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Tropical rainforests, the future of the Earth
June 2011
Visiting this exhibition, you can venture deep into the heart of the tropical rainforests -of Latin America, Africa or Asia- and discover how far they are essential for the future of our Earth!
387 - In search of lost water under glaciers
October 2011
Over 99 % of the Earth’s fresh water exists in ice formations or underground. IRD geophysicists, aiming to find ways of detecting this resource, are at the spearhead in the development of an innovatory method based on nuclear magnetic resonance. To date, it is the only technique applicable for detecting liquid water underground or under a glacier from the surface and for estimating the volume.
This method recently found an original application as an aid for warning of glacier hazard. It successfully detected the presence of an immense water pocket of 55 000 m3 sitting under the Tête Rousse glacier in Haute-Savoie. This posed a flooding threat to people living in the valley below. Warning was given and the local authorities conducted a draining operation.
This technique is adaptable to glacier risk management, but it can also help for water supply provision. It can benefit both tropical mountain areas, such as the Andes or the Himalaya where glacial water can be a major threat, given the context of climate change, and semi-arid regions where water resources lie stored deep underground.
N°47 - novembre / décembre 2008
December 2008
- Another step towards domestication of the Amazonian giant fish
The Amazon and its tributaries harbour nearly one-tenth of the world’s biodiversity of freshwater fish. Among the 2500 species recorded, Arapaima gigas is one of the most emblematic.
In Brazil it is better known as the pirarucu, in Peru as the paiche, and is one of the largest species of freshwater fish. Some specimens can reach 4 m in length with a weight of 200 kg.
This graceful predator has become a victim of over-fishing, however, and figures on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Interview with Bernard Delay,
Bernard Delay chairs the Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité, an institution set up in 2008 with the participation of eight scientific organizations including the IRD
The Budding Scientists
November 2008
The tidal cycle could amplify global-warming related sea-level rises
April 2008
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