Latest science news in Earth & Climate
VIDEO: Climate Change Satellite Launched
Early today NASA launched its new satellite, Jason 2, which will monitor how ocean masses move in an effort to understand climate change's effects.
When It Comes to Female Red Squirrels, It Seems Any Male Will Do
Researchers have found that female red squirrels showed high levels of multimale mating and would even mate with males that had similar genetic relatedness, basically mating with their relatives. Researchers...
New Way To Control Water Pollution? Mats Designed To Capture And Stabilize Pollution In Rivers
In a mud flat at the edge of the Cocheco River, just outside downtown Dover, New Hampshire, scientists are testing an innovative way to treat polluted sediment in coastal waterways....
Latrines And Out-houses Trounce Toilets In Global War Against Poor Sanitation
While Americans may consider flush-and-forget-it indoor plumbing to be the pinnacle of sanitary science, the lowly latrine could be a far better solution for many parts of the developing world....
Plan To Conserve Forests May Be Detrimental To Other Ecosystems
Conserving biodiversity must be considered in plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, researchers warn in Science. The UNFCCC is currently discussing ways of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and...
UC Davis researcher leads climate-change discovery
A team of researchers led by a first-year UC Davis faculty member has resolved a longstanding paradox in the plant world, which should lead to far more accurate predictions of...
Toxic To Aliens -- But Key To Health Of Planet
Scientists are using an ingredient found in common shampoos to investigate how the oxygen content of the oceans has changed over geologically recent time.
FDA recalls Tiger Chai-brand concentrate
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Tipu's Tiger Chai-brand concentrate because of possible contamination.
Jellyfish outbreaks a sign of nature out of sync
The dramatic proliferation of jellyfish in oceans around the world, driven by overfishing and climate change, is a sure sign of ecosystems out of kilter, warn experts.
New study raises concerns about proposed mitigation strategy for marine bycatch
Huge numbers of fish, seabirds, and other marine animals are routinely killed and discarded after being inadvertently caught during fishing operations. Known as marine bycatch, this problem is an ongoing...
New study shows shallow water corals evolved from deep sea ancestors
New research shows that the second most diverse group of hard corals first evolved in the deep sea, and not in shallow waters. Stylasterids, or lace corals, diversified in deep...
Albino crawfish found on lawmaker's land
REPUBLIC, Mo., June 17 (UPI) -- Efforts to protect endangered albino crawfish living in a cavernous opening in a Missouri state lawmaker's backyard are on hold, he says.
Dumping mining waste into water 'more responsible': fisheries minister
Tailing waste produced by mining companies is best stored in water, the federal fisheries minister said Tuesday, defending a planned move by bureaucrats to reclassify 16 Canadian lakes as toxic...
Don't Rebuild on China Quake Faults, Experts Warn
More widespread death and destruction could occur if China rebuilds on the active tectonic faults that caused the May 12 quake in Sichuan Province, scientists say.
PHOTOS: 1780 British Warship Found in Lake Ontario
A "holy grail" of Great Lakes wrecks, the remarkably intact H.M.S. Ontario is the oldest wreck yet found in the Great Lakes.
VIDEO: Peru Artifacts Returned
Peru's government has reclaimed more than a hundred pre-Inca and colonial artifacts from private collections in Germany and the United States.
Underground CO2 capture testing is urged
PITTSBURGH, June 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. professor is urging Congress to pass legislation to fund demonstrations of new technologies that trap and store carbon dioxide emissions underground.
Harsh Climate Scoured Early Earth, Study Says
Earth's early atmosphere may have been highly corrosive to rocks, gradually dissolving away all but the toughest of minerals, a new study suggests.
Mass Extinctions Due to Sea Level Changes, Study Says
The rise and fall of the seas may have a more lethal toll on Earth's life than asteroids and supervolacanoes, according to a new study.
Wilkins Ice Shelf still vanishing
PARIS, June 17 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says the Antarctic's Wilkins Ice Shelf continued to break-up with a 100-mile area breaking away at the end of...
Panda Areas Damaged, Destroyed by China Quake
At least 80 percent of giant pandas' Sichuan habitat was destroyed or damaged in the May 12 quake, a Chinese official announced today.
P.E.I. declares war on bedbugs
While there have been no reports of bedbugs in P.E.I. accommodations in the past two years, the tourism industry is still working to ensure they don't become a problem.
Lynas's Six Degrees wins Royal Society award
Mark Lynas's grim exploration of the implications of global warming has won Britain's most prestigious prize for science writing
Samoa Found To Be In Path Of Geological Hotspots, Adding Fuel To Debate Over Origins Of Volcanic Chains
A new study that determines Samoa is indeed on the path of a geologic "hotspot" trail is adding fuel to a vigorous scientific debate over the origins of volcano chains...
Petroleum meeting greeted by protesters
Oilsands protesters challenged investors at a Calgary petroleum conference on Monday to drink out of bottles of murky water from Lake Athabasca, which sits near Alberta's major oilsands developments.
Letters: Climate change: time is running out
Letters: Mark Lynas (Climate chaos is inevitable. We can only avert oblivion, June 12) is correct to highlight the dire lack of urgency
Global Impact Of Urbanization Threatening World's Biodiversity And Natural Resources
A new study has examined the effect of staggering urban growth on nature and people that finds if we don't improve urban planning now, we may lose some animals, plants...
First farmers made 'lucky beads'
Some of the first farmers in the Near East probably used green beads as amulets to protect themselves and their crops, a study suggests.