Feature Channels: Environmental Health

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The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has announced The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has been awarded a $600,000 grant to join the Gulf Scholars Program (GPS). The initiative is part of a five-year, $12.7 million pilot program aimed at preparing undergraduate students to address environmental, health, energy and infrastructure challenges in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Professional lighting companies are experimenting with products that mimic natural light indoors, helping homeowners reap the health benefits of circadian lighting no matter the weather.

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NJIT's Eric Fortune and team “Limelight Rainforest” are grand prize winners of the global XPRIZE Rainforest Competition with their drone-delivered Limelight device, capable of identifying thousands of rainforest species in mere hours.

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Tufts University marked a milestone on its path to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 when it announced today its participation in a project that reduces its Boston health sciences campus energy-related emissions by 40%.

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A new study has quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. Researchers report that global shipping traffic overlaps with about 92% of these whale species’ ranges. Only about 7% of areas at highest risk for whale-ship collisions have measures in place to protect whales.

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Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have employed a NASA open-source program to reveal that disadvantaged populations may be subject to greater heat stress and poor air quality. For this study, the researchers focused on Houston, Tex. Combining changes in heat and land cover with Houston's socioeconomic data demonstrated that economically disadvantaged populations are subject to greater heat stress.

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In July 1982, researchers in New Zealand recorded unidentifiable sounds as a part of an experiment to characterize the soundscape of the South Fiji Basin. The sound consisted of four short bursts resembling a quack, which inspired the name of the sound “Bio-Duck,” and researchers came to a consensus that the sounds had to be biological. Ross Chapman will present his work analyzing the mystery sounds as part of the virtual 187th ASA Meeting, presenting the waveform and spectrum of the recordings, as well as further evidence that the work was a conversation between multiple animals.

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A new study reveals how sunlight can drive the purification of lake water by breaking down harmful contaminants. By comparing two photochemical pathways—triplet sensitization and direct photolysis—the research highlights how these mechanisms function differently across various lake environments. The study points out that while certain pollutants are degraded through organic carbon interactions, others rely heavily on sunlight intensity, suggesting a combined strategy for more effective water purification.

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A new program at Wayne State University supported by a four-year, $749,991 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will use data to study the future of agriculture and train students to better understand how to keep people fed in an ever-changing world.

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COVID-19 reshaped mobility patterns worldwide, affecting walking, driving and public transit use, finds a new study published in The Lancet Public Health. The research, led by an international team including researchers in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, analyzed data from nearly 300 cities to understand how urban transportation habits adapted during the pandemic.

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Over a typical two-year rotation of corn and soybeans, 40% of nitrous oxide emissions are in the fertilizer-free soybean year, according to new Iowa State University research. Winter cover crops and planting soybeans earlier could reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas by one-third while increasing yields.

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A report out today by The Washington Post finds most cities in the United States are not prepared for climate change. ...

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WCS welcomes this scientific opinion by the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA), which provides recommendations to support the successful implementation of European Union (EU) policies deriving from a One Health approach.

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Geology researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are partnering with scientists in the Kingdom of Bhutan to detect and mitigate the impact of glacial floods on rural mountain villages. The new project is supported by approximately $380,000 from the National Science Foundation.

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In this week’s Physics of Fluids, researchers employ machine learning to more accurately model the boundary layer wind field of tropical cyclones. Conventional approaches to storm forecasting involve large numerical simulations run on supercomputers incorporating mountains of observational data, and they still often result in inaccurate or incomplete predictions. In contrast, the author’s machine learning algorithm is equipped with atmospheric physics equations that can produce more accurate results faster and with less data.

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Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution partner with the University of the Virgin Islands to create a resilient artificial reef

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Media and invited guests are welcome to tour a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) atmospheric observatory recently installed in Alabama’s Bankhead National Forest. Speak with scientists and federal and local officials, see a weather balloon launch, and get a tour of the state-of-the-art atmospheric instruments installed at the observatory.

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Following an Earth Day pledge to significantly reduce the organization’s environmental footprint by 2050, the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) announced its Climate and Sustainability Action Plan (CSAP), an ambitious strategy to halve emissions by 2030, and eliminate them by 2042, underscoring the goal to become the nation’s most environmentally friendly health care organization.