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Environment
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Environment

Researchers find certain ecological experiments may be too human-centric

Do insectivorous animals perceive green, caterpillar-shaped clay as a tasty meal? Ecologists sometimes use plasticine models mimicking natural prey, such as caterpillars, fruit, bird eggs, snakes, and frogs, to record attack marks. This method is widely adopted for its low cost and simplicity. The goal is to estimate biotic interactions, particularly predation. Yet a critical question remains: Is the assumption that plasticine caterpillars appear "tasty" to animals overly human-centric? Despite the method's popularity, it relies on an unproven premise that animals visually recognize and react to the models as if they were ...

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Environment

Transport and dispersion of radioactive pollutant in the Northern South China Sea

This study was led by Jinxiao Hou, Dr. Xiaolin Hou, and Dr. Yanyun Wang from the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The northern offshore region of the South China Sea hosts one of the highest densities of nuclear power plants along China’s coastline. By systematically collecting seawater samples throughout this area and applying the laboratory’s well-established ultra-trace analytical techniques for ¹²⁹I and ¹²⁷I, the team measured the concentration levels and spatial distributions of both isotopes. By integrating observed ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I atomic ...

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Environment

Plastic pollution could linger at ocean surfaces for over a century, new research finds

PRESS RELEASE EMARGOED UNTIL 08:00AM GMT, 23 OCOTBER 2025 Scientists from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London have developed a simple model to show how buoyant plastic can settle through the water column and they predict it could take over 100 years to remove plastic waste from the ocean’s surface. Published today in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, the study is the third and final paper in a trilogy that explores the long-term fate of microplastic ...

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Environment

TU Graz conducts research into endangered cultural heritage in the Western Himalayas

In the high-altitude and extremely remote region of Dolpo in north-west Nepal, there are numerous Buddhist temples whose history dates back to the 11th century. The structures are threatened by earthquakes, landslides and planned infrastructure projects such as the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. There is also a lack of financial resources for long-term maintenance. Researchers from the Institute of Architectural Theory, History of Art and Cultural Studies and the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) want to prevent ...

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Environment

Stabilized fertilizers improve nitrogen use efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Agricultural green development is an important issue for global sustainable development, and the efficient utilization of nitrogen fertilizers and environmental emission reduction have always been core challenges faced by China’s agriculture. As a key input in food production, nitrogen fertilizers contribute 45% of China’s grain yield increase and 60% of protein supply in the food chain. However, China’s nitrogen use efficiency was only 42.6% in 2024, which not only causes resource waste but also leads to environmental problems such as about 400 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, 70% of global nitrous oxide emissions, and water eutrophication. ...

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Environment

Endangered Kangaroo Island ground dweller found in trees

Australian ecologists have made a remarkable discovery about the mysterious and endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart: it is partial to climbing trees. Up until now, the small carnivorous marsupial was thought to be a ground dweller. The finding, published this month in Pacific Conservation Biology, is the first confirmed evidence that the Kangaroo Island dunnart can climb trees and shelter in hollows, using artificial nest boxes that were originally installed for pygmy-possums. The discovery is part of the Kangaroo Island Nest Box Project, a large-scale citizen science initiative led by UniSA scientist Associate Professor Sophie (Topa) Petit and Peter Hammond from the Kangaroo Island ...

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Environment

Guardians of the coast: Philippine scientists unlock the climate power of mangroves in Eastern Visayas

What if the front line in the fight against climate change wasn’t in a high-tech lab or a global summit—but in the muddy, tangled roots of a mangrove forest? In the coastal heart of the Philippines, a quiet revolution is taking root. A new study published on September 5, 2025, in the open-access journal Carbon Research, shows that mangroves, those hardy, salt-tolerant trees lining tropical shorelines, are not just nature’s coastal defenders. They’re also carbon vaults, quietly locking away tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And now, thanks to the work of Dr. Hannah Alexis Melquiades Asilo and her team at the University of the Philippines ...

