EARTH SCIENCE ARTICLES

Physics of a glacial 'slushy' reveal granular forces on a massive scale

Source: Emory Health Sciences

The laws for how granular materials flow apply even at the giant, geophysical
scale of icebergs piling up in the ocean at the outlet of a glacier, scientists have shown.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the

findings, describing the dynamics of the clog of icebergs -- known as an ice mélange --
in front of Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier. The fast-moving glacier is considered a
bellwether for the effects of climate change.
"We've connected microscopic theories for the mechanics of granular flowing
with the world's largest granular material -- a glacial ice mélange," says Justin Burton,
an assistant professor of physics at Emory University and lead author of the paper. "Our
results could help researchers who are trying to understand the future evolution of the
Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets. We've showed that an ice mélange could
potentially have a large and measurable effect on the production of large icebergs by a
glacier."
The National Science Foundation funded the research, which brought together
physicists who study the fundamental mechanics of granular materials in laboratories
and glaciologists who spend their summers exploring polar ice sheets.
"Glaciologists generally deal with slow, steady deformation of glacial ice, which
behaves like thick molasses -- a viscous material creeping towards the sea," says co-
author Jason Amundson, a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau.
"Ice mélange, on the other hand, is fundamentally a granular material -- essentially a
giant slushy -- that is governed by different physics. We wanted to understand the
behavior of ice mélange and its effects on glaciers."
 For thousands of years, the massive glaciers of Earth's polar regions have
remained relatively stable, the ice locked into mountainous shapes that ebbed in
warmer months but gained back their bulk in winter. In recent decades, however,
warmer temperatures have started rapidly thawing these frozen giants. It's becoming
more common for sheets of ice -- some one kilometer tall -- to shift, crack and tumble
into the sea, splitting from their mother glaciers in an explosive process known as
calving.
Jakobshavn Glacier is advancing as fast as 50 meters per day until it reaches the
ocean edge, a point known as the glacier terminus. About 35 billion tons of icebergs
calve off of Jakobshavn Glacier each year, spilling out into Greenland's Ilulissat fjord, a
rocky channel that is about five kilometers wide. The calving process creates a tumbling
mix of icebergs which are slowly pushed through the fjord by the motion of the glacier.
The ice mélange can extend hundreds of meters deep into the water but on the surface,
it resembles a lumpy field of snow which inhibits, but cannot stop, the motion of the
glacier.
"An ice mélange is kind of like purgatory for icebergs, because they've broken off
into the water but they haven't yet made it out to open ocean," Burton says.
While scientists have long studied how ice forms, breaks and flows within a
glacier, no one had quantified the granular flow of an ice mélange. It was an irresistible
challenge to Burton. His lab creates experimental models of glacial processes to try to
quantify their physical forces. It also uses microscopic particles as a model to
understand the fundamental mechanics of granular, amorphous materials, and the
boundary between a free-flowing state and a rigid, jammed-up one.
"Granular material is everywhere, from the powders that make up
pharmaceuticals to the sand, dirt and rocks that shape our Earth," Burton says. And yet,
he adds, the properties of these amorphous materials are not as well understood as
those of liquids or crystals.
In addition to Amundson, Burton's co-authors on the PNAS paper include
glaciologist Ryan Cassotto -- formerly with the University of New Hampshire and now
with the University of Colorado Boulder -- and physicists Chin-Chang Kuo and Michael
Dennin, from the University of California, Irvine.
The researchers characterized both the flow and mechanical stress of the
Jacobshavn ice mélange using field measurements, satellite data, lab experiments and
numerical modeling. The results quantitatively describe the flow of the ice mélange as it
jams and unjams during its journey through the fjord. The paper also showed how the
ice mélange can act as a "granular ice shelf" in its jammed state, buttressing even the
largest icebergs calved into the ocean.
"We've shown that glaciologists modeling the behavior of ice shelves with ice
mélanges should factor in the forces of those mélanges," Burton says. "We've provided
them with the quantitative tools to do so."
CITATION:

