Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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Newswise: Chula Geologists Find New Evidence of Historic Human Activity on Khao Phanom Rung-Khao Plai Bat, Buriram
Released: 16-Feb-2024 8:55 AM EST
Chula Geologists Find New Evidence of Historic Human Activity on Khao Phanom Rung-Khao Plai Bat, Buriram
Chulalongkorn University

Prof. Dr. Santi Pailoplee, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, discovered a large number of rocks and rock formations on Khao Phanom Rung-Plai Bat, Chaloem Phra Kiat District, Buriram Province, which geologically signify human activity in the past, not natural formation.

   
Newswise: Early-stage subduction invasion
Released: 15-Feb-2024 7:05 PM EST
Early-stage subduction invasion
Geological Society of America (GSA)

Our planet’s lithosphere is broken into several tectonic plates. Their configuration is ever-shifting, as supercontinents are assembled and broken up, and oceans form, grow, and then start to close in what is known as the Wilson cycle.

Newswise: How is deforested land in Africa used?
Released: 15-Feb-2024 7:05 PM EST
How is deforested land in Africa used?
GFZ GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam

Africa's forested areas – an estimated 14 % of the global forest area – are continuing to decline at an increasing rate – mostly because of human activities to convert forest land for economic purposes.

Newswise: ORNL study projects geothermal heat pumps’ impact on carbon emissions and electrical grid by 2050
Released: 15-Feb-2024 5:05 PM EST
ORNL study projects geothermal heat pumps’ impact on carbon emissions and electrical grid by 2050
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A modeling analysis led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory gives the first detailed look at how geothermal energy can relieve the electric power system and reduce carbon emissions if widely implemented across the United States within the next few decades.

Released: 15-Feb-2024 2:05 PM EST
The ties that bind
Washington University in St. Louis

In a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, WashU researchers discovered that a common mineral called goethite — an iron-rich mineral that is abundant in soils that cover the Earth — tends to incorporate trace metals into its structure over time, binding the metals in such a way that it locks them out of circulation.

Newswise: Methane Emissions from Wetlands Increase Significantly over High Latitudes
Released: 15-Feb-2024 12:00 PM EST
Methane Emissions from Wetlands Increase Significantly over High Latitudes
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Wetlands are Earth’s largest natural source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is about 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere. A research team analyzed wetland methane emissions data across the entire Boreal-Arctic region and found that these emissions have increased approximately nine percent since 2002.

Newswise: New Research Reveals: The New York Bight Is an Important Year-Round Habitat for Endangered Fin Whales
Released: 15-Feb-2024 11:05 AM EST
New Research Reveals: The New York Bight Is an Important Year-Round Habitat for Endangered Fin Whales
Wildlife Conservation Society

Researchers aim to use their science to help inform best practices and strategies to better protect fin whales in waters off NY and NJ.

Released: 15-Feb-2024 11:05 AM EST
UC Irvine researcher co-authors ‘scientists’ warning’ on climate and technology
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 15, 2024 – Throughout human history, technologies have been used to make peoples’ lives richer and more comfortable, but they have also contributed to a global crisis threatening Earth’s climate, ecosystems and even our own survival.

Released: 15-Feb-2024 10:05 AM EST
U.S. Department of Energy Accepting Nominations for 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award
Department of Energy, Office of Science

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a call for nominations for the 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of the longest running and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. government.

Newswise: noaa-cone-graphic-hero-940x529.jpg
Released: 15-Feb-2024 10:05 AM EST
‘Cone of uncertainty’ graphic to feature more information
University of Miami

University researchers explain why the revamped graphic, to be unveiled this hurricane season, will better aid residents.

Released: 14-Feb-2024 8:05 PM EST
Is the Amazon forest approaching a tipping point?
University of Birmingham

Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse.

Released: 14-Feb-2024 8:05 PM EST
Amazon rainforest at the threshold: loss of forest worsens climate change
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

The Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system.

Newswise: WCS Joins Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi to Advance Conservation Efforts
Released: 14-Feb-2024 1:05 PM EST
WCS Joins Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi to Advance Conservation Efforts
Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society was honored to be invited to participate in a high-level event today hosted by His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, the President of the Republic of Mozambique, at Maputo National Park.

