The amazing part isn?t that she tried but that she seems to have succeeded, at least in mice:
This is a great American story and also, obviously, a great statement about the value of legal immigration. We?re lucky to have Angela and she?s equally lucky to have this country. Talk about a win-win situation.
Contact: Gisela Speidel gspeidel@hawaii.edu University of Hawaii ? SOEST
Nearly one-third of CO2 emissions due to human activities enters the world's oceans. By reacting with seawater, CO2 increases the water's acidity, which may significantly reduce the calcification rate of such marine organisms as corals and mollusks. The extent to which human activities have raised the surface level of acidity, however, has been difficult to detect on regional scales because it varies naturally from one season and one year to the next, and between regions, and direct observations go back only 30 years.
Combining computer modeling with observations, an international team of scientists concluded that anthropogenic CO2 emissions over the last 100 to 200 years have already raised ocean acidity far beyond the range of natural variations. The study is published in the January 22 online issue of Nature Climate Change.
The team of climate modelers, marine conservationists, ocean chemists, biologists and ecologists, led by Tobias Friedrich and Axel Timmermann at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, came to their conclusions by using Earth system models that simulate climate and ocean conditions 21,000 years back in time, to the Last Glacial Maximum, and forward in time to the end of the 21st century. They studied in their models changes in the saturation level of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate) typically used to measure of ocean acidification. As acidity of seawater rises, the saturation level of aragonite drops. Their models captured well the current observed seasonal and annual variations in this quantity in several key coral reef regions.
Today's levels of aragonite saturation in these locations have already dropped five times below the pre-industrial range of natural variability. For example, if the yearly cycle in aragonite saturation varied between 4.7 and 4.8, it varies now between 4.2 and 4.3, which based on another recent study may translate into a decrease in overall calcification rates of corals and other aragonite shell-forming organisms by 15%. Given the continued human use of fossil fuels, the saturation levels will drop further, potentially reducing calcification rates of some marine organisms by more than 40% of their pre-industrial values within the next 90 years.
"Any significant drop below the minimum level of aragonite to which the organisms have been exposed to for thousands of years and have successfully adapted will very likely stress them and their associated ecosystems," says lead author Postdoctoral Fellow Tobias Friedrich.
"In some regions, the man-made rate of change in ocean acidity since the Industrial Revolution is hundred times greater than the natural rate of change between the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial times," emphasizes Friedrich. "When Earth started to warm 17,000 years ago, terminating the last glacial period, atmospheric CO2 levels rose from 190 parts per million (ppm) to 280 ppm over 6,000 years. Marine ecosystems had ample time to adjust. Now, for a similar rise in CO2 concentration to the present level of 392 ppm, the adjustment time is reduced to only 100 200 years."
On a global scale, coral reefs are currently found in places where open-ocean aragonite saturation reaches levels of 3.5 or higher. Such conditions exist today in about 50% of the ocean mostly in the tropics. By end of the 21st century this fraction is projected to be less than 5%. The Hawaiian Islands, which sit just on the northern edge of the tropics, will be one of the first to feel the impact.
The study suggests that some regions, such as the eastern tropical Pacific, will be less stressed than others because greater underlying natural variability of seawater acidity helps to buffer anthropogenic changes. The aragonite saturation in the Caribbean and the western Equatorial Pacific, both biodiversity hotspots, shows very little natural variability, making these regions particularly vulnerable to human-induced ocean acidification.
"Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century," says co-author Professor Axel Timmermann."
###
An animation showing the changes in aragonite surface saturation level from 1800 to 2100 is available at http://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/tobiasf/Outreach/OA/Ocean_Acidification.html. The animation is also playing at the Science on a Sphere in the Jhamandas Watumull Planetarium at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
This study was funded by The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org), the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) through its sponsorship of the International Pacific Research Center, and National Science Foundation grant #0902551.
Citation: T. Friedrich, A. Timmermann, A. Abe-Ouchi, N. R. Bates, M. O. Chikamoto, M. J. Church, J. E. Dore, D. K. Gledhill, M. Gonzlez-Dvila, M. Heinemann, T. Ilyina, J. H. Jungclaus, E. McLeod, A. Mouchet, and J. M. Santana-Casiano: Detecting regional anthropogenic trends in ocean acidification against natural variability. Nature Climate Change - DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1372.
