Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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Cattle, swine and poultry contribute a hefty portion to the average American’s diet, but raising all this livestock comes at a cost to the environment: The industry produces a lot of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Just how much gas the animals release, however, is the subject of debate. Now, one group reports in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology that a new approach could shed light on how accurate current data are.

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A new fish species, the deepest in the ocean, was discovered and named by an international team of researchers. The team published a paper describing the Mariana snailfish this week in the journal Zootaxa.

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Termites that feed on a well-known bait for one day are eventually doomed, which is good news for those who want to protect their property from the destructive pest, a University of Florida entomologist says.

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A decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels led to a fundamental shift in the behaviour of the Earth’s climate system around one million years ago, according to new research led by the University of Southampton.

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Efforts to battle an invasive forest pest just got a boost from a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation grant that enables Cornell Botanic Gardens to continue – and expand – its work to conserve hemlock trees

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The amount of biomass – life – in Earth's ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the University of Washington and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

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Dr. Ralph D. Nyland was the recipient of the 2017 Barrington Moore Memorial Award from the Society of American Foresters (SAF).

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Three new studies by University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists have identified key factors that help microbes survive in harsh environments.

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More than 20 leaders at Rutgers University, including Rutgers University–New Brunswick Chancellor Deba Dutta, will join Governor-elect Philip D. Murphy’s Transition2018 committees to undertake policy analysis and recommendations on a host of state issues and new initiatives as the new gubernatorial administration prepares to take office.

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Understanding the climate context is important is determining how to best respond to food insecurity, according to a study of nearly 2,000 smallholder farms in Africa and Asia. Rainfall patterns determined whether financial supports or agricultural inputs or practices were the most effective intervention.

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The smallest microplastics in our oceans – which go largely undetected and are potentially harmful – could be more effectively identified using an innovative and inexpensive new method, developed by researchers at the University of Warwick.

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Through its award-winning Climate Adaptation Fund, WCS has announced 12 new grants to nonprofit organizations exploring and implementing new methods for helping America’s wildlife and people adapt to rapidly shifting environmental conditions brought about by climate change.

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Soybean growers face a challenge. It has proved difficult to develop soybean varieties with both high protein levels and high yields.

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Innovative technologies developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory recently earned several R&D 100 Awards.

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BRI attended the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP1), which took place from September 24-29, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. The theme of the Conference was "Make Mercury History."

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A new study co-authored by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) addresses concerns over the many Arctic shorebird populations in precipitous decline. Evident from the study is that monitoring and protection of habitat where the birds breed, winter, and stopover is critical to their survival and to that of a global migration spectacle.

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A team of researchers, including a faculty member and postdoctoral fellow from Washington University in St. Louis, found that oxygen levels appear to increase at about the same time as a three-fold increase in biodiversity during the Ordovician Period, between 445 and 485 million years ago, according to a study published Nov. 20 in Nature Geoscience.

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A geospatial analysis determined the optimal distribution of sites needed to reliably estimate Alaska’s vast soil carbon.

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A new study led by researchers from UC Davis, UCLA, Stanford University and California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) predicts coral adaptation is possible if ocean warming rates are reduced.

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If someone cries "Eureka!" because it looks like oxygen appeared in Earth's ancient atmosphere long before the body of evidence indicated, consider this: If it was a chromium isotope system reading that caused the enthusiasm, it might need to be curbed.

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Scientists recently announced the discovery of a fossil that fills a missing evolutionary link—the first known member of the modern bryozoans to grow up into a structure. Called Jablonskipora kidwellae, it is named after UChicago geophysical scientists David Jablonski and Susan Kidwell.

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New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Clarkson University discovered a new process to eliminate the release of dangerous carbon monoxide gas from wood pellets in storage. The use of wood pellet boilers and stoves to replace heating oil, propane or older wood boilers supports Governor Cuomo's energy goals.

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LED light bulbs are getting cheaper and more energy efficient every year. So, does it make sense to replace less-efficient bulbs with the latest light-emitting diodes now, or should you wait for future improvements and even lower costs?

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More frequent storms turn forests from carbon source to sink.

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Monoterpene measures how certain forests respond to heat stress.

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One of the saltiest bodies on Earth, an analog to how water might exist on Mars, shows signs of being one piece of a larger aquifer.

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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.