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<title>Environment – Articles</title>
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<title>Tamil Nadu: Customs at Trichy Airport seize gold worth over Rs 1 crores from two passengers</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/tamil-nadu-customs-at-trichy-airport-seize-gold-worth-over-rs-1-crores-from-two-passengers</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Nov 2023 01:02:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=11427876</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>In two separate incidents Customs officials of Trichy Airport seized gold worth one crore rupees from two male passengers.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/tamil-nadu-customs-at-trichy-airport-seize-gold-worth-over-rs-1-crores-from-two-passengers">Tamil Nadu: Customs at Trichy Airport seize gold worth over Rs 1 crores from two passengers</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 13 (ANI): In two separate incidents, customs officials at Trichy Airport seized gold worth over one crore rupees from two passengers.<br />In the first incident that took place on Saturday, the customs department seized seven gold biscuits weighing 700 grams and gold jewellery weighing 94 grams from a male passenger at Trichy Airport, said officials on Sunday. <br />The customs officials said that the passenger arrived at the Trichy Airport from Singapore by Air India Express Flight. The gold seized from him was valued at 47,75,400.<br />In another incident on Saturday, customs officials at the airport seized gold weighing around 995.500 grams from a male passenger. <br />The gold seized from him is valued at Rs 60,42,685. <br />The gold was extracted from paste-like materials concealed in the rectum of a male passenger, said the customs officials. The passenger arrived at the airport from Dubai on an Air India Express flight. (ANI)</p>
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<post_id>11427876</post_id>
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<title>Clean, sustainable fuels created “from thin air” and plastic trash</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/clean-sustainable-fuels-created-from-thin-air-and-plastic-trash</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jun 2023 17:18:28 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=9693050</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Researchers have shown how carbon dioxide from industrial operations or even straight from the air can be gathered and converted into clean, sustainable fuels using just solar energy.</p>
<p>The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products. In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, and plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/clean-sustainable-fuels-created-from-thin-air-and-plastic-trash">Clean, sustainable fuels created “from thin air” and plastic trash</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>England [UK], June 19 (ANI): Researchers have shown how carbon dioxide from industrial operations or even straight from the air can be gathered and converted into clean, sustainable fuels using just solar energy.<br />The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products. In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, and plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry.<br />Unlike earlier tests of their solar fuels technology however, the team took CO2 from real-world sources – such as industrial exhaust or the air itself. The researchers were able to capture and concentrate the CO2 and convert it into sustainable fuel.<br />Although improvements are needed before this technology can be used at an industrial scale, the results, reported in the journal Joule, represent another important step toward the production of clean fuels to power the economy, without the need for environmentally destructive oil and gas extraction.<br />For several years, Professor Erwin Reisner’s research group, based in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, has been developing sustainable, net-zero carbon fuels inspired by photosynthesis – the process by which plants convert sunlight into food – using artificial leaves. These artificial leaves convert CO2 and water into fuels using just the power of the sun.<br />To date, their solar-driven experiments have used pure, concentrated CO2 from a cylinder, but for the technology to be of practical use, it needs to be able to actively capture CO2 from industrial processes, or directly from the air. However, since CO2 is just one of many types of molecules in the air we breathe, making this technology selective enough to convert highly diluted CO2 is a huge technical challenge.<br />“We’re not just interested in decarbonisation, but de-fossilisation – we need to completely eliminate fossil fuels in order to create a truly circular economy,” said Reisner. “In the medium term, this technology could help reduce carbon emissions by capturing them from industry and turning them into something useful, but ultimately, we need to cut fossil fuels out of the equation entirely and capture CO2 from the air.”<br />The researchers took their inspiration from carbon capture and storage (CCS), where CO2 is captured and then pumped and stored underground.<br />“CCS is a technology that’s popular with the fossil fuel industry as a way to reduce carbon emissions while continuing oil and gas exploration,” said Reisner. “But if instead of carbon capture and storage, we had carbon capture and utilisation, we could make something useful from CO2 instead of burying it underground, with unknown long-term consequences, and eliminate the use of fossil fuels.”<br />The researchers adapted their solar-driven technology so that it works with flue gas or directly from the air, converting CO2 and plastics into fuel and chemicals using only the power of the sun.<br />By bubbling air through the system containing an alkaline solution, the CO2 selectively gets trapped, and the other gases present in air, such as nitrogen and oxygen, harmlessly bubble out. This bubbling process allows the researchers to concentrate the CO2 from air in solution, making it easier to work with.