Scientists have ended a long debate by proving that Earth’s core rotates faster than its surface.

Their research measured differences in the time it took seismic waves generated by nearly identical earthquakes to travel through Earth’s inner core.

According to geologists Jian Zhang of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), Xiaodong Song of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and other co-authors of a paper in the Aug. 26 issue of the journal Science, Earth’s iron core is rotating approximately 1 degree per year faster than the rest of the planet.

“Whether the Earth’s core spins faster than its surface has been a hotly debated topic,” says Robin Reichlin, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research. “These new observations provide compelling support that it does.”

The scientists studied waveform doublets–earthquakes that are detected at the same seismic recording station in two different places, at two different times. A Sept. 2003, earthquake in the Atlantic Ocean near the South Sandwich Islands that was also detected in Ala., provided a near-exact match with one that had occurred in Dec.1993.

The seismograms were almost identical for shocks that had traveled only in the mantle and outer core. But seismic waves that had traveled through the inner core looked slightly different: they had made the trip through the Earth faster in 2003 than in 1993.

“The similar seismic waves that passed through the inner core show changes in travel times,” says Song. “The only plausible explanation is the faster rotation of the inner core.”

In all, the geologists analyzed 18 “doublets” from the South Sandwich Islands that were detected at Ala. seismic stations between 1961 and 2004.

“For decades, people thought of the Earth’s interior as changing very slowly over millions of years,” said scientist Paul Richards of LDEO, a co-author of the paper. “These results show that we live on a remarkably dynamic planet. They also underscore the fact that we know more about the moon than we know about what’s beneath our feet. Now we need to understand what is driving this difference.”

In addition to Zhang, Song and Richards, co-authors of the paper are Illinois graduate students Yingchun Li and Xinlei Sun and research scientist Felix Waldhauser. The work was also funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China.

Original press release: Earth’s Core Rotates Faster Than Its Crust, Scientists Say (NSF)

Brussels, Belgium – Floods and mudslides in the Alps and Danube basin, fires in the Iberian Peninsula, drought destroying crops in France, Spain and Portugal — these are signals of a world suffering from climate change.

“To reduce the likelihood of these horrible weather events happening more often, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must be reduced,” said Jennifer Morgan Director of the WWF Climate Change Programme.

According to a new WWF paper, it is in the power sector, the largest emitter of CO2, where Europe must address the increase and severity of recent extreme weather events and their disastrous consequences.

The paper, Climate change and extreme weather events in Europe, provides the latest scientific findings on this issue, addressing such direct factors as land use and water management.

Direct emergency help for the people concerned must be the main immediate focus, but in order to reduce the frequency and intensity of such events in the future, political and business leaders must decide to rapidly reduce CO2 emissions. To cut CO2 emissions, Europe should start with the biggest emitters, the electricity producers.

The power sector is responsible for 37 per cent of global and 39 per cent of European CO2 emissions (CO2 is emitted when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are being burnt). The German power producer RWE, for instance, is expected to decide this autumn on building a new coal-fired power station, the worst option for the climate

“The largest European climate polluter, RWE, continues to plan for new coal power stations, which drive up global warming,” added Morgan. “European governments can and must stop this.”

The obvious way for European governments to enforce strict pollution limits is under the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Since January 2005, the ETS has placed CO2 limits on big companies. Unfortunately, EU governments have so far agreed only to weak limits.

Tough pollution limits, combined with a powerful financial incentive to invest in cleaner, more efficient technologies, would transform the power sector and reduce CO2 emissions. With the ETS being reviewed this year, WWF sees this as a vital opportunity to get it right.

“Climate change has started to exacerbate the frequency and intensity of these weather catastrophes,” said Oliver Rapf, Head of Climate change unit at WWF’s European Policy Office.

“European politicians need to cut down emissions from the power sector now.”

Original press release: WWF: Floods and Fires – Natural Disasters Linked to Power Sector (WWF)

After a decade of decline in which the fabled Marshlands of Mesopotamia all but vanished almost 40 per cent have now recovered to their former 1970s extent.