Newswise: Urban heat: Research may point the way to cooling steamy cities
Released: 14-Feb-2024 11:05 AM EST
Urban heat: Research may point the way to cooling steamy cities
Binghamton University, State University of New York

New research from Binghamton University, State University of New York might point the way to cooling steamy cities. A Binghamton professor has received a grant for his work pertaining to the urban heat island effect in cities. 

Newswise: Argonne scientists use AI  to identify new materials for carbon capture
Released: 14-Feb-2024 10:05 AM EST
Argonne scientists use AI to identify new materials for carbon capture
Argonne National Laboratory

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have used new generative AI techniques to propose new metal-organic framework materials that could offer enhanced abilities to capture carbon

Newswise: Pesticides to help protect seeds can adversely affect earthworms’ health
9-Feb-2024 8:00 AM EST
Pesticides to help protect seeds can adversely affect earthworms’ health
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Research published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters reveals that worms are affected by small amounts of chemicals from pesticide-treated seeds.

Released: 13-Feb-2024 4:05 PM EST
Business operations affect fishermen's resilience to climate change, new study finds
University of Maine

In their new study published in the journal Global Environmental Change, researchers found that fishermen’s responses to a changing climate can be strongly influenced by how they fish and how they’re organized. The study highlights the role that distinct strategies associated with different group sizes and levels of cooperation play in how fishers respond and adapt to climate change.

   
Released: 12-Feb-2024 11:05 PM EST
When the global climate has the hiccups
University of Basel

In recent geological history, the so-called Quaternary period, there have been repeated ice ages and warm periods.

Released: 12-Feb-2024 10:05 PM EST
Study: Global deforestation leads to more mercury pollution
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

About 10 percent of human-made mercury emissions into the atmosphere each year are the result of global deforestation, according to a new MIT study.

Newswise: CMS COP14, An Historic Opportunity to Protect the Guanaco Migrations
Released: 12-Feb-2024 3:05 PM EST
CMS COP14, An Historic Opportunity to Protect the Guanaco Migrations
Wildlife Conservation Society

This iconic herbivore of the arid grasslands and the Andes Mountains in the Southern Cone, depends on vast and connected habitats to feed, reproduce, and rest.

Newswise: CyberShake study uses Summit supercomputer to investigate earthquake hazards
Released: 12-Feb-2024 1:05 PM EST
CyberShake study uses Summit supercomputer to investigate earthquake hazards
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Researchers at the Statewide California Earthquake Center, or SCEC, are unraveling the mysteries of earthquakes by using physics-based computational models running on high-performance computing systems at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The team’s findings will provide a better understanding of seismic hazards in the Golden State.

Newswise: University of Kentucky scientists develop eco-friendly magnet to battle microplastics
Released: 12-Feb-2024 12:05 PM EST
University of Kentucky scientists develop eco-friendly magnet to battle microplastics
University of Kentucky

Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental issue, and University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment researchers are leading the charge with an innovative solution.

Released: 12-Feb-2024 7:05 AM EST
WCS Statement from CMS CoP14
Wildlife Conservation Society

“If governments do everything they have committed to do, then the next ‘State of the World’s Migratory Species’ will have some good news.” WCS VP of International Policy Susan Lieberman

Newswise: Global study: Wild megafauna shape ecosystem properties
Released: 11-Feb-2024 9:05 PM EST
Global study: Wild megafauna shape ecosystem properties
Aarhus University

For millions of years, a variety of large herbivores, or megafauna, influenced terrestrial ecosystems.

Newswise: New fossil site of worldwide importance uncovered in southern France
Released: 11-Feb-2024 8:05 PM EST
New fossil site of worldwide importance uncovered in southern France
University of Lausanne

Nearly 400 exceptionally well-preserved fossils dating back 470 million years have been discovered in the south of France by two amateur paleontologists.

Newswise: Conversion process turns greenhouse gas into ethylene
Released: 11-Feb-2024 8:05 PM EST
Conversion process turns greenhouse gas into ethylene
University of Cincinnati

Engineers at the University of Cincinnati created a more efficient way of converting carbon dioxide into valuable products while simultaneously addressing climate change.