<br />The integrated system contains a photocathode and an anode. The system has two compartments: on one side is captured CO2 solution that gets converted into syngas, a simple fuel. On the other plastics are converted into useful chemicals using only sunlight. <br />“The plastic component is an important trick to this system,” said co-first author Dr Motiar Rahaman. “Capturing and using CO2 from the air makes the chemistry more difficult. But, if we add plastic waste to the system, the plastic donates electrons to the CO2. The plastic breaks down to glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry, and the CO2 is converted into syngas, which is a simple fuel.”<br />“This solar-powered system takes two harmful waste products – plastic and carbon emissions – and converts them into something truly useful,” said co-first author Dr Sayan Kar.<br />“Instead of storing CO2 underground, like in CCS, we can capture it from the air and make clean fuel from it,” said Rahaman. “This way, we can cut out the fossil fuel industry from the process of fuel production, which can hopefully help us avoid climate destruction.”<br />“The fact that we can effectively take CO2 from air and make something useful from it is special,” said Kar. “It’s satisfying to see that we can actually do it using only sunlight.”<br />The scientists are currently working on a bench-top demonstrator device with improved efficiency and practicality to highlight the benefits of coupling direct air capture with CO2 utilisation as a path to a zero-carbon future.<br />The research was supported in part by the Weizmann Institute of Science, the European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship, the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Erwin Reisner is a Fellow and Motiar Rahaman is a Research Associate of St John’s College, Cambridge. Erwin Reisner leads the Cambridge Circular Plastics Centre (CirPlas), which aims to eliminate plastic waste by combining blue-sky thinking with practical measures. (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/clean-sustainable-fuels-created-from-thin-air-and-plastic-trash">Clean, sustainable fuels created “from thin air” and plastic trash</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<post_id>9693050</post_id>
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<title>A novel method creates a window for studying the transport and distribution of elements in plants: Study</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/a-novel-method-creates-a-window-for-studying-the-transport-and-distribution-of-elements-in-plants-study</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 13 Jun 2023 13:30:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=9621605</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Plant roots are crucial in the uptake, selection, enrichment, and retention of a variety of mineral elements, which supply distant plant tissues with nutrients and sequesters excess metals. A variety of ion transporters found at roots mediate the absorption, efflux, and intracellular compartmentalization of various mineral elements to carry out such element-specific tasks.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/a-novel-method-creates-a-window-for-studying-the-transport-and-distribution-of-elements-in-plants-study">A novel method creates a window for studying the transport and distribution of elements in plants: Study</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Gatersleben [Germany], June 13 (ANI): Plant roots are crucial in the uptake, selection, enrichment, and retention of a variety of mineral elements, which supplies distant plant tissues with nutrients and sequesters excess metals. A variety of ion transporters found at roots mediate the absorption, efflux, and intracellular compartmentalization of various mineral elements to carry out such element-specific tasks.<br />The majority of ion transporters have distinctive tissue- and cell-type-specific localization patterns that can change in response to both internal and external signals. Finding out how many different ion transporters and transport routes contribute to the distribution of elements in cells and tissues will help us better understand the function of these systems in roots.<br />The best method for simultaneous quantification of multiple elements is inductively couple plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). However, ICP-MS is still largely restricted to the analysis of whole-tissues instead of single tissues or specific cell types. Overcoming this limitation would allow to simultaneously map the distribution of several mineral elements along different root cell layers, a critical step to fully understand how roots protect highly sensitive stem cells from toxic elements but share essential and beneficial elements with aboveground parts.<br />“With this in mind, we developed a method in which distinct cell types isolated from roots of various reporter lines are separated via fluorescence-activated cell sorting prior to elemental analysis with ICP-MS”, says Dr. Ricardo Giehl, first author of the study. “Our new method enabled us to determine the concentration of up to 11 mineral elements in different cell types, and to explore the consequences of perturbed xylem loading or altered nutrient availabilities at high spatial resolution.”<br />The researchers used the new FACS-ICP-MS method to reveal significant cell type-specific element distribution and the existence of a steep concentration gradient between outer and inner cell layers in roots. “Furthermore, the cellular concentration ranges for most macro- and micronutrients estimated with our method can serve as reference for future studies”, emphasises Prof. Dr. Nicolaus von Wiren, head of IPK’s research department “Physiology and Cell Biology”.<br />The method also helped the researchers to identify a cell type-specific enrichment of manganese in roots of plants exposed to iron-limiting conditions. By installing a manganese sequestration mechanism in specific cell types, the researchers uncovered that root hairs play a critical role in retaining the excess manganese taken up by iron-deficient plants, thereby preventing that toxic concentrations of manganese build up in shoots.