wattsupwiththat--2020-11-22--16-Year-Old Cosmic Mystery Solved, Revealing Stellar Missing Link

The Blue Ring Nebula , which perplexed scientists for over a decade , appears to be the youngest known example of two stars merged into one .
In 2004 , scientists with NASA ’ s space-based Galaxy Evolution Explorer ( GALEX ) spotted an object unlike any they ’ d seen before in our Milky Way galaxy : a large , faint blob of gas with a star at its center .
In the GALEX images , the blob appeared blue – though it doesn ’ t actually emit light visible to the human eye – and subsequent observations revealed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So the team nicknamed it the Blue Ring Nebula .
Over the next 16 years , they studied it with multiple Earth- and space-based telescopes , but the more they learned , the more mysterious it seemed .
A new study published online on Nov. 18 in the journal Nature may have cracked the case .
By applying cutting-edge theoretical models to the slew of data that has been collected on this object , the authors posit the nebula – a cloud of gas in space – is likely composed of debris from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a single star .
While merged star systems are thought to be fairly common , they are nearly impossible to study immediately after they form because they ’ re obscured by debris the collision kicks up .
Once the debris has cleared – at least hundreds of thousands of years later – they ’ re challenging to identify because they resemble non-merged stars .
The Blue Ring Nebula appears to be the missing link : Astronomers are seeing the star system only a few thousand years after the merger , when evidence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appears to be the first known example of a merged star system at this stage .
Operated between 2003 and 2013 and managed by NASA ’ s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California , GALEX was designed to help study the history of star formation throughout most of the universe by taking a census of young star populations in other galaxies .
To do this , the mission observed both near-UV light ( wavelengths slightly shorter than visible light ) and far-UV .
Most objects seen by GALEX radiated both near-UV ( represented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far-UV ( represented as blue ) , but the Blue Ring Nebula stood out because it emitted only far-UV light .
The object ’ s size was similar to that of a supernova remnant , which forms when a massive star runs out of fuel and explodes , or a planetary nebula , the puffed-up remains of a star the size of our Sun .
But the Blue Ring Nebula had a living star at its center .
What ’ s more , supernova remnants and planetary nebulas radiate in multiple light wavelengths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ research showed that the Blue Ring Nebula did not .
In 2006 , the GALEX team looked at the nebula with the 200-inch ( 5.1-meter ) Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County , California , and then with the even more powerful 10-meter ( 33-foot ) telescopes at the W.M .
Keck Observatory in Hawaii .
They found evidence of a shockwave in the nebula , suggesting the gas composing the Blue Ring Nebula had indeed been expelled by some kind of violent event around the central star .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ pulling a large amount of material onto its surface .
But where was the material coming from ?
“ For quite a long time we thought that maybe there was a planet several times the mass of Jupiter being torn apart by the star , and that was throwing all that gas out of the system , ” said Mark Seibert , an astrophysicist with the Carnegie Institution for Science and a member of the GALEX team at Caltech , which manages JPL .
But the team wanted more data .
In 2012 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NASA ’ s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ) , a space telescope that studied the sky in infrared light , the GALEX team identified a disk of dust orbiting closely around the star .
( WISE was reactivated in 2013 as the asteroid-hunting NEOWISE mission . )
Archival data from three other infrared observatories , including NASA ’ s Spitzer Space Telescope , also spotted the disk .
The finding didn ’ t rule out the possibility that a planet was also orbiting the star , but eventually the team would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expelled into space came from something larger than even a giant planet .
Then in 2017 , the Habitable Zone Planet Finder on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas confirmed there was no compact object orbiting the star .
More than a decade after discovering the Blue Ring Nebula , the team had gathered data on the system from four space telescopes , four ground-based telescopes , historical observations of the star going back to 1895 ( in order to look for changes in its brightness over time ) , and with the help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Variable Star Observers ( AAVSO ) .
But an explanation for what had created the nebula still eluded them .
By the time Keri Hoadley began working with the GALEX science team in 2017 , “ the group had kind of hit a wall ” with the Blue Ring Nebula , she said .
But Hoadley , an astrophysicist at Caltech , was fascinated by the object and its bizarre features , so she accepted the challenge of trying to solve the mystery .
It seemed likely that the solution would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but from cutting-edge theories that could make sense of the existing data .
