Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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A research team led by Assistant Professor Duong Hai Minh from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering, has achieved a world’s first by successfully converting paper waste into green cellulose aerogels that are non-toxic, ultralight, flexible, extremely strong and water repellent. This novel material is ideal for applications such as oil spill cleaning, heat insulation as well as packaging, and it can potentially be used as coating materials for drug delivery and as smart materials for various biomedical applications.

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Large national parks that are home to gorillas, chimpanzees and other great apes are focal points for much of the field research conducted in tropical Africa and Asia, resulting in crucial knowledge gaps and a biased view of broader conservation needs in those regions

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Findings by Rosenstiel School researchers have important implications for ocean life.

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When an endangered orca is in hot pursuit of an endangered salmon, sending out clicks and listening for their echoes in the murky ocean near Seattle, does the noise from the nearby shipping lane interfere with them catching dinner? To find out scientists measured underwater noise as ships passed their study site 3,000 times. This unprecedented characterization of ship noise will aid in the understanding of the potential effects on marine life, and help with possible mitigation strategies.

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A new University of Washington study looked at potential risks associated with growing vegetables in urban gardens and determined that the benefits of locally produced vegetables in cities outweigh any risks from gardening in contaminated soils.

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The California Natural Resources Agency has named University of California, Irvine biologist Tim Bradley to the science advisory committee for the state effort to preserve its largest inland body of water.

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Laziness can help you succeed… if you’re a nurse shark. A new research paper from Mote Marine Laboratory reveals that nurse sharks have the lowest metabolic rate measured in any shark — new evidence of the sluggish lifestyle that has helped the species survive for millennia.

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The Disaster and Community Crisis Center (DCC) at the University of Missouri is developing tools that can help children and youth affected during this disaster as well as future events. Recently, the program released animated, online disaster preparedness videos that will aid teachers and counselors who work with school-aged children.

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Microscopic films of water allow microbes to survive

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With California in the fourth year of a historic drought, there is much controversy over how to supply cities, farms, and ecosystems with the water they need. Technology may help solve the puzzle.

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The "Green Industry" has recovered from the recession. It includes sod, flowers, bedding plants, tropical foliage, trees and shrubs, among other types of plants as well as many businesses that provide services such as landscape design, installation and maintenance, plus firms -- such as lawn and garden stores -- for wholesale and retail distribution of horticultural products

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Computer simulations help ASU researchers see what works and what doesn’t for farming and ranching in the Mediterranean — and apply that to other regions in the future.

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A team from the Santa Fe Institute, Arizona State University, and Slum Dwellers International has been selected to find new ways to help the world's poorest, most vulnerable communities.

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Worldwide responses to climate change could leave people worse off in the future according to a recent study conducted by CSIRO, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Queensland.

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Coastal seagrass ecosystems cover some 200,000 square kilometers and account for an estimated 15 percent of carbon fixed in global ocean. In Nature, a team including DOE Joint Genome Institute researchers describes the first marine angiosperm genome: the eelgrass Zostera marina.

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The United States could slash greenhouse gas emissions from power production by up to 78 percent below 1990 levels within 15 years while meeting increased demand, according to a new study by NOAA and University of Colorado Boulder researchers.

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WCS announced today that a team of scientists discovered a new species of chameleon in Tanzania.

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A new analysis of ice-core climate data, archeological evidence and ancient pollen samples strongly suggests that agriculture by humans 7,000 years ago likely slowed a natural cooling process of the global climate, playing a role in the relatively warmer climate we experience today.

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A new model explains the fundamental features of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, which some scientists predict will be the “next El Nino.”

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Record-setting temperatures over the past century and a half are extremely unlikely to have occurred without human-caused climate change, but the odds of that happening are not quite as low as previously reported, according to an international team of meteorologists.

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If environmentalists want to protect fragile ecosytems from landing in the hands of developers—in the U.S. and around the globe—they should team up with ecotourists, according to a University of Georgia study published in the Journal of Ecotourism.

