Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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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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The most widely adopted measure for assessing the state of the world’s oceans and fisheries led to inaccurate conclusions in nearly half the ecosystems where it was applied according to new analysis by an international team.

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In the 24-hour news cycle era, the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico already feels like an event from yesteryear, an event that had its 15 minutes of news domination during the summer of 2010 then made room for the next big story once the wellhead was capped.

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With the holiday season just over a month away, you might be making travel plans to celebrate the festive season, or to ring in the New Year at a sunny locale. But for those eco-conscious travellers who are looking for a “green” resort, or who are interested in minimizing their carbon footprint, Ryerson tourism and hospitality professors Rachel Dodds and Sonya Graci offer up these tips on sustainable travel.

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When it comes to controlling carbon emissions, a Case Western Reserve University political scientist challenges conventional views that countries are the only rule makers in international politics of climate change. Jessica Green from the College of Arts and Sciences reports that today’s gold standard for measuring the carbon footprint of firms and organizations was created by the collaborative efforts of NGOs and the private sector—not by countries forging the Kyoto Protocol.

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The Earth is constantly manufacturing new crust, spewing molten magma up along undersea ridges at the boundaries of tectonic plates. Now, scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have observed ocean crust forming in an entirely unexpected way—one that may influence those cycles of life and carbon and, in turn, affect the much-discussed future of the world’s climate.

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Christmas trees come in many shapes and sizes. Charlie Brown’s tree is scraggly and woebegone – but perennially endearing – while the giant trees that command so much attention on the White House lawn and at Rockefeller Center tower majestically over crowds. Botanist Clint Springer, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, says there is room for all kinds of trees to celebrate the holidays, but there are many benefits associated with choosing real Christmas trees.

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In both rural and urban areas across the U.S., racial minorities and the economically disenfranchised suffer disproportionally from the ill effects of assaults on the environment and often lack access to the power to protect their communities. Emmy-award-winning journalist Simran Sethi and Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux spoke at Wake Forest University, encouraging people to change the way they think about environmental justice.

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Geography researchers at the University of South Carolina are conducting climate research at the Congaree National Park, the largest old-growth floodplain forest that remains in the North America.

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A sustainable trade strategy for China suggests changes for the manufacturing and energy sectors, services, voluntary standards, as well as its “trade foreign policy” as an influential member of the WTO.

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A new research study highlights problems with some brass products in plumbing systems that can leach very high levels of lead into drinking water, even in brand new buildings – and suggests that such problems may often go undetected.

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Bryant U. undergrad is among the first to analyze newly discovered conifer fossils from the Canadian Arctic. Her studies determined that the molecular components of these fossils are extremely well preserved and led to finding a link between molecular composition and 3D preservation - a rarity in plant fossil material.

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Biodiversity crusaders Peter H. Raven and Edward O. Wilson received Linnaean Legacy Awards Nov. 6 for their extraordinary contributions to taxonomy and the exploration and classification of species. They used the occasion to call on individuals and taxonomists alike to do their part to sustain the biodiversity of Earth, which includes identifying millions of species before they become extinct.

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The Fall 2010 issue of the quarterly print and online publication - Imaging Notes magazine -- reviews the satellite monitoring of vanishing glaciers to the accounting of forestry, hydropower and mining assets as steps to boost sustainable development here on Earth.

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Interactive web-based map highlights dozens of university sustainability measures.

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How warm has 2010 been? So warm that although October was the coolest month so far this year year (compared to seasonal norms), it tied October 2006 as the second warmest October in the 32-year satellite climate record.

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Report estimates the level of oil production subsidies in Canada under a WTO definition that allows comparison with other countries. It also forecasts the fiscal, economic and environmental trade-offs of those subsidies.

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The Missouri River needs a flow of sediment, not just water, to stay healthy, and regulatory agencies and scientists need to do a better job of gathering and understanding information about that process.

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Nature’s capacity to store carbon, the element at the heart of global climate woes, is steadily eroding as the world’s farmers expand croplands at the expense of native ecosystem such as forests. A group of universities is releasing a study on the topic.

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Arthur Wheaton, senior extension associate at Cornell University’s ILR School, comments on the recent J.D. Power & Associates report concluding that battery-powered cars are “overhyped.”

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Noble metals such as platinum and palladium are becoming increasingly important because of growth in environmentally friendly applications such as fuel cells. A new solvent system could improve the recycling of these metals.

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MTSU agriscience professor will drive 500 miles across Tennessee on from Bristol, Va., to West Memphis, Ark., in a Toyota fueled by sun and water. His goal for 2011 is to go coast to coast using just 10 gallons of gas.

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Algae could make the perfect renewable fuel.

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John D. Graham, dean of the Indiana U. School of Public and Environmental Affairs and an expert on federal fuel policy, discusses proposed fuel efficiency standards for medium- to heavy-duty trucks and buses.

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Even "green" fragranced products give off many chemicals that are not listed on the label, including some that are classified as toxic. A study of 25 of the most popular scented products showed they emit 133 different chemicals, of which only two are listed anywhere.

