Earth & Environment - Jan 18, 2012 12:08 - 0 Comments

Bitter orange trees taste yucky to bugs

CORNELL (US) — Orange trees engineered to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of bugs may protect Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry from a deadly bacterial disease. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jan 13, 2012 12:30 - 8 Comments

High insecticide levels in dead honeybees

PURDUE (US) — Honeybee populations have been in serious decline for years, and scientists may have identified one of the factors that cause bee deaths around agricultural fields. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jan 12, 2012 10:45 - 0 Comments

With less hail, flood risk may rise in Rockies

U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Climate changes may mean summertime hail could disappear from the eastern flank of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains by 2070, a new study shows. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jan 10, 2012 17:02 - 0 Comments

Gulf ‘swirl’ key to recovery after oil spill

UC SANTA BARBARA (US) — A new computer model shows how bacteria, topography, and water currents combined to remove methane and other chemicals from the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 29, 2011 11:05 - 0 Comments

Worm compost keeps seedlings safe

CORNELL (US) — Worm compost is not only an ideal fertilizer, it may also prove to be an organic way to protect seeds from a pathogen that has been a scourge to farmers. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 23, 2011 10:49 - 0 Comments

Oxygen levels fell in Ice Age oceans

MCGILL (CAN) — Data from the end of the last Ice Age confirm that a changing climate lowers the amount of oxygen in the water. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 21, 2011 16:02 - 0 Comments

Method rids water of heavy metals

BROWN (US) — Engineers have developed a system that cleanly and efficiently removes trace heavy metals from water. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 21, 2011 14:48 - 0 Comments

Nitrogen ‘double whammy’ could alter lakes

U. WASHINGTON (US) — Nitrogen derived from human activities has polluted lakes for more than a century. The fingerprint is evident even in remote lakes thousands of miles from the nearest city. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 21, 2011 9:50 - 1 Comment

Tap runs dry as glaciers recede

MCGILL (CAN) — Glaciers are retreating at an unexpectedly fast rate, according to research in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 19, 2011 13:06 - 3 Comments

Maples fight to push through leaf litter

U. MICHIGAN (US) — Acid rain is taking a toll on sugar maples in upper Great Lakes forests that have been largely spared the type of damage seen in mature sugar maples in the Northeast. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 19, 2011 12:52 - 1 Comment

Bad (and good) news for Costa Rican farmers

STANFORD (US) — Knocking down forests to make way for farms and pastures in Costa Rica can drive away the birds that play a crucial role in distributing seeds, controlling insects, and pollinating plants. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 16, 2011 10:26 - 2 Comments

Greener commutes with eco-routes

U. BUFFALO (US) — The path of least emissions may not always be the fastest way to drive somewhere, but it’s possible for drivers to cut emissions without significantly slowing travel time, researchers say. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 15, 2011 16:46 - 1 Comment

Social or solitary: It’s in bees’ genes

U. ILLINOIS (US) — A new study of different types of bees—bumble bees, honey bees, stingless bees, and solitary bees—offers a first look at the genetic underpinnings of their different lifestyles. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 15, 2011 15:16 - 2 Comments

Can computers predict the next tsunami?

STANFORD (US) — Scientists have developed computational models of the earthquake and resulting tsunami that devastated Japan in 2010 in order to predict disasters of the same scale. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 14, 2011 20:45 - 0 Comments

Bees keep up as Earth heats up

CORNELL (US) — Bees and plants are able to keep pace as the warm temperatures of spring start a little earlier each year due to climate change, according to new research. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 14, 2011 10:13 - 1 Comment

Tropics may speed glacial melt

U. WASHINGTON (US) — Accelerated melting of two outlet glaciers in the Antarctic is likely due in part to an increase in sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 13, 2011 12:44 - 0 Comments

Snakes struggle to keep pace with climate

INDIANA U. (US) — Over the next century, the climate will change more than 100 times faster than the rate at which species can adapt, according to new research. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 13, 2011 11:55 - 1 Comment

Warm-up drives tropical birds to new heights

DUKE (US) — Tropical birds are moving to higher elevations because of climate change, but they may not be moving fast enough. (more…)

Earth & Environment