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This year, we witnessed the United States’ carbon emissions drop to a record level, one that hasn’t been seen in the last 20 years. Lots of people started shouting and spreading misinformation, claiming that renewable energy and all those green measures were responsible for this remarkable feat. It would be great if this were true […]
When you think of air pollution, inevitably your mind wanders to huge, fume spilling power stations, old motor trucks and other nasty things in these lines. Surprisingly enough, researchers at University of California, Riverside, found that charbroiled burgers, chicken, and steaks are behind much of Southern California’s air pollution, topping even diesel engines. These findings were made after […]
While it may lack most of Bruce Wayne’s gadgets, the very first artificial bat cave in the world is sure to provide resonable accomodations for non-superhero dwellers. The cave was introduced after a group of environmentalists raised money, in an effort to help save thousands of bats from a disease which has claimed the lives […]
Immediately after the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as a result of the devastating tsunami which swept the country resulting thousands of casualties and damage amount to $40 billion, Japanese authorities quickly evacuated the local human population such that exposure to radiation could be kept at a minimum. The local wildlife, however, […]
An U.S.conservation group has pushed a petition to the government requesting that California’s great white sharks should be federally protected as an endangered species. The organization has presented a number of studies and claims, backed by other independent organizations, and argues that California’s white sharks are a genetically distinct species. With a mere 340 adults […]
Groundwater use is unsustainable in many of the world’s major agricultural zones; as a matter of fact, about a quarter of the world’s population lives in regions where groundwater is being used up faster than it can be replenished, concluded researchers. The planet thirsts Our entire civilization depends on our water supply, and aside from […]
Scientists who studied sediment cores drilled from the ocean floor off the Antarctic coast, have found on subsequent analysis fossil pollens that came from a tropical forest. Most likely, the continent was covered by rainforest some 52 million years ago. The researchers involved warn however that by the end of the century, ice from the […]
Biodiversity helps keep the world’s ecosystem in balance, and if threatened, it could bring forth destabilization leading to a chain reaction of events, mostly irreversible. Crops would fail, pests and viral infections might surface, CO2 retention might decrease and more – basically, the Earth will have a tougher time fending for itself if its biodiversity […]
Researchers at the University of Delaware and the Canadian Ice Service recently reported that an ice island, whose surface is twice that of Manhattan, broke off from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier, one of the two largest glaciers left in Greenland connecting the great Greenland ice sheet with the ocean via a floating ice shelf. The 46-square-mile giant iceberg broke […]
Researchers from the Natural History Museum in Madrid counted chinstrap penguins in Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands in 1991-1992 and again in 2008-2009. They discovered a frightening decline in penguin population in the area, with one species culled by more than a third. The most affected species at hand is the chinstrap penguin, named so after the black strip […]
NASA announced a truly unexpected phenomena, observed under the shrinking Arctic ice: a massive algae bloom under the ice. Not long ago, the life of this crucial plant seemed to suffer greatly, a worrying phenomena, as algae produces much of the world’s oxygen. The same year that NASA researchers launched the Icescape expedition to the […]
This month, the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, an United Nations conference where various issues where addressed like the systematic scrutiny of patterns of production, alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels, new reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions or the growing […]
Yesterday marked the 40th Global Environment day, and this year’s theme was ‘Green economy’ – a sector in which, by far, Europe leads the way. When it comes to green energy and reducing the impact industry has on the environment, Denmark and Scotland stand out, by far – just think about Samso, the world’s ‘greenest […]
Besides ever thinning ice, permafrost melting, soot deposits, habitat loss, you might as well add another significant factor threatening the arctic ecosystem – mercury. For some time, the alarmingly high mercury concentrations in the regions were rather unaccounted for, in part, however a new research by scientists at Harvard’s Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group suggests that […]
A new research from a team of international marine geoscientists has found that seagrass meadows, found in coastal regions, can store up to twice as much carbon as temperate or tropical forests. The scientists involved in the study, thus, believe that seagrasses can potentially become a viable solution to climate change, if scaled and preserved […]
A new study published by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that pollution leads thunderstorm clouds to capture more heat than in normal, clean air conditions, thus becoming a contributing factor to global warming. Thunderclouds or deep convective clouds, by the scientific term, generally form and develop in any geographic location and […]
