Environment
press releases.

Environment16 Apr 2024

New review offers first recommendations on accurately assessing the carbon footprint of coffee farming

Tuesday 16 April: A new scientific review1 published in Sustainable Production and Consumption explores how best to standardize measurement of the environmental impact of coffee – a commodity increasingly threatened by climate change2. Measurement of green coffee’s carbon footprint has traditionally varied, as is often the case for any agricultural lifecycle assessment. The Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) commissioned the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) to review current methodologies for green coffee, revealing a more precise picture of how to measure the environmental impact of the ...

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Environment16 Apr 2024

Multiple pollutants from crop and livestock production in the Yangtze River: status and challenges

The rapid increase in the proportion of cash crops and livestock production in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) has led to commensurate increases in fertilizer and pesticide inputs. Excessive application of chemical fertilizer, organophosphorus pesticides and inappropriate disposal of agricultural waste induced water pollution and potentially threaten green agricultural development. To ensure food security and the food supply capacity of the Yangtze River Basin, it is important to balance green and development, while ensuring the quality of water bodies. Multiple pollutants affect the transfer, adsorption, photolysis and degradation of each other throughout the soil–plant–water system. ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

New research highlights effects of gentrification on urban wildlife populations across U.S. cities

Chicago (April 15, 2024) – New research published on Monday, April 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) identifies how gentrified parts of a city have notably more urban wildlife than ungentrified parts of the same city, further limiting marginalized communities’ opportunity to connect with nature. The study, led by Lincoln Park Zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute, analyzed data from 23 cities across the continental U.S., collected by partners of the Urban Wildlife Information Network ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Microplastics make their way from the gut to other organs, UNM researchers find

It’s happening every day. From our water, our food and even the air we breathe, tiny plastic particles are finding their way into many parts of our body. But what happens once those particles are inside? What do they do to our digestive system? In a recent paper published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, University of New Mexico researchers found that those tiny particles – microplastics – are having a significant impact on our digestive pathways, making their way from the gut and into the tissues of the kidney, liver and brain. Eliseo Castillo, PhD, an associate professor in the Division of Gastroenterology ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold, may contain valuable lithium, a key element for green energy

There’s a reason airlines won’t let you put your laptop in your checked luggage; the lithium-ion battery poses a serious fire hazard. But why? Lithium is incredibly reactive. For instance, pure lithium violently interacts with seemingly innocuous water, releasing heat and forming highly flammable hydrogen. This reactivity, however, is exactly why lithium makes a great material for batteries, and why it is a critical mineral for the green energy transition. Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles. Plus, they can store energy produced by renewable resources like solar and wind. In recent years, lithium demand has skyrocketed. Primary ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Is there a quick fix for ocean acidification? (video)

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2024 — Acidification is threatening the ocean’s ability to pull carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere, so scientists and startups are looking to ocean-sized antacids to raise its pH. While they might not be the ultimate solution to our climate crisis problem, the antacids could have a hand in helping our oceans rebound. https://youtu.be/PqFwRMgvMVY?si=1VSbf7zaWbZQ3d25 Reactions is a video series produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios. Subscribe to Reactions at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions and follow us on X, formerly Twitter @ACSReactions. The American Chemical ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Reducing CO2 emissions by 20% with only a 2% economic loss

[Vienna, April 15 2024] — A “rapid and far-reaching change” is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "However, the transformation of the economy towards climate neutrality always involves a certain amount of economic stress -- some industries and jobs disappear while others are created," explains Johannes Stangl from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH). When it comes to climate policy measures, how can economic damage be minimized? A ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Green-to-red transformation of Euglena gracilis using bonito stock and intense red light

Over the past few years, people have generally become more conscious about the food they consume. Thanks to easier access to information as well as public health campaigns and media coverage, people are more aware of how nutrition ties in with both health benefits and chronic diseases. As a result, there is an ongoing cultural shift in most countries, with people prioritizing eating healthily. In turn, the demand for healthier food options and nutritional supplements is steadily growing. In line with these changes, Assistant Professor Kyohei ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Switch to green wastewater infrastructure could reduce emissions and provide huge savings according to new research

Embargo: This journal article is under embargo until April 15 at 10 a.m. BST/London (5 a.m. EDT/3 a.m. MDT). Media may conduct interviews around the findings in advance of that date, but the information may not be published, broadcast, or posted online until after the release window. Journalists are permitted to show papers to independent specialists under embargo conditions, solely for the purpose of commenting on the work described University researchers have shown that a transition to green wastewater-treatment approaches in the U.S. that leverages the potential of carbon-financing could save a staggering $15.6 billion and just under 30 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions ...