Researcher contacts:
Friedrich, Tobias: International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii; (808) 956-7385; Email: tobiasf@hawaii.edu
Timmermann, Axel: International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii (808) 956-2720; Email axel@hawaii.edu
International Pacific Research Center Media Contact: Gisela E. Speidel (808)956-9252; Email gspeidel@hawaii.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Gisela Speidel gspeidel@hawaii.edu University of Hawaii ? SOEST
Nearly one-third of CO2 emissions due to human activities enters the world's oceans. By reacting with seawater, CO2 increases the water's acidity, which may significantly reduce the calcification rate of such marine organisms as corals and mollusks. The extent to which human activities have raised the surface level of acidity, however, has been difficult to detect on regional scales because it varies naturally from one season and one year to the next, and between regions, and direct observations go back only 30 years.
Combining computer modeling with observations, an international team of scientists concluded that anthropogenic CO2 emissions over the last 100 to 200 years have already raised ocean acidity far beyond the range of natural variations. The study is published in the January 22 online issue of Nature Climate Change.
The team of climate modelers, marine conservationists, ocean chemists, biologists and ecologists, led by Tobias Friedrich and Axel Timmermann at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, came to their conclusions by using Earth system models that simulate climate and ocean conditions 21,000 years back in time, to the Last Glacial Maximum, and forward in time to the end of the 21st century. They studied in their models changes in the saturation level of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate) typically used to measure of ocean acidification. As acidity of seawater rises, the saturation level of aragonite drops. Their models captured well the current observed seasonal and annual variations in this quantity in several key coral reef regions.
Today's levels of aragonite saturation in these locations have already dropped five times below the pre-industrial range of natural variability. For example, if the yearly cycle in aragonite saturation varied between 4.7 and 4.8, it varies now between 4.2 and 4.3, which based on another recent study may translate into a decrease in overall calcification rates of corals and other aragonite shell-forming organisms by 15%. Given the continued human use of fossil fuels, the saturation levels will drop further, potentially reducing calcification rates of some marine organisms by more than 40% of their pre-industrial values within the next 90 years.
"Any significant drop below the minimum level of aragonite to which the organisms have been exposed to for thousands of years and have successfully adapted will very likely stress them and their associated ecosystems," says lead author Postdoctoral Fellow Tobias Friedrich.
"In some regions, the man-made rate of change in ocean acidity since the Industrial Revolution is hundred times greater than the natural rate of change between the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial times," emphasizes Friedrich. "When Earth started to warm 17,000 years ago, terminating the last glacial period, atmospheric CO2 levels rose from 190 parts per million (ppm) to 280 ppm over 6,000 years. Marine ecosystems had ample time to adjust. Now, for a similar rise in CO2 concentration to the present level of 392 ppm, the adjustment time is reduced to only 100 200 years."
On a global scale, coral reefs are currently found in places where open-ocean aragonite saturation reaches levels of 3.5 or higher. Such conditions exist today in about 50% of the ocean mostly in the tropics. By end of the 21st century this fraction is projected to be less than 5%. The Hawaiian Islands, which sit just on the northern edge of the tropics, will be one of the first to feel the impact.
The study suggests that some regions, such as the eastern tropical Pacific, will be less stressed than others because greater underlying natural variability of seawater acidity helps to buffer anthropogenic changes. The aragonite saturation in the Caribbean and the western Equatorial Pacific, both biodiversity hotspots, shows very little natural variability, making these regions particularly vulnerable to human-induced ocean acidification.
"Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century," says co-author Professor Axel Timmermann."
###
An animation showing the changes in aragonite surface saturation level from 1800 to 2100 is available at http://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/tobiasf/Outreach/OA/Ocean_Acidification.html. The animation is also playing at the Science on a Sphere in the Jhamandas Watumull Planetarium at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
This study was funded by The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org), the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) through its sponsorship of the International Pacific Research Center, and National Science Foundation grant #0902551.
Citation: T. Friedrich, A. Timmermann, A. Abe-Ouchi, N. R. Bates, M. O. Chikamoto, M. J. Church, J. E. Dore, D. K. Gledhill, M. Gonzlez-Dvila, M. Heinemann, T. Ilyina, J. H. Jungclaus, E. McLeod, A. Mouchet, and J. M. Santana-Casiano: Detecting regional anthropogenic trends in ocean acidification against natural variability. Nature Climate Change - DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1372.
