PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Deserts 'greening' from rising CO2

2013-07-08
(Press-News.org) Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have helped boost green foliage across the world's arid regions over the past 30 years through a process called CO2 fertilisation, according to CSIRO research. In findings based on satellite observations, CSIRO, in collaboration with the Australian National University (ANU), found that this CO2 fertilisation correlated with an 11 per cent increase in foliage cover from 1982-2010 across parts of the arid areas studied in Australia, North America, the Middle East and Africa, according to CSIRO research scientist, Dr Randall Donohue.

"In Australia, our native vegetation is superbly adapted to surviving in arid environments and it consequently uses water very efficiently," Dr Donohue said. "Australian vegetation seems quite sensitive to CO2 fertilisation.

This, along with the vast extents of arid landscapes, means Australia featured prominently in our results."

"While a CO2 effect on foliage response has long been speculated, until now it has been difficult to demonstrate," according to Dr Donohue.

"Our work was able to tease-out the CO2 fertilisation effect by using mathematical modelling together with satellite data adjusted to take out the observed effects of other influences such as precipitation, air temperature, the amount of light, and land-use changes."

The fertilisation effect occurs where elevated CO2 enables a leaf during photosynthesis, the process by which green plants convert sunlight into sugar, to extract more carbon from the air or lose less water to the air, or both.

If elevated CO2 causes the water use of individual leaves to drop, plants in arid environments will respond by increasing their total numbers of leaves. These changes in leaf cover can be detected by satellite, particularly in deserts and savannas where the cover is less complete than in wet locations, according to Dr Donohue.

"On the face of it, elevated CO2 boosting the foliage in dry country is good news and could assist forestry and agriculture in such areas; however there will be secondary effects that are likely to influence water availability, the carbon cycle, fire regimes and biodiversity, for example," Dr Donohue said.

"Ongoing research is required if we are to fully comprehend the potential extent and severity of such secondary effects."

### This study was published in the US Geophysical Research Letters journal and was funded by CSIRO's Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, the Australian Research Council and Land & Water Australia.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Deep-space flashes light up a new face of nature

2013-07-08
CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope has detected brief flashes of radio emission from the distant Universe. Their origin is unknown. CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope in eastern Australia has detected mysterious 'flashes' of radio energy from the distant Universe that may open up a whole new area of astrophysics. The surprising finding, made by a team of scientists from ten institutions in Australia, the USA, UK, Germany and Italy, is published in today's issue of the journal Science. "Staggeringly, we estimate there could be one of these flashes going off every ten seconds ...

Targeting errant immune system enzyme kills myelodysplastic cells

2013-07-08
CINCINNATI -- Scientists have successfully targeted a malfunctioning immune system enzyme to kill diseased cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) -- a blood disorder and precursor to leukemia. Reporting their results July 8 in Cancer Cell, researchers say their successful laboratory tests in human MDS cells and mouse models of MDS provide a molecular target for designing new drugs to battle a syndrome with few effective treatments. "There is an urgent need to develop new targeted therapies that can eliminate MDS-initiating clone cells and provide a ...

JCI early table of contents for July 8, 2013

2013-07-08
Immune cells play a role in early pregnancy Macrophages are white blood cells that help prevent and alert the immune system to the threat of a pathogenic infection. Interestingly, macrophages are present in the uterus and ovaries at the time of conception. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Sarah Robertson and colleagues at the University of Adelaide investigated the role of macrophages in early pregnancy. The team utilized a mouse model in which macrophages could be depleted immediately after embryo implantation. They found that without macrophages, ...

Immune cells play a role in early pregnancy

2013-07-08
Macrophages are white blood cells that help prevent and alert the immune system to the threat of a pathogenic infection. Interestingly, macrophages are present in the uterus and ovaries at the time of conception. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Sarah Robertson and colleagues at the University of Adelaide investigated the role of macrophages in early pregnancy. The team utilized a mouse model in which macrophages could be depleted immediately after embryo implantation. They found that without macrophages, embryos were unable to implant in the uterus. ...

Removal of tumor-associated immune cell protein decreases tumor progression

2013-07-08
The number of tumor-associated immune cells is correlated with poor prognosis in cancer patients. Reducing these cells in mouse models of breast cancer reduces tumor metastasis, indicating that tumor-immune interactions are critical for cancer progression. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Shelley Earp and colleagues at the University of North Carolina a Chapel Hill demonstrate that removal of the protein MerTK from immune cells decreased tumor growth in mouse models of breast cancer, melanoma, and colon cancer. Loss of MerTK reduced the release of ...

