Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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Humboldt State University Environmental Studies professor identifies “eco-depression” among her students and adjusts her teaching methods to help students cope with their feelings

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Whether carbon comes from leaves or needles affects how fast it decomposes, but where it ends up determines how long it's available.

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The first study on prognostic health indicators in the endangered African Penguin provides invaluable information to preserve and rehabilitate this seabird. Competition with fisheries, oil spills, climate change, diseases and predators are all contributing factors in their dramatic population decline, which has been as high as 80 percent in some South African colonies. Until now, limited data existed on the factors contributing to their successful rehabilitation.

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A new study has revealed a chain mail-like woven microstructure that gives parrotfish teeth their remarkable ability to chomp on coral all day long – the structure could serve as a blueprint for designing ultra-durable synthetic materials.

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WCS has released heartbreaking footage of rescued African gray parrots from the Republic of Congo where thousands were destined for the illegal pet trade.

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A study published in PNAS details a new “landscape portfolio” theory that is based on Markowitz’s “portfolio theory” in economics, melded with ecological landscape theory to predict population growth of living things.

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An international researcher team used neutron analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, x-ray crystallography and other techniques to study chlorite dismutase, an enzyme that breaks down the environmental pollutant chlorite into harmless byproducts. The results shed light on the catalytic process and open possibilities for bioremediation.

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The Royal Government of Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration (FiA), WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) announced today the release of 25 Royal Turtles into their natural habitat in the Sre Ambel river system—the only place in Cambodia where this species is found.

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Cornell landscape architecture graduate students are wrestling with Coney Island’s tenable, livable resilience in the face of nature aiming to reclaim the island. By semester’s end, the students will develop 36 ways to keep Coney Island inhabitants happy.

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Four studies presented at the 2017 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting will conduct a critical review of approaches scientists are using to characterize the impacts of climate change and assess the resulting economic damages. Ultimately, these researchers conclude that the current state of climate policy needs to be revaluated based on most recent research. The presentations will take place during the Modeling the Economic Aspects of Climate Change: A Critical Review of the State of the Science Symposium on Monday, Dec. 11, from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

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Trillion Trees, an innovative new partnership among three of the world’s largest conservation organizations, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WWF, and Birdlife International, will launch in London, United Kingdom on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.

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Scientists and activists alike have been looking for a solution to the problem of aquatic nutrient pollution. Now one group reports in Environmental Science & Technology that ribbed mussels are up to the clean-up challenge.

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The Climate Science Special Report, released last week by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, details the science behind global warming and its current and potential impacts on the American economy, communities, public health and infrastructure. One of the report’s lead authors is Robert E. Kopp, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, director of Rutgers’ Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) and co-director of Rutgers’ Coastal Climate Risk and Resilience Initiative.

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Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.

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Using a sophisticated computer model, scientists have demonstrated for the first time that a new research approach to geoengineering could potentially be used to limit Earth’s warming to a specific target while reducing some of the risks and concerns identified in past studies, including uneven cooling of the globe.

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North Atlantic right whales – a highly endangered species making modest population gains in the past decade – may be imperiled by warming waters and insufficient international protection, according to a new Cornell University analysis published in Global Change Biology.

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An unseasonably warm, dry summer in 2015 on Washington state's Mount Rainier caused subalpine wildflowers to change their bloom times and form 'reassembled' communities, with unknown consequences for species interactions among wildflowers, pollinators and other animals.

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Scientists from the University of Chicago analyzed genetic data from a group of swallowtail species to find out when and how mimicry first evolved, and what has been driving those changes since then.

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Backed by funding from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, the University of Illinois at Chicago will join a partnership between the village of Robbins and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to support the Southwest suburb's revitalization and sustainability efforts.

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Conditions in crowded urban settlements in Africa make the effects of climate change worse, pushing temperatures to levels dangerous for children and the elderly in those areas.

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Experts at Fresno State and Sonoma State are still assessing the impact of the recent fires. So far, winemakers at both campuses see a healthy picture for the state and wine lovers alike.