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Environment15 Apr 2024

Digging up new species of Australia and New Guinea’s giant fossil kangaroos

Palaeontologists from Flinders University have described three unusual new species of giant fossil kangaroo from Australia and New Guinea, finding them more diverse in shape, range and hopping method than previously thought. The three new species are of the extinct genus Protemnodon, which lived from around 5 million to 40,000 years ago – with one about double the size of the largest red kangaroo living today. The research follows the discovery of multiple complete fossil kangaroo skeletons from Lake Callabonna in arid South Australia in 2013, 2018 and 2019. These extraordinary fossils allowed lead researcher ...

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Environment12 Apr 2024

BepiColombo spies escaping oxygen and carbon in unexplored region of Venus’s magnetosphere

A fleeting visit of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Venus has revealed surprising insights into how gases are stripped away from the upper layers of the planet’s atmosphere. Detections in a previously unexplored region of Venus’s magnetic environment show that carbon and oxygen are being accelerated to speeds where they can escape the planet’s gravitational pull. The results have been published today in the journal Nature Astronomy. Lina Hadid, CNRS researcher at the Plasma Physics Laboratory (LPP) and lead author of the study said: “This is the first time ...

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Environment12 Apr 2024

Retention ponds can deliver a substantial reduction in tire particle pollution, study suggests

Retention ponds and wetlands constructed as part of major road schemes can reduce the quantities of tyre particles entering the aquatic environment by an average of 75%, new research has shown. The study analysed samples collected alongside some of the busiest routes in South West England and the Midlands, many used by more than 100,000 vehicles each day. Tyre particles were discovered in each of the 70 samples taken, confirming the findings of previous research which has shown them to pose a considerable ...

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Environment12 Apr 2024

New study uncovers the role of soil microbes in forest ecosystems

Assessing the function of forest ecosystems requires a deep understanding of the mechanisms of soil nitrogen mineralization. A recent study conducted by a team of researchers has shed light on how soil N-cycling genes drive soil nitrogen mineralization during afforestation. The findings, published in the prestigious journal Soil Ecology Letters, provide valuable insights into the relationship between soil microbial communities, functional genes, and the rate of soil nitrogen mineralization. The researchers collected soil samples from a chronosequence of Robinia pseudoacacia L (RP14, RP20, RP30, and RP45) at different stages of afforestation, along with a sloped farmland (FL) as ...

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Environment12 Apr 2024

Rice’s Megan Reiter wins NSF CAREER Award to investigate planet-forming environments

Megan Reiter, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to investigate the influence of neighboring stars on the formation of planets. The research funded by Reiter’s five-year, $951,446 NSF grant will shed light on a phenomenon that could significantly impact our understanding of how planets are born. “By exploring the intricate interplay between stars, planets and their environments, we hope to clarify the key forces that shape planet formation,” Reiter said. Observations show planets form in the ...

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Environment12 Apr 2024

Prestigious European grant for research into biodegradable plastics

Professor dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler, Research Leader at NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research and the Chair in Marine Microbiology at the University of Amsterdam has been awarded a prestigious Advanced ERC-grant by the European Commission today. Amaral-Zettler receives almost 3,5 million euros for her research into biodegradation in the marine environment. “Biodegradable sounds really nice”, she admits. “But before we repeat the mistakes we’ve made with fossil-fuel-based plastics back in the last millenium, we really want to understand how these materials interact with marine life and how long they last in the environment.” “Biodegradable ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

The nitroplast revealed: a nitrogen-fixing organelle in a marine alga

A nitrogen-fixing bacterial endosymbiont of marine algae is evolving into a nitrogen-fixing organelle, or nitroplast, according to a new study, thereby expanding a function that was thought to be exclusively carried out by prokaryotic cells to eukaryotes. Eukaryotic cells are remarkably complex and contain various organelles, which are specialized structures within a living cell that have specific biological functions. Two organelles, mitochondria and chloroplasts, play a key role in energy metabolism and ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

