Socioecology Research Today

The Supreme Court’s recently issued Tarrant v. Hermann decision presents an interesting case study of river withdrawal rights, a body of law that will probably be getting more attention both domestically and internationally as hydrology patterns and population demands fluctuate in the future. I will not discuss the facts of the case as these are [...]

Climate change harms health and damages and diminishes environmental resources. Gradually it will cause health systems to reduce services, standards of care, and opportunities to express patient autonomy. Prominent public health organizations are responding with preparedness, mitigation, and educational programs. The design and effectiveness of these programs, and of similar programs in other sectors, would [...]

Nutrient removals associated with the relatively immature, nutrient-rich soils of the UK are contrasted with the mature, nutrient-poor soils of India gaining insight into the emerging issue of nutrient stripping and the long-term implications for human health and soil quality. Whilst nutrient deficiencies are rare in developed countries, micronutrient deficiencies are commonly increasing in less-developed [...]

A comprehensive general circulation model (GCM) is used to estimate the climate impact of aviation emissions of black carbon (BC) and sulfate (SO4) aerosols. Aviation BC is found not to exert significant radiative forcing impacts, when BC nucleating efficiencies in line with observations are used. Sulfate emissions from aircraft are found to alter liquid clouds [...]

The potential effect on surface water pH of emissions of SOX and NOX from global ship routes is assessed. The results indicate that regional pH reductions of the same order of magnitude as the CO2-driven acidification can occur in heavily trafficked waters. These findings have important consequences for ocean chemistry, since the sulfuric and nitric [...]

Space geodetic observations of polar motion show that around 2005, the average annual pole position began drifting toward the east, an abrupt departure from the drift direction seen over the past century. Satellite gravity measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) show that about 90% of this change is due to accelerated melting [...]

Satellite observations reveal a greening of the globe over recent decades. The role in this greening of the ‘CO2 fertilization’ effect – the enhancement of photosynthesis due to rising CO2 levels – is yet to be established. The direct CO2 effect on vegetation should be most clearly expressed in warm, arid environments where water is [...]

On the coastal plain of eastern North Carolina, families in certain rural communities daily must deal with the piercing, acrid odor of hog manure—reminiscent of rotten eggs and ammonia—wafting from nearby industrial hog farms. On bad days, the odor invades homes, and people are often forced to cover their mouths and noses when stepping outside. [...]

Treating neuropathic pain is a major clinical challenge, and the underlying mechanisms of neuropathic pain remain elusive. We hypothesized that neuropathic pain–inducing nerve injury may elicit neuronal alterations that recapitulate events that occur during development. Here, we report that WNT signaling, which is important in developmental processes of the nervous system, plays a critical role [...]

Neuropathic pain results from injury or disease in the nervous system and is estimated to affect more than 2 million people in the United States. The pain can linger, but the mechanisms for such persistence are not well defined. Qiu et al. studied a mouse model in which injury to a peripheral nerve caused behavioral [...]