So Chris Martin , principal investigator for GALEX at Caltech , reached out to Brian Metzger of Columbia University for help .
As a theoretical astrophysicist , Metzger makes mathematical and computational models of cosmic phenomena , which can be used to predict how those phenomena will look and behave .
He specializes in cosmic mergers – collisions between a variety of objects , whether they be planets and stars or two black holes .
With Metzger on board @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progressed quickly .
“ It wasn ’ t just that Brian could explain the data we were seeing ; he was essentially predicting what we had observed before he saw it , ” said Hoadley .
“ He ’ d say , ‘ If this is a stellar merger , then you should see X , ’ and it was like , ‘ Yes !
We see that ! '
” The team concluded that the nebula was the product of a relatively fresh stellar merger that likely occurred between a star similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about one-tenth that size ( or about 100 times the mass of Jupiter ) .
Nearing the end of its life , the Sun-like star began to swell , creeping closer to its companion .
Eventually , the smaller star fell into a downward spiral toward its larger companion .
Along the way , the larger star tore the smaller star apart , wrapping itself in a ring of debris before swallowing the smaller star entirely .
This was the violent event that led to the formation of the Blue Ring Nebula .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ debris into space that was sliced in two by the gas disk .
This created two cone-shaped debris clouds , their bases moving away from the star in opposite directions and getting wider as they travel outward .
The base of one cone is coming almost directly toward Earth and the other almost directly away .
They are too faint to see alone , but the area where the cones overlap ( as seen from Earth ) forms the central blue ring GALEX observed .
Millennia passed .
The expanding debris cloud cooled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hydrogen molecules that collided with the interstellar medium , the sparse collection of atoms and energetic particles that fill the space between stars .
The collisions excited the hydrogen molecules , causing them to radiate in a specific wavelength of far-UV light .
Over time , the glow became just bright enough for GALEX to see .
Stellar mergers may occur as often as once every 10 years in our Milky Way galaxy , meaning it ’ s possible that a sizeable population of the stars we see in the sky were once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two-star systems that might merge some day , and we think we ’ ve identified stars that merged maybe millions of years ago .
But we have almost no data on what happens in between , ” said Metzger .
“ We think there are probably plenty of young remnants of stellar mergers in our galaxy , and the Blue Ring Nebula might show us what they look like so we can identify more of them.
” Though this is likely the conclusion of a 16-year-old mystery , it may also be the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study of stellar mergers .
“ It ’ s amazing that GALEX was able to find this really faint object that we weren ’ t looking for but that turns out to be something really interesting to astronomers , ” said Seibert .
“ It just reiterates that when you look at the universe in a new wavelength or in a new way , you find things you never imagined you would.
” JPL , a division of Caltech , managed the GALEX mission for NASA ’ s Science Mission Directorate .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt , Maryland , under the Explorers Program .
JPL also managed the Spitzer and WISE missions , and manages the NEOWISE mission .
For more information about the GALEX mission visit :

From NASA
Nov. 18, 2020
The Blue Ring Nebula consists of two expanding cones of gas ejected into space by a stellar merger. As the gas cools, it forms hydrogen molecules that collide with particles in interstellar space, causing them to radiate far-ultraviolet light. Invisible to the human eye, it is shown here as blue.Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Seibert (Carnegie Institution for Science)/K. Hoadley (Caltech)/GALEX Team
The Blue Ring Nebula, which perplexed scientists for over a decade, appears to be the youngest known example of two stars merged into one.
In 2004, scientists with NASA’s space-based Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spotted an object unlike any they’d seen before in our Milky Way galaxy: a large, faint blob of gas with a star at its center. In the GALEX images, the blob appeared blue – though it doesn’t actually emit light visible to the human eye – and subsequent observations revealed a thick ring structure within it. So the team nicknamed it the Blue Ring Nebula. Over the next 16 years, they studied it with multiple Earth- and space-based telescopes, but the more they learned, the more mysterious it seemed.
A new study published online on Nov. 18 in the journal Nature may have cracked the case. By applying cutting-edge theoretical models to the slew of data that has been collected on this object, the authors posit the nebula – a cloud of gas in space – is likely composed of debris from two stars that collided and merged into a single star.