Emory Health Sciences. (2018, April 30). Physics of a glacial 'slushy' reveal granular
forces on a massive scale: The laws for how granular materials flow apply even at the
giant, geophysical scale of icebergs piling up in the ocean at the outlet of a
glacier. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180430160431.htm
 Navigating with the sixth sense: Desert ants sense Earth's magnetic field
Source: University of Würzburg

Desert ants (Cataglyphis) spend the first weeks of their life exclusively in their
dark underground nest. For around four weeks, they nurse the queen and the brood, dig
tunnels, build chambers or tidy up. At some point, they leave the nest to start their
outdoor career, working as foragers until their death.

Pirouettes lead the way

Before an ant sets out to forage, it has to calibrate its navigational system,
however. For this purpose, the insects exhibit a rather peculiar behaviour during two to
three days: They perform so-called learning walks to explore the vicinity of the nest
entrance and frequently turn about their vertical body axes while doing so. High-speed
video recordings show that the ants stop repeatedly during these pirouetting motions.
What is special about the longest of these stopping phases is that at this moment the
ants always look back precisely to the nest entrance, although they are unable to see
the tiny hole in the ground.
Researchers from the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg have now made
the surprising discovery that the desert ant uses the Earth's magnetic field as orientation
cue during these calibration trips. This ability had been previously unknown for desert
ants.
Pauline Fleischmann and Robin Grob, research assistants of Professor Wolfgang
Rössler, who holds the Chair of Zoology II at the Biocentre of the University of
Würzburg, conducted the tests in the summer of 2017. The scientists designed the
experiment together with Professor RüdigerWehner from the Brain Research Institute of
the University of Zurich and physicist Valentin Müller from the University of Würzburg.
They present their research results in the current issue of the journal Current Biology.
 "While they are foraging for food, desert ants venture several hundred metres
away from their nest, pursuing a sinusoidal path that includes larger loops. Once they
have found food, they return to the nest entrance in a straight line," Wolfgang Rössler
describes the ants' astonishing navigational abilities. The researchers had known
already that the ants rely on the position of the sun and landmarks as orientational cues
and integrate this information with the steps travelled.
Experiments in Greece
Recent research results have shown, however, that the desert ant also looks
back to the nest entrance during its learning walks in the absence of solar information or
landscape cues. "This sparked the idea that the insects might navigate using the Earth's
magnetic field as a cue, as some birds do," Pauline Fleischmann says.
To confirm their hypothesis, the researchers travelled to the south of Greece
where Cataglyphis ants are native. They took a 1.5-m-high pair of Helmholtz coils with
them. A defined current passed through the coils creates an almost homogeneous,
precisely known magnetic field in between the coils. This enabled the researchers to
study the behaviour of the desert ants during their learning walks in their natural habitat
under controlled conditions.
A surprising outcome
The result was unambiguous: When the scientists changed the orientation of the
magnetic field, the desert ants no longer looked towards the real nest entrance but
towards a predictable new location -- the fictive nest entrance. "Their path integration
provides them with a new vector to the nest based on the information of the magnetic
field," Wolfgang Rössler explains. The scientists admit that they had been surprised by
this finding. They say that although individual ant species are known to respond to
changes in the magnetic field under certain conditions, the necessity and distinct
influence on navigation in Cataglyphis ants was unexpected.
With this result the researchers have "opened a new door which raises a lot of
further questions." One of them is: "When do desert ants use their magnetic sense?" It
might well be that they already rely on it during the first weeks of their life which they
spend underground. After all, a navigational aid can be quite useful in total darkness.
But this is only a hypothesis at this point.
Interesting for neuroscience, computer science and robotics
The second question the scientists want to tackle is how and whether the ants
switch between the different navigational cues -- the position of the sun, landmarks and
the magnetic field. Experienced foragers are already known to perform re-learning
walks when they are forced to do so, for example by changing the environment at the
nest entrance. It is unclear, however, whether they rely on magnetic field cues again in
this case or whether they use their solar compass as during the foraging trips.
And ultimately, there is of course the overarching question of where the magnetic
field sensor is located and how it works. According to Wolfgang Rössler, this question
takes you deep into the field of orientational and navigational research in insects. How
does the comparably small ant brain manage to store navigational information on the
position of the sun, the magnetic field and landmarks and integrate this information with
distance data from their step counter? Rössler believes that this question goes far
beyond the field of behavioural research and neurosciences and is of great interest for
computer science and robotics, too.

