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

Salt marsh sediments help gauge climate-change-induced sea level rise

2011-06-21
(Press-News.org) A newly constructed, 2,000-year history of sea level elevations will help scientists refine the models used to predict climate-change-induced sea level rise, according to an international team of climate researchers. The record also shows that the past century had the fastest recorded rate of sea level rise. "One of the largest uncertainties in projecting the impacts of climate change involve predicting the amount and rate of future sea level rise," said Michael E. Mann, professor of meteorology, Penn State. "The societal ramifications are as great as any climate change impact, but, because the uncertainties are particularly large due to limitations in the representations of some key processes, such as ice sheet collapse, in existing models, we still do not know how sea level will rise." To create the sea level timeline, the researchers examined sediment cores from salt marshes in North Carolina to create an unbroken record of sea level through time. They used the remains of foraminifera, tiny plankton-like creatures that live in the oceans, to determine sea level. Because different species of foraminifera live at different depths in the oceans, a survey of the types of remains will tell researchers how deep the ocean was in that particular spot at the time the sediment layer was laid down. Careful dating of the layers provides a timeline of sea level changes. The researchers reported their findings in today's (June 20) online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Combining the sea level changes through time with the already established temperature record for the past 1,000 years, the researchers created a model, partly based on observations, that matches what happened historically and can be used to predict future changes in sea level. One problem with current model estimates of sea level rise is that they do not account for all of the potentially important processes. The simulations cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for its 2007 report did not include the effects of ice melting from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. "Prior to the past few decades there was no obvious contribution from melting ice sheets," said Mann. "It is only over the past five years or so that we have clear evidence that the ice sheets are losing mass. Prior to that they appear to have been stable as far back as the end of the last ice age." Because the sea level model in the current study is based on observations, it includes -- in principle -- all of the relevant processes, including the contribution from melting ice sheets, mountain glaciers and the expansion of seawater with increased temperatures. The researchers chose North Carolina salt marshes for their sediment samples because the area is relatively free of impacts related to the slow rebounding of the Earth's surface from the weight of the ice sheet that covered parts of North America during the last ice age. This minimized the necessary adjustments for the rebound. "The temperature and sea level reconstructions were determined independently from each other, and yet each shows what we would expect based on the other," said Mann. "Higher temperatures correspond with higher rates of sea level change and vice versa." From 100 B.C. to A.D. 950, the researchers found sea level stable in North Carolina. From 950 to 1400, sea level rose at a rate of a bit over 0.02 inch per year due to the relative warmth during the Medieval Period. From 1400 until about, sea level was again stable due to the effects of the Little Ice Age. The rate of rise from 1880 through 1920 in North Carolina was 0.08 inch a year. "This historical rate of rise was greater than any other persistent, century-scale trend during the past 2,100 years," the researchers report. ###Other researchers on this project were Andrew C. Kemp, graduate student, and Benjamin P. Horton, associate professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania; Jeffrey P. Donnelly, associate scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; Martin Vermeer, professor, Aalto University School of Engineering, Finland; and Stefan Rahmstorf, professor of physics of the oceans, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany. The National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U. S. Geological Survey, Academy of Finland Project and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology supported this work.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Nanoparticles disguised as red blood cells will deliver cancer-fighting drugs

2011-06-21
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a novel method of disguising nanoparticles as red blood cells, which will enable them to evade the body's immune system and deliver cancer-fighting drugs straight to a tumor. Their research will be published next week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The method involves collecting the membrane from a red blood cell and wrapping it like a powerful camouflaging cloak around a biodegradable polymer nanoparticle stuffed with a cocktail of small molecule ...

New study reveals how the immune system responds to hepatitis A virus

2011-06-21
A surprising finding in a study comparing hepatitis C virus (HCV) with hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections in chimpanzees by a team that includes scientists from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute sheds new light on the nature of the body's immune response to these viruses. Understanding how hepatitis C becomes chronic is very important because some 200 million people worldwide and 3.2 million people in the U.S. are chronically infected with HCV and are at risk for progression to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Hepatitis C associated liver disease is the most common ...

Adulterated cocaine causing serious skin reactions

Adulterated cocaine causing serious skin reactions
2011-06-21
LOS ANGELES—(June 20, 2011)—Doctors warned of a potential public health epidemic in a recent report on patients in Los Angeles and New York who developed serious skin reactions after smoking or snorting cocaine believed to be contaminated with a veterinary medication drug dealers are using to dilute, or "cut," up to 70% of the cocaine in the U.S. The report, published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, said six patients developed purple-colored patches of necrotic skin on their ears, nose, cheeks and other parts of their body and, in some instances, ...

Australian Sun Protective Wear Now Available in the U.S.

Australian Sun Protective Wear Now Available in the U.S.
2011-06-21
Solartex Sun Gear, Inc., a leader in sun protective clothing in the United States, is introducing its newest line that provides the maximum (50+) SPF/UPF in sun protection. Designed in Australia, these colorful rash shirts, swimsuits and hats come in a full range of sizes from 0 to 8xl, offering something for everyone from the newborn to the plus-sized adult. Since its founding in 1998, Solartex has specialized in locating, importing, manufacturing, and retailing sun protective UV clothing to U.S. and international consumers. It is now designing and manufacturing private ...

