Environment
press releases.

Environment22 Aug 2023

Innovative breakthrough in sustainable chemical production

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies are crucial for addressing climate change while ensuring economic viability. MES has emerged as a promising approach for CO2 reduction to biofuels and platform chemicals. However, the industrial adoption of MES has been hindered by low-value products like acetate or methane and high electric power demand. In a new study recently published on 26 July 2023, in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, researchers from University of Girona conducted a study that focused on electrically ...

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Environment22 Aug 2023

Uranium signatures in turtles and tortoises near nuclear testing and waste sites

The shells of turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles keep growing as long as the animals live—and some of them live a remarkably long time. Cyler Conrad and colleagues analyzed the shells of five specimens from areas that potentially accumulated anthropogenic uranium through nuclear fallout and/or waste. Unusual uranium signatures were found in a green sea turtle from Enewetak Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, a desert tortoise from southwestern Utah near the Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada Test Site), a river cooter from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and a box turtle from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, ...

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Environment22 Aug 2023

Delineating the pathways of warm water towards East Antarctica’s Totten Glacier

One of the most feared effects of global warming is the rise in sea level caused by the melting of polar continental ice. In fact, polar researchers have been working towards raising the awareness of this impending threat. The scientific fraternity relies on sampling the remote regions of Artic and the Antarctic continental shelves to estimate these risks. They can then use these measurements to model and understand the processes that drive the melting of ice at these locations and determine the extent of meltwater that will eventually flow ...

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Environment22 Aug 2023

Hundreds of Andean bird species at risk due to deforestation: New research shows how to protect them

Birds native to the tropical Andes, many of which cannot be found anywhere else, are threatened by increasing agricultural development in the region. A new study details how the resulting habitat loss affects specific species and lays out possible ways to protect birds from human-driven disturbance. The researchers combined a meta-analysis of papers on birds across the Andes with five years of fieldwork in Peru, revealing that open farmlands result in up to a 60% decline in the number of species in an area. Before this work, there was little data on which species were declining or by how much. “The vast majority ...

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Environment22 Aug 2023

Pacific coral reef shows historic increase in climate resistance

Coral reefs in one part of the Pacific Ocean have likely adjusted to higher ocean temperatures which could reduce future bleaching impacts of climate change, new research reveals. A Newcastle University-led study focused on the Pacific Island nation of Palau and has shown that historic increases in the thermal tolerance of coral reefs are possible. The results demonstrate how this capacity could reduce future bleaching impacts if global carbon emissions are cut down. Drawing on decades of field observations, the scientists modelled many possible future coral bleaching trajectories for Palauan reefs, ...

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Environment22 Aug 2023

Small urban greening projects can dramatically increase number of insect species in cities

By increasing the diversity of indigenous plants in urban areas, researchers from the University of Melbourne have seen a seven times increase in the number of insect species in just three years, confirming the ecological benefits of urban greening projects. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal, Ecological Solutions and Evidence. The study, conducted in a small greenspace in the City of Melbourne, found that an increase in the diversity and complexity of plant communities leads to a large increase in insect biodiversity, a greater ...

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Environment21 Aug 2023

Agrela Ecosystems ignites innovation in data-driven agriculture

ST. LOUIS, MO, August 21, 2023 – Agrela Ecosystems, a startup launched by Nadia Shakoor, PhD, principal investigator, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced the pilot launch of its flagship product, PheNodeTM. This milestone marks the first step towards a full-scale commercial release set for 2025. PheNode is an advanced, scalable environmental sensor platform designed to empower users with customizable data collection and the rapid integration of new technologies. Already creating a buzz, the platform is now collecting data and generating customer feedback, ...

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Environment21 Aug 2023

McDonald to investigate privacy ecosystems among vulnerable populations

Nora McDonald, Assistant Professor, Information Sciences and Technology, is set to receive funding from the National Science Foundation for the project: "Collaborative Research: SaTC: CORE: Medium: Beyond App-centric Privacy: Investigating Privacy Ecosystems among Vulnerable Populations." Prior research shows that people who have privacy concerns may be reluctant to access medical services. This is especially true for vulnerable populations, such as those who because of their gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or other marginalizations are more susceptible to privacy risk. These risks go beyond individual apps ...