CITATION:
University of Würzburg. (2018, April 26). Navigating with the sixth sense: Desert ants
sense Earth's magnetic field. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180426130001.htm
 Mercury Rising: New evidence that volcanism triggered the late Devonian
extinction
Source: Geological Society of America

Now, geologists have discovered a likely culprit: major volcanism, as revealed by

a widespread pulse of mercury. The study was led by geologist GrzegorzRacki of the
University of Silesia, Sosnoweic, Poland. "Up until now the main debate on this mass
extinction has been what the main direct cause was," explains Racki. "We provide the
first clear evidence for volcanism." The study was published online ahead of print
in GEOLOGY on 26 April, 2018.

The team analyzed rocks from Morocco, Germany, and northern Russia, all
dating from the same short geologic interval 372 million years ago, just before the
Frasnian-Famennian boundary. In addition to being spread across two continents, the
rocks varied from black shale, grey shale, to limestone, and ranged from a few
centimeters to a few meters thick. Yet they all shared one particularly striking
characteristic: a sharp mercury peak hundreds of times higher than background.
In other mass extinctions, elevated mercury has been closely linked to big-time
volcanic episodes. In fact, points out Racki, mercury has become to Earth-based
catastrophes what iridium is to extraterrestrial-based ones. "Mercury as a geochemical
fingerprint of volcanism appears decisive in the new stage of mass extinction studies,"
he says.
"Now we can say that all of the 'Big Five' mass extinctions coincide with major
volcanic events," adds co-author Paul Wignall, with the University of Leeds in England.
"Until our discovery, this (late Devonian extinction) was the major exception."
So far, the actual smoking gun -- a large region of age-appropriate volcanic rocks
-- has yet to be unearthed. Racki suggests that the leading candidate may be in Russia,
although telltale volcanic rocks have apparently either been eroded away or deeply
buried.
That absence actually provides another take-away from the study, says Wignall.
"It's possible to discover evidence for giant volcanic episodes, using trace metals in
sediments, even when the lavas themselves may have long vanished," he says.

CITATION:

Geological Society of America. (2018, May 1). Mercury Rising: New evidence that
volcanism triggered the late Devonian extinction. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018
from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180501161805.htm
 Earth's magnetic field is not about to reverse
Source: University of Liverpool

A study of the most recent near-reversals of the Earth's magnetic field by an

international team of researchers, including the University of Liverpool, has found it is
unlikely that such an event will take place anytime soon.

