A Kansas State University professor is part of a national research team that discovered that streams and rivers produce three times more greenhouse gas emissions than estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Researchers from the University of Washington say the Mariana crow, a forest crow living on Rota Island in the western Pacific Ocean, will go extinct in 75 years. The extinction could happen almost twice as soon as previously believed.
Increasingly, Americans are choosing packaged, processed foods over a healthier diet. And our foxes, raccoons, and opossums, too, are now consuming fast food of a different variety, finding leftovers from drive-thrus rather than chasing down mice, rats, and birds. The rapid spread of urbanization has humans and animal species living closer together and interacting more than ever before. This is evidenced by kit foxes in urban environments eating the same things as humans—particularly corn syrup.
A mathematically driven evolutionary snapshot of woody plants in four similar climates shows that genetic diversity is more sensitive to extinctions and loss of habitat them than long thought.
Scientists expect the Arctic Ocean to be ice-free in summer by century’s end. Now a trio of researchers say losing this continent-sized natural barrier between species such as bears, whales and seals, could mean extinction of some rare marine mammals and the loss of many adaptive gene combinations.
In a study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky determined that earthworms could absorb copper nanoparticles present in soil. The manufacturing of nanomaterials has been steadily on the rise in the medical, industrial, and scientific fields.
New research indicates that if humans reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly in the next decade or two, enough Arctic ice is likely to remain intact during late summer and early autumn for polar bears to survive.
Jeff Wells, a conservation scientists and visiting fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is warning that reindeer, the beloved animals of Christmas lore, are in severe decline thanks to global warming and industrial development in their boreal forest homes.
An effort to increase biofuel production has led scientists to discover genes in yeast that improve their tolerance to ethanol, allowing the production of more ethanol from the same amount of nutrients. This study shows how genetically altered yeast cells survive higher ethanol concentrations, addressing a bottleneck in the production of ethanol from cellulosic material (nonfood plant sources) in quantities that could compete economically with fossil fuels.
Novel metal catalysts might be able to turn greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels without producing more carbon waste in the process.
The United States is being invaded and the “aliens” coming into our country are exotic plant species—weeds, that is.
Locke Island is a small island in a bend of the Columbia River in eastern Washington that plays a special role in the culture of local Indian tribes. Recently, it has begun eroding away at an alarming rate. The island is part of the Hanford Reservation managed by the Department of Energy. So the DOE has turned to a team of Vanderbilt researchers to identify the cause of the increase in erosion.
Creating a trading market giving farmers financial incentives for using best fertilizer practices can benefit water quality, help fight climate change, and raise farmer income, finds a new study by the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research. Md. is one of a handful of states considering both fertilizer and CO2 markets.
An experimental combustion facility at Washington University in St. Louis will be used to study the burning of coal with oxygen rather than with air, which contains large amounts of nitrogen. Oxy-coal combustion makes carbon capture and sequestration much easier by raising the carbon dioxide concentration in exhaust gases from 15 percent to 95 percent.
CSB Board Will Hear Testimony on how Offshore Drilling is Managed and Regulated in Other Countries
The cyanobacteria are famous for releasing the oxygen that made Earth the hospitable planet we know today, but some strains also have hidden talent for producing hydrogen gas. Washington University in St. Louis currently holds the gas-producing record for these versatile microbes.
The most environmentally friendly option during the holiday season is to purchase a real Christmas tree instead of an artificial one, according to a Kansas State University forestry expert.
A preliminary look at an ice field atop the highest mountain in the eastern European Alps suggests that the glacier may hold records of ancient climate extending back as much as a thousand years.
The president of the American Thoracic Society today criticized the Environmental Protection Agency for seeking a six-month delay in issuing a final rule for ozone pollution.
Mirroring an approach that Indiana has taken to the life sciences industry, the state's economic development efforts could capitalize on existing clusters of wind energy and automotive-related companies to foster a more sustainable and profitable business environment. That's the lead finding by a panel of second-year MBA students at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, who were asked to participate in a competitive project for the INdiana Sustainability Alliance (INSA).
One of the world’s foremost experts on climate change is warning that if humans don’t moderate their use of fossil fuels, there is a real possibility that we will face the environmental, societal and economic consequences of climate change faster than we can adapt to them.
Scientists and engineers from two of the nation’s largest industries – medicine and energy – came together this week to explore the synergies in moving oil and pumping blood.
Construction of a fuel cell with enough capacity to power 2,800 homes has begun on the UC San Diego campus as part of a renewable-energy project with the City of San Diego and BioFuels Energy to turn waste methane gas from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant directly into electricity without combustion.
Many U.S. restaurants may be ignoring a desire by American consumers to dine at environmentally friendly restaurants, according to a small exploratory study.
Amid the holly and jolly, don't forget to be nice and not naughty when it comes to recycling during the holiday season.
