Ecology and the Environment

How would an increase in CO2 Levels in the atmosphere effect O2 levels in the atmosphere? also does this make any sense; its seems crazy that simple subtraction would have an effect on O2 levels which is a constant variable. pls tell if i am wrong. thank you

can someone please tell me how much temperature rose in the 20th century (1900-2000)?

How should I advise my neighbor on getting rid of prunings of grape vineyard canes? They are tough and need to be gotten out of the way. He thoughtfully said he does not like burning them but wants to. In a way it may not be so bad; see if you agree with my logic. You don't want these sticks on the ground, for the nuisance and for possible bugs. So maybe we rake them out and compost them, say, getting to broken down fiber which then continues further decomposition. Will their carbon will fairly well liberated in two or three years? My point is that once you start a repeating cycle and burn yearly, yes for the first two years, maybe, you are speeding carbon additio…

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published the first part of their Fourth Assessment Report, titled "The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change" http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/index.html To summarize the first volume in a single sentence: Some quick stats: 2500+ peer reviewers 800+ contributing authors 450+ lead authors from 130+ countries 6 years of work The NAS conclusions from the TAR were: http://nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf (Edit: Post #3000! I'm officially a Scientist! Yay!)

I would like to better understand the dust that seems to appear at the end of glaciation periods according to the record gleaned from core samples. What is the origin of this dust? I have some theories that it is volcanic and others that it is cosmic. I am wondering if it has more to due with weather, that at some point desert sand or dust from glacial till gets stirred up and deposited on top of the ice caps, which increases warming and thuse perhaps more melting and more stirring up of dust and a positive feedback cycle initiating or accellerating an interglacial period? Of course this dust ends up being buried under more snow and ice. I don't think this has muc…

First off, hello to all, I am new here, obviously. I am in no way a scientist and not many things about science interest me enough to study it. However I am interested in the environment and would like to know more about it, which is why I am here. Anyhow, here is my question. I was talking to someone about global warming and the recent studies found on it. Before I go on I must say that the guy I was talking to is basically like me in the science scene. Anyways he told me somewhere he found this deal called global shadowing, and said that while global warming is bad and will worsen throughout the future, global shadowing will actually slow it down and possibly preve…

Hi, I was talking to someone about climate change, and they showed me this quote from the Wall St. journal from a guy named Bjorn Lomborg. I know he's not a scientist, but he makes strong points which my scientific noviceness cannot refute although I assume there are explanations for these things. In particular, I'd like to hear an explanation for his points about Antarctica's snowfall and the sea ice.

What do you think of this article? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/02/AR2006110200913.html I'm thinking we will still have fish. It seems to me that more and more people are thinking the end of time is near.

I’m sure most people have heard about the rise in earth’s temperature because of global warming, but how will this affect England and the UK? I’m wondering because global warming is melting the polar glaciers and that is causing the sea to become less salty which is causing the Gulf Stream to stop and will cause a major drop in the UK’s temperature. So will England be hot because of global warming or cold because of the change in the Gulf Stream?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/01/10/warm.year.ap/ Gee, I think I'm noticing a trend...

An example of ecological damage appeared in the 17 June 2006 New Scientist. Page 43. Chongming is the world's largest alluvial island, formed by sediment at the mouth of the Yangtse River. Due to deforestation further up the river, lots more sediment has been washed down to this site, and the island has doubled in size since 1950. While this is not a clear cut case of ecological damage, the implication in the article was that it is a bad thing. I started wondering about the reverse. Imagine that the river was dredged to improve access for shipping, and the subsequent higher water flows caused the island to shrink. That would definitely be seen as ecological da…

Hi everyone, Is it correct to add solar energy to the bottom of an energy pyramid describing a food chain? Most I have looked at on the internet don't, but wikipedia says that you can. Does anyone have a definitive answer? Thanks very much, Scott:-)

It seems like everyone is experiencing warm weather. Is global warming to blame?

