June 2012
22 posts
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement should take a holistic approach that modifies some of its existing practices To ensure safety programs for offshore drilling and production operations
To ensure the effectiveness of recently mandated Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) programs for offshore drilling and production operations, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental...
Soil moisture influences our climate.
The future of the world’s climate is determined by various parameters, such as the density of clouds or the mass of the Antarctic ice sheet. One of these crucial climate parameters is soil moisture, which is hard to measure on a global scale. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with the Vienna University of Technology (Institute of...
Recycling everything we use is the key to saving the Earth and humans
Recycling all the materials we use is the key to saving the Earth and humans from an apocalyptic future, according to a major new book by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
With the planet facing a rare upheaval in its long history, leading environmental scientists Tim Lenton and Andrew Watson have developed...
Research shows that wastewater recycling can multiply more greenhouse gases than traditional water-treatment processes
New research shows that wastewater recycling processes may generate more greenhouse gases than traditional water-treatment processes. Despite this finding, there are good reasons to continue keep wastewater recycling among the water-resource tools for urban areas.
That’s the...
The more the ice cap melts the more methane is released into the atmosphere — and the more the climate warms.
The ancient reserves of methane gas seeping from the melting Arctic ice cap told Jeff Chanton and fellow researchers what they already knew: As the permafrost thaws, there is a release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that causes climate warming.
The trick was figuring out how...
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New research shows that substantial vegetation sprouted on the frozen continent 15 million years ago
Ancient Antarctica was warmer and wetter than previously suspected, enough to support vegetation along its edges, according to a new study.
By examining the remnants of plant leaf wax found in sediment cores taken below the Ross Ice Shelf, scientists from the University of Southern California,...
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Research shows humans are primary cause of global...
The oceans have warmed in the past 50 years, but not by natural events alone.
New research by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and international collaborators shows that the observed ocean warming over the last 50 years is consistent with climate models only if the models include the impacts of observed increases in greenhouse gas during the 20th century.
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The population and economic growth that can be...
Although it’s long been suspected that human activity has greatly contributed to environmental stress, it’s only recently that science has begun to show just how great a role that activity is playing.
In an article published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Michigan State University’s Thomas Dietz and his colleague, Eugene Rosa of Washington State University, take a critical look at the...
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Renewables: an increasingly important contributor...
Solar generation surged past wind power to become the renewable energy technology of choice for global investors in 2011.
Solar attracted nearly twice as much investment as wind, driving the renewable energy sector to yet another record-breaking year, albeit one beset with challenges for the industry, according to two new reports on renewable energy trends issued today by the United Nations...
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it may be possible to select pigs that can make...
Results of a preliminary experiment conducted at the University of Illinois indicate that it may be possible to select pigs that can make efficient use of energy in less expensive feed ingredients, thus reducing diet costs.
Less expensive feed is usually higher in fiber than the corn-soy diets typically used in U.S. swine production, explained Hans H. Stein, professor of animal sciences at the...
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New emerging viral landscape will: highly...
Researchers in Hawaii and the UK report that the parasitic ‘Varroa’ mite has caused the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) to proliferate in honey bee colonies. This association is now thought to contribute to the world-wide spread and probable death of millions of honey bee colonies. The current monetary value of honey bees as commercial pollinators in the United States alone is estimated at...
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A new study finds that Caribbean seaweeds are far...
A new study finds that Caribbean seaweeds are far better competitors than their equivalents in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. But this triumph is bad news for Caribbean coral reefs.
The picture-postcard beauty of Caribbean reefs owes much to the living corals that build reefs and contribute startling white sand to beaches. Coral reefs might seem to be tranquil environment but in fact a battle...
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In the future robots could potentially contribute...
A bioinspired robot has provided the first experimental evidence that live zebrafish can be influenced by engineered robots.
Results published today, 8 June, in IOP Publishing’s journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, provide a stepping stone on the path to using autonomous robots in an open environment to monitor and control fish behaviour.
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In the future, water-based robots...
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TAU researcher develops durable plastic that may...
