Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Modified Plants May Yield More Biofuel
Plants, genetically modified to ease the breaking down of their woody material, could be the key to a cheaper and greener way of making ethanol, according to researchers who add...
Ocean Acidification From Carbon Dioxide Emissions Will Cause Physiological Impairment To Jumbo Squid
The elevated carbon dioxide levels expected to be found in the world's oceans by 2100 will likely lead to physiological impairments of jumbo squid.
A gift for planet Earth: Ways to save energy during the holidays
Penn State's Office of Sustainability offers suggestions for saving energy this holiday season.
Slip rate along the Lijiang-Ninglang fault zone estimated from repeating microearthquakes
The China Digital Seismic Network (CDSN) provides excellent opportunities to quantify the kinematics and characterise the dynamics of the active fault systems in China. By carefully examining waveforms microearthquakes occurring...
Could deep-sea microbes teach us about alien life?
Hovering in a tiny submarine 1.4 miles beneath the Pacific Ocean, a University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiologist felt as if he were in a time machine, witnessing the ancient past,...
Reflecting on global warming
A radical plan to curb global warming and so reverse the climate change caused by our rampant burning of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution would involve covering parts of...
IRB Barcelona to coordinate two European projects on biomedicine
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has been chosen by the European Commission (EC) to coordinate two European health research projects, as part of the second call of...
Satellites Used To Measure Inland Floods
Satellites that were designed to measure sea level over the world's oceans can serve a valuable purpose over land, a new study has found. Researchers used satellite to measure the...
Wolf spotted near China's Great Wall: report
A wolf has been spotted near a popular tourist spot along the Great Wall of China, with officials rushing to catch it before it attacks anyone, state media said Tuesday.
New 'seawater' -- the way ahead for ocean science?
A proposed new definition of 'seawater' is drawing the attention of the world's oceanographic community in a change that will advance the accuracy of climate science projections. read more
Observatory: Growing More Corn for Ethanol Makes Pest Control Harder
In addition to complaints about soil erosion and high crop processes, increased corn production may also add to farm pests.
A Price On Carbon Not Enough To Save Rainforests
Including carbon emissions from tropical deforestation in a future international climate regime will not suffice to protect the world's remaining tropical forests from expanding palm oil plantations.
Role Of Soil Patterns In Dam Restoration Examined
Looking at the site today, it's easy to forget that a dam and pond stood for 43 years on the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Franbrook Farm Research Station in southwestern Wisconsin....
Baby Fish In Polluted San Francisco Estuary Waters Are Stunted And Deformed
Striped bass in the San Francisco Estuary are contaminated before birth with a toxic mix of pesticides, industrial chemicals and flame retardants that their mothers acquire from estuary waters and...
In America, Millions Breathe Too Much Soot
More than 100 million people living in 46 metropolitan areas of the United States are breathing air that has become fouled with too much soot the federal Environmental Protection Agency...
Culled narwhals help feed hungry in the High Arctic
People in a Baffin Island community say the bounty provided by the cull of more than 600 narwhals trapped in the sea ice near Pond Inlet has left them happier...
Enviro Groups Sue Over EPA Mining Rule
Environmentalists sued the Bush administration, trying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from changing a rule they say keeps mining waste from entering mountain streams.
Repair crews reach damaged cables in Mediterranean
(AP) -- A robotic submarine searched beneath the Mediterranean on Sunday for damaged communications cables, two days after Web and telephone access was knocked out for much of the...
Arctic Greening Linked To Retreating Sea Ice
An interdisciplinary group of scientists has strongly linked sea ice changes to changes in Arctic land-surface temperatures and increased tundra greenness.
Warmer oceans would fuel more thunderstorms
Satellite data reveal more thunderheads forming as tropical sea-surface temperatures rise
Global Warming Might Cook Up Too Many Male Fish
Earth’s warming could have troublesome impacts on reptiles because their gender is determined by temperature.
Italy's geologic history becomes a personal tale in Walter Alvarez's new book
Italy's mountains, from the Apennines to the Alps, have fascinated University of California, Berkeley, geologist Walter Alvarez for more than 35 years, resulting in a new book, "The Mountains of...
Lonely man leaps into Knut's polar bear cage
A man jumped into the Berlin zoo enclosure of famed polar bear Knut on Monday, but officials were able to keep the animal away from the intruder by distracting him...
Making coal mining safer, more efficient and greener
CSIRO's efforts to help the Australian coal industry improve safety and efficiency and reduce its environmental impact received a boost this week with the allocation of more than A$3 million...
Nitrogen Emissions In Dairy Pastures Peak In The Springtime
The nitrogen emissions from boreal dairy pastures vary depending on the time of year and ley rotation. The emissions peak in spring, when the nitrates accumulated in the soil over...
Oil Spray Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Pig Finishing Barns
Researchers have known that the animal feeding industry creates a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane and carbon dioxide. As the industry works to address this concern, scientists...
Wet, cold, windy Christmas forecast for Southern California
Rain is expected Monday, and a storm Wednesday may be stronger. Skiers and snowboarders can expect as much as a foot of fresh snow. ...
Report: EPA allows chemical secrecy
MILWAUKEE, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has kept data about potentially dangerous chemicals secret, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says.