Christopher Joyce

With Rising Seas, America's Birthplace Could Disappear

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:35:00 +0000

By the end of the century, the birthplace of America may be underwater.

The first successful English colony in America was at Jamestown, Va., a swampy island in the Chesapeake Bay. The colony endured for almost a century, and remnants of the place still exist. You can go there and see the ruins. You can walk where Capt. John Smith and Pocahontas walked. But Jamestown is now threatened by rising sea levels that scientists say could submerge the island by century's end.

You wouldn't know that by looking. In springtime, Jamestown is a carpet of bright new grass.

Bones Tell Tale Of Desperation Among The Starving At Jamestown

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:40:00 +0000

"First they ate their horses, and then fed upon their dogs and cats, as well as rats, mice and snakes."

So says James Horn of the historical group Colonial Williamsburg, paraphrasing an account by colony leader George Percy of what conditions were like for the hundreds of men and women stranded in Jamestown, Va., with little food in the dead of winter in 1609.

They even ate their shoes.

How Doctors Would Know If Syrians Were Hit With Nerve Gas

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:43:00 +0000

President Obama affirmed Tuesday that there's evidence Syrians have been attacked with chemical weapons — in particular, nerve gas.

But that's not the same as proof positive.

"We don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them," Obama said.

What's Behind The 'Fairy Circles' That Dot West Africa?

Christopher Joyce — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:33:00 +0000

There's a mystery in West Africa that's puzzled scientists for years. Strange circles of bare soil appear in grassland; they're commonly called "fairy circles." These naturally occurring shapes last for decades, until the grass eventually takes over and the circles fade.

Now German scientists think they have an explanation — a horde of insects seems to be bioengineering thousands of miles of desert.

If you fly from Angola down to South Africa you'll spot thousands of these fairy circles down below.

Is The Sky The Limit For Wind Power?

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Wind power is growing faster than ever — almost half of the new sources of electricity added to the U.S. power grid last year were wind farms.

But is the sky the limit? Several scientists now say it's actually possible to have so many turbines that they start to lose power.

Could Tapping Undersea Methane Lead To A New Gas Boom?

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:12:00 +0000

The new boom in natural gas from shale has changed the energy economy of the United States. But there's another giant reservoir of natural gas that lies under the ocean floor that, theoretically, could dwarf the shale boom.

No one had tapped this gas from the seabed until this week, when Japanese engineers pulled some up through a well from under the Pacific. The gas at issue here is called methane hydrate. Methane is natural gas; hydrate means there's water in it.

Since End Of Last Ice Age, Rates Of Global Warming 'Amazing And Atypical'

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:23:00 +0000

There's plenty of evidence that the climate has warmed up over the past century, and climate scientists know this has happened throughout the history of the planet. But they want to know more about how this warming is different.

Now a research team says it has some new answers. It has put together a record of global temperatures going back to the end of the last ice age — about 11,000 years ago — when mammoths and saber-tooth cats roamed the planet. The study confirms that what we're seeing now is unprecedented.

What the researchers did is peer into the past.

Elephant Poaching Pushes Species To Brink Of Extinction

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:44:00 +0000

A new study of Central African forest elephants has found their numbers down by 62 percent between 2002 and 2011. The study comes as governments and conservationists meet in Thailand to amend the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

African forest elephants have been in trouble for a while, but only now have scientists figured out that more than half of them have died over the past decade.

Natural Gas Dethrones King Coal As Power Companies Look To Future

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:32:00 +0000

The way Americans get their electricity is changing. Coal is in decline. Natural gas is bursting out of the ground in record amounts. And the use of wind and solar energy is growing fast. All this is happening as power companies are trying to choose which kind of energy to bet on for the next several decades.

Until recently, half of these plants burned coal to make electricity. Now, that's down to about one-third. Since 2010, about 150 coal plants either have been retired or it's been announced they will be retired soon.

What knocked King Coal off its throne? Mostly natural gas.

Boston Grapples With The Threat Of Storms And Rising Water

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:03:00 +0000

Since the drubbing that Superstorm Sandy gave the Northeast in November, there's a new sense of urgency in U.S. coastal cities. Even though scientists can't predict the next big hurricane, they're confident that a warmer climate is likely to make Atlantic storms bigger and cause more flooding.