African-Americans with blood cancer do not live as long as Caucasians, despite equal care

2013-07-08
A new analysis has found that among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, African Americans more commonly present with advanced disease, and they tend to have shorter survival times than Caucasians despite receiving the same care. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the results suggest that biological factors may account for some racial disparities in cancer survival. Among cancer patients, minorities tend to have a worse prognosis than Caucasians for reasons that are unclear. In African American patients, lower ...

Using the sun to illuminate a basic mystery of matter

2013-07-08
Antimatter has been detected in solar flares via microwave and magnetic-field data, according to a presentation by NJIT Research Professor of Physics Gregory D. Fleishman and two co-researchers at the 44th meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division. This research sheds light on the puzzling strong asymmetry between matter and antimatter by gathering data on a very large scale using the Sun as a laboratory. While antiparticles can be created and then detected with costly and complex particle-accelerator experiments, such particles are otherwise ...

2 blood pressure drugs linked to lower risk of heart disease in diabetics

2013-07-08
Two drugs, telmisartan and valsartan, which are used to reduce blood pressure in people with diabetes, are associated with a lower risk of hospitalization for heart attack, stroke or heart failure, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). For people with type 2 diabetes, disease-related vascular illnesses are the main causes of death. Angiotensin-receptor blockers including telmisartan, valsartan, candesartan, irbesartan and losartan, are generally used interchangeably to control blood pressure. However, there is some evidence from ...

New opportunities to treat bowel cancer

2013-07-08
Researchers have discovered the genetic processes that cause specific types of bowel cancer. Using this knowledge, they identified cancer drugs that target these genes. Their findings offer the opportunity to develop personalised treatment based on a person's genetic profile. More than one million people develop bowel cancer each year, which is one of the most common causes of death in cancer patients. One in ten colon cancers are caused by mutations in the BRAF gene, a gene commonly associated with skin cancers. Although successful treatments against BRAF mutations in ...

Gunning for trouble: Study of young assault victims finds risky mix of gun possession and aggression

2013-07-08
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — They're young. They've been injured in an assault – so badly they went to the emergency room. And nearly one in four of them has a gun, probably an illegal one. What happens next? A new study by the University of Michigan Injury Center provides data that could be important to breaking the cycle of gun violence that kills more teens and young adults than anything except auto accidents. In the new issue of the journal Pediatrics, the team from the U-M Injury Center reports data from interviews with 689 teens and young adults who came to an emergency ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

AERA selects 29 exemplary scholars as 2025 Fellows

Touchless tech: Control fabrics with a wave of your finger

JMIR aging invites submissions on the social and cultural drivers of health in aging adults

New research sheds light on why scleroderma affects mostly women and how to treat it

Lack of appropriate mental health care impacts quality of life for people with COPD

Yawn! Many people are bored by spiritual practice

A new algorithm sheds light on ‘disordered’ proteins

How’s the weather on Mars?

Plants struggled for millions of years after the world’s worst climate catastrophe

Clinical trial opens to study groundbreaking 3D printed device for babies with rare respiratory disease

Effects of shenfu decoction on neutrophil chemotactic function in septic mice

ESMT Berlin offers scholarships in executive leadership

New WSU study shows how scarcity pricing helps 'cult wineries' drive demand

New discovery and grant to accelerate Strep A vaccine efforts

Novel enzyme found in gut bacteria could revolutionize prebiotic research

Study reveals exposure to wildlife and forest walks helps ease symptoms of PTSD in US war veterans

Urban highways cut opportunities for social relationships, says study

Alzheimer’s treatment may lie in the brain’s own cleanup crew

Climate change threatens future of banana export industry

World’s oldest impact crater found, rewriting Earth’s ancient history

Pledge to phase out toxic lead ammunition in UK hunting by 2025 has failed

Possible foundations of human intelligence observed for the first time

Breast cancer death rates have stopped going down

Developing zero-waste, sustainable smart polymer materials

AI has ‘great potential’ for detecting wildfires, new study of the Amazon rainforest suggests

Magnetic catalysts enhance tumor treatment via electronic density regulation

 Quantum dot discovery for LEDs brings brighter, more eco-friendly displays

Phosphorus doping stabilizes high-energy polymeric nitrogen at ambient pressure

Maternal cannabis use triples risk of disruptive behaviour in children

Balancing Nutrition: Micronutrient study could help prevent childhood obesity in Pacific region

[Press-News.org] Deserts 'greening' from rising CO2