Navigation Links
Key to cleaner environment may be right beneath our feet
Date:2/17/2013

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- While many people recognize that clean water and air are signs of a healthy ecosystem, most do not realize that a critical part of the environment is right beneath their feet, according to a Penn State hydrologist.

The ground plays an important role in maintaining a clean environment by serving as a natural water filtration and purification system, said Henry Lin, professor of hydropedology and soil hydrology. Understanding the components that make up this integral part of the ecosystem can lead to better groundwater management and smarter environmental policy.

"We look at nature and we see all the beauty and all the prosperity around us," said Lin, "But most people don't know or tend to forget that the key to sustainability is right underground."

Lin, who reports on his research today (Feb. 17) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston, said that the earth's outer layer -- from the top vegetation canopy to the strata of soils and layers of underground material -- helps soak up and purify water by extracting excess nutrients, heavy metals and other impurities. The ground can also act as a storage container for freshwater.

About 60 percent of the world's annual precipitation ends up in this zone, Lin said. "In fact, there is more water under the ground than there is in the so-called 'blue waters,' such as lakes and rivers," said Lin.

Besides using freshwater for drinking, people use large amounts of water to irrigate agricultural fields and as part of industrial operations. The researcher said that just as a global green revolution raised awareness about food security, a "blue revolution" may lead to efforts to water security with clean, safe water supply around the globe.

"Without water there is no life," Lin said. "Without groundwater, there is no clean water."

Lin said that the system is currently under threat from poor land management practices that
'/>"/>

Contact: Matthew Swayne
mls29@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Arsenic for better drugs and cleaner crops
2. Mussels cramped by environmental factors
3. U-M environmental scientist Joel Blum wins 2013 Patterson Award for research on mercury
4. Environment schemes for kids influence parents behavior
5. Book shows evolution that joins human and environmental sciences
6. Environmental factors determine whether immigrants are accepted by cooperatively breeding animals
7. Healthy seeds -- treated environmentally friendly
8. AERA announces publication of the International Handbook of Research on Environmental Education
9. The effective collective: Grouping could ensure animals find their way in a changing environment
10. New study highlights impact of environmental change on older people
11. Fluctuating environment may have driven human evolution
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/24/2013)... After studying noise in one French Quarter neighborhood of ... exceeded municipal ordinances, Annette Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor of ... Eric Arriaga, a third-year LSUHSC doctor of audiology student, ... own hearing health. Their case study is published online ... Practice Management ., "An important part of an audiologist,s ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting ... , "Working with GM tomatoes that are different to ... compound, allows us to pinpoint exactly how to breed ... John Innes Centre. , The research could also lead ... life characteristics because even higher levels of the compounds ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... discovering the new mechanism by which estrogen suppresses lipid ... a potential new approach toward treating certain liver diseases. ... colleagues believe they are changing long-held views in the ... of the journal Science Signaling . , "The ... has been that only receptors located in the nucleus ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Please do try this at home 2The world's favorite fruit only better-tasting and longer-lasting 2UCI study reveals new mechanism for estrogen suppression of liver lipid synthesis 2
... WASHINGTON The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is ... is releasing a database, called ToxRefDB, which allows scientists ... of toxicity testing results on hundreds of chemicals. ToxRefDB ... "Tens of thousands of chemicals are in commerce ...
... Forget what you know about how diseases are diagnosednew research ... FASEB Journal ( http://www.fasebj.org ) details a noninvasive ground-breaking ... before symptoms can be seen using traditional methods. Even better, ... that they may be reversed before any permanent damage can ...
... Baltimore was hired by Carnegie,s Department of Embryology to wash ... inner city youth. Now as head technician and manager of ... from Johns Hopkins University under her belt, she has authored ... acknowledged for technical assistance on countless others. Genetics researchers in ...
Cached Biology News:US Environmental Protection Agency opens access to chemical information 2New tool helps scientists 'see' molecular signals of eye disease before symptoms arise 2From lab dishwasher to distinguished researcher 2From lab dishwasher to distinguished researcher 3
(Date:5/23/2013)... NY (PRWEB) May 23, 2013 ... GRAPHALLOY® self-lubricating bushings mounted in stainless steel ... self-lubricating properties of GRAPHALLOY with the application and ... Stainless Steel Pillow Blocks work exceptionally well ... corrosive or hostile liquids such as acids, alkalies, ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013  Rahal Letterman Lanigan ... human cord blood stem cell banking and therapeutics, announced ... the No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Indy car driven by ... the remainder of the IZOD IndyCar 2013 season.   ... will work to support awareness of umbilical cord blood ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... 2013 VG Energy, an agricultural biotech ... Renewable Research to conduct field trials using LipidMax ... is a majority owned subsidiary of VG Life ... Energy,s exclusively licensed compound LipidMax selectively inhibits certain ... plants, possessing a wide variety of applications including ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... 2013 BioTrends Research Group, one of ... specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds that, unaided, one in ... reported that in the past six months, they ... in anticipation of the next generation of HCV ... only 6 percent reported that they had begun ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Graphite Metallizing Now Offers GRAPHALLOY® Stainless Steel Pillow Blocks for Success in Submersible Applications 2Graphite Metallizing Now Offers GRAPHALLOY® Stainless Steel Pillow Blocks for Success in Submersible Applications 3StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 2StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 3VG Energy Enters into a Strategic Alliance with DAK Renewable Research for LipidMax Field Trials 2VG Energy Enters into a Strategic Alliance with DAK Renewable Research for LipidMax Field Trials 3The Majority of Physicians that Treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Have Begun "Warehousing" and Preparing Their HCV Patients for the Next Generation of HCV Treatments 2The Majority of Physicians that Treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Have Begun "Warehousing" and Preparing Their HCV Patients for the Next Generation of HCV Treatments 3
... There is an old rhetorical saying, "If a tree ... it make a sound?" That same question could be posed ... medical community at large still dismisses Morgellons as some kind ... being ignored doesn,t make their tragedy any less real. One ...
... Associates, Inc. has announced its elite class of 2011 ... Summit and Top Improver awards for clinical achievement and ... Press Ganey, the health care industry,s ... 10,000 health care organizations worldwide to create and sustain ...
... CYPRESS, Calif., Nov. 15, 2011 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated ... of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that ... Simplexa Cytomegalovirus (CMV) molecular test kit on the 3M™ ... Europe. The test is designed to enable hospital labs ...
Cached Biology Technology:The Foremost Expert on Morgellons Disease Highlights the Gravity of This Illness 2Nation's Best Health Care Organizations for Patient Satisfaction, Core Measures Honored by Press Ganey 2Nation's Best Health Care Organizations for Patient Satisfaction, Core Measures Honored by Press Ganey 3Quest Diagnostics CE Marks Simplexa™ Test for Cytomegalovirus for Sale in Europe 2Quest Diagnostics CE Marks Simplexa™ Test for Cytomegalovirus for Sale in Europe 3
HyPro 20 system for slide hybridization. 20 slide capacity. Active vibration system, slide rack and humidity chamber. Ideal for microarray and in situ hybridization....
... PBL's bioassays for interferons are cytopathic effect ... assays. Sample types include; tissue culture supernatents; ... In these assays, one unit is defined as ... reduce the cytopathic effect of viral infection by ...
Request Info...
Request Info...
Biology Products: