Arid regions help to retain part of the excess CO2

Washington State University researchers found that the arid areas, which are among the largest ecosystems on the planet, absorb an unexpected amount of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

With this discovery, you can now know how much of the carbon remains in the atmosphere as CO2, and how much is stored on land and in the ocean, other forms of the substance.

The study, published last week in Nature Climate Change, is the result of 10 years of experience, in which the researchers exposed tracts in the Mojave desert in California, the high levels of CO2, similar to those you would expect to find in 2050. They collected the soil and plants, up to three feet deep, and measured how much carbon was absorbed.

The work comes to a unknown facets of global warming: the degree to which land ecosystems absorb or emit CO2 when its presence increases in the atmosphere.

The arid areas receive less than 25 cm of rain per year, occupying an extensive range of 30 degrees North and South latitude. With the semi-arid areas, which receive less than 50 cm of rainfall per year, they account for almost half of the planet's surface.

In fact, as we stated in the Green forest soils, Savers have more organic matter and, if we make the account per square metre, retain more carbon. But as the arid soils cover much area, according to Science20, they can have a considerable role in the evaluation of carbon and in how much the Earth warms when greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere.

Foto: geographyalltheway.com/Creative Commons

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NASA invites the global selfie to celebrate earth day

If so many people make selfies â€" photos of themselves, made by a mobile phone â€" a day, why not make one for the planet Earth? This is the proposal that the American space agency, NASA, is making all of us: celebrate the planet with a very peculiar image, which will be released in May.

The idea is to create a global selfie composed of self-portraits of people from the four corners of the world, encouraging people to have environmental awareness. The proposal has as its backdrop the day 22 April, eight from tomorrow, the day that commemorates earth day.

To participate, simply choose a beautiful landscape â€" can be a City Park, mountain, River, Lake or anywhere else near the reader â€", reach in with your mobile phone and aim for the face and the landscape in the background. Then, you must put the picture on social networks. To better identify the place, the reader can download the official logo of the action, print it and use it during the selfie.

Don't forget to mark the publication with the hashtag #GlobalSelfie. In this way, NASA will be able to monitor all images published for the campaign and create a mosaic of photos with the shape of the planet. Social networks participants are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Flickr.

The celebration also happens because the launch into space of five missions, NASA, for Earth observation in just one year. The mission number 17 is already in orbit, taking pictures of the daily planet to help answer critical current challenges such as climate change, sea level rise, extreme weather events and lack of drinking water.

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Surf and sustainability have created 200 jobs in Peniche since 2009 (with video)

In Peniche, surfers, fishermen, population and tourists share the sea, and all that moves through it, the local economy: hostels and environmentally friendly hotels, schools that develop the sea economy and innovations related to the energy of the waves.

Such as Nazareth, also the city of Peniche won a new impetus with the surf and the increasing flow of tourists who seek to view or even surf the next wave. This connection dates back to 2009, when the city became part of the world tour of surfing, receiving one of the stages of the sport.

"[We have benefited from the surf], mainly in the area of hospitality, which goes far to meet what is the profile of the people accompanying the circuit, regardless of age and social stratum. There is a common trait [these people], that has to do with issues of environmental sustainability, "said the green economy António José Correia, Mayor of Peniche.

Since 2009, it's been around town about 120 thousand people, attracted by the waves and quality of athletes. In each contest, the tourists leave in the city approximately € 7 million. The success of the world stage has been the best advertising to draw tourists to other times of the year, and today Peniche ceased to be a city, solely, of summer.

These tourists want quality of accommodation services, but also more sustainable options. The revolution generated by surf passes by the creation of new businesses, such as shops, factories or schools boards of the sport â€" the high performance center dedicated to water sports was founded in 2012.

The other axis of Peniche overboard is related to the energy of the waves. The project is based on a submarine device, called Wave Roller. "It's a structure placed on the seabed, with wings, and that depending on the movement of water in the bottom of the sea, it generates energy that is harnessed. The curious thing is that the space where is licensed this device matches the projected nuclear power station in 1975 and 1976 ", joked the President of the municipality. The project expects European funds to boot the cruising speed.

Foto: Gusty/Creative Commons

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Pollution in Nordic cities helps to create a artificial aurora borealis

The aurora borealis has attracted many tourists to the Nordic countries, especially Finland. But this natural phenomenon now faces an artificial competition produced indirectly by man.

The phenomenon was recorded by photographer Mika Wist from its balcony, and was captured at a temperature of minus 19 degrees Celsius. But what is then this artificial phenomenon similar to the aurora borealis?