There has been speculation that the Earth's geomagnetic fields may be about to
reverse , with substantial implications, due to a weakening of the magnetic field over at
least the last two hundred years, combined with the expansion of an identified weak
area in the Earth's magnetic field called the South Atlantic Anomaly, which stretches
from Chile to Zimbabwe.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a
team of international researchers model observations of the geomagnetic field of the
two most recent geomagnetic excursion events, the Laschamp, approximately 41,000
years ago, and Mono Lake, around 34,000 years ago, where the field came close to
reversing but recovered its original structure.
The model reveals a field structures comparable to the current geomagnetic field
at both approximately 49,000 and 46,000 years ago, with an intensity structure similar
to, but much stronger than, today's South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA); their timing and
severity is confirmed by records of cosmogenic nuclides. However, neither of these
SAA-like fields developed into an excursion or reversal.
Richard Holme, Professor of Geomagnetism at the University of Liverpool, said:
"There has been speculation that we are about to experience a magnetic polar reversal
or excursion. However, by studying the two most recent excursion events, we show that
neither bear resemblance to current changes in the geomagnetic field and therefore it is
probably unlikely that such an event is about to happen.
"Our research suggests instead that the current weakened field will recover
without such an extreme event, and therefore is unlikely to reverse."
 The strength and structure of the Earth's magnetic field has varied at different
times throughout geological history. At certain periods, the geomagnetic field has
weakened to such an extent that it was able to swap the positions of magnetic north and
magnetic south, whilst geographic north and geographic south remain the same.
Called a geomagnetic reversal, the last time this happened was 780,000 years
ago. However, geomagnetic excursions, where the field comes close to reversing but
recovers its original structure, have occurred more recently.
The magnetic field shields the Earth from solar winds and harmful cosmic
radiation. It also aids in human navigation, animal migrations and protects
telecommunication and satellite systems. It is generated deep within the Earth in a fluid
outer core of iron, nickel and other metals that creates electric currents, which in turn
produce magnetic fields.

CITATION:
University of Liverpool. (2018, April 30). Earth's magnetic field is not about to
reverse. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180430160437.htm
 Weather forecast model predicts complex patterns of volcanic ash dispersal
Source: University of Bristol

New research, led by the University of Bristol, has provided fresh insight into how
huge volcanic ash plumes, which can critically disrupt aviation and cause major impact
on the ground, are transported in the atmosphere.

In 2010, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajkull caused widespread

travel chaos, with the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights and economic losses of
$200 million per day.
By using high-resolution meteorological modelling of volcanic eruptions on the
Caribbean island of St Vincent, the research, published today in the journal Scientific
Reports, aims to improve how we respond to explosive volcanic eruptions, and better
forecast volcanic ash dispersal.
An international team of researchers from institutions including the Universities of
Bristol, East Anglia, Oxford, Kyoto, Earth Observatory Singapore and the West Indies
has shown how it is the interaction of the dynamics of the atmosphere with volcanic
plumes that produces the complex patterns of ash transport which threaten aviation and
cause impacts on the ground.
The team used a combination of high-resolution meteorological modelling,
archives of historical observations of eruptions, and field measurements of ash
deposits, to reconstruct two eruptions of Soufrière St Vincent, an island volcano in the
Caribbean.
 The island topography, steady trade wind patterns, and very detailed archives of
historical eyewitness accounts and field measurements for eruptions in 1902 and 1979
made St Vincent an ideal location for the study.
Using high-resolution simulations of the atmospheric conditions, the team
identified how the wind flow around the volcano topography controls ash deposit
patterns around the volcano on the island, and surprisingly, at much greater distances.
First author and atmospheric modeller Alex Poulidis (Kyoto University) says "The
volcano shape affects the wind patterns and atmospheric conditions, influencing ash
deposition over hundreds of km from St Vincent, including on the island of Barbados,
180 km away."
Poulidis' simulations reproduced ash deposit thicknesses, and ash cloud arrival
times, on St Vincent for the smaller 1979 eruption, and at a range of locations including
other Caribbean islands and ships up to 1700 km away for the much larger 1902
eruption.
The simulations also show how wind patterns can trap ash in layers in the
atmosphere, similar to those observed for the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajkull, at
concentrations sufficient to be a threat for aviation. These layers act as sources of ash
which are then dispersed along different atmospheric pathways.
Recent reanalysis of volcanic ash deposits following the Eyjafjallajkull eruption
has shown that ash deposits often have unexpected peaks in thickness far from the
volcano.
The team's modelling results show that the combination of different atmospheric
layer sources, and the range of particle sizes of the ash, can reproduce the peaks in
ash deposit thickness measured for the 1902 eruption of St Vincent.
The study lead, volcanologist Dr Jeremy Phillips from the University of Bristol's
School of Earth Sciences, said: "Taken as a whole, the results show that the
combination of the atmosphere and eruption lead to complex ash transport patterns.
"Being able to reproduce these with meteorological models advances our
capability to react to volcanic eruptions, and to forecast airborne and ground level ash
concentrations during eruptions."
Co-author Prof Jenni Barclay (University of East Anglia) added: "We initiated this
study because the memories of the local population of the style and intensity of the ash
impacts clearly varied as a function of more than just distance from the volcano. We
also had incredibly detailed historical observations from 1902 to compare with our
results. It's a fantastic example of integrating different areas of research to improve
overall understanding."
Co-author Prof Richard Robertson of The University of the West Indies Seismic
Research Centre observed that "This study focuses attention on the poorly-defined
threat posed by volcanic ash in the Caribbean region and shows how an eruption from a
single volcano can have regional impacts that would be significant for aviation and
agriculture."
 The research was funded by the UK Natural Environment and Economic and
Social Sciences Research Councils, through the projects "Strengthening Resilience in
Volcanic Areas (STREVA)" and "Crossing Borders and Costing Livelihoods; The
Unbearable Heaviness of Volcanic Ash."

