Scientists at the Florida State University Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) who developed a unique computer model with a knack for predicting hurricanes with unprecedented accuracy are forecasting a season of above-average activity.
What if you could save farmers money, protect the quality of the water in a watershed, help keep invasive plants out of waterways, protect biodiversity and prevent potential oxygen-depletion mass fish kills all with one predictive tool?
Climate is greatly influenced by the flow of heat energy carried by ocean currents. But precisely quantifying the mixing between the ocean and the atmosphere is hampered by a lack of detail in models of the ocean and of the water cycle. And in both models, knowing the salt content of the water is essential.
University of Arkansas researchers conducted a life-cycle analysis of fluid milk that will provide guidance for producers, processors and others throughout the dairy supply chain.
Two processes that turn woody biomass into transportation fuels have the potential to exceed current Environmental Protection Agency requirements for renewable fuels, according to research published in the Forest Products Journal.
A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development (AHEAD) Program, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and regional partners finds that a new approach to beef production in southern Africa could positively transform livelihoods for farmers and pastoralists, while helping to secure a future for wildlife and wildlife-based tourism opportunities.
When it comes to technology and the future of food, the pessimists are wrong.
Dr. Jeffrey Gaffney, an internationally known chemist specializing in atmospheric sciences, says there is a gap in knowledge about the effect of gases produced as a result of wildfires and our consumption of biofuels.
“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that challenge the sustainability of a global environment and society” says Nova Southeastern University Associate Professor Song Gao, Ph.D. Scientists know that aerosols—such as dust, smog, and smoke—have an impact on air quality, human health, and ecosystem balance.
Chemical engineers have discovered a new chemical process to make p-xylene, an important ingredient of plastics for products such as soda bottles and packaging, at 90 percent yield from lignocellulosic biomass, the highest yield achieved to date. Details are in the current issue of Green Chemistry.
An analysis of peer-reviewed articles by climate scientists over 20 years shows that a vast majority believe that human activities are the primary cause of global climate change.
In a new paper published this week (May 20) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and elsewhere validate a fundamental assumption at the very heart of a popular way to predict relationships between complex variables.
More than 13,000 ships per year transit the Panama Canal each year. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used. The advent of large “super” cargo ships has demanded expansion of the canal, leaving the authority to consider how meet increased demand for water. One proposed measure is the reforestation of the watershed, which has been studied by ASU scientists Silvio Simonit and Charles Perrings to aid planners.
Large-river specialist fishes — from giant species like paddlefish and blue catfish, to tiny crystal darters and silver chub — are in danger, but researchers say there is greater hope to save them if major tributaries identified in a University of Wisconsin-Madison study become a focus of conservation efforts.
Scientists hope to learn more about how life thrives in these harsh environments
The results of a new study led by George Washington University Professor Tianshu Li provide direct computational evidence that nucleation of ice in small droplets is strongly size-dependent, an important conclusion in understanding water’s behavior at the nanoscale.
The nation’s land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country’s yearly needs. For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard.
The Geologic Time Scale 2012, or GTS2012, is the latest understanding of Earth’s history, and the means by which geoscientists around the world investigate the rock record.
A study published this week in Nature Geoscience shows that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath.
UWM geologist John Isbell reads rock, looking for the natural rules that govern the Earth’s climate in the absence of human activity. His work is challenging many assumptions about the ways drastic climate change unfolds – and what to expect next.
When it comes to cleaning up the next massive crude oil spill, one of the best and most eco-friendly solutions for the job may be low-grade cotton from West Texas.
Clam fossils from the middle Devonian era now yield a better paleontological picture of the capacity of ecosystems to remain stable in the face of environmental change, according to research published today in the online journal PLOS ONE.
Because information about climate change is ubiquitous in the media, researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Texas, Austin, looked at why many Americans know so little about its causes and why many are not interested in finding out more. The study, “What, Me Worry? The Role of Affect in Information Seeking and Avoidance” was conducted by Z. Janet Yang, PhD, assistant professor of communication at UB, and Lee Ann Kahlor, PhD, associate professor of public relations and advertising at UT Austin. It was published in the April 2013 issue of the journal Science Communication.
