Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide-Nitrogen Fixation-Cryptogamic-Growths

Wallflowers of the Earth system

In cities, the presence of algae, lichens, and mosses is not considered desirable and they are often removed from roofs and walls. It is, however, totally unfair to consider these cryptogamic covers, as the flat growths are referred to in scientific terms, just a nuisance. Scientists have discovered that these mostly inconspicuous looking growths take up huge amounts of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and nitrogen and fix it at the earth’s surface. Cryptogamic covers are responsible for about half of the naturally occurring nitrogen fixation on land and they take up as much carbon dioxide as is released yearly from biomass burning. These new findings will help to improve global flux calculations and climate models, in which up to now the carbon and nitrogen balance of the cryptogamic covers have been neglected. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/LfdRvn

Carbon Dioxide-Concentrations-Heart Attacks-Brain Cells

Evolution of earliest horses driven by climate change

Some 56 million years ago, rising temps and concentrations of carbon dioxide caused mammals, including tiny Sifrhippus, to shrink. New research offers new evidence of why and how it happened and provides clues to what might happen to animals in the future from global warming. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/xv4s1y

Heart attacks: Naked mole-rats bear lifesaving clues

A biologist thinks the subterranean lifestyle of the naked mole-rat may hold clues to keeping brain cells alive and functioning when oxygen is scarce, as during a Heart Attack. The key may lie in how brain cells regulate their intake of calcium, he says. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/yxFBTL