Cities like Boston are in the bull's-eye.

From atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel's 6th-floor office at MIT, you can look out at Boston and the snow-covered Charles River as it snakes through the city down to the harbor.

Sand After Sandy: Scientists Map Sea Floor For Sediment

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:25:00 +0000

Congress has now agreed to give some $60 billion to states damaged by Hurricane Sandy. A lot will go to Long Island, one of the hardest hit areas. Besides damages to homes and businesses, its system of protective barrier islands and beaches were partially washed away.

Scientists are trying to find out where that sand and sediment went, and whether it can be used to rebuild Long Island's defenses.

In January. On a boat in Long Island Bay.

The field conditions are not pleasant.

Experts Urge Caution As $50 Billion In Sandy Aid Passes House

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:34:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68pChI9HknE

New York Planners Prep For A 'New Normal' Of Powerful Storms

Christopher Joyce — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:22:00 +0000

It will take tens of billions of dollars to repair the damage wrought by Superstorm Sandy. But scientists who study climate change say repair is not enough. As the climate warms, ice sheets and glaciers will melt, raising the sea level. That means coastal storms will more likely cause flooding.

So New Yorkers, local politicians and scientists face a tough decision: How to spend limited funds to defend themselves from what climate experts call "the new normal."

New York City faces the Atlantic Ocean like a chin waiting to be hit, and Sandy stepped up and whacked it.

In Arid West, Cheatgrass Turns Fires Into Infernos

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Cheatgrass is about as Western as cowboy boots and sagebrush. It grows in yellowish clumps, about knee high to a horse, and likes arid land.

One thing cheatgrass does is burn — in fact, more easily than anyone realized. That's the conclusion from a new study that says cheatgrass is making Western wildfires worse.

Jennifer Balch used to start fires in the southern Amazon to understand how they burn. Now she's turned her attention to the American West, where big wildfires are on the rise.

An Arbor Embolism? Why Trees Die In Drought

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 08:18:00 +0000

Scientists who study forests say they've discovered something disturbing about the way prolonged drought affects trees.

It has to do with the way trees drink. They don't do it the way we do — they suck water up from the ground all the way to their leaves, through a bundle of channels in a part of the trunk called the xylem. The bundles are like blood vessels.

When drought dries out the soil, a tree has to suck harder.

A 'Green' Gold Rush? Calif. Firm Turns Trash To Gas

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:18:00 +0000

Second of a two-part series. Read Part 1

California starts the ball rolling Wednesday on a controversial scheme to keep the planet from overheating. Businesses will have to get a permit if they emit greenhouse gases.

Some permits will be auctioned today; the rest are free. The big idea here is the state is putting a ceiling on emissions.

It's a gamble.

Calif. To Begin Rationing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:30:00 +0000

California begins a controversial experiment to curb climate change on Wednesday: The state will start rationing the amount of greenhouse gases companies can emit.

It's the most ambitious effort to control climate change in the country. Some say the plan will cost dearly; supporters say it's the route to a cleaner economy.

Here's how the climate deal works. Big companies must limit the greenhouse gases they emit — from smokestacks to tailpipes — and they have to get permits for those emissions. The clock starts Jan.

Fixing NYC's Underground Power Grid Is No Easy Task

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:04:00 +0000

The fury of the great storm Sandy shocked a lot of people, like John Miksad, vice president of the New York electric utility Consolidated Edison. "We hit 14-foot tides — that was the biggest surprise," he told a press conference this week. "The water just kept rising and rising and rising."

That rising water flooded streets, buildings and parts of the city's underground electricity grid. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers lost power.

When Fire Met Food, The Brains Of Early Humans Grew Bigger

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:48:00 +0000

If you're reading this blog, you're probably into food. Perhaps you're even one of those people whose world revolves around your Viking stove and who believes that cooking defines us as civilized creatures.

Well, on the latter part, you'd be right. At least according to some neuroscientists from Brazil.

They noticed (haven't we all?) that humans have very big brains. But they point out that gorillas and orangutans have bigger bodies than we do by far, but smaller brains and fewer neurons. Normally, brain size pretty much matches body size in primates.

Baby Beluga, Swim So Wild And Sing For Me

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:44:00 +0000

Whales are among the great communicators of the animal world. They produce all sorts of sounds: squeaks, whistles and even epic arias worthy of an opera house.