The Blue Ring Nebula consists of two hollow, cone-shaped clouds of debris moving in opposite directions away from the central star. The base of one cone is traveling almost directly toward Earth. As a result, astronomers looking at the nebula see two circles that partially overlap.Credits: Mark Seibert
While merged star systems are thought to be fairly common, they are nearly impossible to study immediately after they form because they’re obscured by debris the collision kicks up. Once the debris has cleared – at least hundreds of thousands of years later – they’re challenging to identify because they resemble non-merged stars. The Blue Ring Nebula appears to be the missing link: Astronomers are seeing the star system only a few thousand years after the merger, when evidence of the union is still plentiful. It appears to be the first known example of a merged star system at this stage.
Operated between 2003 and 2013 and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, GALEX was designed to help study the history of star formation throughout most of the universe by taking a census of young star populations in other galaxies. To do this, the mission observed both near-UV light (wavelengths slightly shorter than visible light) and far-UV. Most objects seen by GALEX radiated both near-UV (represented as yellow in GALEX images) and far-UV (represented as blue), but the Blue Ring Nebula stood out because it emitted only far-UV light.
The object’s size was similar to that of a supernova remnant, which forms when a massive star runs out of fuel and explodes, or a planetary nebula, the puffed-up remains of a star the size of our Sun. But the Blue Ring Nebula had a living star at its center. What’s more, supernova remnants and planetary nebulas radiate in multiple light wavelengths outside the UV range, while further research showed that the Blue Ring Nebula did not.
Phantom Planet
In 2006, the GALEX team looked at the nebula with the 200-inch (5.1-meter) Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, and then with the even more powerful 10-meter (33-foot) telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. They found evidence of a shockwave in the nebula, suggesting the gas composing the Blue Ring Nebula had indeed been expelled by some kind of violent event around the central star. Keck data also suggested the star was pulling a large amount of material onto its surface. But where was the material coming from?
“For quite a long time we thought that maybe there was a planet several times the mass of Jupiter being torn apart by the star, and that was throwing all that gas out of the system,” said Mark Seibert, an astrophysicist with the Carnegie Institution for Science and a member of the GALEX team at Caltech, which manages JPL.
But the team wanted more data. In 2012, using the first full-sky survey from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a space telescope that studied the sky in infrared light, the GALEX team identified a disk of dust orbiting closely around the star. (WISE was reactivated in 2013 as the asteroid-hunting NEOWISE mission.) Archival data from three other infrared observatories, including NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, also spotted the disk. The finding didn’t rule out the possibility that a planet was also orbiting the star, but eventually the team would show that the disk and the material expelled into space came from something larger than even a giant planet. Then in 2017, the Habitable Zone Planet Finder on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas confirmed there was no compact object orbiting the star.
More than a decade after discovering the Blue Ring Nebula, the team had gathered data on the system from four space telescopes, four ground-based telescopes, historical observations of the star going back to 1895 (in order to look for changes in its brightness over time), and with the help of citizen scientists through the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). But an explanation for what had created the nebula still eluded them.
Stellar Sleuthing
By the time Keri Hoadley began working with the GALEX science team in 2017, “the group had kind of hit a wall” with the Blue Ring Nebula, she said. But Hoadley, an astrophysicist at Caltech, was fascinated by the object and its bizarre features, so she accepted the challenge of trying to solve the mystery. It seemed likely that the solution would not come from more observations of the system, but from cutting-edge theories that could make sense of the existing data. So Chris Martin, principal investigator for GALEX at Caltech, reached out to Brian Metzger of Columbia University for help.
As a theoretical astrophysicist, Metzger makes mathematical and computational models of cosmic phenomena, which can be used to predict how those phenomena will look and behave. He specializes in cosmic mergers – collisions between a variety of objects, whether they be planets and stars or two black holes. With Metzger on board and Hoadley shepherding the work, things progressed quickly.
“It wasn’t just that Brian could explain the data we were seeing; he was essentially predicting what we had observed before he saw it,” said Hoadley. “He’d say, ‘If this is a stellar merger, then you should see X,’ and it was like, ‘Yes! We see that!'”
The team concluded that the nebula was the product of a relatively fresh stellar merger that likely occurred between a star similar to our Sun and another star only about one-tenth that size (or about 100 times the mass of Jupiter). Nearing the end of its life, the Sun-like star began to swell, creeping closer to its companion. Eventually, the smaller star fell into a downward spiral toward its larger companion. Along the way, the larger star tore the smaller star apart, wrapping itself in a ring of debris before swallowing the smaller star entirely.
