Environment news

Dutch build more dunes against rising seas

Space & Earth / Environment

2 hours ago | not rated yet | 0

On the beach at Monster, bulldozers painstakingly turn sand dredged from the bottom of the North Sea bed into dunes in an ambitious effort to safeguard the Netherlands from flooding.

Lehigh receives grant to reduce cost of carbon capture at coal-fired power plants

Space & Earth / Environment

5 hours ago | 3 / 5 (2) | 1

Lehigh University's Energy Research Center (ERC) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop methods of recovering and reusing the heat that would be generated by the carbon-dioxide (CO2) compressio ...

Germany calls for binding climate deal in 2010

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 19, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 2

(AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Thursday for all countries to fix binding climate change targets next year at the latest, acknowledging that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen next month.

Hidden threat: Elevated pollution levels near regional airports

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 18, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Scientists are reporting evidence that air pollution — a well-recognized problem at major airports — may pose an important but largely overlooked health concern for people living near smaller regional airports. ...

Developing 'green' tires that boost mileage and cut carbon dioxide emissions

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 18, 2009 | 3 / 5 (2) | 0

A new generation of "green" automobile tires that can boost fuel efficiency without sacrificing safety and durability is rolling their way through the research pipeline. The new tires could help add an extra mile or two per ...

Experts: Failure to focus on farming will undermine global climate agreement and increase hunger

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 18, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 0

Alarmed by a substantial oversight in the global climate talks leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month, more than 60 of the world's most prominent agricultural scientists and leaders ...

Fossil fuel CO2 emissions up by 29 percent since 2000

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 17, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (18) | 7

The strongest evidence yet that the rise in atmospheric CO2 emissions continues to outstrip the ability of the world's natural 'sinks' to absorb carbon is published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. ...

Fighting climate change by turning CO2 to stone

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 17, 2009 | 3.6 / 5 (11) | 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- While politicians debate the best ways to cut global carbon dioxide emissions, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory's Center for Advanced Energy Studies are charging ahead on a strategy ...

Glimpsing a greener future: Computer model foresees effects of alternative transportation fuels

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 16, 2009 | 2.5 / 5 (4) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- It's the year 2060, and 75 percent of drivers in the Greater Los Angeles area have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that emit only water vapor.

New climate treaty could put species at risk

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 16, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Plans to be discussed at the forthcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen to cut deforestation in developing countries could save some species from extinction but inadvertently increase the risk to others, scientists believe.

Researchers studying link between climate change and cattle nutritional stress

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 16, 2009 | 1 / 5 (2) | 0

Kansas State University's Joseph Craine, research assistant professor in the Division of Biology, and KC Olson, associate professor in animal sciences and industry, have teamed up with some other scientists from across the ...

New research provides insights into potential ecological costs and cobenefits of REDD

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 16, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

A new paper just published in Global Change Biology examines the potential of a REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism to provoke ecological damage and/or promote ecological cobenefits. Such a ...

Climate change not man-made, say majority of Britons: poll

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 15, 2009 | 3.3 / 5 (15) | 37

Less than half of Britons believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to a poll carried out for The Times newspaper and published on Saturday.

Scientists pinpoint origin of dissolved arsenic in Bangladesh drinking water

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 15, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (20) | 0

Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled ...

Hawaii's famed white sandy beaches are shrinking

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 15, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 1

(AP) -- Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand castles.

China to become 'global leader in green tech'

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 14, 2009 | 4 / 5 (5) | 6

China can become the world's top exporter of "green technology" if it carries out crucial energy and ecological reforms, leading environmental campaigners said here Saturday.

Hawaii planning to replenish sand at Waikiki Beach

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 14, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

(AP) -- Hawaii officials are appealing to the state's tourism authority for funds to restore part of world-famous Waikiki Beach.

'Catastrophic' e-waste fuels global toxic dump

Space & Earth / Environment

Nov 13, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (12) | 0

A "catastrophic accumulation" of dozens of millions of tonnes of "e-waste" from computers, cellphones and television sets is fuelling a global pile of hazardous waste, an international body warned Friday.