According to the World Wildlife Fund‘s annual Living Planet report, humans are using Earth’s resources at a rate 1.5 times greater than the rate of replenishment. “During the 1970s, humanity as a whole passed the point at which the annual Ecological Footprint matched the Earth’s annual biocapacity. This situation is called “ecological overshoot”, and has continued since […]
The Cross River gorilla is a critically endangered gorilla species, native to the border region of Nigeria-Cameroon. Today, only about 250 to 300 individuals are alive, due to habitat loss and poaching, making it the rarest of all four gorilla species. It’s so rare and elusive, that no one has ever been able to record […]
IBM has teamed up with Zapadoslovenska energetika (ZSE), the biggest electric company in Slovakia, for a feasibility study which aims to prepare Bratislava, the nation’s capitol, for plug-in electric vehicles. With this in mind, the companies will look at the best way to develop a “green highway” between Bratislava and the neighboring Austrian city of Vienna, which is about […]
In the year 2011 alone, the US faced 14 extreme weather events, while Japan registered record rainfalls and the Yangtze river basin in China suffered a record drought. The year 2010 saw Russia in the midst of its hottest summer in centuries, while Pakistan and Australia received record-breaking amounts of rain, highly atypical for the region. […]
China is the most pollutant country in the world, and as it continues to develop industrially, one can only expect greenhouse gas emissions to grow as well. The country is taking steps towards its ecological rehabilitation, however. The first step was to acknowledge that it faces a dire problem, one whose consequences reverse on the entire world. One […]
A newly published paper in the journal Science provides a worrisome report – the world’s oceans are acidifying at a rate, which if set to continue, will be unprecedented in the last 300 million years. The scientists report that this comes as a direct consequence of the alarming ever increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, […]
A recent study performed by a team of American/Chinese scientists shows that there’s a direct link between the progressive shrinking ice in the Arctic and in the increasingly harsher snowy winters in the US, Europe and China. In the year 2007, the level of Arctic sea ice hit a record low, which hasn’t recovered to this day. […]
Bergmann’s rule states that mammals of a given genus or species are smaller in hotter climates, and bigger in colder climates. Adapted, when faced with climate change cycles, mammals shirk as temperature rises and scale back up in size, once the cycle ends and makes room for cooling. Simple correlation, based on fossils and temperature readings […]
While there are still a lot of climate change skeptics out there that argue that the human influence exerted upon Earth’s climate is minimal, if not non-existent, a myriad of research studies tackling the subject would say otherwise. Fossil fuels usage yields the most greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, out of all other human-induced pollutant […]
The first genetically engineered or biotech food products were released on the market for the first time in 1994. Consumers received them fairly well, and since then more production intensified, such that between 1997 and 2010, the total surface area of land cultivated with GMOs had increased by a factor of 87. In 2011, biotech […]
A group of students from Yale University, along with molecular biochemistry professor Scott Strobel, were on a routine trip to the Amazon’s Yasuni National Park, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, when they stumbled across a peculiar type of mushroom capable of eating polyurethane plastics. If successfully applied to landfills clogged with millions of metric tons […]
In a remarkable feat of engineering, scientists have come a huge step closer to achieving what’s maybe the greatest green energy dream ever. University of Southern California researchers have developed the world’s currently most effective CO2 absorbent material, which could render extraordinary results for the development of large scale batteries or whole CO2 absorbing parks, […]
An international team of scientists showed that simple, inexpensive measures to cut emissions of two common pollutants will significantly slow global warming, boost crop production throughout the world and save many lives in the process. The climate change debate is traditionally centered around carbon dioxide emissions – one of the major problems and causes of […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with the independent Environmental Integrity Project, have identified 20 new sites in the US contaminated with toxic coal ash, raising the number to a current total of 157 sites nationwide, whose water supplies and soil ares contaminated. Coal ash is the waste which results from coal combustion, filled […]
Apparently, parts of Greenland‘s southern bedrock rose by as much as three quarters of an inch after glaciers and ice sheets above its surface melted during 2010. In figures, 100 billion tons of ice melted that year according to Professor Michael Bevis who presented his findings at a conference in San Francisco this past Friday. The data […]
The Kyoto protocol is the only international pact aimed at fighting global warming; adopted on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, it is signed and ratified by 191 states, the only major country not to sign it being (drum rolls)… the United States! Other states yet to ratify the Kyoto protocol include Afghanistan, Andorra and […]
According to Chile’s Centre for Scientific Studies (CECs) it seems like an array of glaciers located in the country’s south have shrunk extensively recently. One such glacier, the Jorge Montt, was documented for a whole year by researchers who observed that its rate of shrinkage is the largest in the country, with snout retreating a […]