And one whale in particular has apparently done something that's never been documented before: He imitated human speech.

The beluga, or white whale, is smallish as whales go and very cute, if you're into marine mammals.

For Sale: A Chunk Of Mars

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Few things are as rare as a piece of rock that falls from outer space and crashes onto Earth.

Among the most prized of these meteorites are from Mars. Friday, scientists describe the latest one discovered: It's called Tissint, and this weekend you can buy a piece of it.

First, it's clear to experts that Tissint is extraordinary as well as extraterrestrial. It contains a unique story about Mars.

Software Calculates City-Specific Carbon Footprint

Christopher Joyce — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:28:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujD52RTvyME

Hungry Snakes Trap Guam In Spidery Web

Christopher Joyce — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:04:00 +0000

The Pacific Island of Guam is experiencing a population explosion — of spiders.

There are more spiders there now than anyone can remember. To get a sense of how weird the situation is, I started out in Maryland. On my front porch, overlooking the Severn River.

At 6:30 in the morning on a cool fall day, I find two spider webs in a matter of five minutes. But if I were on the island of Guam, I might find 70 or 80 spider webs in five minutes.

Ecologist Haldre Rogers realized something strange was going on as she went roaming through the jungle on Guam and three nearby islands.

What Drove Early Man Across Globe? Climate Change

Christopher Joyce — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Anthropologists believe early humans evolved in Africa and then moved out from there in successive waves. However, what drove their migrations has been a matter of conjecture.

One new explanation is climate change.

A Berry So Shiny, It's Irresistible (And Inedible)

Christopher Joyce — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:31:00 +0000

That fake fruit in the wooden bowls that hotels love to decorate their lobbies with never looks quite right. No, apparently it takes nature to make a fake that looks even better than the real thing.

That turns out to be the case with the amazing berry of the Pollia condensata plant.

'Torture Lab' Kills Trees To Learn How To Save Them

Christopher Joyce — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 09:20:00 +0000

Last of a five-part series

The droughts that have parched big regions of the country are killing forests.

In the arid Southwest, the body count is especially high. Besides trying to keep wildfires from burning up these desiccated forests, there's not much anyone can do. In fact, scientists are only now figuring out how drought affects trees.

Park Williams studies trees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, but not the way most scientists do.

Is It Too Late To Defuse The Danger Of Megafires?

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:37:00 +0000

Fourth in a five-part series

Forests in the Southwest have become a fuel stockpile. A century of U.S. Forest Service policy of quashing all fires has allowed forests to become overgrown, and now a warming climate is making the problem worse.

Scientists are trying to defuse these green time bombs. Is it too late?

I hike up into the Santa Fe National Forest just outside Santa Fe, N.M. My guide is William Armstrong, the service's fire manager for this forest.

In Southwest, Worst-Case Fire Scenario Plays Out

Christopher Joyce — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 07:18:00 +0000

Third of a five-part series

As the Earth's average temperature creeps upward, climate scientists have predicted record heat waves and droughts. That's what we've seen this summer in the U.S.

The question has become, are we now seeing the real damage climate change can do?

I drove though New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest with ecologist Craig Allen, from the U.S. Geological Survey. Allen is energetic, restless and deeply worried about this forest.

Why Forest-Killing Megafires Are The New Normal

Christopher Joyce — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Second of a five-part series

Fire scientists are calling it "the new normal": a time of fires so big and hot that no one can remember anything like it.

One of the scientists who coined that term is Craig Allen. I drive with him to New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument, where he works for the U.S. Geological Survey. We take a dirt road up into the Jemez Mountains, into a landscape of black poles as far as you can see.

Except they aren't poles. Every single tree is dead.

How The Smokey Bear Effect Led To Raging Wildfires

Christopher Joyce — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 07:17:00 +0000

First of a five-part series

The history of fire in the American Southwest is buried in a catacomb of rooms under the bleachers of the football stadium at the University of Arizona.

Here rules professor Thomas Swetnam, tree ring expert. You want to read a tree ring? You go to Tom. He's a big, burly guy with a beard and a true love for trees.

Tree sections are stacked floor to ceiling. They're like rounds chopped from a carrot, the carrot being a tree trunk.