This was the violent event that led to the formation of the Blue Ring Nebula. The merger launched a cloud of hot debris into space that was sliced in two by the gas disk. This created two cone-shaped debris clouds, their bases moving away from the star in opposite directions and getting wider as they travel outward. The base of one cone is coming almost directly toward Earth and the other almost directly away. They are too faint to see alone, but the area where the cones overlap (as seen from Earth) forms the central blue ring GALEX observed.
Millennia passed. The expanding debris cloud cooled and formed molecules and dust, including hydrogen molecules that collided with the interstellar medium, the sparse collection of atoms and energetic particles that fill the space between stars. The collisions excited the hydrogen molecules, causing them to radiate in a specific wavelength of far-UV light. Over time, the glow became just bright enough for GALEX to see.
Stellar mergers may occur as often as once every 10 years in our Milky Way galaxy, meaning it’s possible that a sizeable population of the stars we see in the sky were once two.
“We see plenty of two-star systems that might merge some day, and we think we’ve identified stars that merged maybe millions of years ago. But we have almost no data on what happens in between,” said Metzger. “We think there are probably plenty of young remnants of stellar mergers in our galaxy, and the Blue Ring Nebula might show us what they look like so we can identify more of them.”
Though this is likely the conclusion of a 16-year-old mystery, it may also be the beginning of a new chapter in the study of stellar mergers.
“It’s amazing that GALEX was able to find this really faint object that we weren’t looking for but that turns out to be something really interesting to astronomers,” said Seibert. “It just reiterates that when you look at the universe in a new wavelength or in a new way, you find things you never imagined you would.”
JPL, a division of Caltech, managed the GALEX mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The mission was developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, under the Explorers Program. JPL also managed the Spitzer and WISE missions, and manages the NEOWISE mission. For more information about the GALEX mission visit:
http://www.galex.caltech.edu/index.html
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/galaxy-evolution-explorer-galex/
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wattsupwiththat--2020-11-22--Some Amazon rainforest regions more resistant to climate change than previously thought

New observational study demonstrates that increasing air dryness does not reduce photosynthesis in certain very wet regions of the Amazon rainforest , contradicting Earth system models that show the opposite New York , NY–November 20 , 2020–Forests can help mitigate climate change , by taking in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and storing it in their biomass ( tree trunks , roots , etc. )
.
In fact , forests currently take in around 25-30 % of our human-generated carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) emissions .
Certain rainforest regions , such as the Amazon , store more carbon in their biomass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when forests become water-stressed ( not enough water in the soil , and/or air is extremely dry ) , forests will slow down or stop photosynthesis .
This leaves more CO2 in the atmosphere , and can also lead to tree mortality .
The current Earth system models used for climate predictions show that the Amazon rainforest is very sensitive to water stress .
Since the air in the future is predicted to get warmer and drier with climate change , translating to increased water stress , this could have large implications not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but also for its storage of CO2 .
If the forest is not able to survive in its current capacity , climate change could greatly accelerate .
Columbia Engineering researchers decided to investigate whether this was true , whether these forests are really as sensitive to water stress as what the models have been showing .
In a study published today in Science Advances , they report their discovery that these models have been largely over-estimating water stress in tropical forests .
The team found that , while models show that increases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in certain regions of the Amazon rainforest , the observational data results show the opposite : in certain very wet regions , the forests instead even increase photosynthesis rates in response to drier air .
“ To our knowledge , this is the first basin-wide study to demonstrate how–contrary to what models are showing–photosynthesis is in fact increasing in some of the very wet regions of the Amazon rainforest during limited water stress , ” said Pierre Gentine , associate professor of earth and environmental engineering and of earth and environmental sciences and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This increase is linked to atmospheric dryness in addition to radiation and can be largely explained by changes in the photosynthetic capacity of the canopy .
As the trees become stressed , they generate more efficient leaves that can more than compensate for water stress.
” Gentine and his former PhD student Julia Green used data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ’ s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 ( CMIP5 ) models and combined them with machine learning techniques to determine what the modeled sensitivity of photosynthesis in the tropical regions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moisture and air dryness .
They then performed a similar analysis , this time using observational remote sensing data from satellites in place of the model data , to see how the observational sensitivity compared .
