Scientists at The Florida State University's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) have developed a new computer model that they hope will predict with unprecedented accuracy how many hurricanes will occur in a given season.
When it comes to air-quality advisories, city residents are no strangers, especially during the dog days of summer. But smog is made up of an array of air pollutants, including the mad hatter's muse, mercury. One Ryerson University researcher has found that summer is the peak season for this atmospheric toxin, and that higher levels of mercury species exist in the urban atmosphere as compared to rural regions.
The Amazon rainforest may be the largest reservoir of soil microbes on Earth, yet most are unknown to science, according to microbiologist Klaus Nüsslein. But it's clear the area is under great threat. He leads a project to identify, collect and preserve microbe-rich soils before it's too late.
The global composite temperature during June 2009 was flat, according to figures from The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Northern Hemisphere experienced a slight increase "” +0.03 C (about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for June. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere was cooler by the same amount "” -0.03 C (about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit) below 20-year average for June.
The withdrawal of Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a potential nuclear waste repository has reopened the debate over how and where to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.
A Valparaiso University researcher, Dr. Gary Morris, and two undergraduate students are traveling to Japan to study the impact of China's steps to reduce air pollution and shed light on how emissions from China affect other nations.
Knowing the past shows how present deforestation is tipping the scales toward extinction for some Southeast Asian plants and animals already in danger.
Prairie lakes are more likely to carry elevated mercury levels during wet cycles that can affect fish caught in them & subsequently consumed by people.
Associate Professor Jennifer Turner of the University of Maryland releases her annual list of great summer reads for children of all ages. This year's theme is "Be Green and Be Healthy!"
In an era in which the individuality and vitality of small towns are under threat from globalization, and city planning discussions tend to center on topics such as metropolitan regions, megaregions, and global cities, two Virginia Tech professors reflect on the potential of small towns.
Carl DiSalvo and Jonathan Lukens show their piece, "Smog is Democratic" in the CDC's art show "Consequential Matters" through September 11, 2009.
A team of three Iowa State University researchers contributed to a study that found average wind speeds across the country have decreased by an average of .5 percent to 1 percent per year since 1973.
House members and supporters rally for passage of historic clean energy bill.
Germany's effort to replace coal- and nuclear-fired electricity generation with renewables hinges on completing a large number of offshore wind farms--which are being developed at a troublingly slow pace.
1) Research facility is the only building in the United States to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects' 2009 International Award; 2) Award spokesperson says the building "might be claimed as perhaps the most environmentally efficient building to-date" in the U.S.
The sustainability of fisheries depends on the transparency with which coastal states incorporate scientific advice into policies, reports a study published in the journal Plos Biology.
A Baylor University researcher has explored various means by which individuals and communities are responding to weather and climate change.
Planning that dream summer vacation but looking for some eco-friendly options? Looking for ways to make your home more "green"? Ryerson University experts are available to provide their expertise on sustainable housing, eco-tourism, alternative energy and more.
Scripps researchers tackle the "˜holy grail' of climate change modeling.
Super corn and soybeans are so 20th century. With the world's population nearing 7 billion on its way to 9 billion by 2050, and climate change threatening land-based agriculture, marine scientists are looking for reliable new food sources through a Blue Revolution -- the intelligent use of aquaculture to supplement depleted wild fish stocks with farm-raised oysters and other valuable ocean "crops."
Ryerson University faculty experts present 10 tips on becoming an urban farmer.
Tulane University researchers and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are planning to develop an "environmental observatory" in the lower delta of the Mississippi River to study the impacts of climate change on this region of wetlands and waterways that is vulnerable to devastating storms such as 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
St. Lawrence University's Japanese-style Zen garden is both teaching space and a place for over-stressed students to take a break for some quiet reflection.
As tempting as those "back-to-school" departments in stores are, students interested in living a "green" life at college should consider a different "must-have" list than the one offered by most colleges. St. Lawrence University has an eco-aware version.
Grinnell College Campus Environmental and Safety Coordinator Chris Bair is available to talk to reporters about Grinnell's campus sustainability efforts and student-led green initiatives.
Two abrupt and drastic climate events, 700 years apart and more than 45 centuries ago, are teasing scientists who are now trying to use ancient records to predict future world climate. The events - one, a massive, long-lived drought and the other, a rapid cooling that accelerated the growth of tropical glaciers - left signals in ice cores and other geologic records from around the world.
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, supports researchers who are designing new, more efficient chemical reactions that can also aid the environment by preventing waste, reducing energy usage and minimizing the use and creation of hazardous compounds.
With global focus intensifying on alternative and renewable energy solutions to satisfy both environmental and policy issues, presenters are being sought for the Materials and Society technical programming at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society's (TMS) 2010 Annual Meeting & Exhibition. The deadline to submit an abstract is July 15.
Reductions in the flow of the Apalachicola River have far-reaching effects that could prove detrimental to grouper and other reef fish populations in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, according to a new Florida State University study that may provide new ammunition for states engaged in a nearly two-decade water war.
