GIVE FISH A CHANCE: In a January report for the Pew Oceans Commission, biological sciences professor Stephen Palumbi calls for immediate creation of marine reserves throughout the coastal United States. Palumbi cites a number of threats to healthy ocean ecosystems, including pollution, overfishing and runoff from land, and says there’s good evidence that small but fully protected reserves can play a key role in restoration. “When you have a reserve, fish inside get bigger, become more numerous and leak out the edges,” he writes.
HOT TOPIC: Every schoolkid knows that carbon dioxide is good for plants. But there’s such a thing as too much CO2, conclude researchers at Stanford and at the Nature Conservancy in the December 6 issue of Science. They simulated changes expected in the next 100 years due to global warming—increases of 2 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 percent precipitation, additional nitrogen deposits in soil and a doubling of atmospheric CO2—and observed that under those conditions, the additional CO2 actually retarded plant growth. They weren’t the only ones sounding the alarm. In the January 2 issue of Nature, Terry Root, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Studies, and her colleagues present a statistical analysis of 143 separate studies on global warming and biological change. “Birds are laying eggs earlier than usual, plants are flowering earlier, and mammals are breaking hibernation sooner,” Root says. Combined with loss of habitat, she adds, rapid temperature increase could wipe out numerous species.
HIGHER LEARNING? Although more people in the United States have access to higher education than ever before, policy makers need to examine the quality of the education they receive, says a new report by the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement on campus. “We are trying to create a sense of urgency in how well colleges and universities are meeting diverse needs and changing expectations,” says associate professor of education Patricia Gumport.
