pressnews.MEDICINE · SCIENCE · EVIDENCE
RSSSearchMy library
The archive · since 2010
THE ORIGINAL COLLECTION · SINCE 2010

Environment
press releases.

Research announcements from universities, hospitals and scientific institutions. Explore the stories, people and discoveries behind the headlines.

Original publication datesPage 35
FIND A STORY

Find a past release.

Dates and source material belong to the original release.

Read our research explainers

Browse the collection · original publication order

Environment

Abrupt Antarctic changes could have ‘catastrophic consequences for generations to come’, experts warn

Antarctica is at risk of abrupt and potentially irreversible changes to the continent’s ice, ocean and ecosystems that could have profound implications for Australia and beyond, unless urgent action is taken to curb global carbon emissions. That’s according to new research published today in the journal Nature, from researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in collaboration with scientists from each of Australia’s major Antarctic research centres. The ...

Read the release
Environment

Drought, extreme heat, and intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income countries

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of 42 low- and middle-income countries, drought conditions with various durations were associated with increased intimate partner violence risk. Given the increasing extreme events under climate change, there is a pressing need for enhanced initiatives to prevent domestic violence. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Pin Wang, PhD, email pinwang@umd.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.27818) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

Read the release
Environment

New research could lead to greener, faster metal production

Most metals found in nature are actually in their oxide forms. To extract those metals to use in critical applications — ranging from infrastructure such as bridges and buildings to advanced technologies like airplanes, semiconductors or even quantum materials — those oxides must be reduced with gases. A new study illuminating how different gases can affect oxide reduction, however, has the potential to revamp scientific understandings and current industrial practices. Hydrogen or carbon monoxide are typically used as reductants, ...

Read the release
Environment

Industrial pollution’s imprint lasts generations

In a groundbreaking study, University of Utah researchers found strong evidence that exposure to industrial pollution during pregnancy can shape a grandchild’s neurodevelopment. A child has a higher risk of an intellectual disability if their grandmothers lived near industrial facilities while pregnant with a parent, especially the mother. Higher density of industrial facilities corresponded to higher risk for the grandchild. “We know that breathing polluted air is dangerous for our own health now, but it’s ...

Read the release
Environment

Will climate change promote the spread of Dengue fever through Western Europe?

Most people recover from Dengue fever, which is caused by a virus transmitted from the Asian tiger mosquito, but some infected individuals experience serious bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure, and even death. Although Dengue fever has long been recognized as a disease of the tropics and sub-tropics, a study published in Global Change Biology reveals that it is likely to spread increasingly northward and through Western Europe as climate change expands the Asian tiger mosquito’s habitat. The mosquito lays its eggs in water where, with sufficient temperature, larvae develop and give rise to flying bloodsucking adults. After ...

Read the release
Environment

Most known species evolved during 'explosions’ of diversity, shows first analysis across ‘tree of life’

The British evolutionary biologist JBS Haldane is said to have quipped that any divine being evidently had ‘an ordinate fondness for beetles’. This bon mot conveyed an important truth: the ‘tree of life’ – the family tree of all species, living or extinct – is very uneven. In places, it resembles a dense thicket of short twigs; elsewhere it has only sparse but long branches. A few groups tend to predominate: as Haldane pointed out, more than 40% of extant insects are beetles, while 60% of birds ...

Read the release
Environment

Illinois researchers pair nanocatalysts, food waste to reduce carbon emissions in aviation

For researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a new avenue for reducing carbon emissions can be found on the side. A side of salad dressing, that is. In 2020, the United States federal government committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. An important step towards carbon neutrality is embracing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), an alternative to conventional jet fuel that is made from renewable feedstocks. As part of this initiative, Grainger engineers have been hard at work creating the critical nanocatalysts for converting biocrude oil ...

Read the release
Environment

MSU scientist partners on biofuel policy for a carbon-neutral agricultural future

MSU has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and Comrex line for radio interviews upon request. Why this matters: Biofuels have long been regarded as a key tool for reducing reliance on fossil fuels, but current policies often overlook the carbon benefits of sustainable farming practices. Therefore, farmers could be rewarded for adopting practices such as no-till farming, crop rotation, cover cropping, variable rate input, precision conservation and emerging climate-smart technologies like biochar and enhanced rock weathering. Climate-smart ...