As landfills overflow with discarded plastics, scientists have been working to produce a biodegradable alternative that will reduce pollution. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher is giving the quest for environmentally friendly plastics an entirely new dimension — by making them tougher than ever before.
Prof. Moshe Kol of TAU’s School of Chemistry is developing a super-strength...
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The melt of Arctic sea ice due to climate change...
The dramatic melt-off of Arctic sea ice due to climate change is hitting closer to home than millions of Americans might think.
That’s because melting Arctic sea ice can trigger a domino effect leading to increased odds of severe winter weather outbreaks in the Northern Hemisphere’s middle latitudes – think the “Snowmageddon” storm that hamstrung Washington, D.C., during...
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Killer whales, found along the northwest coast of...
Southern resident killer whales, found along the northwest coast of North America, are in trouble mostly because of inadequate prey, the number vessels in their habitat has much less impact, according to work published June 6 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.
The researchers, led by Katherine Ayres, who completed the work while at University of Washington in Seattle, measured two different...
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The Earth may be approaching a tipping point due...
A prestigious group of scientists from around the world is warning that population growth, widespread destruction of natural ecosystems, and climate change may be driving Earth toward an irreversible change in the biosphere, a planet-wide tipping point that would have destructive consequences absent adequate preparation and mitigation.
“It really will be a new world, biologically, at that...
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Protect groundwater and surface waters from...
Illinois - Wastewater from large dairy farms contains significant concentrations of estrogenic hormones that can persist for months or even years, researchers report in a new study. In the absence of oxygen, the estrogens rapidly convert from one form to another; this stalls their biodegradation and complicates efforts to detect them, the researchers found.
The study, led by scientists at the...
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Gasification is being considered as a possible...
Vernon - Biomass gasification is being considered as a possible technology for converting at least 10 million acres of Texas brush into biofuel, according to Dr. Jim Ansley, Texas AgriLife Research rangeland ecologist in Vernon.
A study using an adiabatic bed gasifier to convert mesquite and redberry juniper species found in the Southern Great Plains into usable bioenergy gases was conducted by...
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High pollution increases risk of repeated heart...
Air pollution, a serious danger to the environment, is also a major health risk, associated with respiratory infections, lung cancer and heart disease. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher has concluded that not only does air pollution impact cardiac events such as heart attack and stroke, but it also causes repeated episodes over the long term.
Cardiac patients living in high pollution areas were...
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To slow resistance of western corn rootworm...
Genetically modified crops that produce insect-killing proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have reduced reliance on insecticide sprays since 1996. These proteins are lethal to some devastating crop pests, but do not harm most other creatures including humans.
Yet, just as insects become resistant to conventional insecticides, they also can evolve resistance to the Bt...
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Discovery a previously unknown protein for algae...
Scientists have revealed a key cog in the biochemical machinery that allows marine algae at the base of the oceanic food chain to thrive. They have discovered a previously unknown protein in algae that grabs an essential but scarce nutrient out of seawater, vitamin B12.
Many algae, as well as land-dwelling animals, including humans, require B12, but they cannot make it and must either acquire...
May 2012
50 posts
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A study by UNSW it found that marine herbivores...
Coral reefs and seashores largely look the way they do because large fish and urchins eat most of the seaweed that might otherwise cover them, but a major new study has found that the greatest impact of all comes from an unexpected quarter – small marine snails.
The study published in the journal Ecology Letters is the largest of its kind ever undertaken into the ecological impacts of marine...
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New computer model developed by University of...
When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it’s a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.
Current technologies would use about one-third of the energy generated by the plants – what’s called “parasitic energy” – and, as a result, substantially drive up the price...
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Global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification....
It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed.
Life was nearly wiped out 250 million years ago, with only 10 per cent of plants and animals surviving. It is currently much debated how life recovered from this cataclysm, whether quickly or slowly.
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Recent evidence for a rapid bounce-back is evaluated in a...
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Oxygen-breathing life exists on Earth today...
Oxygen-breathing life exists on Earth today because of changes in the planet’s magma 2.5 billion years ago, two geologists say.
