Environment news

Discovery of the Jekyll-and-Hyde factors in 'coral bleaching'

Discovery of the Jekyll-and-Hyde factors in 'coral bleaching'

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists are reporting the first identification of substances involved in the Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation that changes harmless marine bacteria into killers that cause "coral bleaching." Their study appears ...


Forest deal at Copenhagen must avoid creating 'carbon refugees'

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Forest dwellers must be included in the design of the upcoming forest deal at Copenhagen in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis, according to a scientist at the University of Leeds.


Study finds logging effects vary based on a forest's history, climate

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A Smoky Mountain forest's woodland herb population has shown that climate may play a role in how forest understories recover from logging, according to Purdue University research.


NYC eco island

NYC to Construct Eco Tourist Island

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 26, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (6) | comments 8 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2003, the state and city of New York bought Governor's Island from the federal government for $1. Once used as a military base by the US Army and Coast Guard, the 172-acre island located ...


Deer Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park

Tree deaths have doubled across the western US

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 22, 2009 | popularity 2.9 / 5 (11) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey and involving the University of Colorado at Boulder indicates tree deaths in the West's old-growth forests have more than doubled in recent decades, ...


Jatropha

Jatropha Helps Air New Zealand Cut Its CO2 Emissions by More Than 60%

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 17, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (14) | comments 14 weblog

Recently, Air New Zealand ran a test flight of a jet plane fueled with a biofuel blend made with jatropha. The results showed a fuel savings of 1.2%, amounting to more than a ton of fuel over the course of ...


UN talks: Rich nations must make big emission cuts (AP)

UN talks: Rich nations must make big emission cuts

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (11) | comments 8

(AP) -- Wealthy nations would commit to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, and the world should strive to nearly eliminate them - or at least cut them in half - by 2050 under ...


Peat fires drive temperatures up

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

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 ...


Water quality improves after lawn fertilizer ban, study shows

Water quality improves after lawn fertilizer ban, study shows

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to keep lakes and streams clean, municipalities around the country are banning or restricting the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers, which can kill fish and cause ...


Stolen e-mails embolden climate change skeptics

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 1.8 / 5 (15) | comments 39

(AP) -- At a critical time, the uproar over stolen e-mails suggesting scientists suppressed contrary views about climate change has emboldened skeptics - including congressional Republicans looking to scuttle President Barack ...


In Greenland, warming fuels dream of hidden wealth (AP)

In Greenland, warming fuels dream of hidden wealth

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(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.


World forest observatory needed to monitor vital role of forests in climate deal

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 0

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.


Recycling

Can Recycling Be Bad for the Environment?

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jul 14, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (31) | comments 27 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- By now, nearly everyone knows that it is important to recycle. It helps the environment. Even my six-year-old knows that. But what if it doesn't? While it seems pretty straightforward, in ...


Climate Change, Nitrogen Loss Threaten Plant Life in Arid Desert Soils

Climate Change, Nitrogen Loss Threaten Plant Life in Arid Desert Soils

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (9) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the Mojave Desert winds howl across this hottest place in North America, blowing sands across Death Valley and through empty ghost towns, swirling across treeless land for hundreds of miles. ...


Pedestrians make their way across the snow in Tian'anmen Square

Beijing's first snow of season 'artificially induced'

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 01, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Chinese meteorologists covered Beijing in snow Sunday after seeding clouds to bring winter weather to the capital in an effort to combat a lingering drought, state media reported.