiny organisms that have extremely low maintenance energy needs and population turnover rates of anywhere from 200 to 2,000 years, according to an international team of researchers.
“The microbial ecosystem in deeply buried marine sediments may comprise a tenth of Earth’s living biomass, but little is known about the organisms, their physiologies, and their influence on surface environments,” says
One of the greatest challenges facing marine ecologists today is finding innovative ways to reverse the rapid decline of coral reef ecosystems around the world. Ten percent of the planet’s reefs already have been degraded beyond recovery, according to one survey, and another 60 percent could die by 2050, primarily because of human activities, such as pollution, overfishing and climate change.
The situation is particularly acute in the island nations of the Caribbean, which
Researchers are enlisting seals, sea lions, tunas, and sharks to serve as ocean sensors, outfitting these top predators with electronic tags that gather detailed reports on oceanographic conditions and, in many cases, transmit the data via satellite. The data are proving useful to both biologists and oceanographers, yielding new information about the migrations and behavior of the animals and about the environments in which they live.
“We’re using these animals as ocean sensors
Study Suggests Climate Models Underestimate Future Warming
Scientists have found evidence that tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures may have once reached 107°F (42°C)—about 25°F (14°C) higher than ocean temperatures today and warmer than a hot tub. The surprisingly high ocean temperatures, the warmest estimates to date for any place on Earth, occurred millions of year ago when carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere were also high, but researchers say they may be an indication th
A leading group of epidemiologists, veterinarians and ecologists report that humans are affecting the oceans in ways that are changing the dynamics of disease. Previously harmless pathogens are becoming killers when combined with contaminants; “good” parasites that invisibly control the balance of species in an ecosystem are disappearing; and changes in sea surface temperature can trigger cholera outbreaks thousands of miles away.
“Human activities are knocking things out of balance,” says
Earth System Experts to Speak at IGBP Session on “Vital Organs in the Earth System: What is the Prognosis?” at AAAS Annual Meeting
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, St. Louis 16-20 February 2006, America’s Center convention site.
SESSION TITLE: Vital Organs in the Earth System: What is the Prognosis?
SESSION DATE: 2/19/2006, 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM
LOCATION: Renaissance Grand Hotel (opposite main conference ve