Earth & Environment
Earth & Environment - Dec 7, 2011 12:24 - 1 Comment
Climate change may drive vacation plans
UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) — Peak visitation at US national parks is four days earlier on average than 30 years ago, one example of how global warming may be influencing people’s “weather-related” behavior. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Dec 7, 2011 10:00 - 0 Comments
Carbon dioxide: The global heat dial?
PURDUE / YALE (US) — A drop in carbon dioxide appears to be the driving force that led to the Antarctic ice sheet’s formation, according to a recent study of molecules from ancient algae found in deep-sea core samples. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Dec 6, 2011 10:03 - 0 Comments
Earth’s oxygen came in ‘starts and stops’
PENN STATE (US) — The appearance of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere probably did not occur as a single event, according to an international team of researchers who investigated rock cores. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Dec 5, 2011 9:59 - 3 Comments
Opals leave radioactive waste inert
STANFORD (US) — Researchers are proposing the use of opal to sequester uranium at contaminated nuclear sites. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Dec 2, 2011 12:58 - 1 Comment
Ancient Andes suggest way to predict quakes
MONASH (AUS) — Scientists are a step closer to predicting when and where earthquakes will occur after taking a fresh look at the formation of the Andes, which began 45 million years ago. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Dec 1, 2011 11:38 - 2 Comments
Climate shifts spell trouble for walnut trees
PURDUE (US) — Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather events considered possible as the climate changes would be especially troublesome—possibly fatal—for walnut trees, according to new research. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 23, 2011 12:40 - 0 Comments
Deforestation’s effects? Location, location
UC DAVIS (US) — The impact of deforestation on global warming varies with latitude, a finding that calls for revised climate-monitoring strategies, a new study shows. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 17, 2011 21:46 - 3 Comments
Day-to-day weather more erratic, extreme
PRINCETON (US) — The first climate study to focus on variations in daily weather conditions finds increasing extremes, with fluctuations in sunshine and rainfall affecting more than a third of the planet. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 17, 2011 10:43 - 1 Comment
Polluted air makes droughts, floods worse
U. MARYLAND (US) — Rising air pollution can strongly affect cloud formation in a way that can make floods and droughts even worse, a new study finds. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 16, 2011 13:03 - 4 Comments
Ancient landslide blocked California river
U. OREGON / CALTECH (US) — New evidence suggests a catastrophic landslide 22,500 years ago dammed the upper reaches of northern California’s Eel River and formed a now gone 30-mile-long lake. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 14, 2011 13:02 - 0 Comments
‘Lawnmower’ fish preserve Pacific coral
UC SANTA BARBARA (US) — Some coral reefs are able to recover from cyclones and predators because of hungry fish that chow down on threatening algae, keeping it cropped to levels low enough to allow baby coral to settle and grow. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 10, 2011 15:46 - 0 Comments
Methane likely fueled Earth’s big warm-up
RICE (US) — New calculations suggest the release of massive amounts of carbon from methane hydrate frozen under the seafloor 56 million years ago likely led to a major climate shift on Earth. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 9, 2011 10:48 - 0 Comments
Chesapeake dead zones return to life
JOHNS HOPKINS AND U. MARYLAND (US) — Reducing the flow of fertilizers, animal waste, and other pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay is shrinking oxygen-depleted “dead zones” in America’s largest estuary, a new study finds. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 7, 2011 11:21 - 0 Comments
Animal’s daring guide to hitchhiking
MONASH (AUS) — Hitchhiking, once believed to be the exclusive domain of beat poets and wanderers, is an activity for daring members of the animal kingdom, new research shows. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 4, 2011 8:36 - 0 Comments
Steer clear: Bats 3x less active by roads
U. LEEDS (UK) — Bat activity is as much as three times lower near major roadsides, according to a new study that could have legal consequences for road builders. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 2, 2011 10:20 - 0 Comments
Battle of the biomes: Savannas vs. forests
PRINCETON (US) —Large stretches of South American and African forest and savanna could begin to encroach on each other due to factors such as climate change and land use—much to the detriment of the people and animals that rely on them. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 1, 2011 12:04 - 1 Comment
Trees lag behind climate change
DUKE (US) — More than half of eastern US tree species examined in a massive new study aren’t adapting to climate change as quickly or consistently as predicted. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 1, 2011 9:58 - 1 Comment
Seaweed wages chemical war on coral
GEORGIA TECH (US) — Scientists have mapped the chemical structure of molecules used by certain species of seaweed to kill or inhibit reef-building coral. (more…)
