Environment
press releases.

Environment3 Aug 2023

Past climate warming driven by hydrothermal vents

About 55 million years ago, the Atlantic Ocean was born. Until then, Europe and America were connected. As the continents began to move apart, the Earth’s crust between them ruptured, releasing large volumes of magma. This rift volcanism has led to the formation of large igneous provinces (LIPs) in several places around the world. One such LIP was formed between Greenland and Europe and now lies several kilometres below the ocean surface. An international drilling campaign led by Christian Berndt from the GEOMAR ...

Read the release

Environment3 Aug 2023

New photocatalytic system converts carbon dioxide to valuable fuel more efficiently than natural photosynthesis

A joint research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and collaborators recently developed a stable artificial photocatalytic system that is more efficient than natural photosynthesis. The new system mimics a natural chloroplast to convert carbon dioxide in water into methane, a valuable fuel, very efficiently using light. This is a promising discovery, which could contribute to the goal of carbon neutrality. Photosynthesis is the process by which chloroplasts in plants and some organisms use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to create food or energy. In past decades, many scientists have tried to develop artificial photosynthesis processes to turn ...

Read the release

Environment3 Aug 2023

Study highlights importance of mineral iron in ocean ecosystems

New research published today in Nature has revealed the importance of mineral forms of iron in regulating the cycling of this bio-essential nutrient in the ocean. The findings pave the way for new work on the relationship between the iron and carbon cycles and how changing ocean oxygen levels may interact. The study, led by the University of Liverpool and involving collaborators in the United States, Australia and France, addresses a knowledge gap in ocean research. Principal Investigator Professor Alessandro Tagliabue said: “To date we have not fully appreciated ...

Read the release

Environment3 Aug 2023

Scientists warn about decoupling warming trend when detecting marine heat waves

The climate crisis is severely affecting marine ecosystems around the world and the Mediterranean is not an exception. Marine heat waves associated with this crisis are causing massive mortality events throughout the basin. Given this scenario, their correct definition and characterization become a key element in defining possible future scenarios. Now, a new study by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR) has revealed how decoupling global warming trends affects the definition of marine heat waves characteristics. ...

Read the release

Environment3 Aug 2023

Sharing on Facebook reveals 2 very different news environments

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A first-of-its-kind study examined 2.2 million news stories shared on Facebook and found that publishers create two very different news environments. These distinct ecosystems involve low-credibility publishers – those that publish what is sometimes referred to as fake news – versus high-credibility publishers. Findings showed that while these two types of publishers often pushed out bursts of coverage at the same time – a common feature of news coverage – they were often about different topics, said Kelly Garrett, senior author of the study and professor of communication at The Ohio State University. “These ...

Read the release

Environment3 Aug 2023

Researchers are using monkey poop to learn how an endangered species chooses its mates

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. Choosing good mates and rearing thriving offspring are key to the species’ long-term survival. To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin–Madison turned to the monkeys’ poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates. In a paper published on Aug. 2 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the scientists combined genetic analysis with long-term behavioral observations to better understand the ...

Read the release

Environment2 Aug 2023

Scientists dig into wildfire predictions, long-term impacts

Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. At the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Two months into the 2023 peak summer fire season from June through August, Canadian wildfires had burned more than 25 million acres of land, disrupted the lives of millions and spread beyond the traditional confines of western Canada east to Nova Scotia. The phenomenon attracted renewed attention as smoke drifted to heavily populated ...

Read the release

Environment2 Aug 2023

Sea urchins are struggling to ‘get a grip’ as climate change alters ecosystems

When driving through a rainstorm, traction is key. If your tires lack sufficient tread, your vehicle will slip and slide and you won’t have the grip needed to maneuver safely. When torrential rains hit nearshore, shallow water ecosystems, sea urchins experience a similar challenge. Heavy precipitation can alter the concentration of salt in the ocean waters causing lower salinity levels. Even a slight change in salinity can affect the ability of sea urchins to securely attach their tube feet to their surroundings – like tires gripping the road. This ...

