Environment
press releases.

Environment26 Jun 2025

Jackpot! Gold from e-waste opens a rich vein for miners and the environment

An interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste. Explained in the leading journal Nature Sustainability, the gold-extraction technique promises to reduce levels of toxic waste from mining and shows that high purity gold can be recovered from recycling valuable components in printed circuit boards in discarded computers. The project team, led by Matthew Flinders Professor Justin Chalker, applied this integrated method for high-yield gold extraction ...

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Environment25 Jun 2025

Gone with the glaciers: Researchers track unprecedented ice loss

A study published today in Geophysical Research Letters reveals that glaciers in western Canada, the United States, and Switzerland lost around 12 percent of their ice between 2001 and 2024. A 2021 study in Nature showed that glacial melt doubled between 2010 and 2019 compared with the first decade of the twenty-first century. This new paper builds on that research, says lead author Brian Menounos, and shows that in the years since, glacial melt continued at an alarming pace. “Over the last four years, glaciers lost twice as much ice compared to the previous decade,” ...

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Environment25 Jun 2025

Low-cost carbon capture? Bury wood debris in managed forests

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE FOR RELEASE: June 25, 2025 Kaitlyn Serrao 607-882-1140 kms465@cornell.edu Low-cost carbon capture? Bury wood debris in managed forests ITHACA, N.Y. – Taking carbon out of the atmosphere is essential for slowing global warming – and a team of Cornell University researchers has estimated “huge” potential for carbon capture using a method that is low-tech, sustainable and relatively simple: burying wood, especially the debris from managed ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Editorial for the special issue on carbon capture, utilization, and storage

Global climate change has become one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. As anthropogenic CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption and industrial processes continue to disrupt Earth’s carbon cycle, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have reached unprecedented levels—exceeding 420 parts per million (ppm) in 2023 compared to pre-industrial 280 ppm. This rapid accumulation of greenhouse gases has resulted in measurable consequences including rising global temperatures, ocean acidification, and increased frequency of extreme weather events. As ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Bioplastic breakthrough: Sustainable cooling film could slash building energy use by 20% amid rising global temperatures

An international team of scientists has developed a biodegradable material that could slash global energy consumption without using any electricity, according to a new study published today. The bioplastic metafilm – that can be applied to buildings, equipment and other surfaces – passively cools temperatures by as much as 9.2°C during peak sunlight and reflects almost 99% of the sun’s rays. Developed by researchers from Zhengzhou University in China and the University of South Australia (UniSA), the new ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Mapping barriers to natural climate solutions

Conservation, restoration, and ecosystem management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon dioxide sequestration, in what frequently are referred to as “natural climate solutions.” Such natural climate solutions have gained global attention in recent years as they could provide over one-third of the climate mitigation required to keep global warming under 2°C (3.6°F) by 2030. The authors mapped social, political, informational, and economic roadblocks that prevent implementation of natural climate solutions around the world, drawing ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Model tackles key obstacle to efficient plastic recycling

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Most people who separate their plastic waste for recycling assume the bulk of it will in fact be recycled. But current recycling methods, which “require sorting, grinding, cleaning, remelting and extrusion to obtain plastic pellets, usually lead to lower value materials because of contamination and mechanochemical degradation,” the authors of a new study write. As a result, only about 10% of the plastic that makes it to recycling facilities is recycled. The rest is incinerated, sent to landfills or ends up in ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Food packaging is a source of micro- and nanoplastics in food

About this study: New research analyzes 103 scientific studies related to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) from food packaging and other food contact articles (FCAs). The normal and intended use of FCAs is a source of MNPs in foodstuffs. The full dataset is freely available through an interactive dashboard. Zurich, Switzerland – [June 17, 2025] – In a new research article being published in npj Science of Food, scientists led by the Food Packaging Forum show that the normal and intended use of plastic food packaging and other food contact articles (FCAs), such as opening a plastic bottle or chopping on a plastic cutting board, ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