A study published December 7 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) reports what scientists believe is the worst documented U.S. case of food contamination with polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. The incident also marks the first time food contamination has been thought to result from PBDEs in a food’s packaging.
When an antibiotic is consumed, researchers have learned that up to 90 percent passes through a body without metabolizing. This means the drugs can leave the body almost intact through normal bodily functions.
Biomarkers for contamination highest in animals near Galapagos Island’s marine reserve.
Sperm whales throughout the Pacific carry evidence of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and persistent organic pollutants including the pesticide DDT, according to a study published online December 6 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The broad study provides a baseline for future research on ocean pollution and health.
New research shows that notches carved by rivers at the bottom of glacial valleys in the Swiss Alps survive from one glacial episode to the next, protected in part by the glaciers themselves.
Utilizing the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry, researchers are about to investigate—and view first-hand—the possible effects of the oil spill at the bottom of the Gulf. And, from Dec. 6-14, the mission will be relayed to the public as it happens on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) Dive and Discover website (http://divediscover.whoi.edu).
Design features such as overpasses keep drivers moving safely on our highways, letting cars pass in different directions without interacting with other cars or trains. Allowing wildlife to move from one side of the road to the other without encountering vehicle traffic is a challenge for transportation planners and wildlife managers.
Exposure to polluted air early in life led to an accumulation of abdominal fat and insulin resistance in mice even if they ate a normal diet, according to new research.
A team of scientists studying Antarctic ice cores have found surprising evidence of a fluctuating pattern of carbon monoxide concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere caused by biomass burning in the Southern Hemisphere over the past 650 years.
Harmful algal blooms, which negatively affect coastal ecosystems, public health, economies and fisheries around the world, may be promoted by vitamins B-1 and B-12 according to Stony Brook University scientists, whose findings were published in an early online edition (Nov. 10) and in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS ) in an article entitled "Most harmful algal bloom species are vitamin B1 and B12 auxotrophs."
Protecting biodiversity is more than an act of environmental preservation; it can be a matter of self-preservation, according to a study that shows healthy biodiversity in intact ecosystems helps ward off infectious disease.
James E. Klaunig, a toxicologist at Indiana U. who has served on numerous EPA panels, discusses research challenges facing the EPA. James Barnes, professor and former dean at IU, shares an insider's perspective of the earliest days of the EPA.
“Of the 675 fish species found in southeastern waters, more than 25 percent are considered imperiled,” Donald J. Orth of Virginia Tech said during his keynote address at the Southeastern Fishes Council annual meeting.
The well-reported arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh – called the “largest mass poisoning of a population in history” by the World Health Organization and known to be responsible for a host of slow-developing diseases – has now been shown to have an immediate and toxic effect on the struggling nation’s economy.
Once lost in the mists of time, the colonial hydrology of the northeastern United States has been reconstructed by a team of geoscientists, biological scientists and social scientists, including University of New Hampshire Ph.D. candidate Christopher Pastore.
A study recently published in the Journal of Environmental Quality by a team from Cornell University and the University of Illinois-Urbana found that tile drainage systems in upper Mississippi farmlands – from southwest Minnesota to Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio – are the biggest contributors of "dead zone" fueling nitrogen runoff into the Gulf of Mexico.
Exploring a far-flung, sun-drenched island off the beaten track is a dream vacation for many adventurous travellers. To preserve these pristine places, tourists are increasingly keen on reducing their environmental footprint, but they’re divided on who should pay to keep these vacation destinations environmentally sustainable, according to a new Ryerson University study.
It was Bing Crosby who immortalized a white Christmas in his 1942 hit single, but these days more and more eco-conscious consumers are dreaming of a green Christmas instead. If you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint this holiday season, consider these tips from Dedee DeLongpre Johnston, director of sustainability at Wake Forest University.
Researchers at the University of Southern Maine collected soil samples from Mount Everest. The samples were then analyzed for trace element concentrations, including arsenic and cadmium.
Cornell University is sending three faculty presenters to the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. All three will be available throughout the Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 conference for interviews. Antonio Bento welcomes interviews in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Johannes Lehman welcomes interviews in English or German.
Students aim to improve Kenyan slum-dwellers’ access to basic sanitation — and generate renewable energy and jobs along the way.
Environmental Policy experts to evaluate smart growth, sustainability, climate change, greening of the government.
A cement-like substance could help with stormwater management while potentially keeping millions of plastic bottles out of landfills.
Two Michigan environmental scientists advocate for scientist-advocacy on issues of environmental ethics.
Moscow grabbed headlines last summer as thousands perished during an unprecedented heat wave. However, a retrospective study of heat waves in 43 U.S. cities indicates mortality climbs even during the less dramatic heat events that hit many cities almost every year, according to research published online November 18 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). “Our findings have implications for decision makers addressing the health burden of heat waves and for researchers estimating health effects from climate change,” said study co-author Michelle L. Bell of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
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