A new study suggests that the Earth has nearly 45% more rivers than once



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A new study published by a team of researchers at the University of North Carolina and based on data from a NASA satellite suggests that our planet could have many more rivers and more courses. Water than expected. was published this week in the newspaper Science the land is covered by nearly 300,000 square miles (773,000 square kilometers) of rivers and streams, about 44 percent more than previously valued. Researchers have warned that this is an important figure considering the man-made pollution in greenhouse gas exchange between rivers and the atmosphere.

Gizmodo limnologist and biogeochemist from the University of Minnesota Duluth Downing, who did not participate in the study, explained that the rivers and streams of water, contrary to the belief that they only provided carbon to the ocean, leaking slightly more methane, carbon dioxide and other similar greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. a decade ago. He believes that greater river coverage could be a sign that projections of greenhouse gas emissions may be too modest given potential gas emissions each time water reserves are contaminated. by waste

. If you pollute it, you spoil fishing and swimming, but you also spoil the atmosphere, "said Downing, who had already published his own study estimating the overall coverage of rivers and streams. : //t.co/hBZSX1tH4v @DrLimnology

Science News – 2d ago

– Jon Richter (@wainbrave) 1 July 2018

For their research, hydrologists George Allen and Tamlin Pavelsky of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill collected data from a NASA Landsat satellite and studied thousands of images, cruising them through software designed by Pavelsky, which resulted in 58 million river measurements, which were taken into account when they provided an estimate of the level of river and river cover on Earth.

Gizmodo a added that the researchers' methodologies also included recruitment. 39; a "small army of undergraduates" who ensured that Pavelsky's software did not detect any false positives, such as roads, and made no mistake in his badysis.

Overall, Downing commented on Allen and Pavelsky 's study. "exciting" results and covered a large number of data points, with researchers from North Carolina providing figures that were in the 15% of its previous numbers.

"They did a lot of effort and confirmed the numbers"

The researchers found that the Earth could have nearly 45% more rivers and streams. They also discovered that rivers in particular did not cover as much in "man-made areas". Researchers have not yet substantiated their hypothesis with additional research, but they believe it's because humans use water. for agricultural purposes, or to drain wetlands, among other tasks

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