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Environment

New ‘liquid metal’ composite material enables recyclable, flexible and reconfigurable electronics

Electronic waste is piling up around the world at a rate that far outpaces recycling efforts, partly because it’s so costly and time-consuming to recover useful materials from discarded gadgets. When processed improperly, spent electronics can expose workers and the environment to lead, mercury and other toxic chemicals. Without systemic changes, our global appetite for electronics could produce an annual 60 million tons of electronic waste by 2030. This conundrum inspired a team at the University ...

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Environment

Tiny fossil bone helps unlock history of the bowerbird

The discovery of a tiny foot bone millions of years old reveals Aotearoa New Zealand was once home to a songbird species with potentially unique courtship behaviours, new research shows. These days bowerbirds are only found in Australia and New Guinea but an international collaboration by the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the University of Cambridge shows they may have resided in Aotearoa 14-19 million years ago. The foot bone that was found in the St Bathans, Central Otago, fossil deposits bore a close similarity to bowerbirds, though belonged to a bird that was much smaller than living species. Co-author Associate ...

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Environment

Backyard birders in South Africa may continue to enjoy biodiversity in visiting birds under climate change scenarios, while climate change and declining biodiversity may decrease birding in protected

Backyard birders in South Africa may continue to enjoy biodiversity in visiting birds under climate change scenarios, while climate change and declining biodiversity may decrease birding in protected public parks. Article URL: https://plos.io/4ol2UxW Article Title: Climate change impacts the non-market value of nature: A case study of birding cultural ecosystem services in South Africa Author Countries: United States Funding: This work was supported by the Ridge to Reef NSF Research Traineeship, Award DGE-1735040 to ...

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Environment

Retreating glaciers may send fewer nutrients to the ocean

The cloudy, sediment-laden meltwater from glaciers is a key source of nutrients for ocean life, but a new study suggests that as climate change causes many glaciers to shrink and retreat their meltwater may become less nutritious. Led by scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the study finds that meltwater from a rapidly retreating Alaskan glacier contained significantly lower concentrations of the types of iron and manganese that can be readily taken up by marine organisms compared to a nearby ...

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Environment

Biochar and wetter soils offer breakthrough path to slash farm emissions without cutting crop yields

Raising groundwater levels and adding biochar to agricultural peat soils could dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining healthy crop production, according to a new study from Bangor University. The study, published in Biochar (2025), tested how water table management and biochar, a charcoal-like soil additive made from plant biomass, affect carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions in peat-based farming systems. Although drained peats are among the world’s most productive ...

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Environment

New biochar-enhanced cement could lock away more carbon dioxide

A research team from Hefei University of Technology, Zhejiang University, and South China University of Technology has discovered that adding specially treated biochar to cement can significantly improve its ability to capture and store carbon dioxide while strengthening the material itself. Cement production is one of the world’s largest sources of CO₂ emissions. Finding cost-effective ways to store carbon directly in building materials could help reduce the industry’s environmental footprint. In the new study, scientists explored how modifying biochar, ...

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Environment

Scientists discover clean and green way to recycle Teflon®

New research demonstrates a simple, eco-friendly method to break down Teflon® – one of the world’s most durable plastics – into useful chemical building blocks. Scientists from Newcastle University and the University of Birmingham have developed a clean and energy-efficient way to recycle Teflon® (PTFE), a material best known for its use in non-stick coatings and other applications that demand high chemical and thermal stability. The researchers discovered that waste Teflon® can be broken down and repurposed using only sodium metal and mechanical energy – movement by shaking - at room temperature and without toxic ...

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Environment

While searching for the world’s oldest ice, scientists find sediment sneaking under the Antarctic ice sheet

For decades, researchers seeking to understand global climate change have analyzed ice cores drilled deep within the Antarctic ice sheet. This ice traps chemicals and bubbles of ancient air that tell the story of how Earth’s climate has changed over time. To develop a precise climate record, researchers seek to find continuous ice that’s uninterrupted, frozen in chronological order with newest ice at the top and the oldest ice at the bottom. Until recently, the oldest continuous ice core samples went back as far as 800,000 years, just when Earth’s ...

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Environment

Future-focused conservation index identifies reptiles as highest conservation priority

Reptiles could overtake amphibians as the highest priority for conservation among vertebrates as threats like climate change and invasive species worsen in the future, according to a new conservation index tool developed by Gabriel Henrique de Oliveira Caetano at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and Université Paris-Saclay, France, and colleagues, publishing October 21st in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. Climate change, habitat loss, and the overexploitation of nature are driving wildlife population declines and extinctions ...