CITATION:
University of Bristol. "Weather forecast model predicts complex patterns of volcanic ash
dispersal." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 May 2018. www. sciencedaily. com/ releases
/2018/05/180502132212.htm
 La Niña-like ocean cooling patterns intensify northwestern Pacific tropical
cyclones
Source: University of Hawaii at Manoa

The intensity and frequency of strong tropical cyclones, as well as cyclone

landfalls, have increased in recent decades in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, raising
speculation about the root cause of the surge in destructive Category 4 and 5 storms.

Now atmospheric researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's

International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) have published a study in Scientific
Reports showing a strong connection between sea surface temperature patterns
associated with the Global Warming Hiatus phenomenon and changes in cyclone
activity over the northwest Pacific Ocean, particularly increasing intensities in coastal
regions of East Asia.
Climate change has been marked by a persistent, if uneven, increase in global
temperatures through time.
Around the turn of the century, 1998-2012, the rate of temperature increase
apparently slowed, and has since been labeled the Global Warming Hiatus. During this
period, while the Indian and tropical north Atlantic Oceans warmed, the tropical eastern
Pacific Ocean experienced La Niña-like cooling.
La Niña is usually characterized by cooler sea surface temperatures in the
eastern and central Pacific, pushing cyclone generation westward.
More Northwest Pacific tropical cyclones
 IPRC researchers Yuqing Wang, Jiuwei Zhao and Ruifen Zhan found that, during
the hiatus, dominant equatorial easterly winds caused cyclonic (counter-clockwise)
circulation in the northwestern region of the Pacific Ocean, favoring the formation and
intensification of cyclones there. These conditions also pushed more storms westward
into the coastline of East Asia, generating increased landfall frequency of these intense
storms.
Interestingly, in the southeast region of the northwest Pacific, local atmospheric
circulation was the opposite, anti-cyclonic (clockwise), inhibiting cyclone generation and
intensification in that region.
In conjunction with these wind patterns, IPRC researchers established a strong
correlation between areas of warmer sea surface temperatures and intense cyclone
occurrence in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This supports the conclusion that the higher
frequency of greater intensity cyclones over the last few decades is closely tied to the
atmospheric circulation patterns and sea surface temperature distribution induced by
the hiatus.
"Most previous studies have suggested that, with general global warming, the
numbers of tropical cyclones over the northwest Pacific will decrease. Instead, over the
last couple decades, more tropical cyclones formed and intensified over the far
northwest Pacific," explained Wang. "Our study shows this was due to increased local
sea surface temperatures and reduced vertical wind shear associated with the hiatus
conditions."
Wang and his co-authors emphasize their results also underline the importance
of acknowledging that there are swings between warmer and cooler phases due to
natural climate variability, even within an overall warming climate.