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A new study by an international team of scientists reports an analysis of the incredibly diverse “lost world” of Caribbean fossils that includes dozens of ancient mammals. The study reveals that the arrival of humans throughout the islands was likely the primary cause of the extinction of native mammal species there.

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In a cover story published this week in the Ecological Society of America’s premier journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Kevin J. Gutzwiller, Ph.D., professor of biology in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences, and co-authors harnessed existing technology to help recreation ecologists and managers better understand and minimize those recreation disturbances to wildlife.

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The anatomy and mechanisms underlying vocal production are often poorly described, especially in small animals, but thanks to new imaging technology, NAU researchers were able to examine the laryngeal structures of small rodents for the first time.

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Freshwater Stories, a forthcoming website produced by the University of Illinois at Chicago's Freshwater Lab, is designed to be an educational and creative hub for learning about Lake Michigan and the challenges facing it and the Great Lakes water system.

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A new ranking shows the research strength of the University of Michigan in the natural sciences, placing it in the top 10 of American institutions for producing articles in the most selective science publications. Among publicly funded institutions, U-M placed fourth.

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In the Earth Microbiome Project, an extensive global team co-led by researchers at University of California San Diego, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory collected more than 27,000 samples from numerous, diverse environments around the globe. They analyzed the unique collections of microbes — the microbiomes — living in each sample to generate the first reference database of bacteria colonizing the planet. Thanks to newly standardized protocols, original analytical methods and open data-sharing, the project will continue to grow and improve as new data are added.

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Increasing organic runoff as a result of climate change may be reducing the penetration of pathogen-killing ultraviolet (UV) sunlight in inland lakes, rivers, and coastal waters, according to a new study in the journal Scientific Reports.

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Effort to stop the spread of invasive South American palm weevil that is devastating palm trees in San Diego County will use environmentally-friendly pheromone formulation.

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Today the EPA announced a new policy regarding who can serve on the agency’s scientific advisory boards. In earlier comments, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had questioned the “independence, and the veracity and the transparency of those recommendations that are coming our way” from scientists who have received EPA research funding.

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Planting native trees and shrubs in your yard can really help songbirds. Researchers from the University of Delaware and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center studied the Carolina chickadee around Washington, D.C. and found native trees and shrubs support much more 'bird food' than non-natives do.

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Planting cannabis for commercial production in remote locations is creating forest fragmentation, stream modification, soil erosion and landslides. Without land-use policies to limit its environmental footprint, the impacts of cannabis farming could get worse, according to a new study published in the November issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

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The University of Maryland (UMD) has joined the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research, both organizations announced today

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Switching from using fuelwood to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking would provide modest climate benefits, but the extent of these depend on whether the wood is renewably sourced, and if the short-lived emissions from burning wood are taken into account, according to a new analysis focused on India.

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Current federal efforts to revive the coal industry will likely do more harm than good to fragile Appalachian communities transitioning from coal as a major source of employment, according to a study conducted by Indiana University researchers.

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They account for just three per cent of the Earth’s surface but play a major role in offsetting carbon dioxide emissions – and now a team of scientists led by the universities of Southampton and Utrecht has discovered that the plants that make up peat bogs adapt exceptionally well to climate change.

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In this special supplement, AJPH examines the impact of climate change on public health.

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Human disturbance of tropical rainforests in Madagascar including wildfires, burning and timber exploitation, have led to reduced rainfall and a longer dry season, further pushing the already critically endangered Greater Bamboo Lemur to the brink of extinction.

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With more than 200 instruments, the Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory is the world’s largest and most extensive climate research facility. This year, the site celebrates 25 years of operations, helping scientists gain vital insights into the Earth’s cloud, aerosol and atmospheric processes.

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Governments and donors have spent billions of dollars since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit attempting to slow the pace of species extinctions around the world. Now, a new paper in Nature provides the first clear evidence that those efforts are working.

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