Washington DC (SPX) Feb 04, 2010 Speed is not a word typically associated with trees; they can take centuries to grow. However, a new study to be published the week of Feb. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found evidence that forests in the Eastern United States are growing faster than they have in the past 225 years. The study offers a rare look at how an ecosystem is responding to climate change. For more than 20 years forest ecologist Geoffrey Parker has tracked the growth of 55 stands of mixed hardwood forest plots in Maryland. The plots range in size, and some are as large as 2 acres. Parker's research is based at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 26 miles east of the nation's capital. Parker's tree censuses have revealed that the forest is packing on weight at a much faster rate than expected. He and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute postdoctoral fellow Sean McMahon discovered that, on average, the forest is growing an additional 2 tons per acre annually. That is the equivalent of a tree with a diameter of 2 feet sprouting up over a year.
For more than 20 years forest ecologist Geoffrey Parker has tracked the growth of 55 stands of mixed hardwood forest plots in Maryland. The plots range in size, and some are as large as 2 acres. Parker's research is based at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 26 miles east of the nation's capital.
Parker's tree censuses have revealed that the forest is packing on weight at a much faster rate than expected. He and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute postdoctoral fellow Sean McMahon discovered that, on average, the forest is growing an additional 2 tons per acre annually. That is the equivalent of a tree with a diameter of 2 feet sprouting up over a year.
New Delhi (AFP) Feb 5, 2010 Indian Premier Manmohan Singh on Friday lent his support to the beleaguered UN climate change panel, saying a glaring error in the body's key 2007 report did not change the science of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been under fire since revelations last month that its landmark Fourth Assessment Report mistakenly predicted that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 as a result of global warming. The claim has been traced to the campaign group WWF, which in turn took the prediction from an article in New Scientist magazine in 1999. Addressing a summit on sustainable development, Singh acknowledged that "some aspects of science reflected in the work of the IPCC have faced criticism. "But this debate does not challenge the core projections of the IPCC upon the impact of greenhouse gas accumulations on temperature, rainfall and sea level rise," he said.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been under fire since revelations last month that its landmark Fourth Assessment Report mistakenly predicted that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 as a result of global warming.
The claim has been traced to the campaign group WWF, which in turn took the prediction from an article in New Scientist magazine in 1999.
Addressing a summit on sustainable development, Singh acknowledged that "some aspects of science reflected in the work of the IPCC have faced criticism.
"But this debate does not challenge the core projections of the IPCC upon the impact of greenhouse gas accumulations on temperature, rainfall and sea level rise," he said.
Where does our food come from? These days, most people might think corn, the ubiquitous grain that provides the bulk of feed for our livestock; most of the sweetener for our soft drinks and snacks; and a large amount of our cooking fat. But where does the corn--and other staple crops--come from? The answer to that question lies beneath our feet. Healthy soil is our food system's bottom line. Without it, food crops won't grow. Farming, especially on today's industrial scale, is tough on soil, draining essential nutrients. The most critical nutrient is nitrogen, the building block of plants. A lot of energy and money have been spent figuring out how to replace it in the soil. In the past 50 years, led by the United States, global agriculture has come to rely increasingly on a cheap, synthetic form of nitrogen produced in fertilizer factories that are powered by natural gas and other fossil fuels. Before World War II, when the fertilizer industry was in its infancy, farmers used very little synthetic nitrogen. By 1964, U.S. farmers were applying about 4.3 million tons annually. In 2007, the last year for which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has figures, farmers dropped 5.7 million tons on the nation's corn crop alone. We now know that the undeniable benefits of synthetic nitrogen come with serious costs, both to the environment and to public health. In this special Grist series, we'll be looking at where synthetic nitrogen comes from and what our reliance on it is doing to our health and to the health of our waterways and climate. We'll also be looking at ways in which synthetic nitrogen can be used more wisely--and, as much as possible, phased out.
Where does our food come from?
These days, most people might think corn, the ubiquitous grain that provides the bulk of feed for our livestock; most of the sweetener for our soft drinks and snacks; and a large amount of our cooking fat.
But where does the corn--and other staple crops--come from? The answer to that question lies beneath our feet. Healthy soil is our food system's bottom line. Without it, food crops won't grow.
Farming, especially on today's industrial scale, is tough on soil, draining essential nutrients. The most critical nutrient is nitrogen, the building block of plants. A lot of energy and money have been spent figuring out how to replace it in the soil.
In the past 50 years, led by the United States, global agriculture has come to rely increasingly on a cheap, synthetic form of nitrogen produced in fertilizer factories that are powered by natural gas and other fossil fuels.
Before World War II, when the fertilizer industry was in its infancy, farmers used very little synthetic nitrogen. By 1964, U.S. farmers were applying about 4.3 million tons annually. In 2007, the last year for which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has figures, farmers dropped 5.7 million tons on the nation's corn crop alone. We now know that the undeniable benefits of synthetic nitrogen come with serious costs, both to the environment and to public health.
In this special Grist series, we'll be looking at where synthetic nitrogen comes from and what our reliance on it is doing to our health and to the health of our waterways and climate. We'll also be looking at ways in which synthetic nitrogen can be used more wisely--and, as much as possible, phased out.
Canada's Winter Olympics are ready to start after massive preparations, except for a desperate struggle to get hold of enough snow. They have spent six years fretting about security, costs, protests and etiquette. But just five days before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, organisers are tackling a last-minute act of sabotage by the weather - a paucity of the white stuff. The warmest January in history has left the slopes of Cypress Mountain, where the world's best snowboarders and mogul skiers will soon be going for gold, virtually free of snow.
They have spent six years fretting about security, costs, protests and etiquette. But just five days before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, organisers are tackling a last-minute act of sabotage by the weather - a paucity of the white stuff.
The warmest January in history has left the slopes of Cypress Mountain, where the world's best snowboarders and mogul skiers will soon be going for gold, virtually free of snow.
