Washington, September 30 : A new research has attributed the thinning of one of Greenland''s largest glaciers to ocean warming preceded by atmospheric changes.

According to the research published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the sudden thinning in 1997 of one of Greenland''s largest glaciers, was caused by subsurface ocean warming.

The research team traces these oceanic shifts back to changes in the atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic region.

Washington, September 30 : If you believe that economic globalization and liberalization are to blame for a sharp rise in interethnic violence across the world, better think again, for a new study from McGill University negates this suggestion.

Dr. Stephen Saideman, who led the study with his former Master’s student David Steinberg, has found that the more government intervention there is in the local economy, the more likely interethnic violence and rebellion becomes.

The researchers say that the likelihood of interethnic violence is lesser in economically open societies.

Washington, September 30 : Commercial aquatic plants grown in constructed wetlands (CWs) are being touted as inexpensive, low-technology approaches for treating agricultural, industrial, and municipal wastewater to comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

CWs, or marshes built to treat contaminated water, incorporate soil and drainage materials, water, plants, and microorganisms.

“Surface-flow” constructed wetlands resemble shallow freshwater marshes and generally require a large land area for wastewater treatment.

More effective for greenhouse and nursery operations with limited production space and expensive land are a type of constructed wetland called “subsurface flow”.

Washington, Sept 30 : The prevailing tensions between the US and Pakistan troops along the Pak-Afghan border are only fuelling anti-American sentiment among the Pakistani population, besides causing confusion within the ranks of the Pakistani military about the primary threat to the country, says Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation.

Lisa writes in a commentary that the coalition military strategy must preserve the ability of military forces to defend themselves, and defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Washington, September 30 : Scientists have shown that it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) using a relatively simple machine that can capture the trace amount of CO2 present in the air at any place on the planet.

The machine has been developed by a team of researchers from the University of Calgary (U of C) in Canada, lead by climate change scientist David Keith.

“At first thought, capturing CO2 from the air where it’s at a concentration of 0.04 per cent seems absurd, when we are just starting to do cost-effective capture at power plants where CO2 produced is at a concentration of more than 10 per cent,” said Keith, Canada Research Chair in Energy and Environment.

New York, Sep 30 : A month after Sarah Palin joined John McCain’s ticket to a burst of excitement and anticipation among Republicans, she heads into a critical debate facing challenges from conservatives about her credentials, signs that her popularity is slipping and evidence that her party is worried about how much help she will be for McCain.