Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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In a stroke of good luck, Drexel's Dr. Tracy Quirk captured detailed measurements of water level and salinity at a range of coastal wetland sites, even as they were overtaken by Hurricane Sandy. After the storm, she began working on an intensive year-long project, funded by the National Science Foundation, to evaluate ecosystem processes in New Jersey’s salt marshes before, during, and for a year following Hurricane Sandy. Quirk is beginning to analyze findings from the study now.

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A new study of an April 2011 tornado outbreak apparently affirms some new theories about factors that might enhance tornado development.

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September temperatures (preliminary)

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Results of survey of University of Florida students gauging perceptions, level of fear re: climate change.

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Examining a long-lived forest, researchers have measured mortality of Black Spruce trees in the northern forests of North America, and have found the dead trees aren’t being replaced by new ones. The result suggests trees might be storing more carbon than currently estimated.

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Water vapor changes in the stratosphere contribute to warmer temperatures and likely play an important role in the evolution of Earth’s climate, says a research team led by a Texas A&M University professor.

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Geologists found that the likelihood that tungsten will seep into an aquifer's groundwater depends on the groundwater's pH level, the amount of oxygen in the aquifer and the number of oxidized particles in the water and sediment.

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University of Rhode Island entomologists reached a milestone in their efforts to control the invasive weed swallow-wort this month with the first release of a biological agent to fight the pest.

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Certain anabolic steroids and pharmaceutical products last longer in the environment than previously known, according to a new study led by the University of Iowa. The researchers found that the steroid trenbolone acetate, along with some other pharmaceutical products, never fully degrade in the environment, and in fact can partially regenerate themselves. Results published online in the journal Science Express.

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University of Virginia researchers have found that the Marcellus Shale geological formation in Pennsylvania has the potential to store roughly 50 percent of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions produced from stationary sources between 2018 and 2030.

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An independent scientific review panel has concluded that the mass stranding of approximately 100 melon-headed whales in the Loza Lagoon system in northwest Madagascar in 2008 was primarily triggered by acoustic stimuli, more specifically, a multi-beam echosounder system operated by a survey vessel contracted by ExxonMobil Exploration and Production (Northern Madagascar) Limited.

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There is a current superstar species of blue-green algae that, through its powers of photosynthesis and carbon dioxide fixation, or uptake, can produce ethanol, hydrogen, butanol, isobutanol and potentially biodiesel. Now that’s some five-tool player.

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Sixteen Washington University in St. Louis students traveled to Australia to learn about that country's energy and environmental practices at coal mines, solar arrays, algae ponds and power plants.

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A new adsorbent for removing emerging contaminants from wastewater that is more effective, reusable and ecco-friendly, has been developed by researchers at Temple University.

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Policymakers need to rethink the idea of promoting biofuels to protect the climate because the methods used to justify such policies are inherently flawed, according to a University of Michigan energy researcher.

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Approximately 30 million pounds of fumigant pesticides are used each year on soil that yields valuable California crops. Determining whether these pesticides are as safe as possible falls to one state entity, the Department of Pesticide Regulation. But in 2010, a neurotoxic, carcinogenic pesticide called methyl iodide was approved for use with strawberries. The science was incomplete, the approval was rushed, and while it stayed on the market, lives were endangered. A case study has been conducted by UCLA's Sustainable Technology and Policy Program that details the flaws in the system, and makes recommendations to prevent this from happening again..

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Rice containing an overactive gene that makes it resistant to a common herbicide can pass that genetic trait to weedy rice, prompting powerful growth even without a weed-killer to trigger the modification benefit, new research shows.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Many ancient crustaceans went extinct following a massive collapse of reefs across the planet, and new University of Florida research suggests modern species living in rapidly declining reef habitats may now be at risk.

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Researchers from Virginia Tech, the Georg-August University of Gottingen, Germany, and the Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor, Maine, have used a special type of microscope to discover how “check valves” in wood cells control sap flow and protect trees when they are injured.

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A team of scientists from Canada and Australia has discovered that a decline in shark populations is detrimental to coral reefs. “Where shark numbers are reduced due to commercial fishing, there is also a decrease in the herbivorous fishes which play a key role in promoting reef health,” said Jonathan Ruppert, a recent University of Toronto PhD graduate. Ruppert was part of a team engaged in long-term monitoring of reefs off Australia's northwest coast.

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A first-ever study of air trapped in the deep snowpack of Greenland shows that atmospheric levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in the 1950s were actually slightly higher than what we have today. This is a surprise because current computer models predict much higher CO concentrations over Greenland today than in 1950. And it appears that improved combustion technology is linked to the lower CO levels.

