Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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Released: 8-Nov-2010 7:00 AM EST
Linnaean Legacy Award Winners Call for Boost in Species Exploration
Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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.

Released: 8-Nov-2010 1:00 AM EST
Satellite Remote Sensing: Enhancing Sustainable Development of Earth
Secure World Foundation

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.

Released: 5-Nov-2010 11:20 AM EDT
Stony Brook University Creates Green Map To Showcase And Raise Awareness Of Campus Sustainability Initiatives
Stony Brook University

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

Released: 3-Nov-2010 7:00 AM EDT
'Coolest' Month in 2010 Ties Second Warmest October
University of Alabama Huntsville

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.

Released: 2-Nov-2010 11:35 AM EDT
Report Estimates Value of Subsidies to Canada’s Oil Industry at $2.84 Billion in 2008
International Institute for Sustainable Development

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.

Released: 1-Nov-2010 4:45 PM EDT
River Ecologist: Missouri Needs Flow of Sediment
South Dakota State University

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.

28-Oct-2010 11:30 AM EDT
Expanding Croplands Chipping Away at World’s Carbon Stocks
University of Wisconsin–Madison

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.

Released: 28-Oct-2010 4:15 PM EDT
Will Electric Cars Flame Out Or Power Our Future Driving Needs?
Cornell University

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.”

Released: 28-Oct-2010 1:10 PM EDT
Organic Solvent System Improves Catalyst Recycling
Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Communications

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.

Released: 28-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Historic Drive Nov. 1 Fueled by Sun and Hydrogen from Water
Middle Tennessee State University

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.

Released: 27-Oct-2010 4:10 PM EDT
Green Gold
IEEE Spectrum Magazine

Algae could make the perfect renewable fuel.

Released: 26-Oct-2010 3:30 PM EDT
Expert Source: Federal Fuel Policy Expert Discusses Proposed Fuel Efficiency Standards
Indiana University

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.

Released: 26-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Scented Consumer Products Shown to Emit Many Unlisted Chemicals
University of Washington

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.

Released: 26-Oct-2010 6:30 AM EDT
Tropical Frog Shouts Climate Change from the Mountaintops
Cornell University

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.

Released: 25-Oct-2010 2:50 PM EDT
As Arctic Warms, Increased Shipping Likely to Accelerate Climate Change
University of Delaware

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.

Released: 25-Oct-2010 8:20 AM EDT
Virginia Tech Studies Impact of Gulf Oil Spill on Plovers
Virginia Tech

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.

Released: 21-Oct-2010 4:40 PM EDT
Everglades Show Improvement in Water Quality
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

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.

Released: 21-Oct-2010 3:25 PM EDT
From the Sewer to the Sound: Researchers Examining Effects of Household Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on Marine Ecosystems
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)

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.

13-Oct-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Effect of Captured and Stored Carbon Dioxide on Minerals
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

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.

13-Oct-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Disease in Rural China Linked to Polluted Coal
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

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.

Released: 19-Oct-2010 2:30 PM EDT
Old Logging Practices Linked to High Erosion Rates
University of Oregon

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.

Released: 19-Oct-2010 12:30 PM EDT
Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs to Sponsor Wind-Monitoring Program at Wilmington (IL) School District
Western Illinois University

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.

Released: 19-Oct-2010 12:00 PM EDT
Drought May Threaten Much of Globe within Decades
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

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.

Released: 19-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Air Pollution Exposure Increases Risk of Severe COPD
American Thoracic Society (ATS)

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.

Released: 19-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Biologist Hopes New ‘Condos’ Will Help Galápagos Penguins Stave Off Extinction
University of Washington

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.

Released: 18-Oct-2010 4:20 PM EDT
New York's Clean Energy Economy to be Showcased at New York Hilton
Stony Brook University

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

15-Oct-2010 10:00 AM EDT
Climate Change May Alter Natural Climate Cycles of Pacific
Georgia Institute of Technology

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.

Released: 15-Oct-2010 1:00 PM EDT
Farming Practices Can Ease Impact of Climate Change on Wetlands
South Dakota State University

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.

Released: 15-Oct-2010 1:00 PM EDT
Don’t Blame Dairy Cows for (Greenhouse) Gas Emissions
Michigan Technological University

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.

Released: 15-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
WHOI Launches Ocean Awareness Video Campaign in NYC
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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.

13-Oct-2010 12:30 PM EDT
Code RED for Biodiversity
Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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.

Released: 14-Oct-2010 12:00 PM EDT
Nations "Need to Act" to Mitigate Effects of Climate Change, States Jonas Ghar Støre, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Kavli Foundation

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

Released: 13-Oct-2010 11:25 AM EDT
Can Hungary's Red Sludge be Made Less Toxic with Carbon?
Indiana University

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.