Study reveals giant store of global soil carbon

Soil carbon usually refers only to the organic matter component of soils, known as soil organic carbon (SOC). However, soil carbon also has an inorganic component, known as soil inorganic carbon (SIC). Solid SIC, often calcium carbonate, tends to accumulate more in arid regions with infertile soils, which has led many to believe it is not important. In a study published in Science, researchers led by Prof. HUANG Yuanyuan from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. ZHANG Ganlin from the Institute of Soil Science of CAS, together ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

UC Santa Cruz researchers value salt marsh restoration as a crucial tool in flood risk reduction and climate resilience in the San Francisco Bay

Salt marsh restoration can mitigate flood risk and bolster community resilience to climate change in our local waterways, according to a recent study published in Nature by a postdoctoral fellow with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR). The study, titled “The value of marsh restoration for flood risk reduction in an urban estuary,” explores the social and economic advantages of marsh restoration amidst the growing threats of sea level rise and storm-driven flooding. Climate change will put many communities at risk. In California, some of the study co-authors from the U.S. Geological ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

Advancing biodiversity data analysis at B-Cubed’s Hackathon

B-Cubed’s Hackathon – “Hacking Biodiversity Data Cubes for Policy” – concluded successfully on 5 April in Brussels. The event marked a significant milestone in the use of data cubes for enhancing biodiversity data analysis and policy-making. Over four days, participants from diverse backgrounds collaborated to explore innovative solutions aimed at standardising and improving the accessibility of biodiversity data. The event began with a foundational presentation on data cubes by Andrew Rodrigues ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

Climate: Increased threat to coastlines from concurrent heatwaves and sea level rises

Concurrent occurrences of heatwaves and extreme short-term sea level rises at the same coastal locations significantly increased between 1998 and 2017 when compared to the preceding twenty years, reports a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. The study also suggests that these events may be five times more likely to occur between 2025 and 2049 under a modelled high emissions scenario. A so-called ‘concurrent heatwave and extreme sea level’ (CHWESL) event is when a heatwave and an extreme short-term sea level rise occur at the same coastal location over the same time period. Although they ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

Oxidant pollutant ozone removes mating barriers between fly species

Ozone disrupts chemical communication crucial to mating in insects Insect pheromones are odor molecules used for chemical communication within a species. Sex pheromones play a crucial role in the mating of many insects. Species-specific odors attract males and females of the same species. At the same time, they maintain the natural boundaries between species. The research team led by Nanji Jiang, Bill Hansson and Markus Knaden from the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

Ocean currents threaten to collapse Antarctic ice shelves

Meandering ocean currents play an important role in the melting of Antarctic ice shelves, threatening a significant rise in sea levels. A new study published in Nature Communications has revealed that the interplay between meandering ocean currents and the ocean floor induces upwelling velocity, transporting warm water to shallower depths. This mechanism contributes substantially to the melting of ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea of West Antarctica. These ice shelves are destabilizing rapidly and contributing to sea level rise. Led by Taewook Park and Yoshihiro Nakayama, ...

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Environment11 Apr 2024

How is green and sustainable agriculture evolving in youngest province of China?

With the increasing environmental and resource problems associated with agriculture, the promotion of sustainable agricultural development has been recommended in many areas of China and also beyond its borders. As a contribution to achieving sustainable development goals, the Chinese government first proposed green development in 2015 and implemented the agriculture green development (AGD) program in 2017 to address a range of issues related to the future development of agriculture in China and the well-being ...

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Environment10 Apr 2024

More than half a million global stroke deaths may be tied to climate change

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – A changing climate may be linked to growing death and disability from stroke in regions around the world, according to a study published in the April 10, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers found over three decades that non-optimal temperatures, those above or below temperatures associated with the lowest death rates, were increasingly linked to death and disability due to stroke. The study does not prove that climate change causes ...

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Environment10 Apr 2024

Engineers making a better, more profitable grid for distributing solar power

AMES, Iowa – If you’re the Midcontinent Independent System Operator – the organization that manages the flow of high-voltage electricity across a central stripe of the U.S. and Canada, from Manitoba, Michigan and Minnesota through Iowa and all the way to Louisiana – you want energy supplies to meet the energy demands of 45 million people. “We make sure the right amount of electricity is generated and transmitted to our member utilities,” says the regional grid operator’s website. Balancing power supply and demand is complicated these days. Electricity is no longer exclusively generated by power plants using coal- or natural ...

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