Temporal and spatial dynamics of CO2 air-sea flux in the Gulf of Maine

Ocean surface layer carbon dioxide (CO2) data collected in the Gulf of Maine from 2004 to 2008 are presented. Monthly shipboard observations are combined with additional higher‐resolution CO2 observations to characterize CO2 fugacity ( fCO2) and CO2 flux over hourly to interannual time scales. Observed fCO2 andCO2 flux dynamics are dominated by a seasonal cycle, with a large spring influx of CO2 and a fall‐to‐winter efflux back to the atmosphere. The temporal results at inner, middle, and outer shelf locations are highly correlated, and observed spatial variability is generally small relative to the monthly to seasonal temporal changes. The averaged annual flux is in near balance and is a net source of carbon to the atmosphere over 5 years, with a value of +0.38 mol m−2 yr−1. However, moderate interannual variation is also observed, where years 2005 and 2007 represent cases of regional source (+0.71) and sink (−0.11) anomalies. We use moored daily CO2 measurements to quantify aliasing due to temporal undersampling, an important error budget term that is typically unresolved. The uncertainty of our derived annual flux measurement is ±0.26 mol m−2 yr−1 and is dominated by this aliasing term. Comparison of results to the neighboring Middle and South Atlantic Bight coastal shelf systems indicates that the Gulf of Maine exhibits a similar annual cycle and range of oceanic fCO2 magnitude but differs in the seasonal phase. It also differs by enhanced fCO2 controls by factors other than temperature‐driven solubility, including biological drawdown, fall‐to‐winter vertical mixing, and river runoff

Teaching Field Broadens in Scope

Iowa schools have a greater need for homemaking teachers due to the war, says Norma Shellit

The Economic Effect of Refugee Crises on Host Countries and Implications for the Lebanese Case

The contemporary refugee crises across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa have captured the world’s attention. Much of the existing discourse has focused on the humanitarian and security implications that this crisis will have, specifically for developed regions such as the European Union. This paper, on the other hand, seeks to explore this issue through a purely economic lens, focusing instead on the economic impacts that refugees have on the countries that receive them. Through exploring the existing academic and popular literature around historical and contemporary case studies, this paper has identified some of the key positive and negative economic effects that refugee crises can have on the host country. On the positive side, refugees can be a boon to the host country by (1) spurring long-term investment (2) filling needed demographic gaps (3) integrating effectively into the labor market (4) becoming productive economic consumers and producers and (5) by increasing bilateral trade with the country of origin. On the negative side, refugees can be a burden to the host country by (1) straining public and private services (2) causing physical and economic overcrowding and (3) increasing societal strife and the potential for civil conflict. The paper then turns to the contemporary refugee crisis in Lebanon by examining the relevance of these aforementioned positive and negative effects to the Lebanese case. Along the way, the paper provides policy recommendations that can be employed in the Lebanese case to amplify the positive benefits of refugees while mitigating the negative consequences. Ultimately, the paper hopes to use past refugee crises as an instruction point for how Lebanon can cope with its current crisis. By learning from past examples and applying existing literature to the current crisis, it is this author’s hope that the refugee crisis can be an eventual boon to the Lebanese economy

Direct Evidence that Bevacizumab, an Anti-VEGF Antibody, Up-regulates SDF1 , CXCR4, CXCL6, and Neuropilin 1 in Tumors from Patients with Rectal Cancer

Clinical studies converge on the observation that circulating cytokines are elevated in most cancer patients by anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. However, the source of these molecules and their relevance in tumor escape remain unknown. We examined the gene expression profiles of cancer cells and tumor-associated macrophages in tumor biopsies before and 12 days after monotherapy with the anti-VEGF antibody bevacizumab in patients with rectal carcinoma. Bevacizumab up-regulated stromal cell-derived factor 1alpha (SDF1alpha), its receptor CXCR4, and CXCL6, and down-regulated PlGF, Ang1, and Ang2 in cancer cells. In addition, bevacizumab decreased Ang1 and induced neuropilin 1 (NRP1) expression in tumor-associated macrophages. Higher SDF1alpha plasma levels during bevacizumab treatment significantly associated with distant metastasis at three years. These data show that VEGF blockade up-regulates inflammatory pathways and NRP1, which should be evaluated as potential targets for improving anti-VEGF therapy