Oxygen currently makes up 21 percent of our atmosphere. But for the first half of Earth’s existence, the air had almost no oxygen—if any humans could travel back to that ancient environment, they’d need spacesuits to survive.
Mysteriously, bacteria...
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Brazil has a proud record of protecting the...
Never before has the survival of so much rainforest depended on one person. But that is where President Rousseff of Brazil finds herself. The Brazilian congress just passed a forest code that puts the Amazon and other forests in jeopardy.
Dilma Rousseff’s imminent decision on whether to pass or veto the bill will have huge ramifications. If approved, it would give loggers and farmers free...
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Scientists have discovered that some hardy species...
Marine scientists studying life around deep-sea vents have discovered that some hardy species can survive the extreme change in pressure that occurs when a research submersible rises to the surface. The team’s findings, published in Conservation Biology, reveal how a species can be inadvertently carried by submersibles to new areas, with potentially damaging effects on marine ecosystems.
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New results: say the scientists that conserving...
Seagrasses are a vital part of the solution to climate change and, per unit area, seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world’s temperate and tropical forests.
So report researchers publishing a paper this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The paper, “Seagrass Ecosystems as a Globally Significant Carbon Stock,” is the first global analysis of...
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Black fire beetles of the genus Melanophila...
Black fire beetles of the genus Melanophila possess unusual infrared sensors. Researchers from the University of Bonn and from the Forschungszentrum Julich have concluded that the beetles’ sensors might even be more sensitive that uncooled infrared sensors designed by humans. Having this natural model opens up new perspectives, such as for early warning systems for forest fires. The results...
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Pave the way for a possible cure disease...
It’s a study that has gone relatively unnoticed but one that could have huge consequences for Brazil’s cocoa industry and chocolate lovers everywhere.
Researchers at the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in São Paulo state appear to have discovered exactly how the deadly fungus witches’ broom operates, paving the way for a possible cure.
The disease was responsible for destroying huge swathes...
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Harvard study finds circumpolar rivers most...
Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a toxic element, is caused by both atmospheric forces and the flow of circumpolar rivers that carry the element north into the Arctic Ocean.
While the atmospheric source was previously recognized, it now appears that twice as much mercury actually comes from the rivers. The revelation implies that...
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A new study has compared levels of the chemical in...
Amid growing concerns about the spread of harmful mercury in plants and animals, a new study by researchers from The Johns Hopkins University and The National Aquarium has compared levels of the chemical in captive dolphins with dolphins found in the wild. The captive animals were fed a controlled diet, while the wild mammals dined on marine life that may carry more of the toxic metal.
The...
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A clear change in salinity has been detected in...
In a paper published in the journal Science, Australian scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, reported changing patterns of salinity in the global ocean during the past 50 years, marking a clear fingerprint of climate change.
Lead author, Dr Paul Durack, said that by looking at...
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Harvard scientists are now using a powerful...
Using statistical tool, researchers are able to track where the melting that contributes to sea level rise happens.
It was used to help Apollo astronauts navigate in space, and has since been applied to problems as diverse as economics and weather forecasting, but Harvard scientists are now using a powerful statistical tool to not only track sea level rise over time, but to determine where the...
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New simulation study shows that atmosphere warms...
Pollution is warming the atmosphere through summer thunderstorm clouds, according to a computational study published May 10 in Geophysical Research Letters. How much the warming effect of these clouds offsets the cooling that other clouds provide is not yet clear. To find out, researchers need to incorporate this new-found warming into global climate models.
Pollution strengthens thunderstorm...
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The latest outbreak of southern pine beetle, a...
Research by USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists shows that the impacts of recent outbreaks of southern pine beetle further degraded shortleaf pine-hardwood forest ecosystems in the southern Appalachian region. The authors suggest that cutting and burning these sites reduces heavy fuel loads, improves soil nutrient status, and opens the canopy for restoration of these...
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Finding ways to re-use discarded microwaves could...
Making simple repairs could save the UK could save millions of pounds by replacing fuses or plugs rather than throwing away perfectly reusable microwaves with brand new ones.
