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Satellite-based global-ocean mass balance estimates of interannual variability and emerging trends in continental freshwater discharge
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Freshwater discharge from the continents is a key component of Earth’s water cycle that sustains human life and ecosystem health. Surprisingly, owing to a number of socioeconomic and political obstacles, a comprehensive global river discharge observing system does not yet exist. Here we use 13 years (1994–2006) of satellite precipitation, evaporation, and sea level data in an ocean mass balance to estimate freshwater discharge into the global ocean. Results indicate that global freshwater discharge averaged 36,055 km3∕y for the study period while exhibiting significant interannual variability driven primarily by El Niño Southern Oscillation cycles. The method described here can ultimately be used to estimate long-term global discharge trends as the records of sea level rise and ocean temperature lengthen. For the relatively short 13-year period studied here, global discharge increased by 540 km3 ∕y2 , which was largely attributed to an increase of global- ocean evaporation (768 km3 ∕y2 ). Sustained growth of these flux rates into long-term trends would provide evidence for increasing intensity of the hydrologic cycle.
climate ∣ global water cycle ∣ hydrology ∣ remote sensing ∣ observations
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Saturation of the Southern Ocean CO2 Sink Due to Recent Climate Change
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Based on observed atmospheric CO2 concentration and an inverse method, we estimate that the Southern Ocean sink of CO2 has weakened between 1981 and 2004 by 0.08 PgC/y per decade relative to the trend expected from the large increase in atmospheric CO2. This weakening is attributed to the observed increase in Southern Ocean winds resulting from human activities and projected to continue in the future. Consequences include a reduction in the efficiency of the Southern Ocean sink of CO2 in the short term (~25 years) and possibly a higher level of stabilization of atmospheric CO2 on a multicentury time scale.
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Saving Southern Appalachian Brook Trout
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The Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) is working with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and other partners to save wild populations of Southern Appalachian Brook Trout. This species is Tennessee's only native trout species.
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Say 1825.pdf
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RID-SCH
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Scaling up from gardens biodiversity Conservation in urban environments.pdf
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Scaling up from gardens: biodiversity conservation in urban environments
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As urbanisation increases globally and the natural environment becomes increasingly fragmented, the
importance of urban green spaces for biodiversity conservation grows. In many countries, private gardens area major component of urban green space and can provideconsiderable biodiversity benefits. Gardens and
adjacent habitats form interconnected networks and a landscape ecology framework is necessary to understand the relationship between the spatial configuration of garden patches and their constituent biodiversity. A scale-dependent tension is apparent in garden management, whereby the individual garden is much smaller than the unit of management needed to retain viable populations. To overcome this, here we suggest mechanisms for encouraging ‘wildlife-friendly’ management of collections of gardens across scales from the neighbourhood to the city.
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Scarlet Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)
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scarlet Indian paintbrush_squamatologist_2010_Macon Co. NC.jpg
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Vulnerability
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Climate Change Vulnerability
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Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Photo Gallery
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Scarlet Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)
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scarlet Indian paintbrush_squamatologist_2010_Macon Co. NC.jpg
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Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts
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Species and Habitat Vulnerability Assessment Photo Gallery
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Scavia Mitchell 1989.pdf
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SCH-SIM