Harvesting Carbon Dioxide From Atmosphere Leaf

With deaths of forests, a loss of key climate protectors

The debris they were cataloging would not have struck a hiker as anything to notice, much less measure, but the Harvard Forest, 3,000 acres near Petersham, Mass., is one of the world’s most intensively studied patches of woods. The work the men were doing will become a small contribution toward solving one of the biggest accounting problems of modern science.  In every forest, carbon is constantly being absorbed as trees and other organisms grow, then released as they die or go dormant. These carbon fluxes, as they are called, vary through the day. They vary with seasons, with climate and weather extremes, with the health of the forests and with many other factors. Across the world, scientists are struggling to track and understand this ebb and flow.  Today, the re-growing forests of the Eastern United States are among the most important carbon sponges in the world. In the Harvard Forest, the rate of carbon storage accelerated about a decade ago. As in much of the world, the temperature is warming there — by an average of 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 40 years — and that has led to longer growing seasons, benefiting this particular forest more than hurting it, at least so far.  The species Dr. Six was pointing out, the mountain pine beetle, has pushed farther north into Canada than ever recorded. The beetles have jumped the Rocky Mountains into Alberta, and fears are rising that they could spread across the continent as temperatures rise in coming decades. Standing on a mountain plateau south of Missoula, Dr. Six and Dr. Running pointed to the devastation the beetles had wrought in the forest around them, consisting of a high-elevation species called whitebark pine.  Warmer temperatures are causing mountain snowpack, on which so much of the life in the region depends, to melt earlier in most years, he said. That is causing more severe water deficits in the summer, just as the higher temperatures cause trees to need extra water to survive.

Alien Factory Lyrics | UFO and Extraterrestrial News

General Knowledge Pt.- I

Who is a lexicographer?

THE author or compiler of a dictionary is called lexicographer.

What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?

Most people think that wisdom and knowledge are the same thing but actually they are two different sides of the same coin. Knowledge is nothing but the facts known by a person whereas wisdom is the combination of experience and knowledge, with the power of applying them or soundness of judgement in a person.

What is genome mapping?

A genome is the entire DNA in an organism, including its genes. In human beings the number of genes is between 30,000 to 40,000. Genes are instructions that give organisms their characteristics. The instructions are stored in each cell in the Deox ribonucleic Acid (DNA). DNA is made up of four similar chemicals called bases, which are repeated many times through out a genome. It is estimated that the human genome has more than 3.2 billion pairs of bases. DNA molecules are subdivided into chromosomes and each organism has a characteristic number of chromosomes. For humans, the number is 46 (23 pairs) and this complete set of genetic information is called the genome. Mapping is the process of identifying discrete DNA segments of known position on a chromosome, which are then used for sequencing.

Why do our fingernails grow faster than our toenails?

Fingernails grow two to three times faster than toenails. A fingernail replaces itself in about six months while a toenail takes a year. Feet are farthest a field in the circulatory scheme of things. A better blood supply to the fingers keeps them chugging along at a faster clip. Nails are basically protective and since our fingers are busier than our toes, they are more likely to need replacing. Also, constant exposure to sun and air may aid their growth. Feet are locked up in shoes most of the time.

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