Released: 9-Feb-2024 12:05 PM EST
Wildlife Conservation Society Delegation Heading to Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) CoP14
Wildlife Conservation Society

A Wildlife Conservation Society delegation is heading to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals CoP14, Feb. 12-17, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Newswise: Ancient pollen trapped in Greenland ice uncovers changes in Canadian forests over 800 years
Released: 8-Feb-2024 5:05 PM EST
Ancient pollen trapped in Greenland ice uncovers changes in Canadian forests over 800 years
Desert Research Institute (DRI)

The Greenland ice sheet lies thousands of miles from North America yet holds clues to the distant continent’s environmental history.

Newswise: Why did Earth once turn into a giant frozen snowball? Australian scientists now have an answer
Released: 8-Feb-2024 12:05 PM EST
Why did Earth once turn into a giant frozen snowball? Australian scientists now have an answer
University of Sydney

Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modelling to determine what most likely caused an extreme ice-age climate in Earth’s history, more than 700 million years ago.

Released: 7-Feb-2024 11:05 AM EST
New study sheds new light on forests' role in climate and water cycle
Stockholm University

Forests, which cover a third of Earth's land surface, are pivotal in carbon storage and the water cycle, though the full scope of their impact remains to be fully understood. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Stockholm University and international colleagues provide new insights into the complex role forests play in the climate system and water cycle.

Released: 7-Feb-2024 11:05 AM EST
Clarity needed for businesses to achieve greenhouse gas mitigation
Newcastle University

Despite efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, companies are not set up for success, due to conflicting national and sectorial targets and differing availability of abatement options, a new study reveals.

Newswise: 3D printed nanocellulose upscaled for green architectural applications
Released: 7-Feb-2024 10:05 AM EST
3D printed nanocellulose upscaled for green architectural applications
Chalmers University of Technology

For the first time, a hydrogel material made of nanocellulose and algae has been tested as an alternative, greener architectural material.

Newswise: image.jpeg
Released: 7-Feb-2024 10:05 AM EST
Forensic science combats wildlife trafficking
Virginia Tech

For pangolins in Africa, a pattern of overlapping scales is a vital armor against predatory lions, hyenas, snakes, and wild dogs. The scales – composed of the same keratin that makes up our fingernails – allow the threatened mammals to curl up into a ball, protecting their vulnerable underside.

Newswise: Charting the Course to Eco-Friendly Steel: China's Blueprint for Cleaner Air and a Cooler Planet
Released: 7-Feb-2024 9:00 AM EST
Charting the Course to Eco-Friendly Steel: China's Blueprint for Cleaner Air and a Cooler Planet
Chinese Academy of Sciences

China, as the world's largest steel producer, faces the dual challenges of air quality enhancement and climate change mitigation.

Newswise: Perovskite single-pixel detector for efficient extraction of meta-images in complex environments
Released: 7-Feb-2024 9:00 AM EST
Perovskite single-pixel detector for efficient extraction of meta-images in complex environments
Chinese Academy of Sciences

Metasurfaces exhibit significant potential for information storage by modulating different degrees of freedom of light. Nevertheless, the absence of compact and efficient data extraction schemes hampers relevant multidimensional data retrieval, particularly in complex environments.

Newswise: Apex predators not a quick fix for restoring ecosystems, 20-year CSU study finds
Released: 6-Feb-2024 6:05 PM EST
Apex predators not a quick fix for restoring ecosystems, 20-year CSU study finds
Colorado State University

A Colorado State University experiment spanning more than two decades has found that removal of apex predators from an ecosystem can create lasting changes that are not reversed after they return – at least, not for a very long time.

Newswise: Complex tree canopies help forests recover from moderate-severity disturbances
Released: 6-Feb-2024 5:05 PM EST
Complex tree canopies help forests recover from moderate-severity disturbances
Purdue University

Extreme events wipe out entire forests, dramatically eliminating complex ecosystems as well as local communities.

Newswise: Researchers at UMass Amherst discover key to molecular mystery of how plants respond to changing conditions
Released: 6-Feb-2024 5:05 PM EST
Researchers at UMass Amherst discover key to molecular mystery of how plants respond to changing conditions
University of Massachusetts Amherst

A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published a pioneering study that answers a central question in biology: how do organisms rally a wide range of cellular processes when they encounter a change—either internally or in the external environment—to thrive in good times or survive the bad times? The research, focused on plants and published in Cell, identifies the interactions between four compounds: pectin, receptor proteins FERONIA and LLG1 and the signal RALF peptide.

