One of the titles below will make Stephanie Keep’s head explode, or maybe she’ll just make like a hydra and tear off her face. Brownie points if you can identify which article, and why. And enjoy all the other interesting articles we found this week!
- When It Rains, It Increasingly Pours, Scientists Say, Bloomberg Business, March 8, 2016 — The intensity of rainfall has increased in both wet and arid terrestrial areas due to climate change. This effect is predicted to continue to intensify. Arid areas in particular are urged to make changes to their infrastructure in order to handle more intense weather events.
- Why Sub-Saharan African Needs an Agricultural Revolution, Now, The Christian Science Monitor, March 8, 2016 — By 2100, many areas that currently produce staple crops in sub-Saharan African will no longer be able to support those same crops. If people act now, they will be able to transition to different crops that should tolerate new climatic conditions. With preparation, a very small percentage of total agricultural area will be rendered unsuitable for cultivation.
- Lizard Trapped in Amber for 99 Million Years is "Missing Link", CDA News, March 7, 2016 — Specimens of ancient lizards trapped in amber have recently been released from a private collection for analysis, allowing scientists to determine that certain distinctive features of chameleons, such as their projectile tongue, were present far back in evolutionary history.
- An Evangelical Movement Takes on Climate Change, Newsweek, March 9, 2016 — What are people of faith doing to encourage acceptance of and action on climate change? And how are they coping with the backlash from their coreligionists who are entrenched in climate denial? Read Tik Root's informative essay to find out.
- Meat-Eating Among the Earliest Humans, American Scientist, March-April 2016 — Briana Pobiner of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History offers a marvelously clear explanation of what we are coming to discover about the meat-eating habits of our early human ancestors.
- This Mind-Boggling Study Shows Just How Massive Sea Level Rise Really Is, The Washington Post, March 10, 2016 — The article describes a recently published study that explored whether sea level rise could be mitigated by pumping sea water on top of Antarctica, where it would freeze and remain sequestered for millenia. The conclusion: possible, but only with an utterly unrealistic infusion of money and energy. And besides, what could possibly go wrong with pumping billions of gallons of seawater on the most pristine environment on Earth?
- This Animal Tears Its Face Off to Open Its Mouth, phenomena/nationalgeographic.com, March 8, 2016 — Ed Yong knew hydra were impressive creatures, long studied for their regenerative capabilities and asexual means of reproduction. What he didn’t know, however, was that the hydra constantly obliterates and reforms its mouth. Yep. Its mouth. Nature is weird.
