Feature Channels: Environmental Science

• share
• favorite_border

On the front door of the Williams College dining services office -- a small grey clapboard house tucked in the middle of the school's campus in bucolic western Massachusetts -- staffers have placed a bumper sticker that reads "No Farms, No Food." It's a message the college takes to heart. Williams dining services prepares 885,690 meals annually, for its approximately 2000 students, in 4 dining halls, a faculty house, and a number of snack bars.

• share
• favorite_border

Environmental Protection Agency funds study that says climate change has effect on continent's waterfowl numbers.

• share
• favorite_border

Which came first, the warmer temperatures or the clearer skies? Answers to that and similar "chicken or egg" type questions could have a significant impact on our understanding of both the climate system and manmade global warming.

• share
• favorite_border

Those seeking to understand and predict climate change can now use an additional tool to calculate carbon dioxide exchanges on land, according to a scientific journal article publishing this week.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists who study the melting of Greenland’s glaciers are discovering that water flowing beneath the ice plays a much more complex role than they previously imagined.

• share
• favorite_border

Building materials that better retain heat in the winter, and reflect it in the summer; plumbing fixtures that save water; and facilities that encourage employees to bicycle to work. Environmentally-friendly features like these enable the new research building at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to be certified as a green structure.

• share
• favorite_border

This study analyzed the impact of experiential learning on students through a study of an agroecology course. Via a mixed-methods analysis, researchers determined that the course measurably impacted participating students. The research results are published in the latest issue of the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education.

• share
• favorite_border

State assistance to improve energy efficiency of Maryland homes heated by natural gas would generate economic and environmental benefits over the next 10 years, including more than 80,000 new jobs, savings of hundreds of dollars in average heating bills and a nine percent reduction in residential carbon emissions, concludes a new University of Maryland study.

• share
• favorite_border

Dime-sized temperature sensors, first built for the refrigerated food industry, have been adapted for sensing mountain microclimates.

• share
• favorite_border

Exquisite new fish & water pendant designed exclusively for Institute for Ocean Conservation Science and modelled on Institute’s logo; 50% of net proceeds go to support Institute’s initiatives.

• share
• favorite_border

American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute® have provided a few tips that can make your holidays more environmentally friendly.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers’ theory: An increase in population size may mean sounds used in mate competition need not travel as far as before; acoustic information extracted from songs could be useful population monitoring tool

• share
• favorite_border

A good-news global warming story about a pine tree with a storied past promises that a back-to-the-future approach will provide economic opportunities and help prepare the southeastern U.S. for a changing climate.

• share
• favorite_border

Measures being proposed by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership to curb greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to affect potential long-term economic growth in the United States, according to a study by RTI International.

• share
• favorite_border

Katharine Hayhoe can discuss climatic and economic questions related to global warming and greenhouse gas emissions.

• share
• favorite_border

The strong signature of an El Niño Pacific Ocean warming event showed up as the warmest November in 30 years — and not just by a little bit. November 2009 was a full 0.1 C (0.18 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than November 2005, the second warmest November in the 31-year satellite record.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Maryland has more than 30 experts who can talk about scientific, technological, economic and policy aspects of climate change that are critical to discussions at the world climate summit in Copenhagen, Dec. 7-18. These include conference attendees, scientists shaping world & U.S. climate research, and a Nobel Prize winning economist.

• share
• favorite_border

The ocean plays a critical role in Earth’s climate system and will be among the topics discussed during the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) taking place in Copenhagen from Dec. 7-18, 2009. This year — for the first time — the climate meeting will feature an Oceans Day on December 14. Experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are available for comment.

• share
• favorite_border

Expert faculty members at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) are available to discuss developments at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen.

• share
• favorite_border

Today the Environmental Protection Agency made final its determination that global warming pollution constitutes a public danger and is virtually certain to act boldly under its authority under the Clean Air Act. The news comes just as international climate talks begin in Copenhagen.

• share
• favorite_border

The Wildlife Conservation Society today released a list of animals facing new impacts by climate change, some in strange and unexpected ways.

• share
• favorite_border

“I don’t see any chance that we can have enforceable national limits on greenhouse gas emissions,” says University of Maryland Nobel laureate, Thomas Schelling in a paper released as delegates meet in Copenhagen at a UN climate conference. “I know of no peacetime historical precedent for the kind of international cooperation that is going to be required.”

• share
• favorite_border

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 Director of Sustainability Dedee DeLongpré Johnston.

• share
• favorite_border

You want to go for a run, but you don’t want to run in polluted air that might aggravate your asthma. University of California, San Diego computer scientists are creating a network of environmental sensors that will help you avoid air pollution hot spots that exist exactly when you are planning your route. The system will provide up-to-the-minute information on outdoor and indoor air quality, based on environmental information collected by hundreds, and eventually thousands, of sensors attached to the backpacks, purses, jackets and board shorts of San Diegans going about daily life.

