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Environment
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Environment

How are coastal New Jersey communities communicating hazards of climate change?

Recent climate-related crises — from severe storms and flooding to extreme heat — have raised new questions about how local governments communicate the risk of these crises and what they are doing to keep their citizens safe. To better understand what this communication looks like at local level, and the factors that may be shaping it, researchers from Drexel University analyzed climate resilience planning information available on the public-facing websites of 24 coastal communities in New Jersey that are contending with the effects of sea level rise. Their report, recently published in the Journal of Extreme Events, ...

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Environment

Huge hidden flood bursts through the Greenland ice sheet surface

A huge flood triggered by the rapid draining of a lake beneath the Greenland ice sheet occurred with such force that it fractured the ice above and burst out across its surface. This phenomenon, observed for the first time in Greenland and detailed in research published today in the journal Nature Geoscience, sheds new light on the destructive potential of meltwater stored beneath the ice sheet. It reveals how, under extreme conditions, water flooding underneath the ice can force its way upwards through the ice and escape at the ice sheet surface. This phenomenon is not considered by numerical models ...

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Environment

From coal to chemicals: Breakthrough syngas catalysis powers green industrial future

Two decades-long catalytic journey has borne industrial fruit—greener, cleaner, and smarter. Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) and heterogeneous hydroformylation are two cornerstone processes in modern chemical manufacturing. They convert syngas (a mixture of CO and H₂, typically derived from coal or biomass) into hydrocarbons and oxygenates that underpin fuel, plastics, and pharmaceutical industries. Yet for over a century, challenges in selectivity, catalyst longevity, and process integration have limited their broader industrial deployment—until now. In a newly published account in Chinese Journal of ...

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Environment

Wildlife show wide range of responses to human presence in U.S. national parks

The presence of humans and human infrastructure in U.S. national parks has lasting effects on the behaviours of the large animals that call them home, according to a new study. “Wildlife all around the world fear people and avoid areas of high human activity, but it was surprising to see that this holds true even in more remote protected areas,” said Dr. Kaitlyn Gaynor, a zoologist at the University of British Columbia and lead author of the paper published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Researchers tracked 229 animals from 10 species across 14 national parks and protected areas using GPS collar data from 2019 to 2020, ...

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Environment

Deep heat beneath the United States traced to ancient rift with Greenland

A large region of unusually hot rock deep beneath the Appalachian Mountains in the United States could be linked to Greenland and North America splitting apart 80 million years ago, according to new research led by the University of Southampton. The scientists argue it is not, as has long been believed, the result of plate tectonic movements causing the continent of North America to break away from Northwest Africa 180 million years ago. The hot zone in question is the Northern Appalachian Anomaly (NAA), a 350-kilometre-wide region of anomalous hot rock that sits about 200 km beneath the Appalachian Mountains ...

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Environment

Fulbright funds OU professor’s biodiversity research

NORMAN, OKLA. – Hayley Lanier, Ph.D., an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Oklahoma and associate curator of mammalogy at the Sam Noble Museum, has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to conduct evolutionary genomics research in the Czech Republic during the 2025–2026 academic year. Lanier is among 400 scholars selected nationwide for the prestigious international award. The Fulbright Scholars program aims to promote mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and those from other nations. Candidates are chosen based on their academic achievements ...

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Environment

Interrater reliability of the Nancy Histologic Index in assessing histologic remission in treated ulcerative colitis biopsies: a multi-institutional experience among gastrointestinal pathologists in t

Background and objectives Histologic remission is recommended as an adjunctive treatment target in ulcerative colitis, and scoring systems have been proposed to enhance reproducibility. The Nancy Histologic Index (NHI) is increasingly used in clinical trials; however, its performance in real-world settings is not fully established. This study aimed to assess the interrater reliability (IRR) of the NHI among gastrointestinal pathologists in the United States. Methods Thirty-seven whole-slide images of colorectal biopsies from 34 treated ulcerative colitis patients enrolled in a multicenter adult cohort were independently ...

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Environment

On a Florida bombing range, endangered woodpeckers get a second chance

Florida’s Avon Park bombing range is teeming with life. Over 40 at-risk species occupy this 106,000-acre expanse used by the U.S. Air Force for training exercises. Conservation biologists from Michigan State University are using the range to test something other than weapons: innovative strategies to save threatened species. Using decades’ worth of monitoring data, researchers are looking back through time to understand the outcome of interventions designed to rescue a population of imperiled red-cockaded woodpeckers. What they’ve found is a promising story of success. Their results, published ...

