Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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28-Jun-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Health Benefits of Urban Cycling Outweigh Risks
Environmental Health Perspectives (NIEHS)

Even though urban cyclists face hazards such as exposure to car exhaust and the risk of traffic accidents, it’s still far healthier to park the car and get on a bike. The health of the individual cyclists may improve as they drive less and exercise more, and the resulting reduction in exhaust emissions will benefit the entire community, according to a study published online June 30 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

Released: 29-Jun-2010 11:40 AM EDT
Lead Poisoning Highly Prevalent Among School-Aged Children in Uganda
Mount Sinai Health System

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that children living near the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda, have blood lead levels nearly 20 times as high as the typical lead level found in U.S. children.

25-Jun-2010 3:10 PM EDT
Study Reveals Role of Competition in Disturbed Ecosystems
Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Communications

A new study in PNAS is believed to be the first to show experimentally that competition could be a factor in regulating ecological communities regardless of the intensity or frequency of disturbance.

Released: 28-Jun-2010 11:30 AM EDT
Researchers Predict Larger-Than-Average Gulf "Dead Zone"; Impact of Oil Spill Unclear
University of Michigan

University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" is expected to be larger than average, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a $659 million fishery.

Released: 25-Jun-2010 3:50 PM EDT
Climate Change Scientists Turn Up the Heat in Alaska
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are planning a large-scale, long-term ecosystem experiment to test the effects of global warming on the icy layers of arctic permafrost.

Released: 25-Jun-2010 8:50 AM EDT
Industry Fishing for Profits, Not Predators
University of Washington

People who fish for a living pursue top profits, not necessarily top predators, according to the first-ever analysis of worldwide catch and economic data for the past 55 years. This differs from the observation raised 10 years ago that humans were “fishing down” the food web.

Released: 24-Jun-2010 4:50 PM EDT
Arctic Freshwater Cycle Intensifies, Marks Warming
University of Massachusetts Amherst

The amount of fresh water flowing through the Arctic as snow or rainfall, in rivers and by evapotranspiration is rising in agreement with models of a warming climate, according to a major new study by climate scientists in the U.S., Norway and Finland who analyzed all available Arctic observations.

Released: 24-Jun-2010 9:00 AM EDT
How Vulnerable is Our Groundwater?
Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Scientific journal features research on how water moves through soil and bedrock

Released: 23-Jun-2010 12:35 PM EDT
Lifting Offshore Drilling Embargo Puts Entire Gulf Coast at Risk
Cornell University

Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Cornell University Professor of Law and an expert in environmental law, comments on the recent court decision to lift a federal embargo on deep-water oil drilling.

Released: 23-Jun-2010 12:35 PM EDT
Strategic Thinking and Engineering Smarts Are Helping To Reduce the Campus Carbon Footprint at Rensselaer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Leaders at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are pairing engineering smarts with old-fashioned common sense to trim energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint of the university’s historic Troy campus.

Released: 23-Jun-2010 12:25 PM EDT
Vegetation, Fire, and Cattle: A Three-Part Examination of Grassland Restoration Efforts
Allen Press Publishing

Burn, grow, graze, and repeat. This is a formula that integrates fire and grazing strategies to restore grass to rangelands in the southern plains of the United States. Throughout the world, woody plants are showing an increased presence in grasslands and savannas, reducing the amount of grasses to sustain livestock and altering wildlife habitat and biodiversity. In the U.S. Great Plains, honey mesquite has encroached upon native grasslands to impact cattle grazing strategies and necessitate development of plant control efforts.

Released: 23-Jun-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Environmental & Occupational Health Expert Available to Discuss Potential Health Effects of Gulf Oil Spill on Clean-up Workers, Volunteers
Rutgers University

A UMDNJ environmental and occupational health expert on human exposure to toxic substances has recommended strategic training and monitoring of workers and volunteers exposed to the Gulf oil spill to identify, and possibly mitigate, human health risks.

Released: 23-Jun-2010 7:00 AM EDT
First Five Months of 2010 Second Warmest on Record
University of Alabama Huntsville

In the race to become the warmest year in the satellite temperature record, 2010 is running a close second to 1998 but might begin to falter as the El Ninåo Pacific Ocean warming event continues to fade.

21-Jun-2010 9:00 AM EDT
Heat Sprawl Study Suggests Sprawling Cities Experience More Extreme Heat in Summer
Environmental Health Perspectives (NIEHS)

The number of very hot days is increasing worldwide, but the rate of increase is more than double in the most sprawling metropolitan regions compared with more compact cities, according to a team of Atlanta-based scientists. This was true regardless of the urban regions’ climate zone, population size, or rate of growth.

15-Jun-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Weed-Sniffing Dogs Help Bust Invasive Plants
Allen Press Publishing

Invasive Plant Science and Management – A field test in Montana pitted dog against human in an effort to identify and eradicate spotted knapweed. This weed threatens the survival of native species and can bring about both economic and ecosystem damage. Finding plants in order to eradicate them before they can spread creates a challenge for human eyes, but not for dog noses.

21-Jun-2010 12:15 PM EDT
Chemicals Remaining after Wastewater Treatment Change the Gender of Fish
Endocrine Society

Male fish that used to be feminized after chemicals, such as the pharmaceutical ethinylestradiol, made it through the Boulder, Colo., Wastewater Treatment Plant and into Boulder Creek, are taking longer to become feminized after a plant upgrade to an activated sludge process, according to a new study.

Released: 18-Jun-2010 1:00 PM EDT
Guidebooks to Help Public Health Agencies Deal with Climate Change
University of Oregon

The University of Oregon's Climate Leadership Initiative, in partnership with the Oregon Coalition of Local Health Officials and public health organizations around the state, have issued two new guidebooks aimed at helping health-related agencies and organizations cope with climate change.

 
Released: 18-Jun-2010 1:00 PM EDT
Pressure from ‘Friends’ Could be Catalyst for G20 Action on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform
International Institute for Sustainable Development

Increasing pressure from the international community may be the catalyst needed to ensure fossil fuel subsidy reform is high on the climate change agenda of the G20 summit in Toronto this month.



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