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A Florida State University researcher and his team have developed a comprehensive analysis of oil in the Gulf of Mexico and determined how much of it occurs naturally and how much came from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. And more importantly, their data creates a map, showing where the active natural oil seeps are located.

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A new study suggests that current ‘hotspots’ of shark activity are at risk of overfishing, and that the introduction of catch quotas might be necessary to protect oceanic sharks.

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Warming waters fuel algae growth, worsen water quality.

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More than 100 industry executives, association leaders, elected local and state policy makers, private and public sector economists, and other allied professionals are expected to attend

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High school students perform better on tests if they are in a classroom with a view of a green landscape, rather than a windowless room or a room with a view of built space, according to research from the University of Illinois Department of Landscape Architecture.

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Having the wrong coat color during shorter winters is deadly for snowshoe hares and could lead to a steep population decline by mid-century. However, wide variance in molting times could enable natural selection to work.

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Saskatoon, Canada will play host to the 2019 International Wheat Congress, where scientists will discuss advances in research and the future of wheat in helping avert a global food security crisis.

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USGS identifies research and management actions

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Changes in how land is used are inevitable. Those that work the land are making decisions about what rangeland to make into cropland--and vice versa. When it comes to these land use changes, the smartest decisions are driven by data. To assist, researchers have developed a "measurement approach...above dispute" for gathering land use data.

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Deserts are often thought of as barren places that are left exposed to the extremes of heat and cold and where not much is afoot. But that view is being altered as new research keeps revealing the intricate ecological dynamics of deserts as they change responding to the elements.

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An international team of researchers has identified a way to predict which reef fish can live across a greater range of depths, increasing their chances of surviving natural disasters such as cyclones and coral bleaching.

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A new study published in Nature Climate Change pinpoints the temperature increases caused by CO¬2 emissions in different regions around the world.

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The cost burden of Quebec’s carbon-pricing policy, is likely to be modest across income groups and industries, according to a McGill University research team.

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Researchers at Berkeley Lab and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research develop and apply new method to determine whether specific climate impacts can be traced to human-caused emissions.

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UMD-led study indicates “biomass burning” may play larger role in climate change than previously realized.

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In one of the first tests of its kind, researchers use networks of camera traps to chart wildlife population changes, and find species faring well.

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Whether the vast Arctic will retain its icy past or might instead become a dry landscape could hinge on something of an obscure nature – permafrost – according to a new study that includes a Texas A&M University researcher.

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A new scientific journal article reports that carbon dioxide can emerge from the deep ocean in a surprising way — a new piece of the global carbon “puzzle” that researchers must solve to fully understand major issues like climate change.

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Around 720-640 million years ago, much of the Earth’s surface was covered in ice during a glaciation that lasted millions of years. Explosive underwater volcanoes were a major feature of this ‘Snowball Earth’, according to new research led by the University of Southampton.

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Coccolithophores—tiny calcifying plants that are part of the foundation of the marine food web—have been increasing in relative abundance in the North Atlantic over the last 45 years, as carbon input into ocean waters has increased. Their relative abundance has increased 10 times, or by an order of magnitude, during this sampling period.

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Study bolsters view that sustainable, productive ecosystems depend on maintaining biodiversity

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The low pressure area known as System 90L developed rapidly since Jan. 13 and became Hurricane Alex on Jan. 14. Several satellites and instruments captured data on this out-of-season storm. NASA's RapidScat instrument observed sustained winds shift and intensify in the system and NASA's Aqua satellite saw the storm develop from a low pressure area into a sub-tropical storm. NOAA's GOES-East satellite data was made into an animation that showed the development of the unusual storm.

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A new model developed by an international team including a University of Guelph researcher will help better understand and manage threatened ecosystems.

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A recently released study from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) details a new method using “detection dogs,” genetic analysis, and scientific models to assess habitat suitability for bears in an area linking the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to the northern U.S. Rockies.