500 bird species face extinction within the next century

Climate change and habitat loss could cause more than 500 bird species to go extinct in the next 100 years, researchers from the University of Reading have found. Their study, published today (Tuesday, 24 June) in Nature Ecology & Evolution, reveals this number is three times higher than all bird extinctions recorded since 1500 CE. The extinction of vulnerable birds such as the bare-necked umbrellabird, the helmeted hornbill, and the yellow-bellied sunbird-asity would greatly reduce the variety of bird shapes and sizes worldwide, harming ecosystems ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Deep-sea mining could harm remote ocean ecosystems

Deep-sea mining in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean could harm ocean life including whales and dolphins, new research shows. The Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Eastern Pacific is a vast area of deep ocean and seamounts. A Canadian firm – The Metals Company – is planning to explore parts of the CCZ for polymetallic nodules. In two new studies, researchers found whales and dolphins – including an endangered sperm whale – in the CCZ, and raise concerns about impacts on a wide range of marine species. “We ...

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Environment24 Jun 2025

Wildlife forensic scientists develop new tool to detect elephant ivory disguised as legal mammoth ivory

To save elephant populations from extinction, the international community banned the sale of their ivory — but selling mammoth ivory remains legal, and the two are difficult to tell apart, especially for non-experts. This leaves a possible loophole for sellers of poached ivory to exploit. Now stable isotope analysis could provide a cheap, rapid option to speed up sample screening and stop the sale of elephant ivory. “Smugglers routinely use mixed shipments — an illegal wildlife product mixed with a legal one of similar appearance — to fool law enforcement,” said Dr Pavel Toropov ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

UTIA researcher to receive award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society

Sindhu Jagadamma, associate professor of soil science at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, will receive the Soil and Water Conservation Society’s 2025 Conservation Research Award at the society’s annual conference in August. Soil health is critical for sustainable food production, and Jagadamma’s research in her Sustainable Soil Management Lab are developing ways to mitigate soil and environmental problems associated with conventional farm management practices. Her team studies how to maintain soil health through the implementation of conservation management, ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

Cold winters halt the northward spread of species in a warming climate

As the climate warms, many species are shifting northward into areas that were previously too cold for them. A new study on the wall brown butterfly, published in the scientific journal PNAS, shows that rapid evolution can aid this process – but only up to a point. Cold winters stop further expansion beyond certain climatic limits. “Our results show that even though the butterflies adapt their life cycle as they move northwards, there are limits that evolution cannot easily overcome,” says Mats Ittonen, one of the lead authors of the study done by researchers at the Department of Zoology, Stockholm University. The wall brown (Lasiommata ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

Massive burps of carbon dioxide led to oxygen-less ocean environments in the deep past

New research from the University of California, Davis, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Texas A&M University reveals that massive emissions, or burps, of carbon dioxide from natural earth systems led to significant decreases in ocean oxygen concentrations some 300 million years ago. Combining geochemical analyses of sediment cores and advanced climate modeling, the study, published June 23 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights five periods when significant decreases in ocean oxygen levels (by 4% to 12%) coincided with significant increases ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

1 in 4 LGBTQ+ singles say the political climate is reshaping their dating lives

In 2025, love and politics are colliding for many LGBTQ+ singles. A new Kinsey Institute and DatingNews survey finds 1 in 4 are changing how they date amid the political climate. The State of Us: National Study on Modern Love & Dating in 2025 shows politics are affecting LGBTQ+ singles across demographics, however Gen Z ages 18-25 are feeling the most impact. Among the overall sample of 302 respondents: 25% of LGBTQ+ singles say politics have changed how they date 35% of LGBTQ+ adults say they don’t feel safe being open about their identity while dating 18% of respondents said they are taking extra measures to protect their identity and privacy ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

Mapping the gaps: New global assessment reveals stark biases in ocean biodiversity data

