Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences •

Sea Levels Are Rising Faster Than Any Time In Past 2800 Years

February 26, 2016 By Jason Leathers Leave a Comment

Sea levels will rise between 22 to 52 inches this century if global warming is not curbed.

A study just published in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences reveals that the Earth’s sea levels are rising faster than any time in past 2800 years. The research is the first global statistical analysis of several individual studies of the history of global sea level going back more than 2,500 years.

Rise in sea level is but one of the repercussions of global warming. First, shrinking land ice, such as mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets, is releasing water into the oceans. Second, as ocean temperatures rise, the warmer water expands. Trapped within a basin bounded by the continents, the water has nowhere to go but up.

In some parts of the world, especially low-lying river deltas, local land is sinking (known as subsidence), making sea levels that much higher. The consequences of sea level rise include threats to coastal communities and saltwater intrusion (saltwater intrudes into groundwater drinking supplies, contaminates irrigation supplies, or overruns agricultural fields).

However, our planet’s ocean levels have changed over time even before global warming became an alarming situation, but this fluctuation has been gradual such that the sea rose by only 3 inches in 27 centuries. This means that the increase would be around 1 inch per century.

Moreover, the figure spiralled up to 5.5 inches in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution. Thereafter, the rise has been happening at unprecedentedly high rates. Given the current situations, the rise would be equivalent to a foot every 100 years. According to estimates, the sea will have risen by 52 inches by 2100.

The new findings show that the increase in the 20th century has been the fastest in 3,000 years. The study focused on historical records, modern testing, and statistics to evaluate the fluctuating sea levels throughout the years.

The lead author of this paper, Bob Kopp from Rutgers University, explains that the 20th century having known great use of fossil fuel witnessed a high rate of temperature increase which caused the sea level rise.

Kopp and his team analysed 24 coastlines, marshes, and archipelagos across the globe. They also examined 66 tide-gauge records that went as far back as 1700.

They found that sea levels were even decreasing before the Industrial revolution – that trend might have persisted if not for the human activities that ensued from then on. According to their results, sea levels will rise between 22 to 52 inches this century if global warming is not curbed; otherwise, the ocean level will only rise to a lesser extent.

I think we can definitely be confident that sea-level rise is going to continue to accelerate if there’s further warming, which inevitably there will be.

declared Stefan Rahmstorf of Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

There is no evidence yet of large numbers of coastal homes and developments disappearing into the surge due to the rising sea level.

However, there have been some reports of related flooding in low-lying areas, causing many nuisances and problems, such as standing salt water disrupting traffic in neighborhoods, dying lawns, polluted fresh water supplies and clogged drains.

Furthermore, another paper from Climate Central, argues that around 75% of tidal floods on the East Coast are the result of rising sea levels, and human activities. In a statement to The Times, its lead author, Dr. Benjamin H. Strauss, states that the problem is neither the tide nor the wind, but us.

Image Source: crainsnewyork.com.

Scientists Discover the Gene That Can Transform Wild Horses into Domestic Ones

December 16, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Researchers discovered that DNA changes can turn an ancient horse into today’s Secretariats. It unveils that almost 125 genes are responsible for the process of equine domestication.

Beth Shapiro, co author of the study states that this is the most comprehensive list of gene candidate. Generally, humans who love domestic horses prefer these genes in horses. The extensive lists of these genes also play a significant role in the development of bones and muscles. Hence, it uncovers the genes transform wild horses into a domestic one.

These 125 genes are associated with muscles, coordination and cardiac strength. Especially the gene found in brain is associated with the domestic behavior of horses. It increases the fear response, learning and agreeableness in the wild horse. Usually, ancient breeders favored these characteristics of horses a lot.

Moreover, the study unearthed that the entire procedure of domestication provide a great help in the collection of lethal gene mutation. These deadly genes are not present in the modern horses any more.

The geneticists who are not included in the study propose that examination of equine DNA evidently demonstrates the genetic alteration of tamed horse.

Luidovic Orlando, the author of the report state that these genes are the essential for the transformation of wild animals into more passive domestic ones.

The study published in the Journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

US Study Revealed: CO2 Forecasts Perhaps Overestimated

October 14, 2014 By Germaine Hicks 10 Comments

According to the recent US study conducted by climate and earth scientists at the University of Texas at Austin and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, an ‘inherent structural deficiency’ has stopped present models from accounting for the slow ‘diffusion’ of atmospheric CO2 inside plant leaves.

The study’s researchers told that these models could underrate the involvement of rising CO2 to plant growth by as much as 16%.

These models need to be corrected to exactly forecast the implications of climate change, the researchers said.

As per the report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this morning, “Recent CO2 models underrate the long term receptiveness of the global terrestrial productivity to carbon dioxide fertilization. Understanding and accurately predicting how global terrestrial primary production responds to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations is a prerequisite for reliably assessing the long-term climate impact of anthropogenic fossil CO2 emissions.”

Green Umbrellas Keep a Lid on City Temperatures

The researchers stated in the study that, this 16% “correction” clearly demonstrate the constant overestimation of growth rates of historical atmospheric CO2 by earth system models. This paper will eventually direct to enhanced understanding and modelling of carbon–climate feedbacks.”

Another study published in the same journal showed that researchers artificially increased carbon dioxide levels in a US prairie grassland ecosystem for 8 years and the added carbon had increased the overall volume of the plants and promoted the ecosystem’s stability by reducing the growth of normally dominant plant species.

University of Texas study provided “great new insights into how the intricacies of leaf structure and function can have a planetary scale impact,” Pep Canadell, head of CSIRO’s Global Carbon Project stated.

He further told the Australian Science Media Centre, “The study provides a prospective clarification for why global earth system models cannot fully reproduce the observed atmospheric CO2 growth over the past 100 years.”

Furthermore, the study proposes that vegetation might be able to uptake more CO2 in the future than is presently modelled.”

The US study will eventually help us in order to explain why CO2 in the atmosphere was not rising faster. We already knew nature was working hard to hold CO2 concentrations in check, but this portrays how,” Peter Rayner of the University of Melbourne stated.

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