Published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, PhD student Azadeh Dindarian and her team examined 189 microwaves at refuse centres and found that 54% of microwaves in a single year appeared to be disposed of simply for...
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The big surprises that come from volcanoes
Scientists from the University of Southampton have discovered a previously unrecognised volcanic process, similar to one that is used in chocolate manufacturing, which gives important new insights into the dynamics of volcanic eruptions.
The scientists investigated how a process called ‘fluidised spray granulation’ can occur during kimberlite eruptions to produce well-rounded particles containing...
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Trashing old, unused medications best for reducing...
A new study suggests that dumping old or unneeded medications in the trash can may be the best way to reduce the environmental impact of the 200 million pounds of pharmaceuticals that go unused in the U.S. each year.
The report, which weighs the emissions from flushing, incinerating or trashing drugs, appears in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Stephen J. Skerlos and...
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Performed advanced statistical analysis and...
For the first time, researchers have been able to combine different climate models using spatial statistics - to project future seasonal temperature changes in regions across North America.
They performed advanced statistical analysis on two different North American regional climate models and were able to estimate projections of temperature changes for the years 2041 to 2070, as well as the...
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Unprecedented study relies on more than 1,500...
Today’s mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests a new study that examined hundreds of years of ancient tree ring and fire data from two distinct climate periods.
Researchers constructed and analyzed a statistical model that encompassed 1,500 years of climate and fire patterns to test, in part, whether today’s dry, hot climate...
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Now Researchers can measure directional...
Deep cracks in soil can remain open underground even after they have visibly sealed on the surface, a new study has found.
The results could have important implications for agricultural management around the timing and intensity of water and pesticide applications.
“These soils are very fertile and provide the most productive agricultural land in Australia,” said lead author Dr...
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An American chemist says he's found a substance -...
Eric Stroud stands on a pier on the island of North Bimini in the Bahamas. He looks down into the turquoise water.
A couple of eagle rays and barracudas swim by.
“The current is ripping through here right now,” he says. “The tide is going out. So any scent that’s put here goes right to the outside of the channel, and that’s where the big sharks are right...
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Nearly one-tenth of hemisphere's mammals will be...
A safe haven could be out of reach for 9 percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals, and as much as 40 percent in certain regions, because the animals just won’t move swiftly enough to outpace climate change. For the past decade scientists have outlined new areas suitable for mammals likely to be displaced as climate change first makes their current habitat inhospitable, then...
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Oxygen-separation membranes could aid in CO2...
It may seem counterintuitive, but one way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere may be to produce pure carbon dioxide in powerplants that burn fossil fuels. In this way, greenhouse gases — once isolated within a plant — could be captured and stored in natural reservoirs, deep in Earth’s crust.
Such “carbon-capture” technology may significantly reduce greenhouse...
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Research groups have uncovered the function of...
Research groups from Iowa State University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have uncovered the function of three plant proteins, a discovery that could help plant scientists boost seed oil production in crops, thereby benefitting the production of food, biorenewable chemicals and biofuels.
The analysis of gene activity (by the Iowa group) and determination of protein structures (by...
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Biosensor "Chip Dip" designed to alert the user to...
From man-made toxic chemicals such as industrial by-products to poisons that occur naturally, a water or food supply can be easily contaminated. And for every level of toxic material ingested, there is some level of bodily response, ranging from minor illness to painful certain death.
Biosensors have long been used to safeguard against exposure to toxic chemicals. Food tasters employed by the...
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The Akuntsu (Act now to help the Akuntsu.The...
Tribe’s last five survivors speak of genocide
The Akuntsu are a tiny Amazonian tribe of just five individuals. They are the last known survivors of their people and live in Rondônia state, western Brazil.
In a few decades the Akuntsu will become extinct, and our planet will have lost a unique people, language and culture.
Genocide
In 1995, field workers
employed by FUNAI, the...
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The volume of greenhouse gas released depends on...
A new study from the University of California, Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, published May 13 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, reports that the volume of greenhouse gas released when a forest is cleared depends on how the trees will be used and in which part of the...