<br />“Our results highlight the importance of the particular “topographical” placement of ion transporters for directing radial movement of ions destined to shoots or for efficient metal sequestration in roots”, says Dr. Ricardo Giehl. “The possibility to combine our method with transcriptomics and to develop it further toward single cell ICP-MS offers the possibility to investigate transcriptome-ionome networks at very high spatial resolution. This knowledge is critical to understand and manipulate transport pathways in order to increase nutrient use efficiency while simultaneously preventing accumulation of toxic elements in aboveground tissues.” (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/a-novel-method-creates-a-window-for-studying-the-transport-and-distribution-of-elements-in-plants-study">A novel method creates a window for studying the transport and distribution of elements in plants: Study</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<post_id>9621605</post_id>
<image_url>https://s3images.zee5.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ANI-20230613132056.jpg</image_url>
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<title>Why e-waste management is important and how it can be done</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/why-e-waste-management-is-important-and-how-it-can-be-done</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jun 2023 15:02:26 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=9519138</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Since technology has advanced so quickly over the last few decades, it is difficult to envision life without smartphones, GPS navigation systems, laptops, and other electronic devices.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/why-e-waste-management-is-important-and-how-it-can-be-done">Why e-waste management is important and how it can be done</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] June 4 (ANI) Since technology has advanced so quickly over the last few decades, it is difficult to envision life without smartphones, GPS navigation systems, laptops, and other electronic devices.<br />At the same time, environmentalists, state and local governments, and even the United Nations are seriously considering how to reduce e-waste in light of the exponential growth in the volume of used electronics being wasted.<br />As we are all about to celebrate World Environment Day (June 5), e-waste management is indeed an important topic to discuss. E-waste is a significant environmental issue that affects everyone in the world and poses considerable health risks to anyone who handles it carelessly.<br />Eliminating these environmental risks is only one aspect of reducing e-waste. Recycling components from e-waste consumes a lot less energy than producing new ones, therefore minimising e-waste also helps us save resources and lowers the amount of energy required to produce these items.<br />Talk to any family member or friend who recently purchased a new smartphone or laptop or who simply intends to dispose of their old ones about recycling it.<br />Sharing your information about the negative effects of hoarding or even throwing away those devices is equally crucial because it offers individuals motivation to follow your recommendations.<br />There are many ways if you look at the management of e-waste.<br />Purchase products with longer shelf life: This will reduce the time of purchasing new ones or replacing them. You will be able to use it for a longer time.<br />Repair old device: Rather than going for a new one, prefer to get your devices repaired as long as it works.<br />Rely less on devices: Look for multipurpose gadgets if you don’t need any more. Additionally, inform your others also on the risks associated with e-waste.<br />Opt for eco-friendly devices: Purchase products with energy-saving stars or those which assure save energy consumption.<br />Security reasons: Another reason not to throw your electronic gadgets carelessly is the fact that your personal data will still be there even if you erase it. Before disposing of your device, recycling businesses can thoroughly clean it, making it hard for cybercriminals to access such information.<br />Teach your kids about e-waste management and tell them about the benefits of recycling them<br />Recycling all used devices is essential since improperly disposing of e-waste is now getting riskier, particularly as the amount of e-waste has grown. (ANI)</p>
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<post_id>9519138</post_id>
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<title>Early warning system based on AI can classify tsunami risk</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/early-warning-system-based-on-ai-can-classify-tsunami-risk</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Apr 2023 17:46:23 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=8987265</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Cardiff University in the U.K. developed an early warning system that combines state-of-the-art acoustic technology with artificial intelligence to immediately classify earthquakes and determine potential tsunami risk.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/early-warning-system-based-on-ai-can-classify-tsunami-risk">Early warning system based on AI can classify tsunami risk</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>California [US], April 26 (ANI): Tsunamis are incredibly destructive waves that can destroy coastal infrastructure and cause loss of life. Early warnings for such natural disasters are difficult because the risk of a tsunami is highly dependent on the features of the underwater earthquake that triggers it.<br />In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Cardiff University in the U.K. developed an early warning system that combines state-of-the-art acoustic technology with artificial intelligence to immediately classify earthquakes and determine potential tsunami risk.<br />Underwater earthquakes can trigger tsunamis if a large amount of water is displaced, so determining the type of earthquake is critical to assessing the tsunami risk.