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Ecological Forecasting Soon to Join Weather Forecasting

ARLINGTON, Virginia, September 22, 2004 (ENS) – A new national ecological network is in the works that will allow scientists to predict changes in the nation's ecosystems and their consequences just as the U.S. network of meteorological stations allows forecasters to predict changes in the weather. Work on the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is advancing. When complete, it will be the first national ecological observation system designed to answer scientific questions at regional and continental scales to enable ecological forecasting. Bruce Hayden, an ecologist at the University of Virginia and principal investigator for the project, along with William Michener, associate director of the National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research Network, will direct the NEON project office at the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. With a two year, $6 million cooperative agreement from the National Science Foundation, the institute will set up a NEON Design Consortium and Project Office to develop a blueprint for the network and a plan for its implementation. NEON is envisioned as field and lab instrumentation deployed across the United States. Plans call for it to be integrated via cyberinfrastructure into a continent wide research platform. "Once built, NEON will […]

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World Breathes Easier, It's Car-Free Day

LONDON, UK, September 22, 2004 (ENS) – Drivers across Europe left their cars at home today and headed to work by tube, bicycle or on foot. The ninth annual Car Free Day in Europe is proving to be popular, with 1,146 cities participating and 235 additional cities supporting the campaign. This year, the initiative has spread far beyond Europe. City residents in Japan and Argentina, Taiwan and Canada are leaving their cars behind today and using another method of transportation. In England, the Car Free Day is being supported by a number of local authorities, who are closing roads and putting on street parties. "It is great to see local initiatives taking place across the city to mark Car Free day," said London Euro-MP Jean Lambert. "But one Car Free day is not enough." Lambert, Green Party MEP for the capital and a Walthamstow resident, made her comments at a Car Free Festival in Leyton on Saturday which was organized by Waltham Forest Borough Council as the borough's contribution to the initiative. "Across Europe people are rediscovering their towns and cities, their neighbors and their heritage – and reducing congestion, pollution and accidents – thanks to the In Town Without […]

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