http://www.physorg.com/space-news/environment/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on the environment, environmental issues, earth science and space exploration. (AP) -- The chief of a prestigious British research center caught in a storm of controversy over claims that he and others suppressed data about climate change has stepped down pending an investigation, the University of East Anglia said Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news178919012.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:43:49 EST news178919012 (PhysOrg.com) -- Climate projections for the next 50 to 100 years forecast increasingly frequent severe droughts and heat waves across the American Southwest, sinking available water levels even as rising mercury drives up demand for it. http://www.physorg.com/news178913021.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:04:13 EST news178913021 Much of the historic Italian city of Venice, including St. Mark's Square, was underwater Monday following a meteorological depression combined with natural tide waters, officials said. http://www.physorg.com/news178826195.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:20:09 EST news178826195 Waste management is increasingly gaining the recognition that it deserves as a major contributor to mitigating climate change. But with at least four different methods of accounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions currently in play, it is vitally important to ensure that all stakeholders are counting emissions accurately and transparently. A study released this week in a special issue of the journal Waste Management & Research published by SAGE describes methods currently used to quantify GHG emissions in waste management, and proposes a new framework that enables stakeholders to use consistently and transparently core emission data, which can then be implemented in any accounting procedure. http://www.physorg.com/news178813071.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:20:02 EST news178813071 A new scientific organisation is needed to monitor the commitments that will be made by developing countries at Copenhagen to cut their deforestation rates, according to research at the University of Leeds. http://www.physorg.com/news178811477.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:52:38 EST news178811477 Peatlands, especially those in tropical regions, sequester gigantic amounts of organic carbon. Human activities are now having a considerable impact on these wetlands. For example, drainage projects, in combination with the effects of periodic droughts, can lead to large-scale fires, which release enormous amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, and thus contribute to global warming. http://www.physorg.com/news178803752.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:43:01 EST news178803752 Plant roots can shrink as a result of water deficit and lose contact with the surrounding soil. This effect has been suspected for a long time, but has only now been demonstrated for a fact with the help of x-ray tomography. The formation of an air gap could initially help plants prevent impending water losses when the soil dries out, say scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) writing in the Vadose Zone Journal. http://www.physorg.com/news178803514.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:39:53 EST news178803514 (AP) -- Leaders of the Commonwealth countries called Saturday for a legally binding international agreement on climate change and a global fund with billions of dollars to help poor countries meet its mandates. http://www.physorg.com/news178721196.html Space & Earth - Environment Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:00:01 EST news178721196 (AP) -- A school district near Cincinnati is suing a plastics plant, accusing it of continuing to release chemicals in the air that exceed government safety standards. http://www.physorg.com/news178654038.html Space & Earth - Environment Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:50:01 EST news178654038 (AP) -- Gert Ignatiussen returns to this fjord-front Inuit town with the spoils of his hunting trip. Six seals, all killed with a single shot to the head. http://www.physorg.com/news178530519.html Space & Earth - Environment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:30:01 EST news178530519 (AP) -- Americans' day-to-day lives won't change noticeably if President Barack Obama achieves his newly announced goal of slashing carbon dioxide pollution by one-sixth in the next decade, experts say. http://www.physorg.com/news178530693.html Space & Earth - Environment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:52:01 EST news178530693 (PhysOrg.com) -- The first-ever Australian benchmark of climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and options for adaptation is being released in Brisbane today. http://www.physorg.com/news178529108.html Space & Earth - Environment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:50:01 EST news178529108 Deforestation has had a big influence on the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the past three centuries, but its impact is tapering off relatively. Nowadays, the burning of fossil fuels is a more crucial factor. This is the contention of Dutchh professor Rik Leemans of the Environmental Systems Analysis Group. http://www.physorg.com/news178460120.html Space & Earth - Environment Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:21:21 EST news178460120 (AP) -- President Barack Obama will commit the United States to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade - despite resistance in Congress over higher costs - when he travels to a major climate conference in Copenhagen next month. http://www.physorg.com/news178441378.html Space & Earth - Environment Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:50:02 EST news178441378 (PhysOrg.com) -- Reducing carbon dioxide to safe levels may require extracting carbon from the air, says Cornell climate researcher. http://www.physorg.com/news178392408.html Space & Earth - Environment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:40:01 EST news178392408 