The world’s rivers, the single largest renewable water resource for humans and a crucible of aquatic biodiversity, are in a crisis of ominous proportions, according to a new global analysis.
An article published online September 29 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) relates how the finding of unexpected biomarker results during a pilot community health study of school-age girls led to a debate about how and when to inform the study families. Ultimately, the transdisciplinary research team, which included community breast cancer advocates, was able to draw on its diverse experience and knowledge of ethical principles to craft a comprehensive plan to communicate the findings to the families.
A Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) study on nesting birds in Argentina finds that increasing temperatures and rainfall—both side effects of climate change in some parts of the world—could be bad for birds of South America, but great for some of their parasites which thrive in warmer and wetter conditions.
The more complex a plant or animal, the more difficulty it should have adapting to changes in the environment. That's been a maxim of evolutionary theory since biologist Ronald Fisher put forth the idea in 1930.
Rising CO2 levels in atmosphere contribute to lower ocean pH levels, which interfere with development of shellfish larvae.
Dalhousie University's newest academic building, is also the greenest place on campus and sets a new standard for green buildings in the university community.
Florida State University oceanographer Jeff Chanton is part of an international team embarking on a new study of permafrost decomposition in arctic Sweden. What he and his fellow researchers discover there may be critical given the permafrost’s key role in climate change, and vice versa.
Jules White, with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, seeks to create a massive data collection system that would rely on information captured by “citizen scientists” who would use devices such as smart phones to take photographic evidence from the site of disaster areas. Once collected at a single source, scientists and other responders could quickly sift through data, and decide how best to react.
New research shows a mid-20th century pause in global warming in the Northern Hemisphere might have resulted from an abrupt cooling event centered over the North Atlantic around 1970.
After the failure of the Deepwater Horizon oil well last spring, nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant were released into the Gulf of Mexico. The long-term effect of the dispersant on ecosystems, wildlife and humans remains to be seen.
Craig Altier, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee and an associate professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, comments on potential FDA approval of the first genetically engineered animal for use as food.
The fine particles of pollution that hang in the air can increase the risk for sudden cardiac arrest, according to a new study conducted by a team from Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.
Spoilage bacteria that can cause red coloration of pickles' skin during fermentation may actually help clean up dyes in textile industry wastewater, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study.
The Clean Energy Trust has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to help transfer research from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and other Illinois universities and science labs into clean-energy technologies and viable businesses.
So-called green chemists use all the tools and training of traditional chemistry, but instead of ending up with toxins that must be treated after the fact, they aim to create industrial processes that avert hazard problems altogether. The result is new materials that are not only safer to use but less expensive to make. Yet a decade after the phrase “green chemistry” was coined, less than 1% of patents in chemical-heavy industries are green.
As a member of the recently announced clean vehicles consortium, part of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are focusing on a suite of technologies to put more electric and hybrid vehicles on the road.
Though the recent oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the BP/Deep Water Horizon oilrig explosion is no longer leading headlines, this fall, the disaster will be a major topic of conversation and study in environmental science classrooms around the country.
Leading materials science and engineering (MSE) experts from across the nation will begin their work in Pittsburgh on September 16 and 17 as members of the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) established to address the recommendations made in Linking Transformational Materials and Processing for an Energy-Efficient and Low-Carbon Economy: Creating the Vision and Accelerating Realization.
A new peer-reviewed paper by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups reveals an ominous finding: most of the world’s last remaining tigers—long decimated by overhunting, logging, and wildlife trade—are now clustered in just six percent of their available habitat.
The existing and potential benefits of clean energy to the upstate region will be touted in a half-day program hosted by Ithaca College. “The Clean Energy Summit: Re-Imagining Upstate New York’s Energy Future” is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 17, in the Ithaca College Campus Center.
August 2010 was the second hottest August in the 32-year satellite dataset, with a global temperature that was only 0.01 C cooler than the record set in August 1998. That difference is within the error range, so the two months might as well be tied for the hottest August in 32 years.
A white paper on California’s Proposition 23 finds the initiative would create legal turmoil, cut state revenue, and jeopardize clean energy jobs. Prop. 23 would also slow state efforts to reduce climate change and could have a domino effect nationwide.
The United States is in the thick of a “green trend.” Increased awareness of and commitment to sustainability and improving the environment through reduced carbon emissions and energy use have led to more consumer demand for “green” products—including green construction. Even with the downturn in the housing market, a 2008 poll showed that 91 percent of registered voters nationwide would still pay more for a house if that meant a reduced impact on the environment.
Helping understand ecosystem changes and improving restoration with soil data.
Something has been gobbling up a "doughnut" of phytoplankton in southern Lake Michigan, and it looks as though the culprit is the quagga mussel, a European mollusk about the size of a fat lima bean.
The National Institutes of Health will launch a multi-year study this fall to look at the potential health effects from the oil spill in the Gulf region.