<br />“Tectonic events with a strong vertical slip element are more likely to raise or lower the water column compared to horizontal slip elements,” said co-author Bernabe Gomez. “Thus, knowing the slip type at the early stages of the assessment can reduce false alarms and enhance the reliability of the warning systems through independent cross-validation.”<br />In these cases, time is of the essence, and relying on deep ocean wave buoys to measure water levels often leaves insufficient evacuation time. Instead, the researchers propose measuring the acoustic radiation (sound) produced by the earthquake, which carries information about the tectonic event and travels significantly faster than tsunami waves. Underwater microphones, called hydrophones, record the acoustic waves and monitor tectonic activity in real time.<br />“Acoustic radiation travels through the water column much faster than tsunami waves. It carries information about the originating source and its pressure field can be recorded at distant locations, even thousands of kilometers away from the source. The derivation of analytical solutions for the pressure field is a key factor in the real-time analysis,” co-author Usama Kadri said.<br />The computational model triangulates the source of the earthquake from the hydrophones and AI algorithms classify its slip type and magnitude. It then calculates important properties like effective length and width, uplift speed, and duration, which dictate the size of the tsunami.<br />The authors tested their model with available hydrophone data and found it almost instantaneously and successfully described the earthquake parameters with low computational demand. They are improving the model by factoring in more information to increase the tsunami characterization’s accuracy.<br />Their work predicting tsunami risk is part of a larger project to enhance hazard warning systems. The tsunami classification is a back-end aspect of a software that can improve the safety of offshore platforms and ships. (ANI)</p>
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<post_id>8987265</post_id>
<image_url>https://s3images.zee5.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ANI-20230426173156.jpg</image_url>
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<title>Researchers discover new ways to estimate long-term coastal cliff loss</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/researchers-discover-new-ways-to-estimate-long-term-coastal-cliff-loss</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 18 Apr 2023 14:18:23 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=8872548</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>The work was conducted in Del Mar, California, a beach town in San Diego County with infrastructure atop its coastal bluffs.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/researchers-discover-new-ways-to-estimate-long-term-coastal-cliff-loss">Researchers discover new ways to estimate long-term coastal cliff loss</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>California [US], April 18 (ANI): In parts of California’s iconic mountainous coasts, breathtaking beauty is punctuated by brusque signs warning spectators to stay back from unstable cliffs. The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of these communities. Now, researchers with the help of new tools, are bringing historical perspective to the hotly debated topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.<br />Using a model that incorporates measurements of the amount of time coastal cliffs and their remnant deposits were exposed at the Earth’s surface, Stanford researchers found that the rate of cliff erosion in the past 100 years is similar to that of the past 2,000 years. The proof-of-concept, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface April 17, opens the possibility of using this new approach to understand the long-term history of coastal cliff erosion, or retreat, in other parts of the state. The work was conducted in Del Mar, California, a beach town in San Diego County with infrastructure atop its coastal bluffs.<br />“In this particular location, these cliff erosion rates have been the same for thousands of years, so we shouldn’t expect them to get lower,” said senior study author Jane Willenbring, an associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “If anything, we should expect them to be higher in the future.”<br />Del Mar is among locations that are critically important for understanding cliff retreat. Homes are situated up to 70 feet above its beach, in addition to public infrastructure. A major railroad between Los Angeles and San Diego runs atop the coastal bluffs, where cliff failures have resulted in several derailments in modern history, as well as rock fall events that led to closures in recent years.<br />“I think this study bolsters the thinking that we should do something about cliff retreat sooner rather than later,” said lead study author Travis Clow, PhD ’22.<br />A natural laboratory<br />The study area was ideal for the researchers’ methodology because the Del Mar beach features a narrow shore platform, the bedrock where tidepools are typically found. Using nine samples of bedrock, the co-authors measured concentrations of the chemical isotope beryllium-10 that track landform exposure to cosmic radiation from space. The data were compared with cliff retreat rates from recent studies based on aerial photography, showing that coastal erosion rates have remained relatively constant over the past two millennia — at about 2 to 5 inches per year.<br />“One of the advantages of this technique is that it gives you information at the time scales that are relevant for factors like sea-level rise,” Willenbring said. “Our tool estimates retreat over time periods that include multiple major storms or atmospheric rivers that don’t happen very often, but are critical in forming the coastline.”<br />The researchers’ approach explores the influence of different factors, including wave impacts and weathering that occur at the shore platform and the cliff interface.