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a nonprofit independent scientific organization formed in 1969, has slammed what it calls ExxonMobil's disinformation tactics in regard to climate change. The UCS has just released a report that details how ExxonMobil has adopted the tobacco industry's disinformation tactics (as well as some of the same organizations and personnel), to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue. The report claims that in the last seven years, ExxonMobil has funneled nearly $16 million to a network of 43 advocacy organizations that seek to confuse the public on global warming science. "ExxonMobil has manuf…

The Yangtze dolphin is now considered extinct. We all saw it coming, it was predicted and then observed as the 3 Gorges dam and increased river traffic wiped them out. Yet another beautiful species lost as we watch. 20 million years on this planet and then gone to add a percentage onto GDP. http://www.wwf.fi/wwf/www/uploads/images/delfiini_baiji_uhanalaiset_109642.jpg http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6179407.stm I'm angry. People whitter about Iraq or social security whilst this planets priceless and irreplaceable treasures are lost forever. Too many humans.

Here's an interesting interview with Bjorn Lomborg: http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=112806D He argues that the risks of climate change have been taken out of proportion. He also argues that the amount of money spent combating it so far has been large but ineffective, so consequently we should look at easier problems to tackle. I tend to agree, I think that many environmental problems have common causes, but certainly things like land clearing have a direct and immediate impact on the environment that climate change will struggle to match. What are your thoughts?

hello, how are you could you please provide me an answer to these questions why is there a net northward flow of surface water across the equator in the Atlantic ocean but not in the pacific ocean? During what seasons would you expect to find stable conditions in the surface layers of oceans in the tropics, at the poles and at temperate latitudes? what causes stability in each case? Here I think it has something to do with temperature and solstice months, my guess would be that in summer months is when there is better stability in the ocean layers, but don't know if that's correct, and if that same answer applies for the poles, tropics and temperate latitud…

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liwind174473327oct17,0,3905799.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines It's a plan to install wind generated turbines off the coast of Long Island, New York. It would be the first offshore wind power in North America. Unfortunately most of us LIers are suffereing from NIMBY - not in my backyard. This really pisses me off. Here is a perfect chance to cut fuel and energy costs in an effecient way. Nothing is more important right now...the excuse is that it will "ruin the view." Well guess what? I don't care about your stupid veiw, you selfish jerks. I care about the rising energy cost and the impending disaster be…

Oh yes, it's challenge time. The aim is find as many animal species in your backyard as you can. These can be insects, molluscs, worms, vertebrates, whatever. Try to find out their scientific names, but common names will do. A description or links would be nice too. Maybe take a picture of the more interesting things, y'know, tigers and the like. If you don't have a backyard you could go to a park. Go forth and edify!

Hi. I'm very new to the science forum. This is in fact my first post. I have a complete and utter obsession with horseshoe crabs, and know some things about them. I know where they fit taxonomically (though I am foggy on their exact evolutionary origins), I know about their blue haemocayanin based blood, etc. What I can't find are the species names. limulus Polyphemus is the American horseshoe crab, but what are the names of the other three? What do they look like? I scacely could find information about them online. It seems few peopel care about them aside from their place as a novelty. Evolution wise, aren't they the equivalent of all dinosaurs (besides birds) except tr…

Are swamps left alone because are useless for cultivating anything ? Are there any fruit trees, crops or something swamps produce besides mosquitoes ? Miguel

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/11/16/smog.warming.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Pollute to save the planet! Yay!

I would like to have anwers on the following questions: 1. What sort of mouth of mouthparts has it to capture its food 2. What sense organs does it have to locate its food 3. Does it have the same food for all its life 4. Does it change in appearance or behaviour during its breeding season 5. How many youg does a pair of these animals produce in a year i urgently need this anwers to do my assignment

The hurricane season is underway and we're in the middle of what's shaping up to be the worst heat wave on record. What do you think the hurricane season will be like?

I'd like to know how moss helps the forest around it. What does it do that is beneficial to the forest, or which organisms depend upon moss for survival? Lets say we had a forest, and a lot of the moss in it died. How would the forest be affected?