This phenomenal rate of recovery of the marshlands in southern Iraq, considered by some as the original biblical “Garden of Eden” and a key natural habitat for people, wildlife and fisheries, is revealed in new satellite images and preliminary analysis from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The new satellite imagery shows a rapid increase in water and vegetation cover over the last two years, and while more detailed field analysis of soil and water quality is needed to gauge the exact state of rehabilitation, UNEP scientists believe the findings are a positive signal that the Iraqi marshlands are well on the road to recovery.

“The near total destruction of the Iraqi marshlands under the regime of Saddam Hussein was a major ecological and human disaster, robbing the Marsh Arabs of a centuries-old culture and way of life as well as food in the form of fish and that most crucial of natural resources, drinking water,” said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director. “The evidence of their rapid revival is a positive signal, not only for the environment and the local communities who live there, but must be seen as a contribution to wider peace and security for the Iraqi people and the region as a whole.”

Toepfer continued, “While the re-flooding bodes well for the Iraqi marshes their recovery will take many years. We must continue to monitor the situation carefully and make the necessary long term investment in marshlands management.”

“Furthermore, I hope the lessons learnt to date in restoring this vital ecosystem and its economically important natural services can help in the restoration of other damaged and degraded ecosystems elsewhere and in doing so assist in meeting the Millennium Development Goals whose status will be reviewed by heads of state in New York in mid-September,” he said.

The new findings on the growing extent of the marshes come from the recently launched Iraqi Marshlands Observation System (IMOS), the latest component of UNEP’s multi-million dollar marshlands project.

The project, launched a year ago with funding from the Government of Japan, is helping Iraq restore the environment and provide clean drinking water for up to 100,000 people living in or near the Marshlands.

It is achieving this via a variety of activities ranging from the dissemination of appropriate “environmentally sound technologies” (ESTs) to the establishment of an internet-based marshlands information network and technical training (see below).

“The IMOS work is a key component in UNEP’s marshlands project as it monitors the extent and distribution of re-flooding developments and the associated vegetation cover,” said Monique Barbut, Director of UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE). “The systematic monitoring and bi-weekly reports are building an important knowledge base for Iraq. Such information is essential for reliable decision-making in all aspects of marshlands management,” she said.

Totalling almost 9,000 square kilometres of permanent wetlands, the Iraqi marshlands dwindled to just 760 square kilometres in 2002. As of August 2005, IMOS shows them covering almost 3,500 square kilometres, approximately 37 per cent of the former 1970s extent. In spring 2005 the figure was nearer to 50 per cent, shrinking with the high summer evaporation rates.

The different figures reflect the strong seasonal fluctuation in the marshlands ecosystem with extent of water cover reaching a maximum in March, following winter rains and spring snow melt in the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The new data on the extent of recovery of the marshes was announced today at an international meeting on the UNEP marshlands project in Tokyo, which included representatives of the governments of Iraq and Japan as well as senior officials from the UN, scientists, and local community leaders from the marshlands themselves.

Working in close collaboration with the Government of Iraq and local people, the UNEP marshlands project is carrying out a wide range of activities.

At six pilot project sites in Thi-Qar, Basrah, and Missan governorates, different ESTs are being tested to see how they perform in bringing drinking water, sanitation systems and wetland management skills to local people and communities. The “low tech” less polluting ESTs include restoration of reed beds and others marshland habitats that act as natural, water-filtration systems.

A Marshland Information Network, an Internet-based system that lets those with an interest in the region share their ideas and strategies, is up and running. An Arabic version of UNEP’s Environmentally Sound Technology Information System, which serves as the basis for MIN is operational in Iraq and in use by the Environment Ministry.

The project is also helping to train the Iraqi authorities, both at national government and local levels. About 250 Iraqis have been trained in wetland management and restoration, remote sensing and community-based resource management.

The UNEP project, “Support for Environmental Management of the Iraqi Marshlands”, is implemented through DTIE’s office in Japan, the International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC). The IMOS component has been designed and implemented by UNEP’s Post Conflict Assessment Unit (PCAU) in collaboration with the Division of Early Warning and Assessment/GRID-Europe.

