The mystery behind the rise in spotted fever cases continues There’s some good news in New Jersey about a potentially deadly tick-borne bacterium. Rutgers researchers examined more than 3,000 ticks in the Garden State and found only one carrying Rickettsia rickettsii, the bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. But cases of tick-borne spotted fevers have increased east of the Mississippi …
#EOAS in the News: Dina Fonseca on Mosquitos in NJ Summer 2020
By Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press Bret Ulozas sprays his yard for mosquitoes in the New Egypt section of Plumsted in order to keep the blood suckers at bay. The 49-year-old applies insecticide to reduce the nuisance of mosquitoes, especially as his family spends more time in the backyard due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus they found in mosquitoes around that military …
#EOAS in the News: “Managing the Majestic Jumbo Flying Squid”
In an article in The New York Times titled “Managing the Majestic Jumbo Flying Squid,” EOAS faculty member Malin Pinsky, an associate professor in the Rutgers Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, said, “The impacts of climate change and variability are playing out much more dramatically in the ocean than on land . . . It’s a largely unseen and yet incredibly dramatic …
Mangrove Trees Won’t Survive Sea-Level Rise by 2050 if Emissions Aren’t Cut
Scientists explored how the valuable ecosystems responded to rising seas in the past Mangrove trees – valuable coastal ecosystems found in Florida and other warm climates – won’t survive sea-level rise by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Science. Mangrove forests store large amounts of carbon, help protect coastlines and provide habitat …
Outer Limits
By Craig Winston Bermingham studies meteorites to help determine the elements that built Earth. Hearing about the challenges of geochemistry and cosmochemistry from Assistant Professor Dr. Katherine Bermingham sometimes sounds like the discourse from an episode of Rick and Morty, the animated series. For Bermingham, the subjects are not the stuff of outlandish sci-fi, but rather are hard science of …
#EOAS in the News: Is it Safe to Swim in the Ocean During COVID-19?
“Do saltwater and sunshine at the Shore kill the coronavirus? Here’s what science says.”
Modern Sea-Level Rise Linked to Human Activities, Rutgers Research Reaffirms
Surprising glacial and nearly ice-free periods in last 66 million years New research by Rutgers scientists reaffirms that modern sea-level rise is linked to human activities and not to changes in Earth’s orbit. Surprisingly, Earth had nearly ice-free conditions with carbon dioxide levels not much higher than today and had glacial periods in times previously believed to be ice-free over the last …
Oyster Farming and Shorebirds Likely Can Coexist
A red knot among a flock of migratory shorebirds foraging along the Delaware Bayshore. Photo: Brian Schumm
#EOAS in the News: Asian Giant ‘Murder Hornets’ Buzz Into U.S. Could they Get to Philly Area?
Asian giant hornets will swarm a honeybee hive with the purpose of decapitating thousands of bees and taking away their thoraxes to feed to the hornets’ young. On rare occasions, they will attack humans, sometimes fatally. Stories this week in various media outlets, including the New York Times, about the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, making its way to Washington state have …
You Can See Clearly, For Now
By Craig Winston and Matthew Drews Opening Up States Will Reignite Air Pollution The skyline is more visible. The air looks and smells cleaner. There are “before” and “after” pictures of heavily polluted cities like New Delhi and São Paulo’s on the internet. Is the reduction in traffic and industry brought about by the COVID-19 lockdown responsible for these otherworldly …