Energy and Environment
Tree deaths in the West's old-growth forests have more than doubled in recent decades, likely from regional warming and related drought conditions.
The Antarctic Peninsula juts into the Southern Ocean, reaching farther north than any other part of the continent. The southernmost reach of global warming was believed to be limited to this narrow strip of land, while the rest of the continent was presumed to be cooling or stable. Not so.
An insecticide used to fumigate termite-infested buildings is a strong greenhouse gas that lives in the atmosphere nearly 10 times longer than previously thought.
The year 2008 tied with 2001 as the eighth warmest year on record for the Earth, based on the combined average of worldwide land and ocean surface temperatures through December.
Coral reefs around the world are in serious trouble from pollution, over-fishing, climate change and more. The last thing they need is an infection.
While the harsh winter pounding many areas of North America and Europe seemingly contradicts the fact that global warming continues unabated, a new survey finds consensus among scientists about the reality of climate change and its likely cause.
Looking at the most likely ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, I am struck that low-tech innovations, such as wind turbines and (the yet unproven) sequestration of CO2 from coal-burning plants, seem to be offering faster and better solutions than high-tech ones, like solar cells and improved nuclear reactors. Now in New Scientist, I found an intriguing, if a bit quirky article describing how a combination of heat from greenhouses and hot-air balloons can be used to generate substantial amounts of electricity.
According to Johann Hari, writing for Slate, there are at least two kinds of environmentalists: the romantics and the realists. May he should have said, "people who want to save souls, and people who want to save nature."
By carefully selecting which varieties of food crops to cultivate, much of Europe and North America could be cooled by up to 1 degree Celsius during the summer growing season.
Water and energy are two resources on which modern society depends. As demands for these increase, researchers look to alternative technologies that promise both sustainability and reduced environmental impact.
New North Carolina State University research shows that tequila's surge in popularity over the past 15 years has been a boon for industry, but is triggering a significant hangover of social and environmental problems in the region of Mexico where the once-notorious liquor is produced.
Flooding on a scale that devastated parts of England last year is set to become a common event across the UK in the next 75 years, new research has shown.
The evolutionary history of diatoms -- abundant oceanic plankton that remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year -- needs to be rewritten, according to a new Cornell study.
Human-made light sources can alter natural light cycles, causing animals that rely on light cues to make mistakes when moving through their environment. In the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a collaboration of ecologists, biologists and biophysicists has now shown that in addition to direct light, cues from polarized light can trigger animal behaviors leading to injury and often death.
When development and conservation go hand-in-hand.
