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Mount St. Helens (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey)
There is evidence that this current has shut down with some regularity in the past — and sometimes quite rapidly — in response to large influxes of fresh water from melting glaciers.
However, it appears as though the current rate of glacial melt is occurring at a more gradual pace which will “give ecosystems more time to adjust to new conditions,” said study coauthor Peter Clark, a professor of geosciences at Oregon State University.
Water Negotiator Aaron Wolf Spreads Liquid Hope
Wolf’s calling takes him all over the world, wherever bodies of water—usually rivers—are shared by two or more countries. A dam built upstream, on one side of the border, will affect the flow of water on the other side. Whose needs are more important? Is generating electricity the priority? What about pollution?
“Everywhere you find real tension,” he says, “you’ll also find shared rivers.”
Related OSU links:
OSU’s Water Resources Graduate Program
Aaron Wolf in the department of Geosciences
For OSU coral reef scientist Mark Hixon, climate change is personal. He studied a tropical reef for a decade, and the results of his work stunned and inspired him. In a new book, Thoreau’s Legacy, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Penguin Books, Hixon describes the calamity that struck in 1998. His is one of 67 personal stories and reflections on global warming at www.ucsusa.org/americanstories/. A story about Hixon’s research appeared in the spring 2008 issue of Terra magazine.
In waters off the Bahama in 2006, Mark Hixon collected juvenile coral-reef fish for tagging. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hixon)
From Science Daily:
Warm-blooded birds need about 20 times more oxygen than cold-blooded reptiles, and have evolved a unique lung structure that allows for a high rate of gas exchange and high activity level. Their unusual thigh complex is what helps support the lung and prevent its collapse.
“This is fundamental to bird physiology,” said Devon Quick, an OSU instructor of zoology who completed this work as part of her doctoral studies. “It’s really strange that no one realized this before. The position of the thigh bone and muscles in birds is critical to their lung function, which in turn is what gives them enough lung capacity for flight.”
Finals this week! And after that, where else to go but Kenya? That’s where Shalynn Pack, a junior in zoology from Marcola, Oregon, will work this summer in pursuit of a career in tropical forest conservation and ecotourism. Check out her lab: Lake Nakuru National Park at www.kws.org/nakuru.html.
We’re happy to see you here. A quick orientation: on the left-hand side of the page you’ll find categories that may help you zero in on the topics you’re most interested in. We post frequently with the news of the day, so do bookmark and visit often! We’d like to hear your thoughts and feedback so we can develop the blog to help our alumni, friends, and donors connect with the College of Science.
Please be in touch: anne.ruggiero@oregonstate.edu. Again, welcome. See you again soon!
Dean Sherman Bloomer on a research trip in Japan
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHuY4BF50Jk]
Andrew Blaustein, Zoology Professor and Director of the Environmental Sciences Graduate Program at OSU, says amphibians are experiencing mass extinctions:
Oregon State University zoologist Andrew Blaustein says monitoring amphibians is important because they are especially sensitive to environmental changes. They have no hair or feathers and their eggs have no shells, and they also have to survive both on land and in water— what Blaustein calls, “a double-whammy.”
To read more about Andrew and check out some fun pictures from the Blaustein Lab, click here!
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