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FACTS
Research Shows Climate Change Intensified Destructive Hurricanes
Some of the nastiest recent hurricanes, including Katrina, Irma, and Maria were made more
destructive by climate change, with as much as 10 per cent more rainfall. Research published in the
journal Nature showed warming of the atmosphere and Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans increased
rainfall by five to 10 per cent, though wind speeds didn’t change much. But the problem will be worse
with future global warming. Researchers discovered that if little is done to curb greenhouse gas emissions
and the globe warms by 2-3°F, then hurricane rain would increase by a third with wind speeds boosted by as
much as 29 miles per hour. “Climate change has exacerbated rainfall and is set to enhance the wind speed,” says
Christina Patricola, who undertook the study with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory colleague Michael Wehner.
The research used climate models to see how factors such as air and ocean temperatures have influenced hurricanes.
Projections were then made, based upon various levels of planetary warming.
— guardian.com
Scientists Create Drought-resistant Plants Without Stunting Growth
Researchers have discovered a strategy to create drought-resistant plants without affecting
overall plant growth. Ana Caño-Delgado led a team from the Center for Research in
Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) that published a study in the journal Nature
Communications detailing the discovery. Plants were created to resist
drought by modifying the signaling of plant steroids called
brassinosteroids. Initially these plants had stunted growth,
but now Caño-Delgado has learned that plants which
overexpress the BRL3 brassinosteroid receptor in the
vascular tissue are more resistant to water scarcity
than control plants and that, unlike the previously
researched mutants, they grow to normal size. “We
have discovered that modifying brassinosteroid
signaling only locally in the vascular system, we
are able to obtain drought resistant plants without
affecting their growth,” says Caño-Delgado. The
work was done on the plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
It’s a small flowering plant found in Eurasia and
Africa and is regarded as a weed.
— sciencedaily.com
Weed-eating Goats do Pesticide Work in Canadian City
After banning the use of herbicides in public parks, the city of Edmonton
has brought in 400 goats to feast on unwanted weeds growing in
greenspaces. They feasted on leafy spurge, an invasive species
with bunched yellow flowers in Rundle Park. Edmonton banned
herbicides and have used goats to keep the weeds at bay. “The
fact that we give an environmentally conscious alternative to
the use of herbicides, I think that is really something amazing
that is about this project,” says Joy Lakhan, goat coordinator with
the City of Edmonton. The best part about using goats is they have a
special digestive tract that can reduce germination in some plants, plus they can
gobble 10 pounds of weeds a day. When they’re young, the goats are trained to target
key weed species that can be harmful to other plants and animals. Enzymes in their
body can break down parts of plants that could irritate other livestock.
— feltonbusinessnews.com
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