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Environment21 Aug 2023

Climate win-win: study quantifies benefits of enhanced weathering

Applying ground-up silicate rock to Midwestern farm fields can capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide and prevent it from accumulating in the atmosphere, according to a new study that successfully quantified those climate benefits for the first time. Working with Eion Corp., researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M) developed a new method to calculate the CO2-reduction potential of basalt rock amendments applied to cropland soil, a process known as enhanced weathering. Traditional row-crop agriculture releases sizable amounts of soil-derived carbon to the atmosphere as CO2, a greenhouse gas ...

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Environment21 Aug 2023

Tracking species range shifts in a changing climate

As our planet undergoes significant transformations due to climate change, habitats are being altered, appearing, disappearing, or changing in quality. Understanding the impact of these changes on the geographic distributions of species is of great significance. The shrinking ranges of protected organisms and the expanding ranges of noxious species, such as pests and pathogens, highlight the urgent need to monitor range movements precisely. However, this task poses challenges as the available observation time is often short compared to the pace of underlying population processes, making it difficult to distinguish between directional shifts and random fluctuations. Addressing ...

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Environment21 Aug 2023

REBURN: A new tool to model wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and beyond

FROM: James Urton University of Washington 206-543-2580 jurton@uw.edu (Note: researcher contact information at the end) For Immediate Release August 21, 2023 In 2006, the Tripod Complex Fire burned more than 175,000 acres in north-central Washington. The fire, which was within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, was more than three times the size of Seattle. Yet while considered severe at the time, even larger wildfires in 2014, 2015 and 2021 have since dwarfed Tripod. Past research shows that large and severe wildfires like these were much rarer in the western U.S. and Canada prior to the late ...

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Environment18 Aug 2023

Can soil microbes survive in a changing climate?

Organisms across the globe are facing unprecedented levels of stress from climate change, habitat destruction, and many other human-driven changes to the environment. Predicting and mitigating the effects of this increasing stress on organisms, and the environmental services on which we depend, requires understanding why some species can exist in a wide range of environments while others exist in only a few habitats. In the scientific world of ecology, researchers often try to sort organisms on our planet into two categories: specialists and generalists. Generalists can survive across a wide variety of environmental conditions and habitats, while specialists ...

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Environment18 Aug 2023

Illinois Tech engineer spearheads research leading to groundbreaking green propane production method

CHICAGO—August 18, 2023—A paper recently published in Nature Energy based on pioneering research done at Illinois Institute of Technology reveals a promising breakthrough in green energy: an electrolyzer device capable of converting carbon dioxide into propane in a manner that is both scalable and economically viable. As the United States races toward its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, innovative methods to reduce the significant carbon dioxide emissions from electric power and industrial sectors ...

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Environment18 Aug 2023

US can cut building emissions by up to 91%, saving $100 billion per year in energy-related costs, modeling study shows

The US has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. To accomplish this goal, large cuts in emissions are necessary, especially in high-emission sectors like the building industry. In an article publishing on August 18 in the journal One Earth, a team of researchers use a computational model to analyze several scenarios of future building energy use in the US. They find that by tackling emissions on multiple fronts and placing focus on “demand-side measures” that affect how power is drawn from the ...

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Environment18 Aug 2023

Invasive orange pore fungus wins third BMC Ecology and Evolution image competition

A striking image of the invasive orange pore fungus (Favolaschia calocera), which highlights the potential threats the species may pose to Australian ecosystems, has won the third BMC Ecology and Evolution image competition. The competition showcases the wonder of the natural world — both past and present — and celebrates those working to understand it. The winning images are open access and freely available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CCBY) license. The overall winning image depicts bright ...

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Environment17 Aug 2023

Scientists proposed to adapt a Mars ISRU system to the changing Mars environment

Human missions to Mars will require a substantial launch vehicle to ascend from Mars to rendezvous with a waiting Earth return vehicle in Mars orbit. For an ascending crew of 6, the current best estimate of oxygen propellants required for ascent is about 30 metric tons. Producing oxygen for ascent propellants and possibly life support from the indigenous CO2 on Mars, rather than bringing oxygen to Mars from Earth, is of significant benefit. The oxygen production is accomplished through a process known generically as in situ resource utilization (ISRU). ...

