Latitude and lake size are important predictors of over-lake atmospheric stability: Atmospheric Stability Above Lakes

Turbulent fluxes across the air‐water interface are integral to determining lake heat budgets, evaporation, and carbon emissions from lakes. The stability of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) influences the exchange of turbulent energy. We explore the differences in over‐lake ABL stability using data from 39 globally distributed lakes. The frequency of unstable ABL conditions varied between lakes from 71 to 100% of the time, with average air temperatures typically several degrees below the average lake surface temperature. This difference increased with decreasing latitude, resulting in a more frequently unstable ABL and a more efficient energy transfer to and from the atmosphere, toward the tropics. In addition, during summer the frequency of unstable ABL conditions decreased with increasing lake surface area. The dependency of ABL stability on latitude and lake size has implications for heat loss and carbon fluxes from lakes, the hydrologic cycle, and climate change effects

Latitudinal trends in genus richness of vascular plants in the Eocene and Oligocene of North America

The latitudinal richness gradient is a frequent topic of study on the modern landscape, but its history in deep time is much less well known. Here, we preliminarily evaluated the paleolatitudinal richness gradient of vascular plants for the Eocene (56-33.9 million years ago) and Oligocene (33.9-23 million years ago) epochs of North America north of Mexico using 201 fossil floras. We calculated the direction and shape of the gradient using quadratic regression to detect linear and curvilinear trends. We performed regressions for the Eocene and Oligocene as well as for informal time intervals within the Eocene: early, middle, and middle + late. We found that quadratic models better explain the data than linear models for both epochs as well as for the early Eocene. A roughly linear trend in the middle and middle + late intervals may reflect limited sampling of high latitude floras for those times. The curvilinear relationship was weak for the Eocene and the model showed a peak in richness at 45.5°N. The curvilinear relationship was much stronger for the Oligocene and the peak occurred at 48.5°N. In the Eocene, the mid-latitude peak in richness may be explained by mean annual temperature, which was probably higher at some mid-latitudes than at lower ones. For the Oligocene, the peak in richness at mid-latitudes may be explained by evolutionary diversification within the temperate zone or by increased aridity at low latitudes. We also assessed the latitudinal richness gradient of genera within modern floras in North America north of Mexico and we found a weak, curvilinear trend with a peak in richness at 31.5°N. Our results suggest that the latitudinal genus richness gradient of vascular plants in North America continued to develop into its modern structure following the Oligocene

Recent Arctic amplification and extreme mid-latitude weather

The Arctic region has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average — a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. The rapid Arctic warming has contributed to dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice and spring snow cover, at a pace greater than that simulated by climate models. These profound changes to the Arctic system have coincided with a period of ostensibly more frequent extreme weather events across the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, including severe winters. The possibility of a link between Arctic change and mid-latitude weather has spurred research activities that reveal three potential dynamical pathways linking Arctic amplification to mid-latitude weather: changes in storm tracks, the jet stream, and planetary waves and their associated energy propagation. Through changes in these key atmospheric features, it is possible, in principle, for sea ice and snow cover to jointly influence mid-latitude weather. However, because of incomplete knowledge of how high-latitude climate change influences these phenomena, combined with sparse and short data records, and imperfect models, large uncertainties regarding the magnitude of such an influence remain. We conclude that improved process understanding, sustained and additional Arctic observations, and better coordinated modelling studies will be needed to advance our understanding of the influences on mid-latitude weather and extreme events

An anatomic transcriptional atlas of human glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain tumor that carries a poor prognosis. The tumor\u27s molecular and cellular landscapes are complex, and their relationships to histologic features routinely used for diagnosis are unclear. We present the Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas, an anatomically based transcriptional atlas of human glioblastoma that aligns individual histologic features with genomic alterations and gene expression patterns, thus assigning molecular information to the most important morphologic hallmarks of the tumor. The atlas and its clinical and genomic database are freely accessible online data resources that will serve as a valuable platform for future investigations of glioblastoma pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment

Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people

Despite substantial progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, major taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps remain. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement to fill knowledge gaps, but are rarely able to engage with sufficiently large and diverse groups of specialists. To improve understanding of the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide, we conducted a survey and asked experts to focus on the taxa and freshwater, terrestrial, or marine ecosystem with which they are most familiar. We found several points of overwhelming consensus (for instance, multiple drivers of biodiversity loss interact synergistically) and important demographic and geographic differences in specialists’ perspectives and estimates. Experts from groups that are underrepresented in biodiversity science, including women and those from the Global South, recommended different priorities for conservation solutions, with less emphasis on acquiring new protected areas, and provided higher estimates of biodiversity loss and its impacts. This may in part be because they disproportionately study the most highly threatened taxa and habitats. Front Ecol Environ 2022;