Armed with a $165,000 EPA grant, one MTSU geosciences professor is embarking on a study that's focused on determining water pollution based on the presence of two hard-shelled, hardy microorganisms. She's found the organisms in Florida rivers that are used regularly by people in the area, and now, she's launching a similar study in Virginia.
Banning or restricting the use of certain types of fishing gear could help the world's coral reefs and their fish populations survive the onslaughts of climate change according to a study by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and other groups.
Changes in ocean chemistry "” a consequence of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human industrial activity "” could cause U.S. shellfish revenues to drop significantly in the next 50 years, according to a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
"This report is a very thorough, sobering synthesis of what we now know about the impacts of climate change on all of us," says Nancy Grimm, a professor at Arizona State University, one of the authors on the new federal study assessing the current and anticipated domestic impacts of climate change.
"Like Paul Revere, this report is shouting that the enemy is at our doorstep," said National Wildlife Federation President & CEO Larry Schweiger of the U.S. Global Change Research Program report.
New assessment of national, regional impacts shows challenges ahead for Great Plains.
Researchers have used sediment from the deep ocean bottom to reconstruct a record of ancient climate that dates back more than the last half-million years. The record, trapped within the top 20 meters of a 400-meter sediment core drilled in 2005 in the North Atlantic Ocean by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, gives new information about the four glacial cycles that occurred during that period.
What does it mean for a clothing or footwear company to be environmentally sustainable? What specific policies can apparel retailers and brands implement, and how does pursuing environmental sustainability impact a company's bottom line? These and other questions will be explored during the University of Delaware's next FIBERcast, set for Friday, June 19, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Register now at this Web site (http://www.ocm.udel.edu/fmi/xsl/fiber/preregister.xsl) for the live, audio program.
A research article published on June 11 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) describes an approach to identify which U.S. populations within specific geographic regions are likely to be most susceptible to adverse effects of heat, as well as which areas are most in need of intervention.
Dairy genetics, nutrition, herd management and improved animal welfare over the past 60 years have resulted in a modern milk production system that has a smaller carbon footprint than mid-20th century farming practices, says a Cornell University study in the Journal of Animal Science (June 2009).
Nutrition, environmental health, and food safety are issues that are becoming closely tied, according to speakers at the 2009 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo. Sustainability is becoming more important to the consumer when it comes to food, with factors such as production ethics and global warming being foremost.
As many as 4,550 of the more than 50,000 plant species in the Amazon will likely disappear because of land-use changes and habitat loss within the next 40 years, according to a new study by two Wake Forest University researchers.
As chief operating officer and co-founder of One Earth Designs (OED), Wellesley College senior Catlin Powers has spent as many as 50 hours a week during her college years fighting to bring heat, clean water and other necessities to those in need "” from the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas to economically depressed areas of the Dominican Republic, Ghana and India. Powers has been recognized for her work with several prizes this spring, including $75,000 from the St. Andrews Prize for the Environment.
Crop residues possess a critical role in sustaining soil organic matter, and as it is increasingly being used for the production of cellulosic-based ethanol, this removal may impact the long-term productivity of soils.
An international research team returned recently from a drilling trip in Siberia, where they retrieved Arctic cores going back further than ever before collected, information they call "of absolutely unprecedented significance" for understanding past climate change and modeling future developments.
Cornell University's eight-acre composting operation reduces the school's total waste stream by half. It recently won a 2009 Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In the June issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), editor-in-chief Hugh A. Tilson announced that the EHP 2009 Paper of the Year is "Decrease in Anogenital Distance among Male Infants with Prenatal Phthalate Exposure," written by Shanna H. Swan, Katharina M. Main, Fan Liu, Sara L. Stewart, Robin L. Kruse, Antonia M. Calafat, Catherine S. Mao, J. Bruce Redmon, Christine L. Ternand, Shannon Sullivan, J. Lynn Teague and the Study for Future Families Research Team.
There's little doubt that coral reefs the world over face threats on many fronts: pollution, diseases, destructive fishing practices and warming oceans. But reefs appear to be more resistant to one potential menace "“ seaweed "“ than previously thought, according to new research by a team of marine scientists from the United States and Australia.
A prominent Texas Tech University climate researcher can discuss how global climate change will affect the United States during the coming century.
What is the best way to fully appreciate Henry David Thoreau's Walden? For a course at Furman University this spring, the answer was a bit unusual. Spend one week reading the book and another week building a replica of the rustic cabin that Thoreau lived in while writing much of the book.
The Cliffs Cottage at Furman University has all the latest technological innovations in sustainable living. Geothermal heating and cooling, two solar technologies, bamboo floors, furniture made from reclaimed wood, even cisterns that collect rainwater from the roof. The home has 3,400 square feet, but is so energy efficient that it can be heated and cooled for less than $75 a month.
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