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Tiny Bird, Tiny Genome

Rachel Ehrenberg
Science News
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:00 UTC
Study finds hummingbirds have pared-down DNA

Bird
© Chris C. WittSmall genomes and flight appear to go hand in hand, and black-chinned hummingbirds (above) have the smallest genome of surveyed birds, reports a new study
Flying with excess baggage is a drag, but hummingbirds have mastered efficient packing. The tiny hoverers have less DNA in their cells than any other previously studied birds, reptiles or mammals, researchers report online August 5 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Among hummingbird species, however, genome size doesn't vary along with body size, suggesting that birds' DNA was pared down before the diversification of today's hummers.

Scientists have long noted the link between small genome size and high metabolic rates - a notion first put forth in 1970 by Polish scientist Henryk Szarski. Bats and birds have the smallest genomes of backboned creatures, and flightless birds tend to have bigger genomes than fliers. The genome, or full book of genetic instructions, is typically present in every cell. So lugging around a smaller genome means you can have smaller cells, the thinking goes. Smaller cells mean a larger surface-to-volume ratio and more efficient gas exchange, all the better to fly with. (The metabolic rate of hummingbirds is thought to approach the theoretical maximum.)
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Phoenix

Canada on alert as British Columbia fires burn


BBC News
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:38 UTC
Image
© Associated Press
Much of British Columbia in western Canada remains on high alert as high temperatures and winds continue to stoke widespread forest fires.

Some 5,300 people have fled the latest fires as thousands of firefighters try to tackle the flames. Some 800 extra personnel have been brought in from other parts of Canada to help exhausted fire crews. Since April, more than 2,000 fires have burned 63,000 hectares (155,700 acres) in British Columbia, officials say.
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Bell

US: July 2009 one of the coldest in record books

Kurt Hauglie
Daily Mining Gazette
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:21 UTC
Houghton, Michigan - Despite being fairly far north, July is usually a pretty warm month in the Upper Peninsula. This year, however, is an exception.

Steve Fleegel, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Negaunee Township, said this July set a record for cool daytime temperatures in the western U.P. and much of the Midwest.

"Our July is going to go down as the second coldest July on record," he said.

The record for the coldest July was in 1992, Fleegel said, and the third coldest was in 1924.

Fleegel said the average daytime high for July at Houghton County Memorial Airport is 65 degrees, but this July the average high was 59.7 degrees.

Since June 1, Fleegel said at HCMA the coldest daytime high temperature was 47 degrees on June 8. On June 1, 9 and 30, the high was 53 degrees. Also since June 1, the warmest daytime high was 90 degrees on May 20. June 23 and July 9 had highs of 81 degrees.
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Evil Rays

US: Eighth month below normal temps

Eloise Ogden
Minot Daily News
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:14 UTC
It's been a cold July here and also below normal temperatures for several months.

The average temperature this month was 64 degrees, which was 4.5 degrees below average for the month of July, said Jim Tarasenko, research specialist with the North Central Research Extension Center south of Minot.

This is also the eighth straight month of below normal temperatures for Minot, Tarasenko said.

"There were only seven other July averages on record that were lower than this July. The record low monthly average temperature for a July is 59.7 degrees," he said.

Tarasenko said the only day this summer which has been 90 degrees or above was on July 24. "It was 90 degrees for a high temperature on that day," he said.

"Also, this was the eighth coolest July since we started record keeping," Tarasenko said.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Outbreak of Fungus Threatens Tomato Crop

Julia Moskin
Los Angeles Times
Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:54 UTC
Tomato blight
© Meg McGrath/CornellGreen tomatoes affected by the spores of highly contagious fungus, called late blight.

A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops are ruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials.

The spores of the fungus, called late blight, are often present in the soil, and small outbreaks are not uncommon in August and September. But the cool, wet weather in June and the aggressively infectious nature of the pathogen have combined to produce what Martin A. Draper, a senior plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, described as an "explosive" rate of infection.

William Fry, a professor of plant pathology at Cornell, said, "I've never seen this on such a wide scale."

Comment: Related Story:

US: The Irish Potato Famine Fungus Is Attacking Northeast Gardens And Farms Now

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Network

Big Apple's Cold Summer - It and Many Other Cities Ranking Among Coldest Ever

Joseph D'Aleo
IceCap
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:25 UTC
NYC skyline
© Bob Jagendorf

Many cities in the east and central reported the coldest July on record and some cities a top 5 coolest June and July period. Here is one of the latter - New York City's Central Park.