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Despite warming temperatures, Antarctic sea ice is on track to hit a record high. A new modeling study suggests stronger polar winds can explain the recent growth of Southern Hemisphere ice.

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The Government of Madagascar and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that 705,588 carbon credits are certified for sale from the Makira Forest REDD+ Project.

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Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.14 C per decade.

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Using data from the world’s ecosystems and predictions of how climate change will impact them, scientists have produced a roadmap that ID's the world’s most and least vulnerable areas in the Age of Climate Change.

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Dr. Michael Twiss, professor at Clarkson University, on examining Lake Erie, the Great Lake most impacted by summer hypoxia (the loss of oxygen at the bottom that affects fish and other living communities): “Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, is warmest in summer and coldest in winter,” he says. “These extremes make it a good environment to predict how the lakes will change with global climate change.”

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An expedition of international scientists to the far reaches of Antarctica’s remote Pine Island Glacier has yielded exact measurements of an undersea process glaciologists have long called the “biggest source of uncertainty in global sea level projections.”

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In the wake of deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma this past spring, Florida State University researchers have developed a new statistical model that will help determine whether the risk of tornadoes is increasing and whether they are getting stronger.

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Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. have pieced together startling new evidence that shows rapid 21st century warming may spell doom for tree species in Peruvian cloud forests, with species losing 53-96 percent of their populations.

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As Earth’s temperature climbs, stony corals are in decline. Less discussed, however, is the plight of gorgonian corals — softer, flexible, tree-like species. Divers have noted that gorgonians seem to be proliferating in parts of the Caribbean, and a new study will look to quantify this phenomenon.

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Fracking for natural gas may negatively impact the value of homes near the drill site, according to a survey to be reported in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Real Estate Literature.

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New research shows that the catalyst used in the latest catalytic converters attacks its target pollutant in an unusual way, providing insight into how to make the best catalytic converters.

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A device developed at The University of Alabama in Huntsville has become a valuable tool in researchers’ quest to determine how lightning is spawned, to map strikes and to better predict severe weather.

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Climate scientists who are members of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and working through the University of California, San Diego, Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment (CAICE) have discovered disturbing climate trends close to Earth’s surface. A press conference will take place at 3:30 p.m. ET, Monday, Sept. 9, during ACS’ 246th National Meeting to discuss the critical importance that CAICE is having on climate science and the role of federal funding.

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Oceanographers for the first time recorded an enormous wave breaking miles below the surface in a key bottleneck for global ocean circulation.

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The migration of mature female tiger sharks during late summer and fall to the main Hawaiian Islands, presumably to give birth, could provide insight into attacks in that area, according to a University of Florida scientist.

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A University of Iowa researcher says that although microbes living in the so-called “dark ocean”—below a depth of some 600 feet where light doesn’t penetrate—may not absorb enough carbon to curtail global warming, they do absorb considerable amounts of carbon and merit further study.

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University of Michigan researchers today released seven technical reports that together form the most comprehensive Michigan-focused resource on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural gas and oil extraction process commonly known as fracking.

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A collaborative project involving a Kansas State University ecologist has shown that the Clean Air Act has helped forest systems recover from decades of sulfur pollution and acid rain. The research team spent four years studying centuries-old eastern red cedar trees, or Juniperus virginiana, in the Central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia.

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Wildfire smoke is complicated. A new understanding of its many particles and their properties may lead to a clearer vision of Earth's future climate.

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A Michigan Technological University water resources engineer is working with experts from 10 other universities across the nation to develop a sustainable model for water resources management in South Florida. It will serve other areas facing similar issues.

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The first field investigations of the effect of terrain elevation changes on tornado path, vortex, strength and damage have yielded valuable information that could help prevent the loss of human life and damage to property in future tornadoes. Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas analyzed Google Earth images of the massive 2011 Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Joplin, Mo., tornadoes and found similarities between the two in behavior and interaction with the terrain. The findings likely apply to all tornadoes.

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University students are helping protect the environment and reduce public health risks at a Kansas site.

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Hints that a favorite ingredient in Mexican, Southeast Asian and other spicy cuisine may be an inexpensive new way of purifying drinking water are on the menu today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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One of the first analyses of laws banning disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in landfills has found that state e-waste recycling bans have been mostly ineffective, although California’s Cell Phone Recycling Act had a positive impact. However, e-waste recycling rates remain “dismally low,” and many demographic groups remain unaware of their alternatives, according to the study, which was presented today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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After studying the functioning of the lungs of birds and the swim bladders of fish, scientists described how they created an improved method to capture carbon dioxide that acts like a reverse natural lung, breathing in the polluting gas. Their study on the best way to arrange tubes in a carbon dioxide capture unit was presented at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.