<br />“It does more than just spit out a retreat rate,” said Clow, who processed the samples in Willenbring’s lab and measured them at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). “It also allows us to have a relative assessment of what might be driving cliff retreat over longer periods of time.”<br />When rock becomes air<br />On sandy coasts, like those spanning much of the eastern U.S., beaches are shaped by waves that pull sand out to the ocean, then re-deposit it on land with the coming and going of the tides. But with rocky coastlines like those along California, once a cliff erodes into the ocean, it cannot be replaced, Willenbring said. Instead, it’s as if the rock becomes air.<br />Willenbring was surprised to learn through this research that over half of all coastlines on Earth are eroding like California’s. The scope of the problem, which will be exacerbated by sea-level rise in the next century, presents an opportunity for using this new technique in other areas.<br />“There are plenty of other places in California and the Pacific Northwest where active erosion of coastal rocky cliffs is happening, and we hope to use this technique in a wide variety of environments,” Clow said.<br />Knowledge of cliff retreat in the U.S. is about 50 years behind research on the impacts of erosion and storms on sandy beaches, according to Willenbring — and that makes her excited about contributing to fundamental science in this field.<br />“No one had even looked at how the beach width correlated with the rate of cliff retreat in California,” Willenbring said. “There are a lot of open questions about what drives coastal erosion, and now we have a new tool to be able to address some of them.” (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/researchers-discover-new-ways-to-estimate-long-term-coastal-cliff-loss">Researchers discover new ways to estimate long-term coastal cliff loss</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<title>Temperature primary driver of daily dissolved oxygen dynamics in U.S. rivers: Study</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/temperature-primary-driver-of-daily-dissolved-oxygen-dynamics-in-u-s-rivers-study</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Apr 2023 10:18:25 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=8801950</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Oxygen concentration is an important measure of water quality because fish and other aquatic organisms require dissolved oxygen to breathe, according to Wei Zhi, assistant research professor of civil and environmental engineering and first author of the study, recently published in Nature Water.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/temperature-primary-driver-of-daily-dissolved-oxygen-dynamics-in-u-s-rivers-study">Temperature primary driver of daily dissolved oxygen dynamics in U.S. rivers: Study</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Washington [US], April 13 (ANI): The amount of dissolved oxygen in a river is a matter of life or death for the plants and animals living within it, but this oxygen concentration varies drastically from one river to another, depending on their unique temperature, light and flow.<br />To better understand which factor has the greatest impact on the concentration of dissolved oxygen, researchers at Penn State used a deep learning model to analyze data from hundreds of rivers across the United States.<br />Oxygen concentration is an important measure of water quality because fish and other aquatic organisms require dissolved oxygen to breathe, according to Wei Zhi, assistant research professor of civil and environmental engineering and first author of the study, recently published in Nature Water.<br />“Studies have shown that three major factors — flow, temperature and sunlight — influence the amount of dissolved oxygen found in a river or stream,” Zhi said. “We wanted to know, at the U.S. continental scale, which of these competing drivers was dominant.”<br />According to corresponding author Li Li, Barry and Shirley Isett Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, the common perception is that all three factors matter: how quickly a stream flows impacts how fast oxygen in the air can dissolve in the water; temperature affects how much oxygen the water can pull from the air; and the level of sunlight shining into the water affects how much oxygen the plants in the water can make on their own.<br />“It is challenging, however, to figure out which of these factors is the most important at a continental scale because of different amounts of monitoring data in different rivers at different times,” Zhi said. “There has been little consistency in the way dissolved oxygen concentrations have been measured in different rivers. For example, some rivers were measured only in the 1980s in the summers, and some rivers were measured only in the 2000s in the spring.”<br />Using 40 years of data from 580 rivers across the contiguous U.S. — each with unique temperature, flow and sunlight conditions — the researchers trained a long short-term memory deep learning model to figure out the relationship between the weather conditions and dissolved oxygen.<br />“Traditionally, it has been very difficult to predict the dissolved oxygen levels on such a large scale, simultaneously with one model,” Li said. “But with a deep learning and big data approach, we can do that. Deep learning models enable large-scale systematic analysis of patterns and drivers.”<br />The model revealed that, at a continental scale, temperature outweighed light and stream flow in controlling the dissolved oxygen dynamic. Light was the second-important factor on dissolved oxygen levels, while stream flow had minimal influence, according to the findings.<br />“Temperature is the predominant driver of daily dissolved oxygen dynamics in U.S. rivers,” Zhi said. “Fairly accurate predictions of oxygen concentration can be made by temperature alone. Dissolved oxygen is declining in warming rivers, which has important implications for water security and ecosystem health in the future warming climate.”<br />This project was supported by the Barry and Shirley Isett professorship from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State and by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy. Chaopeng Shen, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State, and Wenyu Ouyang from Dalian University of Technology in China also contributed to this research. (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/temperature-primary-driver-of-daily-dissolved-oxygen-dynamics-in-u-s-rivers-study">Temperature primary driver of daily dissolved oxygen dynamics in U.S. rivers: Study</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<post_id>8801950</post_id>