• share
• favorite_border

Leaders of the world's nations will meet Dec. 7-16 in Copenhagen, Denmark, for talks as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Indiana University experts comment on their prospects.

• share
• favorite_border

Biodiversity loss can increase infectious diseases in humans, University of Vermont, EPA, and other scientists show in a first-of-its-kind global study.

• share
• favorite_border

Going ‘green’ for the first time this Christmas? Climate change expert Clint Springer, Ph.D., of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, suggests live trees are a great way to begin.

• share
• favorite_border

In a striking finding that raises new questions about carbon dioxide’s (CO2) impact on marine life, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists report that some shell-building creatures—such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters—unexpectedly build more shell when exposed to ocean acidification caused by elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).

• share
• favorite_border

The University of South Carolina, a leader in sustainability, announced its "Genesis 2015 Initiative," which will expand the use of alternative-fuel vehicles to its entire campus fleet within five years.

• share
• favorite_border

Millions of shark fins are sold annually to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy. Now, scientists using DNA tools have traced sharks’ fins from the Hong Kong market back to the sharks’ homes, and find that endangered populations are still being exploited. CITES will consider better protecting sharks from international trade, at its March meeting in Qatar.

• share
• favorite_border

As the world’s seawater becomes more acidic due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, some shelled marine creatures may actually become bigger and stronger, according to a new study.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers say plunging numbers of migratory species in the North Atlantic are changing the way humans perceive the well-being of Earth’s ecosystems.

• share
• favorite_border

Today, new studies published in The Lancet show that strategies to reduce greenhouse gases also benefit human health. The Lancet series highlights case studies on four climate change topics — household energy, transportation, electricity generation, and agricultural food production. Researchers say that cost savings realized from improving health will offset the cost of addressing climate change and, therefore, should be considered as part of all policy discussions related to climate change. Key researchers and public health officials gathered in the Unites States and Britain gathered together via satellite simulcast to unveil new research.

• share
• favorite_border

In the essay, “Where the Wild Things Were,” currently appearing in Foreign Affairs, Dr. Steven Sanderson, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, asserts the world’s political institutions have failed the planet but “realism cannot turn into defeatism.”

• share
• favorite_border

Ithaca College will be represented by students, faculty, and alumni at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15), being held Dec. 5–18 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• share
• favorite_border

Climate change and environmental experts from the University of New Hampshire are available to discuss the critical and controversial issues that will be raised as global leaders meet Dec. 7-18, 2009, in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

• share
• favorite_border

Recent theories suggesting that half of fishes' food comes from from land-based ecosystems may not hold water. Experiments show that algae, not land-based matter, builds healthy and fertile aquatic organisms.

• share
• favorite_border

A recent study concluded that 50 million U.S. acres of cropland and pasture could be used for the production of perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, for biofuel feedstock. Economically viable production of a perennial grass monoculture from which substantial quantities of biomass are removed annually is expected to require nitrogen fertilizer.

• share
• favorite_border

Exposure shortly after birth to ambient metals from fuel oil combustion and particles from diesel emissions is associated with respiratory symptoms in young inner-city children, according to a new study by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

• share
• favorite_border

Children who are exposed to high levels of traffic-related pollution and high levels of indoor endotoxin early in life have six times the risk of developing persistent wheezing by age three than children exposed to low levels of traffic and indoor-related pollutants, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions – the major cause of global warming – cannot be stabilized unless the world’s economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day.

• share
• favorite_border

Would the world be better if people consumed less? In his new book, Treasures of the Earth, University of Vermont professor Saleem Ali says no. He argues that disavowing consumption of oil, gems, precious metals, and minerals won’t help in planning for a resource-scarce future.

• share
• favorite_border

Temple University’s Fox School of Business and other leading academic institutions have joined with global insurers in a survey sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative that sheds new light on the industry’s approach to sustainability and climate risks.

• share
• favorite_border

Ryerson University expert offers tips on how to enjoy a more environmentally friendly holiday season.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy researcher looks at the adverse effects of environmental toxins on male fertility and disease.

• share
• favorite_border

Michigan Technological University's fleet of vehicles is going hybrid.

• share
• favorite_border

Sustainability is more than a buzzword within Williams College dining services; it's an imperative. One of the most important ways the college achieves sustainability is by reducing food waste and minimizing resource consumption -- a goal that is written into the department's systems, policies, infrastructure, and building design.

• share
• favorite_border

On the front door of the Williams College dining services office -- a small grey clapboard house tucked in the middle of the school's campus in bucolic western Massachusetts -- staffers have placed a bumper sticker that reads "No Farms, No Food." It's a message the college takes to heart.

• share
• favorite_border

A report by Ryerson University, Canada, highlights best environmental practices of 15 of the top eco-friendly retailers worldwide.

• share
• favorite_border

Businesses of all sizes will be surprised to learn that by purchasing recycled toner cartridges you can help to keep 1.9 billion pounds of waste out of landfills annually while saving up to 50 percent on the cost of printing and imaging supplies annually.