Air scrubbed off carbon dioxide could be a reality soon

Air scrubbed off  carbon dioxide could be a reality soon- Source, Economic times

• America's leading scientific body is in a research program that can remove vast quantities of carbon-dioxide from atmosphere.
• To meet the climate goals under the Paris Agreement 10 billion tons of carbon-dioxide from the air should be removed.
• To develop the technologies and scale up to 10 billion tons of carbon-dioxide a lot of activities are required.
• It might be possible to collect wood or plant matter that has absorbed carbon-dioxide from air, burn it in biomass power plant for energy and then capture the carbon released from combustion and bury it underground.
• But one potential problem with this approach is that the land required to grow biomass for there power plant run into conflict with need for  farmland.
• This method might be able to remove 3 billion to 5 billion tons of carbon-dioxide from air in each  year.

Two rhinos die in Chad after being relocated from South Africa.

Two of six critically endangered black rhinos have died of unknown causes five months after being flown from South Africa to Chad in a pioneering project to re-introduce the animals Rhinos in Chad were wiped out by poaching nearly 50 years ago, and the six rhinos were intended to establish a new population in the country after intensive anti-poaching measures were put in place to protect them. 
                                        There are fewer than 25,000 rhinos left in the wild in Africa due to a surge in poaching, and only 5,000 of them are black rhinos. Black rhinos are rated as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Rhinos are targeted to feed a booming demand for rhino horn in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries, where it is believed to have medicinal qualities. 

China to ban polluting tourist vehicles near Mt Everest in Tibet

China is planning to ban polluting tourist vehicles at the Mount Everest base camp in Tibet from next year as part of its efforts to reduce pollution in the area that has a fragile environment. Eco-unfriendly tourist transport vehicles will be banned from base camp and permit electric golf-style buggies to raise the income of the locals, China-Tibet Online reported. Locals, who live below the poverty line, will be employed as tour guides.

Himalayan Viagra under threat from climate change

Caterpillar fungus which is nicknamed Himalayan Viagra in Asia is becoming harder
 to find due to climate change. The price estimates to be more valuable than
gold.People in China and Nepal have been killed in clashes over the years over the
elusive fungus yarchagumba, known formally as Ophiocordyceps sinensis.Although
it has no scientifically proven benefits, people who boil yarchagumba in water to
make tea or add it to soups and stews believe it cures everything from impotence to
cancer.

Annual dead-zone report card for the Chesapeake Bay, U.S.

An annual model-based report on low-oxygen conditions in Chesapeake Bay during 2018 indicates a total volume of hypoxic waters very similar to the previous year, but with a dramatic drop in hypoxia during late July due to mixing by strong winds. The duration of hypoxia in 2018 was greater than in recent years. Dead zones are one of the major water-quality concerns facing the Bay and coastal waters worldwide. They form when rivers carry in excess nitrogen from fertilizers, wastewater, and other sources, fueling short-lived blooms of algae. Bacteria then eat the dead, sinking algae, consuming from bottom waters the dissolved oxygen that fish, shellfish, crabs, and other animals need to survive. Bay dead zones peak during summer, when hot weather encourages algal growth and drives gases from the water, while calm winds typically preclude the mixing of relatively oxygen-rich surface waters into the depths.

The team's report card summarizes oxygen conditions in the Bay each year as estimated by their 3-D, real-time hypoxia forecast model, originally developed with funding from NOAA. The model is based on 30 years of water quality data collected by the Chesapeake Bay Program, and is forced daily by wind data provided by NOAA and river-input data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. Because springtime inflows from the Susquehanna River Chesapeake Bay's largest tributary were high in 2018, scientists predicted that summer 2018 would have an above average amount of hypoxia, a forecast that held true through mid-July, when unusually strong winds reduced the Bay's hypoxic volume to near zero.

Glyphosate found in cat and dog food.