<image_url>https://s3images.zee5.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ANI-20230413091233.jpg</image_url>
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<title>Research shows how plants control nitrogen use</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/research-shows-how-plants-control-nitrogen-use</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Apr 2023 12:02:24 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=8790481</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Plant biochemist Soichi Kojima and colleagues at Tohoku University discuss their findings and future plans about how gene and protein control systems that regulate the use of nitrogen by plant roots could help develop crops that require less nitrogenous fertilizers to produce acceptable yields.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/research-shows-how-plants-control-nitrogen-use">Research shows how plants control nitrogen use</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tokyo [Japan], April 12 (ANI): Plant biochemist Soichi Kojima and colleagues at Tohoku University discussed their findings and future plans about how gene and protein control systems that regulate the use of nitrogen by plant roots could help develop crops that require less nitrogenous fertilizers to produce acceptable yields in an article.<br />The article was published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.<br />Nitrogen is such a crucial nutrient for plants that vast quantities of nitrogen-containing fertilizers are spread on farmlands worldwide. These fertilizers mostly contain nitrogen as ammonium ions (NH4 +), the chemical form in which nitrogen is most readily taken up by plant roots. However, excess nitrogen in the soil and in drainage run-off into lakes and rivers causes serious ecological imbalances, including algal blooms that de-oxygenate water and kill fish and other aquatic life.<br />“One of the key goals of modern agricultural research is to develop crops that can grow healthily without relying on so much added nitrogen,” says Kojima. He adds that there are also significant economic and environmental incentives behind this aim, pointing out: “Energy from vast quantities of fossil fuels is currently needed to convert nitrogen in the air into ammonium for fertilizers.”<br />The researchers worked with the small flowering plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), a common species used for laboratory studies in plant science.<br />“Taken together, our results reveal, at the genetic level, regulatory mechanisms at work when plants utilize nitrogenous fertilizers in their roots,” says Kojima.<br />The team’s next step is to determine if the processes they have identified in Arabidopsis are shared by other plant species, especially major crop plants such as rice and other cereals. If that is confirmed it could open an avenue for plant breeders and geneticists to generate crops that might need much less fertilizer while still producing the yields needed to feed the world. Enhancing the production or activity of the amino acid-making enzymes could be the key to success. (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/research-shows-how-plants-control-nitrogen-use">Research shows how plants control nitrogen use</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<post_id>8790481</post_id>
<image_url>https://s3images.zee5.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ANI-20230412084127.jpg</image_url>
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<title>Ocean warming can trigger viral outbreaks within corals</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/ocean-warming-can-trigger-viral-outbreaks-within-corals</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:30:24 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=8696663</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>The breathtaking colours of reef-building corals come from photosynthetic algae that live inside the corals. A groundbreaking three-year study has found that viruses may increase their attacks on these symbiotic algae during marine heat waves.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/ocean-warming-can-trigger-viral-outbreaks-within-corals">Ocean warming can trigger viral outbreaks within corals</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Washington [US], April 5 (ANI): A three-year study in the South Pacific has found evidence that ocean warming can trigger outbreaks of “dinoflagellate-infecting RNA viruses” that attack symbiotic algae inside corals. Coral reef viruses have gained greater attention since being implicated in 2021 as a possible cause of stony coral tissue loss disease that has decimated Florida and Caribbean reefs for almost a decade.<br />The breathtaking colours of reef-building corals come from photosynthetic algae that live inside the corals. A groundbreaking three-year study has found that viruses may increase their attacks on these symbiotic algae during marine heat waves.<br />Few studies have examined how heat and other forms of stress affect coral virus outbreaks, and fewer still have looked at the reef-scale dynamics of those outbreaks. The study published online today in ISME Communications does both. It is also the first study to analyze the reef wide prevalence, persistence, triggers and health impacts of “dinoflagellate-infecting RNA viruses” (dinoRNAVs), single-stranded RNA viruses that infect the symbiotic algae that live inside the corals.<br />Lead author Lauren Howe-Kerr said coral and marine disease researchers are paying closer attention to coral viruses in the wake of studies in October 2021 and February 2022 that found evidence suggesting viral infections of symbiotic dinoflagellates might be responsible for stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). One of the deadliest coral diseases ever recorded, SCTLD has been decimating reefs in Florida and the Caribbean since it was first identified in 2014.