Beliefs about Global Climate Change Among Faculty at the University of Northern Colorado

A survey was administered to UNC faculty and instructors in Fall 2019 with the aim of assessing faculty beliefs about global climate change and the role that UNC plays in preparing students for the impacts of global climate change in coming years. A majority of survey respondents (n=226) are concerned that climate change will affect the lives of UNC students in the future and that UNC should be doing more to address global climate change and prepare students. We share survey results and faculty suggestions and comments regarding incorporating global climate issues across a broad disciplinary spectrum

Testing the Cenozoic multisite composite δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C curves: new monospecific Eocene records from a single locality, Demerara Rise (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 207)

Until recently, very few high-quality deep ocean sedimentary sections of Eocene age have been available. Consequently, our understanding of Eocene paleoceanography has become heavily reliant on “composite” records patched together from multiple sites in different ocean basins and generated using multiple taxa (potential sources of “local” noise in the global signal). Here we test the reliability of the early to middle Eocene composite δ18O and δ13C stratigraphies (Zachos et al., 2001) by generating new monospecific records in benthic foraminiferal calcite from a single locality, Demerara Rise, in the tropical western Atlantic (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 207). We present new stable isotope correction factors for commonly used Eocene benthic foraminiferal species. We find that interspecies isotopic offsets are constant across the isotopic range, supporting the notion that the inconstant intertaxa offsets reported elsewhere result from mixing species within genera. In general, the δ18O stratigraphy from Demerara Rise supports the validity of the Eocene δ18O composite, while revealing a temporary warming punctuating middle Eocene cooling. This warming may correspond to the so-called “Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum” previously documented in the Southern Ocean. The composite and Demerara Rise records for δ13C differ substantially. By removing the intersite and intertaxa sources of uncertainty in δ13C, we obtain a clearer picture of carbon cycling during the Eocene. Secular change in interocean δ13C gradients through the Eocene reveals that intervals of climatic warmth (especially the early Eocene) are associated with very small water mass ageing gradients

GIS and 3D Analysis Applied to Sea Turtle Mortalities and Navigation Channel Dredging

Between 2000 and 2003 there were an increased number of documented sea turtle mortalities related to hopper dredging in the channels of the Chesapeake Bay. A pilot study was undertaken to create a bathymetric surface and three-dimensional model of the Cape Henry Channel using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a visualization tool to examine sea turtle mortalities in relation to the dredging. In Fall 2003, the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Thimble Shoals Federal Navigation Channel, and a more refined model was developed using this data. This project examines the growing concerns over sea turtle mortality rates and dredging operations, as well as a description of the usage of GIS analysis, interpolation, and visualization methods as tools for examining turtle habitat and mortality issues. Future directions for incorporating GIS into attempts to reduce sea turtle mortality in dredging operations are then outlined

Multiple acid pathways in Casco Bay: Implications for the next 25 years (2015 State of the Bay Presentation)

https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/cbep-presentations/1020/thumbnail.jp

Modeling the climate response to a massive methane release from gas hydrates

[1] The climate response to a massive release of methane from gas hydrates is simulated in two 2500-year-long numerical experiments performed with a three-dimensional, global coupled atmosphere-sea ice-ocean model of intermediate complexity. Two different equilibrium states were used as reference climates; the first state with preindustrial forcing conditions and the second state with a four times higher atmospheric CO2 concentration. These climates were perturbed by prescribing a methane emission scenario equivalent to that computed for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM; similar to 55.5 Ma), involving a sudden release of 1500 Gt of carbon into the atmosphere in 1000 years. In both cases, this produced rapid atmospheric warming (up to 10°C at high latitudes) and a reorganization of the global overturning ocean circulation. In the ocean, maximum warming (2-4°C) occurred at intermediate depths where methane hydrates are stored in the upper slope sediments, suggesting that further hydrate instability could result from the prescribed scenario