Read the release
Environment

Exploring long term, complex biodiversity change in Scotland’s landscapes

Exploring long term, complex biodiversity change in Scotland’s landscapes Despite growing concern about biodiversity loss due to the ongoing biodiversity and climate crises, scientists have relatively little understanding of the pace and complexity of biodiversity change over preceding millennia. To address this challenge, ecologists from the University of Edinburgh, University of St Andrews and National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan have applied a recently developed technique to explore how plant biodiversity ...

Read the release
Environment

Kelp forests in Marine Protected Areas are more resilient to marine heatwaves

New research finds that Marine Protected Areas can boost the recovery of globally important kelp forests following marine heatwaves. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology. Using four decades of satellite images, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have looked at impacts Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are having on kelp forests along the coast of California. They found that although the overall effect of MPAs on kelp forest cover was modest, the benefits ...

Read the release
Environment

SwRI-led work confirms decades-old theoretical models about solar reconnection

SAN ANTONIO — August 18, 2025 — New research led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has confirmed decades-old theoretical models about magnetic reconnection, the process that releases stored magnetic energy to drive solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other space weather phenomena. The data was captured by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP), which is the only spacecraft to have flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere. Magnetic reconnection occurs when magnetic field lines in plasma sever and reconnect in a new configuration, releasing large amounts of stored energy. ...

Read the release
Environment

Nuclear waste could be a source of fuel in future reactors

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — From electric cars to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, the technologies people use every day require a growing need for electricity. In theory, nuclear fusion — a process that fuses atoms together, releasing heat to turn generators — could provide vast energy supplies with minimal emissions. But nuclear fusion is an expensive prospect because one of its main fuels is a rare version of hydrogen called tritium. Now, researchers are developing new systems to use nuclear waste ...

Read the release
Environment

70 years of data show adaptation reducing Europe’s flood losses

Humans adapt to floods through private measures, early warning systems, emergency preparedness and other solutions. A new attribution study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that such adaptation other than structural flood defences has reduced economic losses from flooding by 63 percent and fatalities by 52 percent since 1950. The study analyses seven decades of historical flood impacts across Europe and demonstrates how adaptation measures have reduced damage over time. Flood damage is the result of the interaction between hazards, such as heavy rainfall or storm surges, exposure, i.e., how many people and assets are located in vulnerable ...

Read the release
Environment

Antarctica’s changing threat landscape underscores the need for coordinated action

In the face of growing global pressures, a new report from Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), including University of Adelaide researchers, highlights the opportunity to strengthen and future-proof Antarctic governance by responding to emerging conservation threats with coordinated, proactive measures. With input from 131 experts in more than 40 countries, with backgrounds across science, policy and conservation, the report identified 10 emerging threats that could challenge Antarctic conservation efforts in the coming decade. Among the threats identified is the likelihood of more extreme precipitation events, ...

Read the release
Environment

Past Arctic climate secrets to be revealed during i2B “Into The Blue” Arctic Ocean Expedition 2025

What’s Happening From 16th August to 19th September 2025, the Norwegian research vessel R/V Kronprins Haakon will be sailing into the Arctic Ocean for an expedition organised and funded through the prestigious European Research Council Synergy Grant “i2B – Into The Blue”. The i2B Arctic Ocean Expedition team consisting of 25 scientists will collect new geological archives that will shed light on Arctic climate during past ‘warmer-than-present-day’ conditions (interglacial periods). These archives are crucial to understand the ...

Read the release
Environment

Sharing is power: do the neighbourly thing when it comes to solar

Australian researchers have found that households with solar panels could boost their returns by selling surplus power directly to their neighbours, known as peer-to-peer (P2P) energy sharing, helping to stabilise the electricity grid and negotiating a better price than retailers currently offer. Worldwide, around 25 million households already rely on solar panels, with forecasts predicting 100 million by 2030. In 2024, the world installed an estimated 597 GW of solar power, a 33% increase compared to 2023. Australia has one of the highest rates of solar panels ...

Read the release
Environment

Canadian crops beat global emissions—even after 17 trips across the Atlantic

Canadian-grown wheat, canola and peas have some of the lowest carbon footprints in the world—so low that, in some cases, they could be shipped to Europe 17 times before matching the emissions of the same crops grown there. The study out of UBC Okanagan, published in Nature Food, compared the carbon footprints of these crops from Canada, France, Germany, Australia and the United States using the ISO 14067 standard. Led by Dr. Nicole Bamber of UBCO’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, the research ...