<br />“While this study is not focused on SCLTD, it builds our understanding of coral viruses, and particularly RNA viruses that infect coral endosymbionts,” said Howe-Kerr, a Rice postdoctoral researcher who co-authored the study with more than a dozen colleagues from Rice, Northeastern University, the University of Oregon, the University of the Virgin Islands, Rutgers University, Oregon State University, George Mason University, New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and the Mote Marine Laboratory’s Coral Reef Research and Restoration Center in Summerland Key, Florida.<br />“Our work provides the first empirical evidence that exposure to high temperatures on the reef triggers dinoRNAV infections within coral colonies, and we showed those infections are intensified in unhealthy coral colonies,” Howe-Kerr said.<br />The study was carried out at the Moorea Coral Reef Long-term Ecological Research station on the Pacific Ocean island of Moorea in French Polynesia. Moorea, which is about 20 miles from Tahiti, is ringed by coral reefs. Samples from 54 coral colonies around the island were collected twice a year between August 2018 and October 2020. The warmest water temperatures during that span were in March 2019. Reefs across the island suffered heat-related stress during this period, including widespread bleaching.<br />The study sites were located in a variety of reef zones that were subject to different kinds of environmental stress. For example, ocean-facing forereefs are deeper, with cooler and more consistent water temperatures, while near-shore fringing reefs in lagoons are subjected to the highest temperatures and greatest temperature variability.<br />Howe-Kerr earned her doctorate from Rice in 2022 and recently finished a yearlong Ocean Policy Fellowship at the National Science Foundation. The sampling and analysis were carried out during her doctoral studies in the Rice lab of marine biologist and study co-author Adrienne Correa.<br />“It was a huge team effort to go out and locate and sample the exact same coral colonies two times a year over this three-year period,” Correa said, adding, “That was further complicated by the pandemic, which prevented us from sampling in March 2020, but in the end, it was all worth it. We learned a great deal about reef-wide viral dynamics.”<br />Correa said it was clear from previous studies that corals “harbour lots of diverse viruses,” but it wasn’t known how specific viral types were distributed across a reef. A 2022 study from her group that was lead-authored by another former student, Carsten Grupstra, had detailed findings from tank-based experiments that showed viral activity of a single viral group — dinoRNAVs — in corals increased under heat stress.<br />“This three-year study builds off that and shows it can also happen in the ocean,” Correa said, adding, “We saw the same kind of heat-induced increases in viral production across reefs.”<br />Howe-Kerr said the new study also offers one of the first glimpses of how dinoRNAVs behave in time and space over reefs and reef zones.<br />“We were able to characterize the diversity of dinoRNAVs and their prevalence in colonies across multiple years and reef environments,” she said, adding, “We detected dinoRNAV infections in over 90% of the sampled colonies at some point in the three years. And the composition and diversity of viruses we found in those infections differed among reef zones. That indicates environmental conditions play a role in the dynamics of these outbreaks.”<br />While all 54 colonies survived the three-year experiment, 50% suffered partial mortality. The hardest hit was ocean-facing forereefs, which were almost three times more likely to experience partial mortality than were corals in the fringing reefs, which may be more used to dealing with the high temperatures of the shallower waters close to shore, Correa said.<br />She said a wider variety of RNA viruses were found in heat-stressed colonies in 2019, which suggests viral production had increased. And the pattern proved strongest in colonies that suffered partial mortality, which points to specific host-virus interactions that could drive ecosystem impacts, she said.<br />“Viral productivity will likely increase as ocean temperatures continue to rise,” Correa said, adding, “It’s important to learn as much as we can about host-virus interactions because they have the potential to alter the foundational symbiosis that underpins coral reef ecosystems.”<br />This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (2224354, 1933165, 1635913, 1635798, 2145472), an Early-Career Research Fellowship from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences (2000009651), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Rice University, the Texas Branch of the American Society for Microbiology’s Eugene and Millicent Goldschmidt Graduate Student Award fund, the American Philosophical Society’s Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research, and Rice University’s Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship Program. (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/ocean-warming-can-trigger-viral-outbreaks-within-corals">Ocean warming can trigger viral outbreaks within corals</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<post_id>8696663</post_id>
<image_url>https://s3images.zee5.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ANI-20230405090736.jpg</image_url>
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<title>Housing plays key role in disaster preparedness: Study</title>