Original press release: Iraqi Marshlands: On The Road to Recovery (UNEP)

Nairobi, August 2005 – A multi-million dollar initiative that should help some of the world’s poorest people to better cope with droughts and pest infestations is being launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The $ 14.5 million project aims to conserve and restore damaged forests, soils, water systems and other key life support systems in southern Niger and northern Nigeria.

Niger, ranked second to last on the United Nation’s poverty index, has been racked by drought and more recently locust infestations. It has led to an estimated third of the more than 11 million people in Niger suffering severe food shortages.

Experts believe that the country is now more vulnerable to natural disasters like droughts and plagues as a result of human pressures such as over grazing, felling of forests for fuel and water pollution.

Such pressures are deemed to be highest on the borders between the countries and have become a source of tension and conflict between villages and communities.

The wide-ranging project aims to strengthen the way natural resources are managed, boost the legal and institutional frameworks that oversee these areas and streamline cooperation between the two countries.

Experts believe these actions can play their part in alleviating poverty, increasing food production while improving the health and viability of the region’s fragile, wildlife-rich, habitats and ecosystems.

Len Good, Chairman and CEO of the multi billion dollar GEF fund, for which UNEP is one of the three implementing agencies, said: “The tragic images of people suffering and starving in Niger have shocked us all. In the short term, these people desperately need food and medicines and reliable and stable markets for grain and livestock. In the long term, however, we must help them to reclaim their future. This can only be done by reducing the pressures on their natural resources through the improved management of soil, vegetation and water systems”.

“In doing so we will not only be bolstering these communities so that they can better handle the environmental shocks of droughts and plague. We will also be helping to put them on track towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals, from improved water supplies and better health, to the empowerment of women and reduced child mortality,” he added.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP’s Executive Director, said: “In mid-September heads of state will gather in New York to review the implementation of these Goals. It is my sincere hope that, as underlined by this new project, they will fully agree that the environment is not a luxury but is ‘natural capital’ needed for overcoming poverty and delivering peaceful, long lasting, development”.

Under the new project, over 20 pilot areas are to be established in communities linked with four river catchments shared by Niger and Nigeria. These are the Maggia-Lamido, Gada-Gulbin Maradi, Tagwai-El Fadama and Komadugu catchments.

The pilots will include natural resource conflict prevention, evaluations of biological resources, management of degraded sites, the pin-pointing of sustainable practices and new and profitable alternatives to unsustainable and damaging, activities in areas such as food production and energy.

Better managing shared water resources and fisheries may also be part of the project with proposals to reclaim degraded lands in areas such as the Komadugu Yobe and Tagwai-El Fadama.

Original press release: Niger and Nigeria’s Natural Capital Vital for Fighting Pestilence and Drought (UNEP)

ESA radar satellites are peering through rain clouds to monitor the fast-changing situation across central and southern Europe, where torrential rainfall this week has led to heavy flooding.

Hundreds of people were driven from their homes as Alpine valleys were inundated across Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Widespread flooding was also reported in Bulgaria and Romania.

Large amount of water from Alpine valley flooding subsequently surged along central Europe’s river valleys towards the coast on Wednesday. The Isar and Inn Rivers were among rivers reported to have seen heavy surges, along with the Danube River they flow into – where the flood threat remains serious.

A huge low pressure system above Europe caused the rains, and it is uncertain when they will end. Many areas have been badly hit, among them the state of Voralberg in Austria and Bavaria in Germany.

In Switzerland the canton of Lucern and capital Berne were among affected areas, and helicopters plucked stranded people from rooftops. Total damage is estimated to stretch into millions of Euros.

Flooding is estimated to be the world’s most costly kind of natural disaster. With inundated areas typically visible from orbit, Earth Observation is increasingly being employed for flood response and mitigation.

On 25 August the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection formally activated the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, meaning that member space agencies will prioritise delivery of satellite images and maps to support disaster response within the country.

ESA is a founder member of the Charter, which represents a joint effort by global space agencies to put resources at the service of rescue authorities responding to major natural or man-made disasters. To date since 2000 the Charter has been activated more than 80 times.