A new study finds that glyphosate, the active herbicidal ingredient in widely used weed killers like Roundup, was present at low levels in a variety of dog and cat foods the researchers purchased at stores. Before you go switching Fido or Fluffy's favourite brand, however, be aware that the amounts of the herbicide found correspond to levels currently considered safe for humans.A new Cornell study published this month in Environmental Pollution finds that glyphosate, the active herbicidal ingredient in widely used weed killers like Roundup, was present at low levels in a variety of dog and cat foods the researchers purchased at stores. Before you go switching Fido or Fluffy's favourite brand, however, be aware that the amounts of the herbicide found correspond to levels currently considered safe for humans.

Since there is not enough data available to determine what effect if any low-dose glyphosate exposure has on domestic animals, the researchers used human acceptable daily intake guidelines to put these findings in context, according to Hay. The researchers estimated that the median dog exposure would amount to only 0.7 percent of the U.S. glyphosate limit set for humans. While the levels of glyphosate in pet foods surprised us, if a human ate it every day, their glyphosate exposure would still be well below the limits currently deemed safe.

Plump songbirds more likely to survive migration over Gulf of Mexico.

A kilometer above Fort Morgan, Alabama, small migratory birds face a critical decision. Ahead lies a thousand kilometers of open water, the Gulf of Mexico, and a 22- to 24-hour flight without rest or food. On the other side, if they make it, they'll continue the journey to their South American winter habitat. For some, the journey will end in the waters of the Gulf.With many migratory birds in decline, ornithologists are keen to identify choke points along their routes. Large geographic barriers like the Gulf are likely suspects, but survival rates across these barriers are difficult to estimate. A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B provides the first survival estimates for small migratory birds crossing the Gulf, and the factors that explain whether or not they survive the crossing.

We know a lot of birds die going across the Gulf because we see birds floating up on shore and in the stomach contents of sharks. We just don't know how many and how risky it is to go across the Gulf, says Mike Ward, lead author of the study, an associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I, and avian ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey. We figured out that survival depends on a combination of how fat they are the fatter the better and how much wind they have at their back.

The world's largest campodeid dipluran named after the mythological giant Daidarabotchi

Two new to science dipluran species were discovered in touristic caves in the southern Japanese islands. Amongst them is the largest member of the campodeid family, aptly named after the giant Japanese creature Daidarabotchi. They belong to a genus so far known exclusively from a few caves scattered across the easternmost continental parts of Asia.Amongst the fauna thriving in the subterranean spaces below the surface of the earth's crust, the insect-like diplurans and, precisely, those in the campodeid family are one of the best-known groups, currently comprising almost 150 species. However, not a single subterranean member of the family had been known from Japan until very recently. 

Another remarkable finding from the same study is that the genus, where both new species were assigned -- Pacificampa -- serves as yet another example of the former physical connection between Asia and America some millennia ago. In their paper, the scientists note that the genus demonstrates close affinities with a genus known from North America.We hope that this discovery could stop the destruction of the land nearby and preserve for the future the subterranean habitat of these remarkable gigantic species.

Biologists gain new insights into surface, acoustic behaviour of endangered right whales.

In response to the dwindling number of North Atlantic right whales, researchers have conducted a major study of the surface and acoustic behaviour of right whale mother-calf pairs. The team discovered that the near-surface resting behaviour of mother-calf pairs dominates the first five months of the calves' lives.

Susan Parks, associate professor of biology, is the senior author of the study, whose findings appear in Animal Conservation.Parks says the publication is timely, noting the right whales' declining fertility and rising mortality, exacerbated by a breeding season without any new births all of which raise concerns about their increased risk of extinction.

North Atlantic right whales are prone to accidental death or injury from vessels strikes and fishing gear entanglement, says Parks, who studies the acoustic signaling of marine and terrestrial animals. On top of this, their calving rates have dropped dramatically since 2010. We must improve the protection measures for these animals or risk their demise. The team discovered that the near-surface resting behaviour of mother-calf pairs dominates the first five months of the calves' lives.These behaviour place the mother-calf pair at increased risk of a ship strike, which may partially explain why the mortality rate is high, says Parks, adding that mariners often have trouble spotting right whales at sea.