Read the release

Environment2 Aug 2023

Teamwork environments linked to white US employees going the extra mile

In an analysis of more than 5,000 people, frequently working in teams was associated with a greater tendency for women and white men to put in extra effort at work, while other links between job conditions and effort varied between genders and ethnoracial groups. Wei-hsin Yu of the University of California, Los Angeles, US, and Janet Chen-Lan Kuo of National Taiwan University, Taiwan, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 2, 2023. Popular media has recently featured discussion of “quiet ...

Read the release

Environment2 Aug 2023

Eyewitnesses to Arctic Change

On Thursday, 3 August 2023, the research vessel Polarstern is scheduled to set off from Tromsø, Norway, towards the North Pole. For two months, a good fifty scientific expedition participants will explore the Arctic in transition as sea ice extent reaches its annual minimum in September. They will explore the biology, chemistry and physics of sea ice as well as the effects of sea ice retreat on the entire ocean system from the surface to the deep sea. Eleven years ago, Antje Boetius was part of the largest ever sea ice minumum in the Arctic ...

Read the release

Environment2 Aug 2023

Cal Poly study analyzes nearshore California marine heatwaves and cold spells amid changing climate conditions

The first-ever study to look at drivers of both marine heatwaves and cold spells in the shallow nearshore along the California Current —coordinated by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary — found that certain environmental conditions and the state of the ocean can lead to an enhanced risk for ocean temperature extremes. The findings were recently published in Nature Scientific Reports in an article titled “Effects of basin-scale climate modes and upwelling on nearshore marine heatwaves and cold spells in the California Current.” Extreme ...

Read the release

Environment2 Aug 2023

Royal Ontario Museum researchers identify oldest known species of swimming jellyfish

Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announces the oldest swimming jellyfish in the fossil record with the newly named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis. These findings are announced in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Jellyfish belong to medusozoans, or animals producing medusae, and include today’s box jellies, hydroids, stalked jellyfish and true jellyfish. Medusozoans are part of one of the oldest groups of animals to have existed, called Cnidaria, a group which also includes ...

Read the release

Environment1 Aug 2023

Sea level rise shifts habitat for endangered Florida Keys species

The silver rice rat, an endangered species endemic to the Florida Keys, makes its home as close to the shoreline as possible for easy access to its low-tide marine species diet. It is this proximity to the water that prompted a team of scientists at the University of Florida to examine the rats’ movement in correlation with historical tidal data over 17 years. The sea level rose 0.142 meters between 2004 and 2021, and the researchers also found that the rats moved to higher ground. In fact, the rats ...

Read the release

Environment1 Aug 2023

North Atlantic Oscillation contributes to ‘cold blob' in Atlantic Ocean

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A patch of ocean in the North Atlantic is stubbornly cooling while much of the planet warms. This anomaly — dubbed the "cold blob" — has been linked to changes in ocean circulation, but a new study found changes in large-scale atmospheric patterns may play an equally important role, according to an international research team led by Penn State. “People often think the atmosphere has a very short memory, but here we provide evidence that atmospheric circulation change is significant enough to induce some long-term impact on the climate system,” ...

Read the release

Environment1 Aug 2023

Fossil unveils leaf eating among earliest birds

A new type of analysis of a spectacular 120-million-year-old fossil skeleton of the extinct early bird Jeholornis from northeastern China has revealed the oldest evidence for birds eating leaves, marking the earliest known evolution of arboreal plant-eating among birds. The pheasant-sized Jeholornis, a member of the second most primitive lineage of known birds, has teeth and a long bony tail like its predatory, feathered dinosaur relatives. However, microscopic analysis of the fossilized residues in the stomach of this juvenile, arboreal (tree-living) bird demonstrates that Jeholornis was not a predator. It had eaten tree leaves from a group ...

Read the release

Environment1 Aug 2023

California’s winter waves may be increasing under climate change

A new study from UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher emeritus Peter Bromirski uses nearly a century of data to show that the average heights of winter waves along the California coast have increased as climate change has heated up the planet. The study, published today in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, achieved its extraordinarily long time series by using seismic records dating back to 1931 to infer wave height, a unique but accepted method first developed by Bromirski in 1999. The results, made more robust by their ...