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Environment

Science by the millions: How everyday people are revolutionizing global biodiversity research with tech

A frog croaks from a walking trail. A hiker snaps a photo and uploads it to iNaturalist. That single act — one person, one amphibian and one click — feeds into a growing global dataset that scientists now use to map shifting species ranges, detect invasive threats and even discover new species. An international study led by researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) shows how iNaturalist, the global technology platform through which everyday people share ...

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Environment

Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate

Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate New research sheds light on the overlooked contribution of the ocean’s most abundant fish to marine carbon cycling. The findings open new avenues for studying deep-sea carbon dynamics and may improve Earth system models. MIAMI, FL — July 25, 2025 – A new study offers the first direct evidence that deep-dwelling mesopelagic fish, which account for up to 94 percent of global fish biomass, excrete carbonate minerals at rates comparable to shallow-water species. The findings validate previous global models suggesting that marine fish are major contributors ...

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Environment

The scuba diving industry is funding marine ecosystem conservation and employing locals

The global scuba diving tourism industry generates up to around 20 billion USD per year, finds a study publishing July 25 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability. This revenue helps boost local economies by employing local people and supports marine conservation initiatives both by raising funds and increasing public awareness. “Scuba diving is not a fringe hobby,” says lead study author Anna Schuhbauer of the University of British Columbia. “It is a multibillion-dollar pillar of the economy that can channel tourists’ dollars straight into coastal communities and ocean protection.” Recent studies ...

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Environment

Satellites show that strictly protected marine areas exclude industrial fishing

Illegal fishing is a global problem that threatens the health of ocean ecosystems and the economic viability of the fishing industry. Marine protected areas (MPAs)—zones set aside to safeguard marine life—are a key tool for conservation, but monitoring them has been a long-standing challenge. Researchers led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Jennifer Raynor showed that artificial intelligence methods applied to satellite data provide a powerful new way to assess industrial fishing activity in MPAs, bridging blind spots in current ...

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Environment

Two studies reveal global patterns of industrial fishing across marine protected areas

In two separate studies leveraging satellite imagery and artificial intelligence techniques, researchers reveal patterns of industrial fishing in coastal marine protected areas (MPAs) worldwide. Collectively, the findings, which may seem contradictory, show that although industrial fishing vessels are present in many protected areas worldwide, MPAs with the highest levels of protection remain largely unfished. Both studies suggest that proper investment in protected areas will pay off and that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology could be one of the key tools used ...

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Environment

2023 marine heatwaves unprecedented and potentially signal a climate tipping point

The global marine heatwaves (MHWs) of 2023 were unprecedented in their intensity, persistence, and scale, according to a new study. The findings provide insights into the region-specific drivers of these events, linking them to broader changes in the planet’s climate system. They may also portend an emerging climate tipping point. Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are intense and prolonged episodes of unusually warm ocean temperatures. These events pose severe threats to marine ecosystems, often resulting in widespread coral bleaching and mass mortality events. ...

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Environment

Record-breaking ‘gigantic’ deep-sea limpet species named after ONE PIECE character

Researchers from Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) have discovered a deep-sea limpet species 5,922 metres beneath the northwestern Pacific Ocean, marking the deepest known habitat for any true limpet (subclass Patellogastropoda). Described as a new species in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, the limpet was found on hard volcanic rock 500 kilometres southeast of Tokyo, Japan. The gastropod measures up to 40.5 mm in shell length, a remarkably large size for a true limpet from ...

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Environment

Molecular hope: tiny ocean creatures reveal dual paths to climate resilience

In a first-of-its-kind experiment tracing evolution across 25 generations, scientists have discovered that marine copepods—the tiny crustaceans at the heart of the ocean food web—rely on a largely unknown biological toolkit to survive the stresses of climate change. Published July 15, 2025, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study reveals that it’s not only genetic changes (permanent alterations to DNA) that help these animals adapt to warming and acidifying ocean conditions. In addition, little-known epigenetic changes (temporary “on/off” chemical modifications to parts ...

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Environment

Breakthrough engineered enzyme for recycling of PET bottle and blended fibers at moderate temperatures

Summary Addressing the global plastic waste crisis, particularly hard-to-recycle blended PET fibers, demands environmentally friendlier recycling methods. Researchers engineered a novel PET hydrolase PET2-21M and established large-scale production in yeast. This enzyme dramatically boosted PET bottle-grade PET breakdown. In parallel, its direct precursor PET2-14M-6Hot successfully degraded challenging blended fibers (PET/cotton, PET/PU) at moderate temperatures. This breakthrough offers a promising, energy-efficient path for a circular plastics economy, accelerating industrial-scale recycling of diverse polymer wastes. A research team led by ...

