Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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10-Apr-2016 8:00 PM EDT
How Climate Change Dries Up Mountain Streams
University of Utah

The western United States relies on mountain snow for its water supply. Water stored as snow in the mountains during winter replenishes groundwater and drives river runoff in spring, filling reservoirs for use later in summer. But how could a warming globe and a changing climate interrupt this process?

11-Apr-2016 2:00 PM EDT
Consensus on Consensus
Michigan Technological University

A research team confirms that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is caused by humans. The group includes Sarah Green, a chemistry professor at Michigan Technological University, and is led by John Cook from the University of Queensland.

Released: 12-Apr-2016 2:05 PM EDT
Economic Development Does Mean Greater Carbon Footprint and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Lund University

Must greater prosperity necessarily lead to a greater carbon footprint and increased greenhouse gas emissions? "In theory, no, but in practice this seems to be the case", says researcher Max Koch from Lund University in Sweden. His study of 138 countries is the first ever to take a global approach to the connections between growth, prosperity and ecological sustainability. The study was recently published in the journal article Global Environmental Change.

   
Released: 11-Apr-2016 4:05 PM EDT
Researchers Define Links Within Two Supercontinents
University of Wyoming

A University of Wyoming researcher contributed to a paper that has apparently solved an age-old riddle of how constituent continents were arranged in two Precambrian supercontinents -- then known as Nuna-Columbia and Rodinia. It's a finding that may have future economic implications for mining companies.

Released: 11-Apr-2016 4:00 PM EDT
Even Low Levels of Air Pollution Appear to Affect a Child’s Lungs
American Thoracic Society (ATS)

Dramatic improvements in air quality in U.S. cities since the 1990s may not be enough to ensure normal lung function in children, according to new research published in the April 15 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, a journal of the American Thoracic Society.

Released: 11-Apr-2016 3:05 PM EDT
Combined Effects of Copper, Climate Change Can Be Deadly for Amphibians, Research Finds
University of Georgia

Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory warn that the extinction to two amphibian species—the southern toad and the southern leopard frog—may be hastened by the combined effects of climate change and copper-contaminated wetlands.

Released: 11-Apr-2016 3:05 PM EDT
Study Says Alaska Could Lose Massive Icefield by 2200
University of Alaska Fairbanks

The massive icefield that feeds Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier may be gone by 2200 if warming trend predictions hold true, according to University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers.

Released: 11-Apr-2016 12:05 PM EDT
Tulane Expands Chance to Win $1 Million for “Dead Zone” Solution
Tulane University

Tulane University has expanded its Nitrogen Reduction Challenge to allow more entrepreneurs, researchers and inventors the chance to win $1 million.

8-Apr-2016 11:00 AM EDT
Scientists Uncover What Makes Plants “Clot"
University of Delaware

Just like humans, when plants are cut they clot at the site of the wound. Just how they do it is has been a botanical mystery until now. Two University of Delaware researchers have uncovered the enzymes that produce this response. The findings will be published on Monday in Nature Plants.

Released: 11-Apr-2016 9:05 AM EDT
Kirkham Gold Medal Honors Soil Scientist Van Genuchten
Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Research shows extraordinary commitment to science and soil physics and support of soil physicists

Released: 11-Apr-2016 6:05 AM EDT
Selection Pressures Push Plants Over Adaption Cliff – New Study Has Significant Implications for How We Address Rapid Climate Change
University of Warwick

New simulations by researchers at the University of Warwick and UCL’s Institute of Archaeology of plant evolution over the last 3000 years have revealed an unexpected limit to how far useful crops can be pushed to adapt before they suffer population collapse. The result has significant implications for how growers, breeders and scientists help agriculture and horticulture respond to quickening climate change.

Released: 8-Apr-2016 5:30 PM EDT
From Alaska to Florida, FAU’s Third Sea-Level Rise Summit Will Generate Blueprint for Solutions and Adaptation
Florida Atlantic University

While Florida and Alaska are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, they share mutual concerns of the imminent challenges presented by environmental changes. The rapid melting of the Arctic ice is threatening coastal locations globally, and impacts include increased flooding from sea-level rise in Florida to infrastructure instability from permafrost melting in Alaska.

Released: 8-Apr-2016 3:05 PM EDT
Restoring Ecosystems -- How to Learn From Our Mistakes
Umea University

In a joint North European and North American study led by Umeå researcher Christer Nilsson, a warning is issued of underdocumented results of ecological restorations. The researchers show that continuous and systematic evaluations of cost-efficiency, planning, implementations and effects are necessary in order to make use of experiences in future projects. The results have been published in the journal Ecology and Society.

Released: 8-Apr-2016 2:20 PM EDT
Climate and Agriculture: Changing Monsoon Patterns, More Rainfall Contribute to Lower Tea Yield in Chinese Provinces
Tufts University

Longer monsoon seasons with increased daily rainfall, aspects of climate change, are contributing to reduced tea yield in regions of China, with implications for crop management and harvesting strategies, according to findings by a global interdisciplinary team led by Tufts University researchers and published online today in Climate.

Released: 8-Apr-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Using Fungi to Decrease Need for Chemical Fertilizers
South Dakota State University

Plants share their carbohydrates with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that colonize their roots and, in exchange, these fungi provide their hosts with nitrogen and phosphorous. By exploiting this relationship, scientists may be able to increase the biomass production of bioenergy crops and the yield of food crops and to reduce the required fertilizer inputs. This could improve the environmental sustainability of agricultural production systems according to professor Heike Bücking of South Dakota State University.

Released: 7-Apr-2016 4:05 PM EDT
'Climate-Smart Soils' May Help Balance the Carbon Budget
Cornell University

While farm soil grows the world’s food and fiber, scientists are examining ways to use it to sequester carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

Released: 7-Apr-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Catalyst Could Make Production of Key Chemical More Eco-Friendly
Brown University

The world has more carbon dioxide than it needs, and a team of Brown University chemists has come up with a potential way to put some of it to good use.

Released: 7-Apr-2016 12:05 PM EDT
News: Report Shows How to Say Goodbye to Harmful Algal Blooms
Ohio State University

A multi-university collaboration has issued a report on steps to reduce harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie



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