To relate their results to smaller-scale processes that could explain them , the team then used flux tower data to understand their results at the canopy and leaf level .
Earlier studies have shown that there are increases in greenness in the Amazon basin at the end of the dry season , when both the soil and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ linked this to increases in photosynthesis .
“ But before our study , it was still unclear whether these results translated to an effect over a larger region , and they had never been connected to air dryness in addition to light , ” Green , who is now a postdoctoral research associate at Le Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l ’ Environnement in France , explained .
“ Our results mean that the current models are overestimating carbon losses in the Amazon rainforest due to climate change .
Thus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may in fact be able to sustain photosynthesis rates , or even increase it , with some warming and drying in the future.
” Gentine and Green note , however , that this sensitivity was determined using only existing data and , if dryness levels were to increase to levels that are not currently being observed , this could in fact change .
Indeed , the researchers found a tipping point for the most severe dryness stress episodes where the forest could not maintain its level of photosynthesis .
So , say Gentine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certainly not an excuse to not reduce our carbon emissions.
” Gentine and Green are continuing to look at themes related to vegetation water stress in the tropics .
Green is currently focusing on developing a water stress indicator using remote sensing data ( a dataset that can be used to identify when a forest is under stressful conditions ) , quantifying the effects of water stress on plant carbon uptake , and relating them to ecosystem traits .
“ So much of the scientific research coming out these days is that with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be able to survive , potentially leading to the acceleration of global warming due to feedbacks , ” Green added .
“ It was nice to see that maybe some of our estimates of approaching mortality in the Amazon rainforest may not be quite as dire as we previously thought.
” The study is titled “ Amazon rainforest photosynthesis increases in response to atmospheric dryness.
” The study was supported by NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship ( NNX16AO16 ) .
The authors declare that they have no competing interests .
Columbia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation .
Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science , the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 220 faculty , while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering .
The School ’ s faculty are at the center of the University ’ s cross-disciplinary research , contributing to the Data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mind Brain Behavior Institute , Precision Medicine Initiative , and the Columbia Nano Initiative .
Guided by its strategic vision , “ Columbia Engineering for Humanity , ” the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable , healthy , secure , connected , and creative humanity .

New observational study demonstrates that increasing air dryness does not reduce photosynthesis in certain very wet regions of the Amazon rainforest, contradicting Earth system models that show the opposite
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE
Research News
IMAGE: PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM THE TOP OF THE K34 FLUX TOWER SITE LOCATED 60KM NORTH OF MANAUS, BRAZIL. view more CREDIT: XI YANG/UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
New York, NY–November 20, 2020–Forests can help mitigate climate change, by taking in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and storing it in their biomass (tree trunks, roots, etc.). In fact, forests currently take in around 25-30% of our human-generated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Certain rainforest regions, such as the Amazon, store more carbon in their biomass than any other ecosystem or forest but when forests become water-stressed (not enough water in the soil, and/or air is extremely dry), forests will slow down or stop photosynthesis. This leaves more CO2 in the atmosphere, and can also lead to tree mortality.
The current Earth system models used for climate predictions show that the Amazon rainforest is very sensitive to water stress. Since the air in the future is predicted to get warmer and drier with climate change, translating to increased water stress, this could have large implications not just for the forest’s survival, but also for its storage of CO2. If the forest is not able to survive in its current capacity, climate change could greatly accelerate.
Columbia Engineering researchers decided to investigate whether this was true, whether these forests are really as sensitive to water stress as what the models have been showing. In a study published today in Science Advances, they report their discovery that these models have been largely over-estimating water stress in tropical forests.
The team found that, while models show that increases in air dryness greatly diminish photosynthesis rates in certain regions of the Amazon rainforest, the observational data results show the opposite: in certain very wet regions, the forests instead even increase photosynthesis rates in response to drier air.
“To our knowledge, this is the first basin-wide study to demonstrate how–contrary to what models are showing–photosynthesis is in fact increasing in some of the very wet regions of the Amazon rainforest during limited water stress,” said Pierre Gentine, associate professor of earth and environmental engineering and of earth and environmental sciences and affiliated with the Earth Institute. “This increase is linked to atmospheric dryness in addition to radiation and can be largely explained by changes in the photosynthetic capacity of the canopy. As the trees become stressed, they generate more efficient leaves that can more than compensate for water stress.”
