December 2003 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS 62
A NEW RECORD OF ANEMONE BARRENS IN THE GALAPAGOS
By: Thomas. A. Okey, Scoresby. A. Shepherd, and Priscilla C. Martinez
Continuous carpets of the anemone Aiptasia sp. were recorded on vast areas of shallow reef platforms along the eastern shore of Fernandina Island in December 2000 and March 2001. The Aiptasia sp. carpets have replaced diverse...
Global warming refers to the effect on the climate of anthropogenic activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and large-scale deforestation activities, which cause large amounts of ‘greenhouse gases’ to be released into the atmosphere, of which the most important is carbon dioxide. The other greenhouse gases are nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s), methane, and...
The 1985 report of the discovery of an "ozone hole" over Antarctica focused attention on the idea that humans can have a significant impact on the global environment. This discovery, along with evidence that ozone is being lost at nearly all latitudes outside the tropics, has prompted much research into the causes of ozone depletion and the biological effects...
The past decade has seen an unusual number of large, stand replacing fires in the western forests of the United States. They are unusual in that tree ring data from the time period 1500-1900 shows a trend of low intensity fires occurring on a frequent basis that helped to maintain open stands and preclude large stand replacing fires.
Forest fires...
The U.S. government is ill prepared to confront increasingly severe water shortages across the country and should make a new commitment to water research and governance, water experts warn in a new report. Water research is fragmented among 20 federal agencies and is poorly coordinated, according to a new study from the National Academies of Science sponsored by the...
What is Desertification?
As the word suggests, the definition of desertification is: the process of an area of land becoming a desert. This typically makes it difficult or nearly impossible to live in.
Causes
Some of the causes of desertification include the mismanagement of land, such as by harvesting too much vegetation too quickly. Climate change can also be a cause when...