CITATION:
University of Hawaii at Manoa. (2018, May 1). La Niña-like ocean cooling patterns
intensify northwestern Pacific tropical cyclones: Another piece in the climate
puzzle. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180501085555.htm
 Ample warning of supervolcano eruptions likely, experts say
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Concern over the potential imminent eruptions of Earth's supervolcanoes, like

Taupo in New Zealand or Yellowstone in the United States, may be quelled by the
results of a new study suggesting that geological signs pointing to a catastrophic
eruption would be clear far in advance.

To help forecast supervolcano eruptions, the study led by the University of Illinois
has quantified the often-overlooked effects of tectonic stress on the rocks that house
these sleeping giants, and suggests that people need not be quick to panic -- at least
not yet.
In the study, researchers set out to investigate regional-scale tectonic stress and
unexpectedly found that their models could help forecast supervolcano eruption timing
and inform experts on what to expect, geologically, well before an eruption.
"Traditionally, it is thought that eruptions occur when the pressure caused by hot
magma overtakes the strength of a volcano's roof rock," said geology professor Patricia
Gregg. "But supervolcanoes tend to occur in areas of significant tectonic stress, where
plates are moving toward, past or away from each other. That plate motion will affect
model calculations."
Gregg, graduate student Haley Cabaniss and Pomona College geology professor
Eric Grosfils published their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The team created a model based on the Taupo Volcanic Zone in northern New
Zealand. They chose this system because of its relatively uncomplicated extensional
tectonic setting -- the type of area often associated with supervolcanoes. However, their
models found that any tectonic stress would have a profound effect on the stability of
supervolcanoes.
"It does not matter if it is extensional, compressional or shear stress," Cabaniss
said.
"Any tectonic stress will help destabilize rock and trigger eruptions, just on
slightly different timescales. The remarkable thing we found is that the timing seems to
depend not only on tectonic stress, but also on whether magma is being actively
supplied to the volcano."
Using their model, the team looked at scenarios with different amounts of stress,
tectonic plate movement and magma supply. They found that in any given tectonic
setting, the magma reservoirs inside of supervolcanoes appear to remain stable for
hundreds to thousands of years while new magma is being actively suppled to the
system.
"We were initially surprised by this very short timeframe of hundreds to
thousands of years," Gregg said. "But it is important to realize that supervolcanes can
lay dormant for a very long time, sometimes a million years or more. In other words,
they may remain stable, doing almost nothing for 999,000 years, then start a period of
rejuvenation leading to a large-scale eruption."
Of course, panic sets in whenever Yellowstone or Taupo experience any change
in seismic or geyser activity, but this research suggests that the precursors to
catastrophic eruption will be far greater and long-lasting than anything yet documented,
the researchers said.
"When new magma starts to rejuvenate a supervolcano system, we can expect
to see massive uplift, faulting and earthquake activity," Gregg said. "Far greater than the
meter-scale events we have seen in recent time. We are talking on the range of tens to
hundreds of meters of uplift. Even then, our models predict that the system would inflate
for hundreds to thousands of years before we witness catastrophic eruption."
"People need to keep in mind that sites like Yellowstone are very well-
monitored," Cabaniss said. "It is also important to note that our research suggests that
the whole rejuvenation-to-eruption process will take place over several or more human
lifetimes. Our models indicate that there should be plenty of warning."

CITATION:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2018, April 30). Ample warning of

supervolcano eruptions likely, experts say. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180430131831.htm
 Sea turtle nesting beaches threatened by microplastic pollution
Source: Florida State University

Plastic is famous for its unyielding durability, making it perfect for consumer
products but a unique and persistent menace to the natural environment.