Researcher contacts:
Friedrich, Tobias: International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii; (808) 956-7385; Email: tobiasf@hawaii.edu
Timmermann, Axel: International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii (808) 956-2720; Email axel@hawaii.edu
International Pacific Research Center Media Contact: Gisela E. Speidel (808)956-9252; Email gspeidel@hawaii.edu.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New York ? About half of the world's abortions are performed illegally, resulting in dangerous complications and sometimes death
The number of women having unsafe abortions is on the rise, according to a report from the World Health Organization. While the global abortion rate has held steady for most of the past decade, researchers found that countries where the procedure is illegal had much higher rates of women dying from complications. Some women in Africa, for instance, resort to using broken soda bottles or consuming dangerous doses of medicine. "An abortion is actually a very simple and safe procedure," says Gilda Sedgh, the study's lead author. "All of these deaths and complications are easily avoidable." Here's a look at this "deeply disturbing"?trend, by the numbers:
43.8 million Abortions performed worldwide between 2003 and 2008?
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?
86 Percentage of worldwide abortions done in developing countries in 2008
1 in 5 Pregnancies that ended in abortion in 2008
SEE MORE: Sending kids to lobby against abortion: 'Cheap exploitation'?
?
49 Percentage of worldwide abortions classified as "unsafe" in 2008
44 Percentage of worldwide abortions classified as "unsafe" in 1995
47,000 Women who died from unsafe abortions in 2008
13? Percentage of maternal deaths worldwide blamed on unsafe abortions
8.5 million Women who had serious medical complications from unsafe abortions in 2008
28 per 1,000 Abortion rate for women aged 15 to 44 from 2003 to 2008, a period during which the rate remained virtually unchanged
12 per 1,000 Abortion rate for Western Europe ? the study's lowest
43 per 1,000 Abortion rate for Eastern Europe ? the study's highest
38 and 36 per 1,000 Abortion rates for Middle and Eastern Africa, respectively
19 per 1,000 Abortion rate in North America
95 to 97 Percentage of abortions in Latin America and Africa classified as "back-street" abortions. Legal restrictions making such procedures more common were "surprisingly associated with higher abortion rates."
Sources: Associated Press, CNN,?The Grio, Lancet
?
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BANGKOK ? One of the world's most endangered turtles has been released into a Cambodian river with a satellite transmitter attached to its shell to track how it will navigate through commercial fishing grounds and other man-made hazards.
The 75-pound (34-kilogram) southern river terrapin ? one of only about 200 adults remaining in the wild ? waddled into the Sre Ambel river in southwestern Cambodia this past week to the cheers of local residents and conservationists.
The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the female terrapin was given to the group last year instead of being sold to traffickers who have decimated the country's population of turtles and other species to cater to demand for exotic wildlife in China.
The southern river terrapin, once considered the sole property of Cambodia's kings, only survives in the wilds of Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia, the group said in a statement. The population in the Sre Ambel river is estimated at less than 10 nesting females.
But it said the terrapins there have an excellent chance of recovery because coastal mangrove forests in the region are among the largest and most pristine in Southeast Asia, spanning some 175 square miles (45,000 hectares).
The first-ever satellite monitoring of the species hopes to determine how the turtle will fare among fisherman as well as in areas threatened by sand mining and conversion of mangrove forests into shrimp farms.
A small population of the species was found in 2000 in Sre Ambel after being considered locally extinct for many years.
Following the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1970s which left the country devastated, poor rural dwellers scoured the forests for wildlife, much of which was sold to traders connected to China, where many wild animals ? from turtles to tigers ? are believed to possess medicinal and sex-enhancing properties.
The turtle project is being run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in cooperation with the Cambodian government and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, a zoological enterprise.
DETROIT (AP) ? The government ended its safety investigation into the Chevrolet Volt on Friday after concluding that the Volt and other electric cars don't pose a greater fire risk than gasoline-powered cars.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began studying the Volt last June after a fire broke out in one of the cars three weeks after it was crashed as part of safety testing. Two other fires occurred later related to separate safety tests, and NHTSA opened an official investigation into the vehicle on Nov. 25.
The agency and General Motors Co. know of no fires in real-world crashes.
GM and federal safety officials say they believe the fires were caused by coolant leaking from damaged plastic casing around the batteries after side-impact collisions. The coolant caused an electrical short, which sparked battery fires seven days to three weeks after the crashes.
GM announced earlier this month that it will add steel plates to about 12,000 existing Volts to protect the batteries in the event of a crash. The company has sold around 8,000 Volts and 4,000 are still for sale. GM is repairing the vehicles for free. NHTSA didn't order the recall, as it sometimes does after a safety investigation.