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's remotely piloted Predator B aircraft, named Ikhana, recently conducted post-burn assessments of two Southern California wildfire sites, the Piute Fire in Kern County and the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest. Ikhana, an unmanned aircraft equipped with an infrared imaging sensor, completed a seven-hour imaging flight on Nov. 19, 2009 from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. http://www.physorg.com/news178384574.html Space & Earth - Environment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:17:30 EST news178384574 Soil is the linchpin of the environment, where atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere meet. Despite that, many students see soil as "just dirt" - a place to grow plants, but nothing more. Soil science educators are challenged with the task of helping students and the public recognize the critical importance of soil in the environment. http://www.physorg.com/news178370886.html Space & Earth - Environment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:28:38 EST news178370886 Tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions will have major direct health benefits in addition to reducing the risk of climate change, especially in low-income countries, according to a series of six papers appearing today (Wed., Nov. 25) in the British journal The Lancet. http://www.physorg.com/news178370528.html Space & Earth - Environment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:25:54 EST news178370528 Food waste contributes to excess consumption of freshwater and fossil fuels which, along with methane and carbon dioxide emissions from decomposing food, impacts global climate change. In a new paper published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, Kevin Hall and colleagues at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases calculate the energy content of nationwide food waste from the difference between the US food supply and the food eaten by the population. The latter was estimated using a validated mathematical model of human metabolism relating body weight to the amount of food eaten. http://www.physorg.com/news178349112.html Space & Earth - Environment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:50:05 EST news178349112 The annual rate of increase in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has more than tripled in this decade, compared to the 1990s, reports an international consortium of scientists, who paint a bleak picture of the Earth's future unless "CO2 emissions [are] drastically reduced." http://www.physorg.com/news178308523.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:40:03 EST news178308523 (PhysOrg.com) -- Electronic devices could create significant environmental and health problems after they are thrown away. UC Irvine researchers are working with engineers, manufacturers and public health officials to find solutions. http://www.physorg.com/news178305162.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:30:01 EST news178305162 In advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, NASA has released a new multimedia climate change "resource reel" showcasing free downloadable videos, data visualizations, animations, and still images that illustrate key climate change concepts and discoveries. http://www.physorg.com/news178302542.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:36:46 EST news178302542 Carbon labelling could unfairly disadvantage economies in the developing world, and mislead consumers, according to an interdisciplinary project carried out by the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use Programme. http://www.physorg.com/news178299504.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:50:01 EST news178299504 Popular thinking about how to improve food systems for the better often misses the point, according to the results of a three-year global study of salmon production systems. Rather than pushing for organic or land-based production, or worrying about simple metrics such as "food miles," the study finds that the world can achieve greater environmental benefits by focusing on improvements to key aspects of production and distribution. http://www.physorg.com/news178297283.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:16:35 EST news178297283 The Dead Sea may soon shrink to a lifeless pond as Middle East political strife blocks vital measures needed to halt the decay of the world's lowest and saltiest body of water, experts say. http://www.physorg.com/news178296235.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:47:50 EST news178296235 Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news178269435.html Space & Earth - Environment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:20:03 EST news178269435 (AP) -- A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's global climate summit in Denmark. http://www.physorg.com/news178199129.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:00:04 EST news178199129 Sewer overflows are a nasty business, posing dangers to human health and the environment. North Carolina State University is launching a new project with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that targets the fat and grease that contribute to millions of overflows every year, and will give urban planners new tools to further reduce the risk of sewage spills. http://www.physorg.com/news178198955.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:00:02 EST news178198955 Seventy percent of households always separate their rubbish for recycling, but only 2 percent buy their energy on a green tariff, according to the early findings of a major new annual household survey, called "Understanding Society," funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. http://www.physorg.com/news178182064.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:02:51 EST news178182064 In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions - the major cause of global warming - cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day. http://www.physorg.com/news178178343.html Space & Earth - Environment Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:59:57 EST news178178343