Meanwhile the Centre for Satellite-Based Crisis Information (ZKI) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) plans to make use of ESA satellite data to produce information products covering German territory.

Satellite imagery is routinely used as an input for regional German flood forecasting centres serving the Upper Rhine and Mosel River Basins. Munich-based reinsurer Swiss Re has also recently participated in an ESA Earth Observation Market Development (EOMD) project with Earth Observation specialists VISTA in Munich and SERTIT in Strasbourg to investigate how satellite imagery can better document past disasters and improve the accuracy of risk models used to set insurance rates.

Flood risk analysis is also among the services offered by the Risk-EOS initiative, which offers Earth Observation-based services for flood and also fire risk management.

Risk-EOS services include historical flood mapping from archive data, and potential damage assessment, initially for the Elbe River Basin in Germany and the River Basin in Sweden, with the aim of expanding its coverage cover time. A flash flood awareness service is also currently being pioneered in France’s Entente Region.

Risk-EOS is part of ESA’s initial Services Element of Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), a joint initiative between ESA and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring capability for Europe harnessing all available ground- and space-based data sources.

Original press release: Central European flood surges watched from orbit (ESA)

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have created a computer simulation showing Earth’s climate in unprecedented detail at the time of the greatest mass extinction in the planet’s history. The work gives support to a theory that an abrupt and dramatic rise in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide triggered the massive die-off 251 million years ago. The research appears in the September issue of Geology.

“The results demonstrate how rapidly rising temperatures in the atmosphere can affect ocean circulation, cutting off oxygen to lower depths and extinguishing most life,” says NCAR scientist Jeffrey Kiehl, the lead author.

Kiehl and coauthor Christine Shields focused on the dramatic events at the end of the Permian Era, when an estimated 90 to 95% of all marine species, as well as about 70% of all terrestrial species, became extinct. At the time of the event, higher-latitude temperatures were

18 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 30 degrees Celsius) higher than today, and extensive volcanic activity had released large amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere over a 700,000-year period.

To solve the puzzle of how those conditions may have affected climate and life around the globe, the researchers turned to the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). One of the world’s premier climate research tools, the model can integrate changes in atmospheric temperatures with ocean temperatures and currents. Research teams had previously studied the Permian extinction with more limited computer models that focused on a single component of Earth’s climate system, such as the ocean.

The CCSM indicated that ocean waters warmed significantly at higher latitudes because of rising atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas. The warming reached a depth of about 10,000 feet (4,000 meters), interfering with the normal circulation process in which colder surface water descends, taking oxygen and nutrients deep into the ocean.

As a result, ocean waters became stratified with little oxygen, a condition that proved deadly to marine life. This in turn accelerated the warming, since marine organisms were no longer removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“The implication of our study is that elevated CO2 is sufficient to lead to inhospitable conditions for marine life and excessively high temperatures over land would contribute to the demise of terrestrial life,” the authors concluded in the article.

The CCSM’s simulations showed that ocean circulation was even more stagnant than previously thought. In addition, the research demonstrated the extent to which computer models can successfully simulate past climate events. The CCSM appeared to correctly capture key details of the late Permian, including increased ocean salinity and sea surface temperatures in the high latitudes that paleontologists believe were 14 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) higher than present.

The modeling presented unique challenges because of limited data and significant geographic differences between the Permian and present-day Earth. The researchers had to estimate such variables as the chemical composition of the atmosphere, the amount of sunlight reflected by Earth’s surface back into the atmosphere, and the movement of heat and salinity in the oceans at a time when all the continents were consolidated into the giant land mass known as Pangaea.

“These results demonstrate the importance of treating Earth’s climate as a system involving physical, chemical , and biological processes in the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface, all acting in an interactive manner,” says Jay Fein, director of NSF’s climate dynamics program, which funded the research. “Other studies have reached similar conclusions. What’s new here is the application of a detailed version of one of the world’s premier climate system models, the CCSM, to understand how rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide affected conditions in the world’s oceans and land surfaces enough to trigger a massive extinction hundreds of millions of years ago.”

Original press release: Climate Model Links Higher Temperatures to Prehistoric Extinction (NCAR)