Released: 12-Oct-2010 11:00 PM EDT
University of Utah Microbbubles Clean Dirty Soil in China
University of Utah

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.

Released: 12-Oct-2010 12:30 PM EDT
Multifamily Housing Should Connect Residents to Shopping
University of Oregon

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.

5-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Mathematics and the Environment
American Mathematical Society

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.

Released: 11-Oct-2010 4:15 PM EDT
Listen Up: Ocean Acidification Poses Little Threat to Whales’ Hearing
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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.

Released: 11-Oct-2010 4:00 PM EDT
Coral Records Show Ocean Thermocline Rise with Global Warming
Ohio State University

Researchers looking at corals in the western tropical Pacific Ocean have found records linking a profound shift in the depth of the division between warm surface water and colder, deeper water traceable to recent global warming.

7-Oct-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Population Trends: Another Influence on Climate Change
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Changes in population growth and composition, including aging and urbanization, could significantly affect global emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years, according to a new study in PNAS out next week.

6-Oct-2010 10:50 AM EDT
Climate Change Remains a Real Threat to Corals
University at Buffalo

Hopes that coral reefs might be able to survive, and recover from, bleaching caused by climate change may have grown dimmer for certain coral species, according to new research by University at Buffalo marine biologists published this week in PLoS One.

Released: 7-Oct-2010 11:30 AM EDT
Bioasphalt Developed at Iowa State to be Used, Tested on Des Moines Bike Trail
Iowa State University

Bioasphalt® developed by Iowa State University's Christopher Williams and produced by Avello Bioenergy Inc., a company started by three Iowa State graduates, will be tested on a Des Moines bicycle trail. Williams said asphalt mixtures derived from plants and trees could replace petroleum-based mixes. And that could provide markets for Iowa crop residues and business opportunities for Iowans.

Released: 6-Oct-2010 3:15 PM EDT
Study Provides Data That Can Inform Atlantic Sturgeon Recovery Efforts
Stony Brook University

Study of ocean migration indicates that local management of the population may be insufficient and supports recently proposed listing for Atlantic sturgeon under U.S. Endangered Species Act

Released: 6-Oct-2010 2:00 PM EDT
Key Reproductive Hormone in Oldest Vertebrate ID’d
University of New Hampshire

A UNH professor of biochemistry and her colleagues have identified the first reproductive hormone of the hagfish – a gonadatropin -- representing a significant step toward unraveling the mystery of hagfish reproduction. At 500 million years old, hagfish are the oldest living vertebrate, predating the dinosaurs.

4-Oct-2010 11:25 AM EDT
Greatest Warming Is in the North, but Biggest Impact on Life Is in the Tropics
University of Washington

New research adds to growing evidence that, even though the temperature increase associated with a warming climate has been smaller in the tropics, the impact of warming on life could be much greater there than in colder climates.

Released: 6-Oct-2010 8:00 AM EDT
Fish Near Power Plants Show Lower Levels Of Mercury
North Carolina State University

A new study finds that fish located near coal-fired power plants have lower levels of mercury than fish that live much further away. The surprising finding appears to be linked to high levels of another chemical, selenium, found near such facilities, which unfortunately poses problems of its own.

Released: 5-Oct-2010 7:00 PM EDT
Device Reveals Invisible World Teeming with Microscopic Algae
University of Washington

It just got easier to pinpoint biological hot spots in the world’s oceans where some inhabitants are smaller than, well, a pinpoint.

4-Oct-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Fattening Pollutants? Study Suggests Chemicals in Mother’s Blood Contribute to Child’s Obesity
Environmental Health Perspectives (NIEHS)

Babies whose mothers had relatively high levels of the chemical DDE in their blood were more likely to both grow rapidly during their first 6 months and to have a high body mass index (BMI) by 14 months, according to a team of scientists based in Barcelona, Spain. DDE, an endocrine disrupter, is a by-product of the pesticide DDT.

Released: 5-Oct-2010 3:25 PM EDT
New Fisheries System Will Save About $20 Million
Iowa State University

Some fisheries in the United States are poised to undergo major changes in the regulations used to protect fish stocks, and Quinn Weninger and Rajesh Singh have estimated that the new system will be an economic boon to the fishing industry. The two estimated harvesting costs under the old system and compared that to the newly proposed fishing regulations that lift many restrictions that cause inefficiency while still limiting amounts to be harvested.

Released: 5-Oct-2010 10:00 AM EDT
Researchers Raise Questions About the Sustainability of the Global Livestock Industry
Dalhousie University

Nathan Pelletier and Peter Tyedmers of the Dalhousie University School for Resource and Environmental Studies have released a paper focusing on the environmental implications of the livestock industry. The paper illustrates a number of worrying statistics that call into question the sustainability of the livestock industry. If we continue to increase our consumption of livestock, we will fatally impact our environment on a local and global scale.



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