Read the release

Environment1 Aug 2023

The cost of climate change: 2°C global warming target is not economically reasonable unless we make major changes

Climate change goals set out in the Paris Agreement are only economically reasonable if non-market factors such as human health and loss of biodiversity are prioritised, according to a new study published by Dr Taikan Oki, former Senior Vice-Rector of United Nations University headquartered in Japan, in IOP Publishing’s academic journal Environmental Research Letters. A multi-disciplinary, collaborative effort from researchers at 23 institutions including The University of Tokyo, National Institute for Environmental Studies, and Kyoto University, the new study provides a cost-benefit analysis ...

Read the release

Environment31 Jul 2023

Lignin separation method could make renewable material profitable

RICHLAND, Wash. – A novel method to extract lignin could help spin wheat straw into gold. Lignin produced using the new method was color-neutral, odorless and homogenous, an advance that could make this carbon-neutral material a more viable candidate for development of high-value products. Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Washington State University researchers extracted up to 93% lignin with up to 98% purity from wheat straw, producing a significant amount of material in a uniform way that could make ...

Read the release

Environment28 Jul 2023

Billions in conservation spending fail to improve wild fish stocks in Columbia Basin

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Four decades of conservation spending totaling more than $9 billion in inflation-adjusted tax dollars has failed to improve stocks of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin, according to Oregon State University research. The study led by William Jaeger of the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences is based on an analysis of 50 years of data suggesting that while hatchery-reared salmon numbers have increased, there is no evidence of a net increase in wild, naturally spawning salmon and steelhead. Findings were published today in PLOS One. Jaeger, a professor of applied economics, notes that ...

Read the release

Environment28 Jul 2023

Imaging shows how solar-powered microbes turn CO2 into bioplastic

ITHACA, N.Y. - When considering ways to sustainably generate environmentally friendly products, bacteria might not immediately spring to mind. However, in recent years scientists have created microbe-semiconductor biohybrids that merge the biosynthetic power of living systems with the ability of semiconductors to harvest light. These microorganisms use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into value-added chemical products, such as bioplastics and biofuels. But how that energy transport occurs in such a tiny, complex ...

Read the release

Environment28 Jul 2023

Solving the climate crisis requires collaboration between natural and social scientists

Now that the world has experienced its hottest day in history, it is more urgent than ever for natural and social scientists to work together to address the climate crisis and keep global temperature increases below 2°C. To this end, an international group of esteemed researchers recently published an innovative research paper that highlights the importance of integrating knowledge from natural and social sciences to inform about effective climate change policies and practice. They argue that the concept of tipping points can serve as a bridge ...

Read the release

Environment27 Jul 2023

Yelp reviews of plastic surgeons – what factors affect positive and negative ratings?

July 27, 2023 – How many stars would you give your plastic surgeon? An analysis of Yelp reviews identifies a wide range of surgeon-and practice-related factors that influence whether plastic surgery patients leave positive or negative reviews, reports the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "Our study also identifies some sources ...

Read the release

Environment27 Jul 2023

Teens need consistent positive messaging in multicultural environments

In an increasingly diverse, multicultural world, adolescents struggle academically in multicultural environments if they don’t receive consistent and positive messages at school, home and among their peers about cultures that are not their own, a University of California, Davis, study suggests. In a survey of more than 700 teens at public schools in the Southwestern United States, researchers found that while these students attended ethnically diverse schools and reported learning about multiple ...

Read the release

Environment27 Jul 2023

Investigators identify translation gaps in instrument that measures nursing practice environment

PHILADELPHIA (July 27, 2023) – Two decades ago, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index was published to measure the nursing practice environment. Although the instrument's use has resulted in advances in science and quality improvement efforts, its potential may be limited by the availability and quality of translations into different languages. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) investigated published translations of the instrument and have identified ...

Read the release

Environment27 Jul 2023

New study reveals that tree species diversity increases spider density

Spiders are often maligned for being creepy critters, but they are some of the most environmentally friendly pest regulators. Because they actively feed on flies, moths, mosquitoes and roaches, spiders eliminate parasites and many other vectors of disease—protecting both humans and plants from harm. A new University of Maryland-led study published online in the journal Ecology found one simple way to take advantage of this natural ecosystem service: give tree-dwelling spiders a more diverse habitat. “We found that there’s ...

Read the release