The world’s most established fisheries certifier is failing on its promises as rapidly as it gains prominence, according to the world’s leading fisheries experts from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego and elsewhere.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium announced today the launch of the New York Seascape initiative—a conservation program designed to restore healthy populations of local marine species—many of them threatened—and to protect New York City and area waters, which are vital to wildlife and key to economic and cultural vitality.
What is Agriculture’s role in greenhouse gas emissions, capture?
With a simple click of the camera, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London have developed a new way to accurately monitor long-term trends in rare and vanishing species over large landscapes.
Proponents of organic farming often speak of nature's balance in ways that sound almost spiritual, prompting criticism that their views are unscientific and naïve. At the other end of the spectrum are those who see farms as battlefields where insect pests and plant diseases must be vanquished with the magic bullets of modern agriculture: pesticides, fungicides and the like.
A molecular biologist will bring dozens of tiny, transparent animals that live in Gulf Coast waters back to his campus laboratory as part of an effort to better understand the oil spill’s long-term impact on the coastal environment and creatures living there.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are requesting that the Government of Tanzania reconsider the proposed construction of a commercial road through the world’s best known wildlife sanctuary—Serengeti National Park—and recommend that alternative routes be used that can meet the transportation needs of the region without disrupting the greatest remaining migration of large land animals in the world.
Scientists are reporting development of new soy-based glues that use a substance in soy milk and tofu and could mean a new generation of more eco-friendly furniture, cabinets, flooring and other wood products. Their study is scheduled for presentation in August at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.
Sponges, including giant barrel sponges, now dominate Caribbean coral reefs. But these ancient “Redwoods of the Reefs” face stiff challenges and challengers; if they don’t prevail, habitat structure for fisheries and other animals will be lost .
Continuous research and development of alternative energy could soon lead to a new era in human history in which two renewable sources — solar and wind — will become Earth’s dominant contributor of energy, a Nobel laureate said in Boston today at a special symposium at the American Chemical Society’s 240th National Meeting.
A new study shows that male rats prenatally exposed to low doses of atrazine, a widely used herbicide, are more likely to develop prostate inflammation and to go through puberty later than non-exposed animals. The research adds to a growing body of literature on atrazine, an herbicide predominantly used to control weeds and grasses in crops such as corn and sugar cane. Atrazine and its byproducts are known to be relatively persistent in the environment, potentially finding their way into water supplies.
Using renewable solar energy and a process of solar conversion that he patented called Solar Thermal Electrochemical Photo (STEP) energy conversion, Dr. Stuart Licht is able to easily extract pure metal iron from the two prevalent iron ores, hematite and magnetite, without emitting carbon dioxide.
Florida Atlantic University research projects have been selected by the Florida Institute of Oceanography Council to receive BP funding to examine the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico.
Stamp sand, an unsightly leftover from the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's copper mining days, may prove a godsend for the roofing industry and the local economy.
Public school grounds will become environmental education laboratories when a 20-foot green and blue mobile technology trailer pulls into the parking lots at Creekside Middle School in Carmel, Ind. and dozens of other elementary and middle schools in nine Indiana counties this fall and spring.
Energy-based economic development has received little academic attention, but researchers have a rare opportunity to evaluate the potential impacts of EBED for society, says Indiana University faculty member Sanya Carley.
Even though students today are more concerned than ever about the environment, during the transition to college, those ideals often go by the wayside. Dedee DeLongpré Johnston, director of sustainability at Wake Forest University, offers these simple suggestions to achieve a “greener” move-in by doing more with less.
Exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides before birth can increase susceptibility to attention disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The new study is part of a growing body of research indicating that exposure to OP pesticides can adversely affect brain development.
Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The Community Earth System Model (CESM) will be one of the primary climate models used for the next assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Environmental Engineers are doing research to determine if the shape of a crude oil remnant – be it a flat syrupy sheet or a tar ball – can affect deterioration rates. The researchers also will study how a lack of oxygen can hinder microbe growth, and how carbon leaching from dissipating oil can further fuel these oil-eating microbes.
Sierra magazine has named the University of California, San Diego among the nation’s top 20 “coolest” schools for its efforts to stop global warming and operate sustainably. From the university’s new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold and silver certified buildings to sustainable engineering classes, the magazine highlights how UC San Diego is making a true difference for the planet in the fourth annual listing of America’s greenest universities and colleges.
Reducing the runoff from plant nutrients that can eventually wash into the Chesapeake Bay could someday be as easy as checking the weather forecast, thanks in part to work by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.
With solar panels on the roof to heat water and touch screens in the hallways for monitoring energy usage, Wake Forest University’s new residence hall has the latest in green technology.
A scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee, India has developed a method, described in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, to assess the installation and operating costs of small hydroelectric power projects, which represent a potentially large but largely untapped source of energy for developing countries.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right