Released: 6-Feb-2024 2:05 PM EST
Social Ventures, Hardware Innovators, and Mentors Worldwide Invited to Apply for 2024 ASME ISHOW Accelerator and IDEA LAB Incubator
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is currently accepting applications from social innovators focusing on scaling hardware technology solutions that address urgent global challenges through the ISHOW accelerator and IDEA LAB incubator.

Released: 6-Feb-2024 10:05 AM EST
Mechanism of plants obtain nitrogen by supplying iron to symbiotic bacteria
University of Tsukuba

Leguminous plants have a mechanism (rhizobial symbiosis) to efficiently acquire nitrogen, which is an essential macronutrient for growth, through the nitrogen-fixing bacteria rhizobia.

Newswise: Ammonia attracts the shipping industry, but researchers warn of its risks
Released: 5-Feb-2024 10:05 PM EST
Ammonia attracts the shipping industry, but researchers warn of its risks
Chalmers University of Technology

Switching to ammonia as a marine fuel, with the goal of decarbonisation, can instead create entirely new problems.

   
Newswise: UB study challenges the classical view of the origin of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and warns of its vulnerability
Released: 5-Feb-2024 10:05 PM EST
UB study challenges the classical view of the origin of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and warns of its vulnerability
Universitat de Barcelona

The Circumpolar Current works as a regulator of the planet’s climate. Its origins were thought to have caused the formation of the permanent ice in Antarctica about 34 million years ago.

Newswise: The limits of weather forecasting: How far into the future can we look?
Released: 5-Feb-2024 10:05 PM EST
The limits of weather forecasting: How far into the future can we look?
University of Maine

Weather-related disasters and climatological extremes, including rivers bursting their banks and flooding as well as heatwaves and droughts, cause tragic loss of life and cost billions of dollars in property damage each year.

Newswise: Ammonia attracts the shipping industry, but researchers warn of its risks
Released: 5-Feb-2024 6:05 PM EST
Ammonia attracts the shipping industry, but researchers warn of its risks
Chalmers University of Technology

Switching to ammonia as a marine fuel, with the goal of decarbonisation, can instead create entirely new problems. This is shown in a study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, where researchers carried out life cycle analyses for batteries and for three electrofuels including ammonia.

Newswise: Smells like evolution: Fruit flies reveal surprises in chemical sensing
Released: 5-Feb-2024 5:05 PM EST
Smells like evolution: Fruit flies reveal surprises in chemical sensing
Queen Mary University of London

A new study in Nature Communications unveils the hidden world of sensory evolution in fruit flies.

Newswise: Where does the central Wasatch’s extreme snowfall come from?
Released: 5-Feb-2024 5:05 PM EST
Where does the central Wasatch’s extreme snowfall come from?
University of Utah

University of Utah atmospheric scientists set out to better understand extreme snowfall, defined as events in the top 5% in terms of snow accumulations, by analyzing hundreds of events over a 23-year period at Alta, the famed ski destination in the central Wasatch outside Salt Lake City.

Newswise: Weather swings bring steadier results when studying crop adaptability
Released: 5-Feb-2024 4:05 PM EST
Weather swings bring steadier results when studying crop adaptability
Iowa State University

Efforts to breed more adaptable crops benefit from testing locations with wide ranges of weather, according to a study co-authored by an Iowa State University expert on phenotypic plasticity, the disparate ways plants respond in different environments.

Newswise: In a Warming World, Climate Scientists Consider Category 6 Hurricanes
5-Feb-2024 3:00 PM EST
In a Warming World, Climate Scientists Consider Category 6 Hurricanes
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

For more than 50 years, the National Hurricane Center has used the Saffir-Simpson Windscale to communicate the risk of property damage; it labels a hurricane on a scale from Category 1 (wind speeds between 74 - 95 mph) to Category 5 (wind speeds of 158 mph or greater). But as increasing ocean temperatures contribute to ever more intense and destructive hurricanes, climate scientists wondered whether the open-ended Category 5 is sufficient to communicate the risk of hurricane damage in a warming climate.



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