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Environment17 Aug 2023

Without aggressive climate action, U.S. property values will take a hit from escalating wildfire risk and tree mortality, study finds

Earth’s rapidly changing climate is taking an increasingly heavy toll on landscapes around the world in the form of floods, rising sea levels, extreme weather, drought and wildfire. Also at growing risk are the values of property where these hazards are projected to worsen, according to a new study by University of Utah scholars. The research team, led by biology professor William Anderegg, attempted, for the first time, to quantify the value of U.S. property at risk in forested areas exposed ...

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Environment17 Aug 2023

Is data justice the key to climate justice?

Bias in the collection of data on which Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer programmes depend can limit the usefulness of this rapidly growing tool for climate scientists predicting future scenarios and guiding global action, according to a new paper by researchers at the University of Cambridge published in Nature’s npj |Climate Action series. AI computer programmes used for climate science are trained to trawl through complex datasets looking for patterns and insightful information. However, missing information from certain locations on the planet, time periods or societal dynamics create “holes” ...

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Environment17 Aug 2023

Heredity and environment account for people’s love of nature

Humans have a positive view of nature. But is this due to an approach we have learned while growing up, or is it something we are born with? The answer is ‘Both’, according to researchers at the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Our love of nature is highly individual and should influence how we plan our cities, say the researchers. It is well known that nature has a positive effect on people. In cities in particular, studies have shown that trees and other greenery contribute to people’s wellbeing. However, experts do not agree on the reasons behind this phenomenon, known ...

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Environment17 Aug 2023

Our plastic waste can be used as raw material for detergents, thanks to an improved catalytic method

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — We’ve managed to accumulate so much plastic trash that it’s daunting to think about what could be done with the tons upon tons of nonbiodegradable waste. And as much as we are trying to scale back our dependence on single-use plastics, we continue to add to the global plastic trash hoard. Events like the COVID-19 pandemic only served to expand their use for personal protective equipment and disposable and take-away packaging. But, for researchers at UC Santa Barbara, one person’s single-use packaging ...

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Environment17 Aug 2023

Researchers unveil a new, economical approach for producing green hydrogen

Researchers at the University of Colorado have developed a new and efficient way to produce green hydrogen or green syngas, a precursor to liquid fuels. The findings could open the door for more sustainable energy use in industries like transportation, steelmaking and ammonia production. The new study, published Aug. 16 in the journal Joule, focuses on the production of hydrogen or syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be converted into fuels like gasoline, diesel and kerosene. The CU Boulder team lays the groundwork for what could be the first commercially viable method ...

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Environment16 Aug 2023

Brown-led research provides unprecedented look at what influences sea ice motion in the Arctic

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study led by researchers at Brown offers fresh insights into the forces above and beneath the ocean surface that influence how sea ice moves and disperses in the Arctic Ocean, which is warming at over twice the rate of the global average. The in-depth analysis reveals how local tidal currents strongly affect the movement of the ice along its journey and provides an unprecedented look at how the makeup of the seafloor is causing some of the most abrupt changes. Data from the study can be applied to improve complex computer simulations used for forecasting Arctic sea ...

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Environment16 Aug 2023

Greater excess mortality after hurricanes more recently and for most socially vulnerable in the U.S.

Over recent decades, there was a large variation in cyclone-related excess deaths by hurricane, state, county, year, and social vulnerability for counties in the United States, with 83 percent of hurricane-related deaths occurring more recently and 94 percent in more socially vulnerable counties. Results of a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Colorado State University, Imperial College London, University of California Irvine, and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health are published in the journal Science ...

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Environment16 Aug 2023

What role do dust storms play in the world’s climate?

Giant dust storms in the Gulf of Alaska can last for many days and send tonnes of fine sediment or silt into the atmosphere, and it is having an impact on the global climate system, say scientists. The storms are so extensive they can be seen by satellites orbiting the Earth. An image captured by the Landsat satellite in 2020 shows dust blowing out of the valley and over Alaska’s south coast. Exactly how the dust may be influencing the global climate system is not yet clear, although new research from the University of Leeds and the National Centre for Atmospheric ...

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Environment16 Aug 2023

UC Irvine scientists say deepening Arctic snowpack drives greenhouse gas emissions

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 16, 2023 — Human-caused climate change is shortening the snow cover period in the Arctic. But according to new research led by Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine, some parts of the Arctic are getting deeper snowpack than normal, and that deep snow is driving the thawing of long-frozen permafrost carbon reserves and leading to increased emissions of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane. “It is the first long-term experiment where we directly measure the mobilization of ancient carbon year-round to show that deeper snow has the possibility to rather ...

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