With an average daily temperature of 72.7...3.8 degrees below normal... This is the sixth coolest July on record at Central Park.

Daily average temperatures have been at or below normal every day but two this month (the 28th and 30th)...for 46 of 48 days dating back to June 13th...and for 54 of the 60 days since June 1st.

Central Park has had only one day reach above 85 degrees so far this summer (86 on July 17th). This is the fewest number of days above 85 on record at Central Park since records began being taken in 1869. The old record was 7 in 1996.

Central Park has yet to reach 90 degrees this summer...for only the second time on record. The only other year not to have at least one 90 degree day in June or July was 1996.

For the months of June and July...the average temperature in 2009 is 70.1 degrees, making this the third coolest June and July on record in 151 years at Central Park. See story NWS here and New York Times here.
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Wolf

Falkland Islands: Antarctic air flow brings record snow fall


Where's my Global Warming Dude?
Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:17 UTC
Although the Falklands can expect cold weather at this time of year, heavy snow which fell over the past week was a record for recent years.

Weatherman Justin Chamberlain said the Islands had been under the influence of a highly unstable convective south/southwest air flow originating in Antarctica, keeping air temperatures below freezing. At times the wind was strong or gale force, leading to blizzard conditions and snowdrifts.

The duration of the Antarctic showery feed was unusual, he said, due in part to an area of high pressure covering much of South America, which blocked the usual mobile westerly flow.
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Bizarro Earth

Korea: Cold Spell - Weird Weather Keeps Holiday Crowds off Beaches


The Chosun Ilbo
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:11 UTC
Korean beaches empty cool july 2009
© unknownDue to atypical cool weather, Haeundae Beach in Busan is deserted on Thursday.

Korea is experiencing atypical cool weather in the middle of summer, which coupled with the summer rainy season has translated into fewer vacationers visiting the country's beaches.

The Korea Meteorological Administration on Thursday said the average temperature during July 18-24 was between 20 to 24 degrees Celsius or 2-4 degrees below average, while the average daily high was between 23 and 28 degrees or 2-5 degrees lower than average.

In Busan, where Korea's most popular beaches are located, temperatures did not rise above 30 degrees for a single day in July, as against seven days in July last year. From July 1 until Wednesday, 4.38 million people visited the seven beaches in downtown Busan, less than half the numbers seen during the same period last year. Vendors at the beaches have been hit with an unprecedented slump in sales during peak season. Haeundae Beach, which opened on July 1, saw 1.72 million visitors this month, just 48 percent of the number seen during the same period last year. A total of 1.24 million people visited Gwangalli Beach, just 47 percent of last July's visitors.
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Document

Canadian Wheat Board reports highest exports in nine years; coming harvest 20 percent lower


Canadian Press
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:07 UTC
Winnipeg - The Canadian Wheat Board is reporting the highest wheat exports in nine years and the second-highest overall grain revenues in its history.

The organization reported Thursday that it exported 18.5 million tonnes of wheat, durum and barley during the crop year that ends Friday - one million tonnes more than last year and the highest level since 2000.

Much of the increase came from new wheat markets in countries such as Iran and Indonesia.

"This has been because of the poor crop that the Iranians experienced and their need for imports," said board president and chief executive Ian White.

"I'm pleased to say that we were able to capture a large part of the market share of the Iranian import market. We were the largest exporter to Iran ... compared with our competitors."
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Magic Wand

US: Mild season in Tornado Alley frustrates scientists

Melanie S. Welte
Associated Press
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:03 UTC
Des Moines, Iowa - This has been an unusually mild year in Tornado Alley, which is good news, of course, for the people who live here, but a little frustrating to scientists who planned to chase twisters as part of a $10 million research project.

"You're out there to do the experiment and you're geared up every day and ready. And when there isn't anything happening, that is frustrating," said Don Burgess, a scientist at the University of Oklahoma. But he was quick to add that he is pleased the relative quiet has meant fewer injuries and less damage.

Nationwide, there were 826 tornadoes this year through June 30, compared with an average of 934 for the same period during the previous three years, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. Most twisters strike in Tornado Alley, which generally extends from Texas and Oklahoma to Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

During a remarkable 17-day lull from mid-May through early June, there were no tornado watches issued anywhere in the United States. And that is typically the height of the season in Tornado Alley.
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