According to experts from the North American Space Agency (NASA), the visual phenomenon is caused by a combination of excessive light pollution that interact with small particles of ice crystals suspended in the air, referred to Inhabitat.

"Lately, the communities near the Arctic Circle people have seen colored lights in the sky. Although it resembles the auroras are not ... Are pillars of light, caused by ice crystals in the air that interact with the urban lights and diffuse in colored columns. Solar activity is not required for this phenomenon. The only ingredients needed are ice and light pollution ", explains Tony Phillips, NASA.

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Students create biodegradable membrane to replace water bottles

A biodegradable organic membrane, which can store water, was created in London by three students of industrial design. The aim is to reduce the use of disposable bottles.

Called Ooho, the bubble is created by a process of "esferificação", the same technique popularized by Spanish chef Ferran Adriá, which made famous the elBulli restaurant, in Barcelona. Through this method, the liquid is shaped in the form of spheres, which generate a double membrane, protecting water and the hand that's drinking.

The structure is composed of algae and calcium chloride, which create a gel around the water.

While the wrapper is created, the water is in solid state â€" as if it were frozen, and you can thus generate a larger ball, which keeps the ingredients in the membrane and water separated.

According to the creator of the membrane, the aim is to reduce the use of disposable bottles by society. "Eighty percent of the bottles we use and throw away are not recycled. This consumerism reflects the society in which we live, "says Rodrigo Garcia González, who developed the Ooho with his college friends, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche.

Garcia also claims that, in addition to being ecologically correct, the "bubble" will reduce costs, since most of the cost to produce water comes from own production of bottles.

The Ooho can be produced for only €0,01 ($ 0.04), according to the sustainable planet.

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Don't blame the camels by global warming

Never accuse science of neglecting the smallest and seemingly least dignificantes details in the search for better understanding the functioning of planet Earth. It is common knowledge that many large animals produce large amounts of methane-gas that results from your digestive process and which is much more damaging than carbon dioxide.

However, a new study by a team of Swiss investigators recently revealed why we should not blame the camels by global warming. The camels â€" like its relatives: llamas, alpacas, dromedaries and vicunas â€" produce methane during its digestion, which is 20 times more potent in terms of greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. However, these animals produce methane in smaller quantities to ruminants such as cows, goats and sheep.

When digest the food, ruminants emit large amounts of methane, which correspond to approximately 20% of the total emissions of this gas, reports the Guardian. The assumption that was made so far was that the camels produced similar quantities to ruminants. However, researchers at the University of Zurich found that camels emit less methane than ruminants.

Ruminants and camels are similar, but not identical. Both groups of animals have compartmentalized stomachs, which allows them to regurgitate the food from camera to camera to be better digested. Is this resemblance that he the idea that camels produce an amount of methane similar to ruminants. But this idea has now been ruled out.

During the study, the research team collaborated with the Zurich Zoo and private owners of camels. The scientists then measured the amount of methane produced in three types of camelids and concluded that the three species had a lower metabolism that ruminants, because they ate less and therefore produce less methane.

Foto: jemasmith/Creative Commons

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Monique Pool, the woman who rescued and lived with 200 sloths

The passion of Monique Pool by sloths began in 2005, when after losing the dog adopted a baby sloth animal welfare society of Suriname. Since then, many sloths have passed the House with the Pool before being returned to the natural environment. On average, there is always a lazy new every week.

In October 2012, the animal welfare Society has asked the Pool to host several sloths that were found on land near Paramaribo â€" Suriname's capital â€" it would be desflorestado for the construction of a breeding farm.

Accustomed to dealing with these animals and have several at home at the same time, Monique Pool accepted the challenge, since you indicated that would be near 14 sloths rescue.

At the end of the rescue, Pool realized that wasn't the deal only with 14 sloths â€" but rather with 200 sloths, which were installed in your home. "At the end of the first month of rescue we had close to 100 and at the end of the operation reached 200 sloths", indicates the BBC Pool.

Despite being slow and generally peaceful animals, sloths are wild animals â€" often shriek, struggle and pinch the hand that feeds them. "Sometimes fought at night and I was awake by cranes," Pool. "In most cases were males fighting each other. A fight between sloths is a special event to observe. They dangle a on another and sometimes bite each other's feet ".

Most of the sloths has been reintroduced in the natural habitat, but still shares its Pool House with five sloths and three cubs. In June this year, Monique going to rescue another group of sloths to another terrain near Paramaribo that will also be desflorestado. The land owner calculates that may exist 15 sloths, but once the area is slightly larger than the previous one, Pool estimates that may exist about 300 sloths.

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