For the loggerhead sea turtles that nest on the once-pristine beaches bounding
the Gulf of Mexico, millimeters-thick pieces of broken down plastic -- called
microplastics -- pose a particularly urgent threat.
A new study from Florida State University researchers shows that increasing
microplastic accumulation along the Gulf's beaches could alter the composition of
shoreline sand and jeopardize the turtles' sensitive incubation environments.
Their findings were published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.
"With increasing populations, higher demand for resources and more use of
plastic, we're having a lot more plastic and microplastic appearing as marine debris,"
said the study's coauthor Mariana Fuentes, assistant professor of Earth, Ocean and
Atmospheric Science (EOAS). "In these coastal areas, we're seeing significantly more
pollution."
For the study, EOAS student researcher Valencia Beckwith surveyed the
Northern Gulf of Mexico Loggerhead Recovery Unit's 10 most important loggerhead
turtle nesting sites in Florida.
Sand samples collected throughout the region revealed that microplastics were
present at every site. More alarming, the highest concentrations of microplastics were
found consistently in the dunes, where sea turtles tend to nest.
 Plastic has a tendency to retain large amounts of heat in response to comparably
moderate increases in temperature. If enough plastic is present in a sandy environment,
the area could experience measurable temperature increases.
This dynamic is of particular concern in sea turtle nests, Fuentes said. For
marine turtle eggs, incubation temperature is destiny.
"Sea turtles have temperature dependent sex determination, which means their
sex is determined by the sand temperature," Fuentes said. "Changes in incubation
temperatures might modify the sex ratios produced on these nesting beaches, but at
this stage we don't know how much microplastic is needed to see those changes."
In subsequent research, Beckwith and Fuentes plan to expand upon these
findings and investigate the specific ways that microplastic might alter the temperature
profile of the sediment on important nesting beaches.
"The first step was to see whether sea turtles are exposed to microplastics," she
said. "Next we'll explore its potential impacts."
Earth's oceans have long been blighted by pollution, and vulnerable species like
sea turtles have borne the brunt of decades of irresponsible waste. But Fuentes
remains optimistic about the future. She said that shifting attitudes could translate into
positive changes in policy and behavior.
"There is a lot of hope," Fuentes said. "We're beginning to see more and more
initiatives providing incentives to discourage the use of plastics. I see my students
making those changes every day. It's up to everyone."

CITATION:

Florida State University. (2018, May 1). Sea turtle nesting beaches threatened by
microplastic pollution. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180501161800.htm
 Global warming of 1.5°C or 2°C: The lower limit would reduce flood hazards
Source: Goethe University Frankfurt

What difference does it make to the Earth's water resources if we can limit global
warming to 1.5°C instead of 2°C? A research group led by Goethe University Frankfurt
has simulated these scenarios with global hydrological models. An important result:
High flows and thus flood hazards will increase significantly over an average of 21
percent of the global land area if the temperature rises by 2°C. On the other hand, if we
manage to limit the rise in global warming to 1.5°C only 11 percent of the global land
area would be affected.

According to the Paris Agreement on climate change of December 2015, the

increase in global average temperature should be kept well below 2°C compared to pre-
industrial levels, if possible even below 1.5°C. To find out what the two scenarios mean
specifically in terms of reducing risks for the global freshwater system, the Federal
Ministry of Education and Research commissioned a study which has now been
published and is intended for inclusion in the forthcoming special report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming of 1.5°C.
 As the research group led by Professor Petra Döll from the Department of
Physical Geography at Goethe University Frankfurt reports in the current issue
of Environmental Research Letters, it used two global hydrological models for the
analysis, which were "fed" with a new type of climate simulations, known as HAPPI
simulations. These are more suitable than previous types of simulations for quantifying
the risks of the two long-term climate goals. By calculating seven indicators, risks for
humans, freshwater organisms and vegetation were characterized.
"If we compare four groups of countries with different per-capita incomes, those
countries with a low or lower middle income would profit most from a limitation of global
warming to 1.5°C in the sense that the increase in flood risk in those countries would
remain far lower than at 2°C," explains Petra Döll, first author of the study. Countries
with a high income would profit most of all from the fact that rivers and land would dry
out far less in the dry months of the year.