Gentine and his former PhD student Julia Green used data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) models and combined them with machine learning techniques to determine what the modeled sensitivity of photosynthesis in the tropical regions of the Americas was to both soil moisture and air dryness. They then performed a similar analysis, this time using observational remote sensing data from satellites in place of the model data, to see how the observational sensitivity compared. To relate their results to smaller-scale processes that could explain them, the team then used flux tower data to understand their results at the canopy and leaf level.
Earlier studies have shown that there are increases in greenness in the Amazon basin at the end of the dry season, when both the soil and air is drier, and some have linked this to increases in photosynthesis. “But before our study, it was still unclear whether these results translated to an effect over a larger region, and they had never been connected to air dryness in addition to light,” Green, who is now a postdoctoral research associate at Le Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement in France, explained. “Our results mean that the current models are overestimating carbon losses in the Amazon rainforest due to climate change. Thus, in this particular region, these forests may in fact be able to sustain photosynthesis rates, or even increase it, with some warming and drying in the future.”
Gentine and Green note, however, that this sensitivity was determined using only existing data and, if dryness levels were to increase to levels that are not currently being observed, this could in fact change. Indeed, the researchers found a tipping point for the most severe dryness stress episodes where the forest could not maintain its level of photosynthesis. So, say Gentine and Green, “our findings are certainly not an excuse to not reduce our carbon emissions.”
Gentine and Green are continuing to look at themes related to vegetation water stress in the tropics. Green is currently focusing on developing a water stress indicator using remote sensing data (a dataset that can be used to identify when a forest is under stressful conditions), quantifying the effects of water stress on plant carbon uptake, and relating them to ecosystem traits.
“So much of the scientific research coming out these days is that with climate change, our current ecosystems might not be able to survive, potentially leading to the acceleration of global warming due to feedbacks,” Green added. “It was nice to see that maybe some of our estimates of approaching mortality in the Amazon rainforest may not be quite as dire as we previously thought.”
###
About the Study
The study is titled “Amazon rainforest photosynthesis increases in response to atmospheric dryness.”
Authors are: J. K. Green 1,2; J. Berry 3; P. Ciais 2; Y. Zhang 1,4; P. Gentine 1,5
1Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia Engineering
2Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE), Gif sur Yvette, France
3Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA
4Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
5The Earth Institute, Columbia University
The study was supported by NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NNX16AO16).
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
LINKS:
Paper: https://advances.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abb7232
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb7232
http://engineering.columbia.edu/
http://advances.sciencemag.org/
https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/faculty/pierre-gentine
https://eee.columbia.edu/
https://eesc.columbia.edu
http://ei.columbia.edu/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Julia_Green6
Columbia Engineering
Columbia Engineering, based in New York City, is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation. Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 220 faculty, while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering. The School’s faculty are at the center of the University’s cross-disciplinary research, contributing to the Data Science Institute, Earth Institute, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Columbia Nano Initiative. Guided by its strategic vision, “Columbia Engineering for Humanity,” the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity.
From EurekAlert!
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wattsupwiththat--2020-11-22--Tony Abbott Warns Britain Not to Mess Up Post Brexit Trade Deals with Climate Activism

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott , who is currently a senior advisor on the board of Boris Johnson ’ s post Brexit trade panel , is trying to stop British MPs from wrecking Britain ’ s future by inserting a series of absurd demands on climate targets , labour rights and treatment of animals into post Brexit trade negotiations .
London : Tony Abbott has warned Britain against discussing climate change targets during free trade negotiations , and suggested a deal with Australia could be inked by Christmas if both sides agree to phase out tariffs rather than immediately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on climate change and labour rights in trade deals , Abbott said the environment was important and mankind could not ravage the planet , but “ relatively theological points ” should not be incorporated in economic deals .
“ I might have a different approach to zero emissions by 2050 to some others but obviously we want to get emissions down as far and as fast as all of us can , ” he said .
“ But I just think if you try to do everything in a trade deal you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are other forums to pursue climate initiatives .
“ If Britain tries to insist that everything that ’ s done in Britain has to be exactly replicated everywhere else , it wont do trade deals .
Are we trying to do trade deals or are we trying to reach out from one country and try to dictate to another country exactly how it should do things ?
” Trade advisor Tony Abbott says animal welfare standards shouldn ’ t be in Brexit deal A UK adviser appointed by Boris Johnson rubbished claims animal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of trade deals with other nations today .