New research shows that, in recent decades, fall is the only period of extensive warming over the entire Antarctic Peninsula, and it is mostly from atmospheric circulation patterns originating in the tropics.
Climate science researchers from Arizona State University are launching a first-of-its-kind website to better understand and track greenhouse gas emissions from global power plants.
Global warming trends have a significant influence on the spread of West Nile Virus to new regions in Europe and neighboring countries, where the disease wasn’t present before, according to a new study by the University of Haifa. The study was commissioned by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm, which belongs to the European Union. The study found that rising temperatures have a more considerable contribution than humidity, to the spread of the disease, while the effect of rain was inconclusive.
Researchers are helping develop a new generation of photovoltaic cells that produce more power and cost less to manufacture than what’s available today.
A new tool, 50yearforecast.org, is available for Americans who are eager to see their local media address how climate change impacts their communities. At 50yearforecast.org, environmentally conscious Americans can easily search for their local TV meteorologists and send them an email urging them to connect the dots between climate change and the rise in extreme weather.
"Eternal flames" fueled by hydrocarbon gas could shine a light on the presence of natural gas in underground rock layers and conditions that let it seep to the surface, according to research by Indiana University geologists.
For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a stable beneath-the-snow habitat that gives essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures.
Global Temperature Report: April 2013.
Researchers have developed an improved way to test heavy duty trucks for pollution emissions. It is far more reliable and less costly the the current test. If used, it could save millions in transportation costs.
Dylan Schwilk can discuss the anatomy of the Springs Fire north of Los Angeles.
Boise State graduate students Gabriel Trisca, computer science, and Mark Robertson, geophysics, leave Friday to spend a full month at Summit Camp at Greenland’s highest point, where they will help test the capabilities of a unique NASA robot and gather radar data to help scientists better understand the extent of summer 2012’s unusual ice melt.
IISD analysis -- Regulating Carbon Emissions in Canada-- Oil and Gas Greenhouse Gas Regulations: The implications of alternative proposals.
Two researchers affiliated with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering have published a paper which reports that hot water recirculating systems touted as “green,” actually use both more energy and water than their standard counterparts. The research found that the “so-called green” hot water recirculation systems used more net water than the conventional systems after accounting for water needed to produce the extra energy.
In the spring following a forest fire, trees that survived the blaze explode in new growth and plants sprout in abundance from the scorched earth. For centuries, it was a mystery how seeds, some long dormant in the soil, knew to push through the ashes to regenerate the burned forest.
University of Washington engineers have found that using a grocery delivery service can cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least half when compared with individual household trips to the store.
Researchers at Florida State University have developed a new metric to measure seasonal Atlantic tropical cyclone activity that focuses on the size of storms in addition to the duration and intensity, a measure that may prove important when considering a hurricane’s potential for death and destruction. Just ask the survivors of Hurricane Sandy.
Virginia Tech researchers working in Botswana discovered that humans are passing antibiotic resistance to wildlife, especially in protected areas where numbers of humans are limited.
Potential for method to be used within a network of wetland monitoring programmes in Southeast Asia and globally for assessing shoreline security and stability.
Wood-burning cookstoves, used by millions of people worldwide, cause air pollution, disease and death. A team of university students studied the problem and came up with a simple, low-cost solution: better ventilation
It’s well known that wildfires can leave surface soil burned and barren. But a new team's fiery test found that the hotter the fire — and the denser the vegetation feeding the flames — the less the underlying soil heated up, an inverse effect which runs contrary to previous studies and conventional wisdom.
Since 1997, a shrubby perennial found only in East Texas has been on a waiting list to be officially declared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened. A ruling on the fate of the Neches River rose-mallow is expected by 2016, but the future of the white-petaled, ruby-throated hibiscus may hinge on its past: The jury is still out on whether the showy plant is actually its very own species. Researchers will present their most recent findings on the matter on Tuesday, April 23, at the Experimental Biology 2013 conference in Boston.
For much of Asia, the pace of life is tuned to rhythms of monsoons. The summer rainy season is especially important for securing the water and food supplies for more than a billion people. Its variations can mean the difference between drought and flood. Now a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego-led study reports on a crucial connection that could drastically improve the ability of forecasters to reliably predict the monsoon a few months in advance.
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