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Environment

Grassland changes put endangered parrot at greater risk

The endangered golden-shouldered parrot, a technicolour species native to Far North Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula, is abandoning areas of grassland it usually nests in because woody plants are encroaching upon its preferred vegetation. Dr Gabriel Crowley, from the University of Adelaide, assessed the fate of 555 golden-shouldered parrot eggs from 108 nests monitored on Artemis Station by its owner, Susan Shephard, and Charles Darwin University researcher, Professor Stephen Garnett. They discovered that the spread of woody plants increased the probability of predation, and reduced nest success and survival of nesting adults. “The ...

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Environment

Measuring how – and where – Antarctic ice is cracking with new data tool

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A total collapse of the roughly 80-mile-wide Thwaites Glacier, the widest in the world, would trigger changes that could lead to 11 feet of sea-level rise, according to scientists who study Antarctica. To better predict fractures that could lead to such a collapse — and to better understand the processes driving changes in Antarctic ice shelves — a team led by researchers at Penn State developed a new method to evaluate cracks that destabilize ice shelves and accelerate those losses. They reported ...

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Environment

Dinosaur tracks show first evidence of multispecies herding

Footprints of a multispecies herd of dinosaurs discovered in Canada demonstrate the social interaction between different dinosaur species 76 million years ago, according to findings in a new study published today [23 July] in the journal PLOS One. The new tracksite is the first discovery of its kind in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. The Park is world-famous for its abundant fossils but dinosaur footprints were virtually unknown. The discovery, made during an international field course in July 2024, includes footprints from multiple dinosaur species walking alongside each other – providing the first ...

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Environment

A ‘wonder’ fossil changes our understanding of reptile evolution

Body coverings such as hair and feathers have played a central role in evolution. They enabled warm-bloodedness by insulating the body, and were used for courtship, display, deterrence of enemies and, in the case of feathers, flight. Their structure is characterised by longer and more complex skin outgrowths that differ significantly from the simple and flat scales of reptiles. Complex skin outgrowths have previously only been observed in mammals in the form of hair and in birds and their closest fossil relatives, dinosaurs and pterosaurs, in the form of feathers. An international team led by palaeontologists Dr Stephan Spiekman and Prof Dr Rainer Schoch from the State ...

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Environment

Sustainability Accelerator selects 41 new projects with potential for rapid scale-up

The Sustainability Accelerator at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability has selected 41 projects spanning biology, agriculture, electricity, industry, and water. The teams involve 67 faculty from 27 departments across five of the university’s seven schools. The projects are as diverse as the problems they are trying to solve, ranging from developing plant-based meat alternatives to optimizing low-carbon steel production to helping coastal communities adapt to threats of saltwater ...

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Environment

Tiny fossil suggests spiders and their relatives originated in the sea

A new analysis of an exquisitely preserved fossil that lived half a billion years ago suggests that arachnids – spiders and their close kin – evolved in the ocean, challenging the widely held belief that their diversification happened only after their common ancestor had conquered the land. Spiders and scorpions have existed for some 400 million years, with little change. Along with closely related arthropods grouped together as arachnids, they have dominated the Earth as the most successful ...

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Environment

LAHB: A bioplastic that may solve marine plastic pollution problem

Researchers have demonstrated a new eco-friendly plastic that decomposes in deep ocean conditions. In a deep-sea experiment, the microbially synthesized poly(d-lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) (LAHB) biodegraded, while conventional plastics such as a representative bio-based polylactide (PLA) persisted. Submerged 855 meters underwater, LAHB films lost over 80% of their mass after 13 months as microbial biofilms actively broke down the material. This real-world test establishes LAHB as a safer biodegradable plastic, supporting global efforts to reduce marine plastic waste. ...

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Environment

New research: Deforestation rates on recognized Afro-descendant lands in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname are as much as 55% lower than the norm

ARLINGTON, Va. (July 22, 2025) – Afro-descendant peoples in four Amazon countries show remarkable achievements in environmental stewardship, according to new research from Conservation International, published today in Nature Communications Earth and Environment. The study assessed Afro-descendant lands in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname, finding significantly lower rates of deforestation and larger quantities of both biodiversity and irrecoverable carbon (the carbon that, if lost due to ...

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