Quantifying recent acceleration in sea level unrelated to internal climate variability

Sea level observations suggest that the rate of sea level rise has accelerated during the last 20?years. However, the presence of considerable decadal-scale variability, especially on a regional scale, makes it difficult to assess whether the observed changes are due to natural or anthropogenic causes. Here we use a regression model with atmospheric pressure, wind, and climate indices as independent variables to quantify the contribution of internal climate variability to the sea level at nine tide gauges from around the world for the period 1920–2011. Removing this contribution reveals a statistically significant acceleration (0.022?±?0.015?mm/yr2) between 1952 and 2011, which is unique over the whole period. Furthermore, we have found that the acceleration is increasing over time. This acceleration appears to be the result of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, along with changes in volcanic forcing and tropospheric aerosol loading

Watersnakes in Myth and Legend

This is where the abstract of this record would appear. This is only demonstration data

Prenatal exposure to environmental phenols and childhood fat mass in the Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Study

Early life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals may alter adipogenesis and energy balance leading to changes in obesity risk. Several studies have evaluated the association of prenatal bisphenol A exposure with childhood body size but only one study of male infants has examined other environmental phenols. Therefore, we assessed associations between prenatal exposure to environmental phenols and fat mass in a prospective birth cohort. We quantified four phenol biomarkers in third trimester maternal spot urine samples in a cohort of women enrolled in New York City between 1998 and 2002 and evaluated fat mass in their children using a Tanita scale between ages 4 and 9 years (173 children with 351 total observations). We estimated associations of standard deviation differences in natural log creatinine-standardized phenol biomarker concentrations with percent fat mass using linear mixed effects regression models. We did not observe associations of bisphenol A or triclosan with childhood percent fat mass. In unadjusted models, maternal urinary concentrations of 2,5-dichlorophenol were associated with greater percent fat mass and benzophenone-3 was associated with lower percent fat mass among children. After adjustment, phenol biomarkers were not associated with percent fat mass. However, the association between benzophenone-3 and percent fat mass was modified by child’s sex: benzophenone-3 concentrations were inversely associated with percent fat mass in girls (beta = −1.51, 95% CI = −3.06, 0.01) but not boys (beta = −0.20, 95% CI = −1.69, 1.26). Although we did not observe strong evidence that prenatal environmental phenols exposures influence the development of childhood adiposity, the potential antiadipogenic effect of benzophenone-3 in girls may warrant further investigation

Decadal variability of European sea level extremes in relation to the solar activity

This study investigates the relationship between decadal changes in solar activity and sea level extremes along the European coasts and derived from tide gauge data. Autumn sea level extremes vary with the 11 year solar cycle at Venice as suggested by previous studies, but a similar link is also found at Trieste. In addition, a solar signal in winter sea level extremes is also found at Venice, Trieste, Marseille, Ceuta, Brest, and Newlyn. The influence of the solar cycle is also evident in the sea level extremes derived from a barotropic model with spatial patterns that are consistent with the correlations obtained at the tide gauges. This agreement indicates that the link to the solar cycle is through modulation of the atmospheric forcing. The only atmospheric regional pattern that showed variability at the 11 year period was the East Atlantic pattern

Transient erosion in the Valencia Trough turbidite systems, NW Mediterranean Basin

12 pages, 9 figuresSubmarine canyons can efficiently drain sediments from continental margins just as river systems do in subaerial catchments. Like in river systems, submarine canyons are often arranged as complex drainage networks that evolve from patterns of erosion and deposition. In the present paper we use a morphometric analysis of submarine canyon-channel long-profiles to study the recent sedimentary history of the Valencia Trough turbidite system (VTTS) in the NW Mediterranean Sea. The VTTS is unique in that it drains sediment from margins with contrasting morphologies through a single “trunk” conduit, the Valencia Channel. The Valencia Channel has been active since the late Miocene, evolving in response to Plio-Quaternary episodes of erosion and deposition. The integrated analysis of long-profiles obtained from high-resolution bathymetric data across the entire turbidite system shows evidence for transient canyon incision in the form of knickpoints and hanging tributaries. Multiple factors appear to have triggered these periods of incision. These include a large debris flow at 11,500 yr BP that disrupted the upper reaches of the VTTS and glacio-eustatic lowstands that forced shifting of sediment input to the VTTS. Based on these inferences, long-term time-averaged incision rates for the Valencia Channel have been estimated. The evidence we present strongly suggests that Foix Canyon has played a key role in the drainage dynamics of the VTTS in the past. This study builds conceptually on a recent modeling study that provides a morphodynamic explanation for the long-term evolution of submarine canyon thalweg profiles. The procedure and results from this work are of potential application to other submarine sediment drainage systems, past and present, including those containing mid-ocean type valleys like the Valencia ChannelThis research was supported by the HERMIONE project, EC contract 226354-HERMIONE, funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, and the HERMES Project, EC contract GOCE-CT-2005-511234, funded by the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme under the priority “Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems”. It has also benefited from inputs by the PROMETEO (CTM2007-66316-C02-01/MAR), EDINSED3D (CTM2007-64880/MAR), and the GRACCIE CONSOLIDER (CSD2007-00067) projects, funded by the Spanish RTD Programme. GRC Geociències Marines is supported by Generalitat de Catalunya “Grups de Recerca Consolidats” grant 2009 SGR 1305Peer reviewe

Gestational and Chronic Low-Dose PFOA Exposures and Mammary Gland Growth and Differentiation in Three Generations of CD-1 Mice

Background: Prenatal exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a ubiquitous industrial surfactant, has been reported to delay mammary gland development in female mouse offspring (F1) and the treated lactating dam (P0) after gestational treatments at 3 and 5 mg PFOA/kg/day

Rate of Decline in Serum PFOA Concentrations after Granular Activated Carbon Filtration at Two Public Water Systems in Ohio and West Virginia

Drinking water in multiple water districts in the Mid-Ohio Valley has been contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which was released by a nearby DuPont chemical plant. Two highly contaminated water districts began granular activated carbon filtration in 2007.To determine the rate of decline in serum PFOA, and its corresponding half-life, during the first year after filtration.Up to six blood samples were collected from each of 200 participants from May 2007 until August 2008. The primary source of drinking water varied over time for some participants; our analyses were grouped according to water source at baseline in May-June 2007.For Lubeck Public Service District customers, the average decrease in serum PFOA concentrations between May-June 2007 and May-August 2008 was 32 ng/mL (26%) for those primarily consuming public water at home (n = 130), and 16 ng/mL (28%) for those primarily consuming bottled water at home (n = 17). For Little Hocking Water Association customers, the average decrease in serum PFOA concentrations between November-December 2007 and May-June 2008 was 39 ng/mL (11%) for consumers of public water (n = 39) and 28 ng/mL (20%) for consumers of bottled water (n = 11). The covariate-adjusted average rate of decrease in serum PFOA concentration after water filtration was 26% per year (95% confidence interval, 2528% per year).The observed data are consistent with first-order elimination and a median serum PFOA half-life of 2.3 years. Ongoing follow-up will lead to improved half-life estimation