Read the release
Environment

Researchers track how iron deficiency disrupts photosynthesis in crucial ocean algae

The next time you breathe, consider this: photosynthesis of algae, powered by iron dust in the ocean, made it possible. Now, a new Rutgers University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pulls back the curtain on this vital process. Iron is a critical micronutrient for marine phytoplankton, the microscopic algae that form the foundation of the ocean’s food webs. It is deposited into the world’s oceans as dust from deserts and arid areas as well as from glacial meltwater. “Every other breath you take includes oxygen from the ocean, ...

Read the release
Environment

First transfer of behavior between species through single gene manipulation

Researchers in Japan have genetically transferred a unique courtship behavior from one fruit fly species to another. By turning on a single gene in insulin-producing neurons, the team successfully made a species of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) perform a gift-giving ritual it had never done before. The study, published in the journal Science, represents the first example of manipulating a single gene to create new neural connections and transfer behavior between species. In nature, most male fruit flies court mates by rapidly vibrating their wings to create sound patterns or “courtship songs." However, Drosophila subobscura ...

Read the release
Environment

Connecting biofuel and conservation policies

While biofuels may be part of the solution to replace fossil fuels and reduce climate-warming carbon emissions, bioenergy needs a new “climate-smart” policy to ensure that it produces both low-carbon products and promotes carbon sequestration, according to Madhu Khanna and colleagues. In this Policy Forum, Khanna et al. note that current policies to promote bioenergy in the United States, such as the Renewable Fuel Standard and Low Carbon Fuel Standard, do not distinguish between carbon intensities ...

Read the release
Environment

Researchers synthesize a new allotrope of carbon

Images available via the multimedia section. Chemists have demonstrated the synthesis of a new molecular form of carbon. The new molecule – cyclo[48]carbon, made up of 48 carbon atoms in an alternating single/triple bond pattern – is stable enough to be studied in liquid solution form at room temperature. The study – only the second example of a new type of molecular carbon allotrope that can be studied under normal laboratory conditions – has been published today (14 August) in Science. In a new study led by Oxford University’s Department of Chemistry, chemists have demonstrated the synthesis ...

Read the release
Environment

Climate models reveal human influence behind stalled pacific cycle

A new CU Boulder-led study has revealed that recent changes in North Pacific Ocean temperatures—long believed to be the result of natural variability—are in fact being driven by human-generated greenhouse gas and industrial aerosol emissions. These oceanic shifts are directly linked to the prolonged megadrought gripping the American Southwest, and this research published August 13th in Nature suggests it may not ease for another 30 years. “Our results show that the drought and ocean patterns we’re seeing today are not just natural fluctuations—they’re largely driven by human activity,” ...

Read the release
Environment

USGS measures glacial flooding in Juneau, Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — USGS streamgages show flood conditions are now underway, with live cameras providing real-time views on the USGS HIVIS website. Glacier-caused flooding has become an annual threat since 2011, with record-breaking floods over the past two years that impacted more than 300 homes and threatened public safety. The USGS is working with the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to monitor conditions and provide real-time data on the glacier lake releases. A glacier-dammed lake forms when a glacier blocks the natural drainage of a valley, trapping water that eventually ...

Read the release
Environment

New research reveals the spark that ignites Mediterranean marine heatwaves

The Mediterranean Sea is particularly susceptible to marine heatwaves – such as the record breaking 2022 heatwave which was characterized by anomalously high sea surface temperatures – due to the interplay of air-sea heat fluxes and local oceanographic processes, leading to significant impacts on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. A new study, led by CMCC, brings the scientific community one step closer to identifying the driving forces behind these events. Analyzing over hundreds of marine heatwave events identified through advanced satellite data and clustering analysis, the study shows that persistent ...

Read the release
Environment

Discovery of ‘weird looking’ otter poo reveals how these animals shape nearby ecologies

North American river otters have lived for a long time in Chesapeake Bay, yet relatively little is known about how their surroundings impact them. So what does daily life for river otters on the Atlantic coast of the US look like? What do they eat? Where do they socialize? Where do they go to poo? Researchers in Maryland decided to investigate and have now published their findings in Frontiers in Mammal Science. “River otters in the Chesapeake Bay eat a wide range of animals, including those that live in the water and on land. Parasites, ...

Read the release
From the original Press-News collection. Issuers of news releases are responsible for the accuracy of their content.