GM said Friday that NHTSA's decision to close the investigation is consistent with the results of its own internal testing. It said the steel plates will provide additional protection and minimize fire risk in the days and weeks after a crash.
NHTSA said Friday that it "continues to believe that electric vehicles show great promise as a safe and fuel-efficient option," and that based on available data, electric cars don't appear to be riskier than gas-powered ones.
But the agency said electric cars do have some specialized components, and the agency has developed guidelines for firefighters and other responders on how to handle electric cars after a crash.
WASHINGTON?? A billionaire history buff has stepped forward to donate the $7.5 million matching gift that's needed to start repairing cracks near the top of the Washington Monument from last summer's East Coast earthquake.
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Businessman David Rubenstein told The Associated Press he was inspired to help fund the repairs to the 555-foot obelisk when it became clear how severely damaged it was by a 5.8-magnitude quake on Aug. 23. The monument received about 1 million visitors a year before the famous landmark was closed to the public after the quake.
The Park Service hopes to have a contractor begin work by the end of August. The repair work is expected to take a year to complete, likely keeping the monument closed for two years.
Largest gift Congress allocated $7.5 million in December on the condition that private donations would match that amount. The National Park Service and nonprofit Trust for the National Mall are expected to announce Rubenstein's gift Thursday morning. It will be the largest gift to the nonprofit group, which aims to raise $350 million to restore the mall's grounds and facilities.
The combined $15 million in public and private funds is expected to cover the cost of repairing damage directly caused by the quake, said National Park Service spokeswoman Carol Johnson. Repairing water damage will cost more, as would a seismic study or reinforcements to strengthen the obelisk against future earthquakes, she said.
Rubenstein, a co-founder of The Carlyle Group, began building the private equity firm's business in Washington and said he wanted to restore a symbol of the nation and hasten repairs to reopen the landmark.
"This Washington Monument is probably one of the most recognizable buildings in the United States next to the Capitol and the Empire State Building," he said. "It could use a little repair work, and I wanted people to get to see it as soon as possible."
Experts have noted the monument needs more than just a little repair work, though it has been deemed structurally sound.
Extensive repairs needed The August quake was centered some 40 miles west of Richmond, Va., and felt from Canada to Georgia. It damaged the Washington National Cathedral, where pieces of mortar rained down from its vaulted ceiling. At the Washington Monument, panicked visitors fled down flights of stairs on the day of the big shake, but there were no known deaths or serious injuries in the region.
The earthquake caused numerous cracks to form in the obelisk, which was the tallest man-made structure in the world when it was completed in 1884.
Surveillance video taken the day of the quake and later released by the park service showed the spire shaking violently. Daylight could be seen through some of the cracks, the largest of which was reported to be at least 4 feet long and about an inch wide.
A report in December recommended extensive repairs and reinforcements to preserve the spire. It said some marble panels were cracked all the way through near the top portion of the monument. Cracks near its peak also have left the monument vulnerable to water damage from rain, engineers noted.
Last fall, daredevil engineers on a "difficult access team" rappelled from the top to conduct a visual inspection of the exterior of the obelisk.
Officials said it's unclear whether the work will require scaffolding to be built around the monument, similar to what was erected during a restoration project from 1999 to 2001.
'A true patriot' Caroline Cunningham, president of the Trust for the National Mall, called Rubenstein "a true patriot" and said his gift "demonstrates how much people care about this space." She said it should serve as an example for other philanthropists.
There has long been talk of sprucing up the mall at the heart of the nation's capital.
A design competition is under way to develop ways to improve the mall, including the Washington Monument grounds. Finalists will be chosen in May, and the group will seek funding for each project. The nonprofit group has targeted parts of the mall that are run down from over use and neglect as a focus for its restoration efforts.
Rubenstein has made large gifts in recent years to Washington's cultural institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center.
The monument, which he visited recently, was built with private $1 donations eventually totaling over $1 million, Rubenstein said. Construction began in 1848, but funds ran out during the Civil War when the monument was left as an embarrassing stump for years. It was finally completed in 1884 and was the world's tallest man-made structure until it was eclipsed by the Eiffel Tower. It remains the tallest structure in Washington.
Rubenstein owns a copy of the Magna Carta, among other historical documents, and reveres George Washington.
"I like to remind people about American history," Rubenstein said. "George Washington is an incredible figure. When he was the head of the Revolutionary War Army, he could have stayed on as really the head of the government when we won the Revolutionary War, but he put down his arms."
___
Trust for the National Mall: http://www.nationalmall.org
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
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