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Scientists studying disease and climate change as part of a special multidisciplinary team at Cornell University are heading to the mountains of Puerto Rico – hoping to learn what a struggling frog species can tell us about the danger changing weather patterns present to ecosystems around the globe.

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As the ice-capped Arctic Ocean warms, ship traffic will increase at the top of the world. And if the sea ice continues to decline, a new route connecting international trading partners may emerge -- but not without significant repercussions to climate, according to a U.S. and Canadian research team that includes a University of Delaware scientist.

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Breeding populations of piping plovers , shorebirds that have been listed as threatened since 1986, exist in three distinct locations — the Atlantic Coast, the American and Canadian Great Plains, and the Great Lakes — but birds from all three populations use the Gulf shore as overwintering habitat.

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Researchers at the University of Florida have published a report regarding the trends in water quality feeding into Everglades National Park. The report can be found in the September-October 2010 Journal of Environmental Quality.

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While swimmers and boaters along any shore consider the slimy green film that coats everything from rocks to docks as a nuisance, University of New Haven (UNH) chemical engineering student Nicole Reardon and Assistant Professor Shannon Ciston, Ph.D. think otherwise. They view the slime, or biofilm, as a complex community that may hold the key to informing humanity of the true environmental impact of the chemical nanoparticles that find their way from area kitchens, baths and garages into Long Island Sound.

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Researchers in Washington State have developed a way to study the effects of supercritical carbon dioxide on minerals commonly found in potential underground storage sites, helping to evaluate one strategy for minimizing the impacts of greenhouse gases on global warming.

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In remote, rural areas of southwestern China, villagers cook and dry their clothes by burning pieces of coal they pick up off the ground. This fuel releases a toxin that may be poisoning millions of people, according to an ongoing investigation by researchers in New York and China.

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"Possible long-term impacts on sentinel species are ominous.”

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Clear-cut logging and related road-building in the 1950s and 1960s in southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains disrupted soil stability and led to unprecedented soil erosion made worse during heavy rainstorms, report University of Oregon researchers.

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The IL Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western IL University has entered into an agreement with Wilmington (IL) CUSD #209 to develop a test site for monitoring wind velocity. The Value-Added Sustainable Development Center, an IIRA unit, works with schools, farmer and rural electric cooperatives, municipalities and in exploring wind potential in their locales.

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The United States and many other heavily populated countries face a growing threat of severe and prolonged drought. The analysis concludes that warming temperatures associated with climate change will likely create increasingly dry conditions across much of the globe in the next 30 years, possibly reaching a scale in some regions by the end of the century that has rarely, if ever, been observed in modern times.

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Long term exposure to low-level air pollution may increase the risk of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to researcher s in Denmark. While acute exposure of several days to high level air pollution was known to be a risk factor for exacerbation in pre-existing COPD, until now there had been no studies linking long-term air pollution exposure to the development or progression of the disease.

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A University of Washington conservation biologist is behind the effort to build nests in the barren rocks of the Galápagos Islands in the hope of increasing the population of an endangered penguin species.

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Advanced Energy Conference, Nov. 8-9 in NYC, to spotlight cutting-edge technologies for clean energy jobs and a growing economy.

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While it’s still hotly debated among scientists whether climate change causes a shift from the traditional form of El Nino to one known as El Nino Modoki, online in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists now say that El Nino Modoki affects long-term changes in currents in the North Pacific Ocean.

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Climate change in the Prairie Pothole Region poses problems for wetland-dependent organisms such as ducks, but farmers could help ease the impact by the way they farm.

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Forget all the tacky jokes about cow flatulence causing climate change. A new study reports that the dairy industry is responsible for only about 2.0 percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions.

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The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has launched a video campaign on the world’s biggest stage to highlight the importance of the planet’s largest life-sustaining feature—the ocean.

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In the journal Science, some of the world's foremost biodiversity experts from DIVERSITAS, led by Arizona State University scientist Charles Perrings, offer a strategic approach to the 2020 targets being considered at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, on Oct. 18-29. An approach that incorporates trade-offs, timing and complexity.

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Addressing the Kavli Prize Science Forum: 2010, Norway's foreign minister highlights the impact of global climate change on the Arctic region, and the need for scientific guidance as nations respond to receding Arctic sea ice. Along with the prepared remarks, the address is now available as a slide show and audio presentation at: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/2010-kavli-prize-science-forum-jonas-store-opening-address

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The red, metal-laden sludge that escaped a containment pond in Hungary last week could be made less toxic with the help of carbon sequestration, says an Indiana University Bloomington geologist who has a patent pending on the technique.

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If all goes well during a demonstration project in China, University of Utah microbubble technology may boost many environmental cleanups, including removing oil byproducts from water, organics and heavy metals from industrial sites and harmful algae from lakes.

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Residents of apartment complexes dotting suburbs take to their bikes or walk to go to nearby commercial areas if accessible pathways are available. That's the message University of Oregon researchers are telling the architects, developers and planners of large multifamily complexes across the nation.

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Three articles in the November 2010 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society examine ways in which mathematics can contribute to understanding environmental and ecological issues.

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Contrary to some previous, highly publicized, reports, ocean acidification is not likely to worsen the hearing of whales and other animals, according to a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist who studies sound propagation in the ocean.