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Environment

Most of Wine Country’s agricultural workers have been exposed to wildfires, new survey finds

Sonoma County is known for its rolling fields and famed vineyards, making the region a pillar in California’s wine industry. But a sweeping new survey from UC Berkeley has found that approximately 75% of agricultural workers there have worked during wildfires since 2017, raising questions about worker safety and a program that could further expose workers during wildfire evacuations. About half of the 1,000-plus farmworkers who participated in the study reported having ailments like headaches or sore throats after working during a wildfire. Half reported a lack of health insurance, and many worked ...

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Environment

Revealing the 'carbon hoofprint' of meat consumption for American cities

Depending on where you live in the United States, the meat you eat each year could be responsible for a level of greenhouse gas emissions that's similar to what's emitted to power your house. That's according to new research from the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study provides a first-of-its kind, systematic analysis that digs into the environmental impacts of the sprawling supply chains that the country relies on for its beef, pork and chicken. Supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the team calculated and mapped those impacts, which they've dubbed meat's ...

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Environment

Important phenomenon discovered in the Arctic – could boost marine life

The shrinking sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is, overall, a disaster. But paradoxically, the melting of the ice can also fuel the engine of the Arctic food chains: algae. Algae are the main food source for life in the sea, but they need nitrogen to grow. And nitrogen is in short supply in the Arctic Ocean. However, a new international study led by the University of Copenhagen indicates therewill probably be more of it in the future than previously thought. This could change the future prospects for marine life in the High North and possibly for the carbon budget. The researchers ...

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Environment

Did marine life in the palaeocene use a compass?

Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and ...

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Environment

McGill research flags Montreal snow dump, inactive landfills as major methane polluters

Montreal’s methane emissions are unevenly distributed across the island, with the highest concentrations in the city’s east end, McGill researchers have found. The worst polluters include the city’s largest snow dump, which emits methane at levels comparable to the city's current and former landfills, and natural gas leaks. The researchers identified more than 3,000 methane hotspots throughout the four-year mobile monitoring survey. They said this is fewer than comparably dense cities, but these potent emissions must be addressed. “Though ...

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Environment

Chemicals might be hitching a ride on nanoplastics to enter your skin

Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, and it’s notorious for taking a long time to completely break down in the environment — if it ever does. But even without breaking down completely, plastic can shed tiny particles — called nanoplastics because of their extremely small size — that scientists are just now starting to consider in long-term health studies. One of those scientists is Dr. Wei Xu, an associate professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology. Xu’s ...

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Environment

The Southern Ocean’s low-salinity water locked away CO2 for decades, but...

Climate models suggest that climate change could reduce the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2). However, observational data actually shows that this ability has seen no significant decline in recent decades. In a recent study, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute have discovered what may be causing this. Low-salinity water in the upper ocean has typically helped to trap carbon in the deep ocean, which in turn has slowed its release into the atmosphere – until now, that is, because climate change is increasingly altering the Southern Ocean and its function as a carbon sink. The study ...

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Environment

Hurricane outages: Analysis details the where, and who, of increased future power cuts

Images Georgia and northern Florida are likely to be hardest hit by increasing hurricane-induced power outages along the Atlantic coast in the future, with Hispanic, non-white, low-income and elderly populations most affected, according to new research led by the University of Michigan. Hurricanes are predicted to become even more frequent and severe in the coming years if the planet's temperatures rise by another 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels—expected by the end of the century without drastic action taken. The total 3 C rise will bring increased outages to areas ...

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Environment

Global analysis reveals how biochar supercharges composting and cuts greenhouse gases

A new study by researchers from Sichuan Agricultural University and international collaborators provides the most comprehensive evidence to date that biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from organic materials, plays a crucial role in faster, cleaner composting. By analyzing data from 125 studies across the world, the research team showed that adding biochar to composting systems significantly boosts compost quality while slashing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The findings, published in Biochar X, could help scale up sustainable waste management and climate-friendly agriculture. “Biochar ...

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