The large number of planet-friendly standards and regulations creates a sometimes-confusing array of options for “going green.” NIST researchers have prototyped a framework to help organizations of all types sort through the welter of choices and evaluate and implement sustainability standards most appropriate for their operations and interests.
Natural gas is an abundant energy resource for the United States, but much of it remains trapped in shale or tight-sand formations. Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology hope to develop a way to extract that gas by studying the energy source at the molecular level.
NIST researchers studied different methods for collecting, extracting and quantifying microbial spores from indoor surfaces to estimate parameters that should be considered in the development of a standard biological sampling protocol.
In a pair of studies, researchers at the Hollings Marine Laboratory report that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are consistently showing up in the blood and eggs of loggerhead sea turtles, that the turtles accumulate more of the contaminant chemicals the farther they travel up the Atlantic coast, and that the pollutants may pose a threat to the survival of this endangered species.
Scientists made 20 collections of Searls prairie clover in an attempt to characterize their potential for agronomic seed production, flowering date and biomass, inherent population relationships, and phenotypic correlation.
A new book on the bogged-down international politics of global warming lays out a detailed roadmap on how to leverage the self-interest of countries to address climate change rather than relying on high-profile international climate conferences that accomplish little.
As food suppliers attempt to meet the growing demand for local products, a new study finds it’s not always economically or environmentally viable for multi-product industries to focus heavily on local sales.
Indiana University scientists Marta Venier and Ronald Hites have found chemical flame retardants in the blood of pet dogs at concentrations five to 10 times higher than in humans, but lower than levels found in a previous study of cats.
An American University study Is first to compare funding, media coverage and strategy of green groups and industry-linked organizations in Cap & Trade fight.
For 25 years, scientists at RTI International have supported federal efforts to protect and enhance the scenic beauty and air quality of U.S. national parks by analyzing air samples collected through a nationwide network of air monitoring devices.
Atmospheric scientists trying to pin down how clouds curb the amount of sunlight available to warm the earth have found that it depends on the wavelength of sunlight being measured. This unexpected result will help researchers improve how they portray clouds in climate models.
Forty years after Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, simple strategies to combine sustainable principles and everyday decision-making can remain elusive. “Sustainable living is not a one-size-fits-all set of items on a list that can be marked as ‘done,’ which can be challenging in a checklist society,” says Wake Forest’s sustainability director Dedee DeLongpré Johnston.
Earth Day 2011 at The Florida State University will find its Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science faculty celebrating not only the one-year anniversary of their interdisciplinary unit's formation but also the huge response from FSU undergraduates - more than 300 so far - to the department's new Environmental Science degree programs.
A new University of Maryland research center will focus on the human side of environmental policymaking and activism - one of the first centers of its kind in the field. "Environmental legislation and community activism doesn't just spring up in a vacuum," says sociologist Dana R. Fisher, who directs the new Center for Society and the Environment.
Whether it’s Earth Day or laundry day, consumers can take simple steps to save energy and conserve water while getting their clothes cleaner than ever, according to the American Cleaning Institute®. ACI offers earth-friendly information for consumers as they prepare to do the laundry.
Teams of students from seven institutions of higher learning in Virginia and Maryland will play the University of Virginia Bay Game on Earth Day, April 22.
Urban centres worldwide are the leading contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report by UN-HABITAT prepared with expertise from a Canadian climate change scholar at Ryerson University.
A lawn of regionally native grasses would take less resources to maintain while providing as lush a carpet as a common turfgrass used in the South, according to a study by ecologists at The University of Texas at Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Sandia's food waste composting program diverts food waste from landfills.
Three independent investigations published online April 21 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) have reached similar conclusions, associating prenatal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with IQ deficits in school-age children. The fact that three research groups reached such similar conclusions independently adds considerable support to the validity of the findings.
Melting glaciers and ice caps on Canadian Arctic islands play a much greater role in sea level rise than scientists previously thought, according to a new study led by a University of Michigan researcher.
Can sustainable aquaculture be the key in saving the blue fin tuna and keeping the fish a culinary treat worldwide.
On April 22, 2011, Earth Day, Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), the peer-reviewed journal covering environmental health sciences as they relate to human health, will launch a website dedicated to this event. The site, available on Friday at http://ehponline.org/earthday2011, features a collection of recent EHP research, news, science education materials, and podcasts that relate to the overarching themes of air, land, water and climate.
Scientists conducted an experiment over an 86-day period to determined the effect of incorporating biochar into the soil on nitrous oxide emissions from the urine patches produced by cattle.
Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University at Mainz, Germany, recently examined the mobility of arsenic and copper found in dendrites of a local limestone.
Recycling on Long Island has seen a marked decrease of some 20 percent over the past decade, according to a study conducted by Stony Brook University.
More science needed to determine if oil may still cause issues in deeper waters.
A new VIMS study shows that turbulence from boat propellers can and does kill large numbers of copepods—tiny crustaceans that are an important part of marine food webs.
Most Americans now agree that climate change is occurring, but still disagree on why, with opinions about the cause of climate change defined by political party, not scientific understanding, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
A study led by Baylor University geologists shows that a new method that uses different size and shape traits of leaves to reconstruct past climates over the last 120 million years is more accurate than other current methods.
News release on psychology's positive role on climate change.
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a method to detect the presence of soil and groundwater contamination without turning a shovel or touching the water. Instead, they’re using trees.
As UC San Diego marks its 50th Anniversary, the university will host an open house to celebrate its history of pioneering global climate research and its transformation into a living laboratory of sustainable solutions.
Which incentives to use their trees to produce bioenergy work best with private forest owners in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Do the same incentives work equally well in Appalachia? Two scientists compare private forest owners in the two regions.
On April 19, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut. American University professor Daniel Jacobs’s experience leading high-profile environmental cases qualifies him to provide analysis. Bill Snape, an AU law professor and a member of the President’s Trade and Environment Committee, is also available.
Ocean-Oil.org is a free, open-access, peer-reviewed electronic education resource about the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Showering, studying will take on new meaning for AU students when D.C.’s largest solar systems produce hot water and electricity across campussolar hot water system on the east coast.
One year after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on April 20, 2010, two Cornell experts comment on the known and unknown impacts to wildlife – in the air, on the land and in the sea.
The first-ever sustainability report for the U.S. cleaning products industry – released by the American Cleaning Institute® - showcases aggregated environmental metrics data from producers and suppliers of cleaning products and snapshots of the industry’s social and environmental sustainability programs and activities.
Knowledge gained from scientific data and from firsthand experience are two different things. When combined, however, these two sources can offer a more complete picture than either one alone. Researchers applied this concept to the creation of state-and-transition models—studies of vegetation dynamics within ecological sites—using the expertise of conservation land managers and the local knowledge of ranchers.
Wind blowing on the ocean is a crucial factor mixing carbon dioxide into the ocean depths. For more than two decades scientists have suspected there’s another source of mixing at ocean fronts. However, there’s never been a way to get enough measurements of such a front to prove this – until now.
Chronic inhalation of polluted air appears to activate a protein that triggers the release of white blood cells, setting off events that lead to widespread inflammation, according to new research in an animal model.
The ongoing spread of non-native mussels in the Great Lakes has caused "massive, ecosystem-wide changes" throughout lakes Michigan and Huron, two of the planet's largest freshwater lakes, according to a new University of Michigan-led study.
A South Dakota State University researcher is using museum collections to assemble a metrics database on perhaps 60,000 duck eggs representing at least 40 species and subspecies of ducks found in North America. What she learns could ultimately add new knowledge about how waterfowl respond to climate cycles and long-term climate change.
For thousands of years, the native peoples living along the world’s northernmost seas have forged an intimate relationship with their environment. The indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas view themselves as tied to the sea, ice, and other elements of the natural world—even spiritually connected to the animals they hunt and regard as offerings toward the continued subsistence of their people and way of life.
One year after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on the Gulf Coast, new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire shows that despite the roughly equivalent economic compensation, Louisiana and Florida residents differ in perceptions about the current and long-term effects of the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history.
Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale could do more to aggravate global warming than mining coal, according to a Cornell study. Ecologist Robert Howarth warns about methane leaking into the atmosphere during hydraulic fracturing.
For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers has been given the Environmental Leadership Circle Award, Practice Greenhealth's most prestigious honor.
The turmoil in oil-producing nations is triggering turmoil at home, as rising oil prices force Americans to pay more at the pump. Meanwhile, there’s a growing industry that’s promising jobs and access to cheaper energy resources on American soil, but it’s not without its controversy. Deborah Kittner, a University of Cincinnati doctoral student in geography, presents, “What’s the Fracking Problem? Extraction Industry’s Neglect of the Locals in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Region,” at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Kittner will be presenting April 14 at the meeting in Seattle.
New research shows that rising sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean drive atmospheric circulation that has caused some of the largest shifts in Antarctic climate in recent decades.
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