He told the Commons International Trade Committee that when his Government was negotiating deals , he warned officials : “ If you want a trade deal focus on trade .
“ If you want to do an environmental deal or an animal welfare deal , do it through COP or through some other mechanism .
“ Remember that the best is the enemy of the good .
“ If we hold out for a deal which is absolutely perfect in every respect we may well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we take the best we can get at this time , that ’ s nearly always good in itself and is the best possible platform for further progress.
” What would Britain ’ s situation be if the other parties refuse to sign top heavy trade deals loaded with laundry lists of politically correct virtue signalling ?
It is not the other parties who need these deals to work .
I wonder whether Tony Abbott is tempted to walk out on this charade , and leave the spoilt children to clean up their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will walk .
Because it is not the MPs who are making absurd demands who will have to live with the consequences , their ring fenced pensions and connections will enable them weather almost any imaginable trade disaster .
The people who will have to live with the consequences of failed trade negotiations are ordinary Britons , who have entrusted their representatives in parliament to look out for their best interests .
Maybe some of you who live in Britain should write to your MPs , and remind them who they work for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beyond repair .

“Tony Abbott – 2010” by MystifyMe Concert Photography (Troy) – Opposition Leader Tony Abbott (16). Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tony_Abbott_-_2010.jpg#/media/File:Tony_Abbott_-_2010.jpg
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is currently a senior advisor on the board of Boris Johnson’s post Brexit trade panel, is trying to stop British MPs from wrecking Britain’s future by inserting a series of absurd demands on climate targets, labour rights and treatment of animals into post Brexit trade negotiations.
Don’t sabotage free trade talks with a debate over climate change, Tony Abbott tells Britain By Bevan Shields
November 19, 2020 — 1.56am London: Tony Abbott has warned Britain against discussing climate change targets during free trade negotiations, and suggested a deal with Australia could be inked by Christmas if both sides agree to phase out tariffs rather than immediately eliminate them. … Asked about incorporating rules on climate change and labour rights in trade deals, Abbott said the environment was important and mankind could not ravage the planet, but “relatively theological points” should not be incorporated in economic deals. “I might have a different approach to zero emissions by 2050 to some others but obviously we want to get emissions down as far and as fast as all of us can,” he said. “But I just think if you try to do everything in a trade deal you’ll end up doing nothing. There are other forums to pursue climate initiatives. “If Britain tries to insist that everything that’s done in Britain has to be exactly replicated everywhere else, it wont do trade deals. Are we trying to do trade deals or are we trying to reach out from one country and try to dictate to another country exactly how it should do things?” … Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/don-t-sabotage-free-trade-talks-with-a-debate-over-climate-change-tony-abbott-tells-britain-20201118-p56fvu.html
On animal rights;
Trade advisor Tony Abbott says animal welfare standards shouldn’t be in Brexit deal By Ben Glaze
Deputy Political Editor
14:55, 18 NOV 2020 … A UK adviser appointed by Boris Johnson rubbished claims animal welfare and environmental standards should be part of trade deals with other nations today. He told the Commons International Trade Committee that when his Government was negotiating deals, he warned officials: “If you want a trade deal focus on trade. “If you want to do an environmental deal or an animal welfare deal, do it through COP or through some other mechanism. “Remember that the best is the enemy of the good. “If we hold out for a deal which is absolutely perfect in every respect we may well never get it. “But if we take the best we can get at this time, that’s nearly always good in itself and is the best possible platform for further progress.” … Read more: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/trade-advisor-tony-abbot-says-23030931
What would Britain’s situation be if the other parties refuse to sign top heavy trade deals loaded with laundry lists of politically correct virtue signalling? It is not the other parties who need these deals to work.
I wonder whether Tony Abbott is tempted to walk out on this charade, and leave the spoilt children to clean up their own mess?
But I doubt Abbott will walk. Because it is not the MPs who are making absurd demands who will have to live with the consequences, their ring fenced pensions and connections will enable them weather almost any imaginable trade disaster.
The people who will have to live with the consequences of failed trade negotiations are ordinary Britons, who have entrusted their representatives in parliament to look out for their best interests.
Maybe some of you who live in Britain should write to your MPs, and remind them who they work for, before they damage ongoing trade negotiations beyond repair.
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