This summer Japan was hit by a tremendous 9.0 Richter scale earthquake, which generated one of the most powerful tsunamis in recorded history. The event killed thousands, left countless others homeless, caused major damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant , which lead to radiation leakage and more than $130 bln in damage. Now, new details […]
For the past few months, the mighty Katla volcano, close to the Icelandic coast, has been exhibiting intense seismic activity, hinting towards an imminent eruption. With a caldera of 10 kilometers, a long history of causing havoc and pain, Katla has the potential of flooding the Atlantic Ocean with billions of gallons of water left […]
The Grand Canyon area is a veritable national symbol for the US, and nature alike. Its frightening, yet brilliant view of the surroundings canyons and boulders makes for a unique sight in the world, which is why millions of visitors flock towards it every year. The site, apparently, also holds one of the richest uranium […]
Last week, the court appeal which sought to put the mighty Grizzly bear back on the endangered species list, and thus receive much need protection, granted favor on their side, sealing a victory. In 2007, the Fish and Wildlife Service scrapped grizzlies belonging to the Yellowstone Distinct Population Segment (DPS) off the endangered species list, speculating that […]
Scientists from the United States and Australia have teamed up in a desperate attempt to find new solutions to the Great Barrier Reef problem, which threatens to go beyond the point of no return. They are currently trying to save disappearing species by freezing coral eggs and sperm, so that instead of becoming extinct, species […]
Researchers lately pointed out that delaying measures against climate change will make them more expensive and less effective; however, countries most vulnerable to global warming are startled by recent proposal received from rich or major emerging economies to delay a global deal to curb greenhouse gases until at least 2020. With the Herculean task of […]
If the current pledges under the UN flag to cut carbon emissions are not improved, then it is estimated that the cost of meeting the world’s targets regarding global warming will rise by half, according to OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Basically, these things have to be done, sooner or later, until it […]
According to a new report released online by researchers of University of Minnesota, the world’s food demand is expected to double by 2050. To fill this need, the researchers argue that if one was to use inferior agricultural practices present in developing countries, then a land mass of 2.5 billion acres (1 billion hectares) would have to […]
Currently, China is the world’s largest carbon emissions contributor. Despite their efforts to make energy consumption more efficient, China’s linear industrial growth not only cancels their efforts, but leads to an overall increase of greenhouse gas emissions year after year. On the brink of the highly important U.N.-sponsored climate change conference that starts Nov. 28 in […]
Authorities have come across a giant mound of 250,000 scrap tires in rural South Carolina, so spread out that it occupies 50 hectares and is visible from space. A transportation and recycling operation of the mound has began since then. The rural clearing in which the tires were dumped is practically impossible to notice, since its only accessible […]
In 2009, a rather controversial new wing of the CIA was formed under the climate center moniker. This division was, and still is apparently, although absolutely no tangible results have been shown to the public, responsible for studying the effects of climate change on political and economic developments and their implications for U.S. national security. […]
Biofuels are considered one of the leading alternative fuels on the market right now, because of their lower impact on the environment. Biofuels are made from plants or animals, and have gained a lot of attention from the general public and scientists driven by a need for increased energy security and concern for greenhouse gas […]
Brazil was facing a difficult decision, but the Brazilian court ruled in favor of building one of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams, which will provide clean energy, even though it will destroy habitats and the living area of several indigenous tribes. Federal prosecutors had filed a motion calling for suspension of construction of the Belo […]
The RRS James Cook, an UK research vessel, will spend six weeks studying the deep sea mountains of the Indian Ocean, as well as the animals located several thousands of meters below sea level. The purpose of this mission quite challenging. This year, a report published in the journal of Marine Policyfound that trawling is […]
Global warming has significant consequences to Earth’s ecosystems, each effect triggering another one in a slew of chain reactions. Frighting enough, rising temperatures and changed global weather patterns has caused certain types of plants and animals to become smaller, claims a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. Warmer and drier weather causes plants […]
Part of an amazing initiative to lower its carbon footprint and inspire the rest of the aeronautical industry, billionaire Richard Branson recently announced in a press release that within three years Virgin Atlantic’s airplanes will be fueled by waste gas. The waste gas will come from the likes of power plants, steel works, and aluminum […]
Well, it’s pretty obvious that the rotten, insalubrious sewage environment is perfect for fostering infectious diseases and virus cultures. What’s surprising however is actually the sheer number of viruses, most of them unknown, which biologists at University of Pittsburgh have described in a recently published study in the journal mBio. According to the researchers, there are around 1.8 […]