<link>https://www.zee5.com/articles/housing-plays-key-role-in-disaster-preparedness-study</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ANI]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 26 Mar 2023 10:02:23 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.zee5.com/articles/?p=8553300</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>But a new national study found that housing is also important before disasters happen: People with homes not meeting federal quality classifications and those who are housing insecure tend to be less prepared to face natural calamities.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/housing-plays-key-role-in-disaster-preparedness-study">Housing plays key role in disaster preparedness: Study</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Columbus (Ohio) [US], March 26 (ANI): Researchers are particularly interested in how natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and floods influence people’s dwellings in the United States.<br />But a new national study found that housing is also important before disasters happen: People with homes not meeting federal quality classifications and those who are housing insecure tend to be less prepared to face natural calamities.<br />The study was published recently in the journal Global Environmental Change.<br />“Housing security and quality are vital for people to be better prepared for disasters,” said Smitha Rao, lead author of the study and assistant professor of social work at The Ohio State University.<br />Results showed that households facing housing insecurity – those behind on their payments for rent, mortgage or utilities – scored lower on a scale of disaster preparedness than those that were housing secure – even if the occupants had similar income and education.<br />“Clearly, a precarious housing situation can make it harder for families to be ready when disaster strikes,” Rao said..<br />The importance of preparedness has never been greater in the United States. Between 2011 and 2019, the United States experienced 119 weather and climate disasters with damages exceeding $1 billion.<br />While concerns around disasters and extreme weather events have risen, fewer than 40% of Americans have an emergency plan in place, research shows.<br />This study was designed to examine how a variety of social and structural vulnerabilities – from socioeconomic and minority status, and household composition to housing quality and housing insecurity – were related to disaster preparedness, Rao said.<br />Further, these vulnerabilities do not occur in isolation and some of these, when taken together, often have compounding consequences, she said.<br />Data for the study came from the 2017 American Housing Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The 29,070 representative households in this study were located across the country.<br />Disaster preparedness was measured by asking participants if they had nine essential safety elements available, including nonperishable food, an evacuation plan, emergency kit, reliable transportation and financial resources.<br />Overall, 57% of the population was not prepared with food, water, emergency funds and transportation. About 18% were classified as housing insecure because of an inability to pay rent, mortgage or utilities.<br />Results showed that those who were housing insecure were less likely to be prepared for disasters. And housing-insecure households relied more on household income for disaster preparedness than did housing-secure households.<br />That’s a big issue because housing-insecure families tend to have lower incomes, so this is an added burden, Rao noted. Defaulting on these payments is a crucial factor, and one job loss can quickly lead to a household becoming housing insecure. Supporting families at risk of defaulting is a key policy imperative.<br />Lower-income families in the United States depend on the rental market, and studies suggest that renters have fewer means of being prepared than homeowners, in part because of their more frequent moves.<br />“Housing stress compounds other stressors such as poverty,” she said. “Safe and affordable housing is a basic right and can help families be more resilient as we see more frequent and intense disasters with the global climate crisis.”<br />Housing security also interacted with other factors associated with preparedness, such as minority status.<br />For example, Black-headed households that were housing secure had a 40% predicted probability of being prepared for a disaster, compared to 30% of those who were housing insecure. For white-headed households, being housing insecure dropped the predicted probability of being prepared from about 43% to 40%.<br />“Overall, being housing insecure exacerbated the effects of many other sources of vulnerability – such as minority status and income – on preparedness,” Rao said.<br />The research also found that households with older adults were able to maintain their preparedness even when they were housing insecure, as opposed to those who did not have older adults at home, pointing to the need to focus on this oft-forgotten demographic, Rao said.<br />“Maybe it points to their prior experience or embeddedness in the community,” she said. “In any case we need to focus on older adults as a vulnerable yet significant group that can be an important piece of the puzzle.”<br />The study also found that where people got their disaster-related information was a factor in whether they were at least minimally prepared. Results showed lower readiness among those who received information from the internet rather than from social networks of friends and family.<br />People with secure housing may find it easier to build the social cohesion and networks associated with being better prepared, Rao said.<br />She said the results suggest that, in order to protect more Americans from disasters, housing clearly needs to be a priority.”We found that safe and affordable housing is extremely important in terms of disaster preparedness,” she said. “That is concerning given the current affordable housing crisis in the U.S.” (ANI)</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles/housing-plays-key-role-in-disaster-preparedness-study">Housing plays key role in disaster preparedness: Study</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.zee5.com/articles">Articles</a>.</p>
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<post_id>8553300</post_id>
<image_url>https://s3images.zee5.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ANI-20230326090531.jpg</image_url>
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