The largest and most comprehensive effort to research air pollution in Britain is underway in London and the skies above it. As many as 80 scientists from eleven universities are tracking nearly 1,000 different types of gases and particles in the atmosphere. Pollutants are being measured on the ground, at the top of BT Tower…
Diseased trees in forests may be a significant new source of methane that causes climate change, according to new research. The study was conducted by researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and published in Geophysical Research Letters. Sixty trees sampled at Yale Myers Forest in northeastern Connecticut contained concentrations of methane…
Shellfish respond to increasing acidification in seawater – such as that produced by climate change – by producing lighter, thinner shells. As more and more carbon dioxide is generated by human beings, it becomes dissolved in the oceans, making them more acidic. And according to British, Australian and Singaporean scientists, this is affecting the size…
Check out this high-rise in France’s Boulogne-Billancourt re-imagined as an urban eco-village, bursting with greenery. The Natural Evolution building proposal (which comes via eVolo) was developed in response for the increasing need for high-density housing in urban areas. In accordance with that vision, it was developed for Boulogne-Billancourt, the most populous suburb of Paris and…
One of the primary forces behind climate change-driven sea level rise is the Greenland Ice Sheet. Covering 80% of Greenland, it’s the world’s second-largest chunk of ice (after the Antarctic Ice Sheet) and dumps 240 billion tons of fresh water into the oceans every year, accounting for a full fifth of annual sea level rise….
NASA and university scientists have made the first measurement-based estimate of the amount and composition of tiny airborne particles that arrive in the air over North America each year. With a 3-D view of the atmosphere now possible from satellites, the scientists calculated that dust, not pollution, is the main ingredient of these imports. According…
Protecting mangroves to lock carbon away in trees may be an economic way to curb climate change, research suggests. Carbon credit schemes already exist for rainforests; the new work suggests mangroves could be included too. But other researchers say the economics depend on the global carbon price. Presenting their results in Proceedings of the National…
If you’re still skeptical that a tan can be dangerous, consider this: Scientists have found that wild fish are getting skin cancer from ultraviolet radiation. Approximately 15% of coral trout in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef had cancerous lesions on their scales. In that regard, they resemble Australians who live on land — 2 in 3…
In the last 50 years, man has quadrupled his CO2 output, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels. That is a startling and sobering concept. So far, though, Mother Nature seems to be keeping pace. In a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers assert that Earth’s carbon sinks continue to soak up roughly…
Recently, the University of Texas provost announced he would reexamine a report by a UT professor that said fracking was safe for groundwater after the revelation that the professor pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Texas natural gas developer. It’s the latest fusillade in the ongoing battle over the basic facts of fracking…