3 postulates to help identify the cause of Alzheimer's disease

2011-06-21
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 20, 2011 -- After more than 100 years following its pathologic description, the cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unknown. To test the validity of present and future proposals related to the probable cause of AD, three postulates, or necessary conditions, are recommended by Jack de la Torre, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, Austin, in an article published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. "Knowing what causes AD is critically important because it would allow more effective therapy to specifically ...

Unexpected function of dyslexia gene

2011-06-21
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a gene linked to dyslexia has a surprising biological function: it controls cilia, the antenna-like projections that cells use to communicate. Dyslexia is largely hereditary and linked to a number of genes, the functions of which are, however, largely unknown. This present study from Karolinska Institutet and Helsinki University now shows that one of these genes, DCDC2, is involved in regulating the signalling of cilia in brain neurons. "Our discovery presents us with a possible new neurobiological ...

Research reveals that 10 percent of middle-aged Europeans are on antidepressants

Research reveals that 10 percent of middle-aged Europeans are on antidepressants
2011-06-21
New research from the University of Warwick and the IZA Institute in Bonn shows that 10% of middle-aged Europeans took antidepressants in 2010. The researchers looked in detail at the lives of a randomly selected sample of nearly 30,000 Europeans. The study covered 27 countries. Andrew Oswald, an economics professor at the University of Warwick, and co-author of the study, described the results as concerning, he said: "Antidepressants are a relatively new kind of commodity. We are only starting to get proper data on who takes them. But as we live in the richest and safest ...

Let your fingers do the talking: Sexting and infidelity in cyberspace

2011-06-21
Although sex and infidelity are now only a keyboard away, at the end of the day, there is no substitute for physical, face-to-face contact in our sexual relationships. That's according to a new study by Diane Kholos Wysocki, from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Cheryl Childers, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. They investigated the behaviors of infidelity on the internet and sexting - sending sexually explicit text messages and photographs via email or cell phone. Their findings are published online in Springer's journal, Sexuality & Culture. The ...

WSO2 Summer School Features Free Class on Integrating FIX Applications Within Financial Firms' Heterogeneous Environments

WSO2 Summer School Features Free Class on Integrating FIX Applications Within Financial Firms Heterogeneous Environments
2011-06-21
Financial services firms rely on the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol to drive the real-time electronic exchange of securities transactions. However, the special message format and rigid nature of the FIX protocol mean it often interoperates poorly with non-FIX applications. The combination of the WSO2 Enterprise Service Bus (WSO2 ESB) and FIX protocol support provides a powerful solution for seamlessly integrating FIX applications and the heterogeneous systems supporting a financial firm's operations. IT architects and developers can learn how to optimize ...

UC research provides prescription for healthier hospital supply chains

UC research provides prescription for healthier hospital supply chains
2011-06-21
University of Cincinnati analysis of hospital supply chains – how hospitals stock nursing stations with the hundreds of medicines, materials and even office supplies needed – holds promise in helping to make supply and re-supply efforts leaner and more cost effective. The research, to be presented June 22 at the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science Healthcare Conference in Montreal, has implications for affecting the significant costs associated with hospital supplies. On average, supplies and inventory account for 30 to 40 percent of an average hospital's ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Common pregnancy complications may be a signal of future stroke risk

Barcodes uncover early blueprints of our cellular origins

Stanford Medicine-led phase 3 trial shows gene therapy skin grafts help epidermolysis bullosa

‘Pill-on-a-thread’ could replace endoscopies for half of all patients being monitored for esophageal cancer risk

Study casts doubt on ‘incestuous royalty’ in Neolithic Ireland

Heart valve developed at UC Irvine shines in early-stage preclinical testing

In diseases due to exposure to toxic particles like gout, macrophages elicit separate pathways for inflammation and lysosomal function

Zoning out could be beneficial—and may actually help us learn faster

Weekly semaglutide improves blood sugar and weight in adults with Type 1 diabetes

Concerned father, statistician develops software to improve skills therapy

Your smartwatch might know you’re sick before you do — and it might help stop pandemics

ImmunoPET tracer enhances early detection of liver cancer

AI-based brain-mapping software receives FDA market authorization

New PET tracer identifies diverse invasive mold infections behind life-threatening illnesses in cancer and transplant patients

Current Pharmaceutical Analysis (CPA) achieves notable impact factor growth in latest journal citation reports

AI chatbot safeguards fail to prevent spread of health disinformation

UTIA researcher to receive award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society

HSE linguists study how bilinguals use phrases with numerals in Russian

Cold winters halt the northward spread of species in a warming climate

Study finds early signs of widespread coastal marsh decline

Massive burps of carbon dioxide led to oxygen-less ocean environments in the deep past

US muslims’ attitudes toward psychedelic therapy

HSE scientists reveal how staying at alma mater can affect early-career researchers

Durham University scientists reveal new cosmic insights as first Rubin Observatory images released

Emotional and directional enabled programmable flexible haptic interface for enhanced cognition in disabled community

Music on the brain: exploring how songs boost memory

Non-contact and nanometer-scale measurement of shallow PN junction depth buried in Si wafers

A unified approach to first principles calculations of Parton physics in hadrons

Killer whales groom each other using tools made from kelp

Killer whales make seaweed ‘tools’ to scratch each other’s backs

[Press-News.org] Salt marsh sediments help gauge climate-change-induced sea level rise