CITATION:
Goethe University Frankfurt. (2018, May 2). Global warming of 1.5°C or 2°C: The lower
limit would reduce flood hazards: Research group simulates effect of these climate
protection goals on global freshwater resources. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018
from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180502120007.htm
 Citizen scientists discover a new water beetle and name it after Leonardo
DiCaprio
Source: Pensoft Publishers

New animal species are sometimes named after celebrities because of their
trademark looks. That's how we got the blonde-haired Donald Trump moth and the big-
armed Arnold Schwarzenegger fly, to name a few. However, some well-known people
are enshrined in animal names not for their looks, but rather for what they do for the
environment.

This is exactly how a newly discovered water beetle, described in the open
access journal ZooKeys, was given the name of Hollywood actor and environmentalist
Leonardo DiCaprio. The tribute marks the 20th anniversary of the celebrity's Leonardo
DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) and its efforts towards biodiversity preservation.
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has become one of the world's foremost
wildlife charities, having contributed to over 200 grassroots projects around the globe
devoted to climate change mitigation, wildlife conservation, and habitat preservation.
"We can all have an impact," says DiCaprio in a special LDF video, "but we have
to work together to protect our only home."
 Going by the scientific name of Grouvellinusleonardodicaprioi, the new water
beetle was discovered at a waterfall in the remote Maliau Basin, Malaysian Borneo,
during the first field trip initiated by Taxon Expeditions -- an organisation which arranges
scientific surveys for untrained laypeople with the aim to discover previously unknown
species and bridge the gap in biodiversity knowledge.
Having identified a total of three water beetle species new to science, the
expedition participants and the local staff of the Maliau Basin Studies Centre voted to
name one of them after DiCaprio in honour of his efforts to protect untouched,
unexplored wildernesses just like Maliau Basin itself.
"Tiny and black, this new beetle may not win any Oscars for charisma, but in
biodiversity conservation, every creature counts," said Taxon Expeditions' founder and
entomologist Dr. Iva Njunjic.
About Taxon Expeditions
Founded in 2017 and based in Leiden, The Netherlands, Taxon Expeditions is an
organization which focuses on education and biodiversity discovery. It organizes
expeditions to remote areas for people interested in nature and science and help them
make scientific discoveries. International experts are engaged to guide them through all
steps of real scientific research. Together, they discover, name, and publish completely
new species of wild animals.
With only 20% of the world's species estimated to be currently known despite the
last 250 years spent in research conducted by professionals, the mission of Taxon
Expeditions is to harness the power of citizen science for biodiversity discovery and its
conservation.
About Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
In 1998, Leonardo DiCaprio established his foundation with the mission of
protecting the world's last wild places. LDF implements solutions that help restore
balance to threatened ecosystems, ensuring the long-term health and well-being of all
Earth's inhabitants. Since that time the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) has
worked on some of the most pressing environmental issues of our day through
grantmaking, public campaigns and media initiatives.
The Foundation has gradually built a significant grantmaking operation, awarding
over $80 million in grants since 2010, funding 200+ high-impact projects in 50 countries
across Asia, the Americas, Africa, the Arctic, Antarctica, and all five oceans. Through
active collaboration with a broad network of environmental leaders and experts,
effective organizations, and committed philanthropists, the foundation is able to find and
support the best, results-driven projects in the world's most wild and threatened
ecosystems. Its work is divided into six main program areas -- Wildlands Conservation,
Oceans Conservation, Climate Change, Indigenous Rights, Transforming California,
and Innovative Solutions.

CITATION:
Pensoft Publishers. (2018, April 30). Citizen scientists discover a new water beetle and
name it after Leonardo DiCaprio. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 3, 2018 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180430132003.htm