Despite decades of ocean exploration, humans still lack basic answers to one of the most fundamental ecological questions: where is marine life found, and why? A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, highlights just how uneven our knowledge of ocean biodiversity really is. By systematically processing nearly 19 million records from the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), the study reveals that global marine biodiversity data from below 30m are heavily biased towards shallow waters (50% of benthic records come from just the shallowest 1% of the ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

Wildfires threaten water quality for up to eight years after they burn

Years after wildfires burn forests and watersheds, the contaminants left behind continue to poison rivers and streams across the Western U.S. — much longer than scientists estimated. A new study, published today in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, analyzed water quality in more than 500 watersheds across the Western U.S., and is the first large-scale assessment of post-wildfire quality. The research was led by scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

More effective production of “green” hydrogen with new combined material

The chemical reaction to produce hydrogen from water is several times more effective when using a combination of new materials in three layers, according to researchers at Linköping University in Sweden. Hydrogen produced from water is a promising renewable energy source – especially if the hydrogen is produced using sunlight. The production of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the EU as of 2035. Electric motors are expected to become increasingly common in vehicles – but they are not suitable for all types of transport. “Passenger cars can have a battery, but heavy trucks, ships or aircraft cannot use ...

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Environment23 Jun 2025

Recycled plastics can affect hormone systems and metabolism

A single pellet of recycled plastic can contain over 80 different chemicals. A new study with researchers from University of Gothenburg and Leipzig shows that recycled polyethylene plastic can leach chemicals into water causing impacts in the hormone systems and lipid metabolism of zebrafish larvae. The plastic pollution crisis has reached global levels, threatening both planetary and human health, and recycling is proposed as one of the solutions to the plastics pollution crisis. However, as plastics contain thousands of chemical additives and other substances that can be toxic, and these are almost ...

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Environment20 Jun 2025

New research casts doubt on ancient drying of northern Africa’s climate

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A study led by researchers from Brown University finds that rainfall patterns across northern Africa remained largely stable between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago — a pivotal period in Earth’s climate history when the Northern Hemisphere cooled, and places like Greenland became permanently glaciated. The new findings, published in Science Advances, challenge long-held interpretations of the climate history of northern Africa, which had suggested that the region dried out considerably during this period. The timing coincides with the appearance of the first known member of the genus Homo in the fossil record, leading ...

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Environment20 Jun 2025

Study finds hidden effects of wildfires on water systems

Highlights: Wildfires disrupt microbial communities on land, but also alter aquatic systems when dissolved organic matter on burnt lands is carried into rivers, lakes or drinking water supplies. In a new study, researchers found that the impact of wildfires on water systems could lead to nutrient imbalances, depleting oxygen levels or harmful algal blooms. More complex treatment methods may be needed to ensure impacted water is safe for consumption or recreation. Los Angeles, Calif.—Wildfires profoundly influence the unseen microbial world within our waters, directly impacting water quality and ecosystem health, according to a new study ...

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Environment19 Jun 2025

Plastic bag bans: Study finds up to 47% drop in shoreline bag litter

Among the biggest culprits of plastic pollution in the ocean and along shorelines are thin plastic shopping bags, which have low recycling rates and often become litter when they blow away in the wind. Once there, they can entangle animals and break down into harmful microplastics. As awareness of this problem has grown, more than 100 countries have instituted bans or fees on plastic bags. But what effect those policies are having on the amount of plastic litter in the marine environment had not been systematically evaluated until now. A new study ...

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Environment19 Jun 2025

Plastic bag policies are effective in reducing shoreline litter in the US

Plastic bag regulations – bans and consumer fees – have led to meaningful reductions in plastic litter on U.S. shorelines, according to a new study. Plastic pollution has become a pervasive environmental issue; plastic debris comprises most of the marine litter worldwide and has been shown to pose serious threats to ocean life, ecosystems, and coastal economies. Much of this pollution originates from land and enters the ocean via rivers, wastewater, or wind. Among the most problematic ...

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Environment19 Jun 2025

Ocean ‘greening’ at poles could spell changes for fisheries

DURHAM, N.C. -- Ocean waters are getting greener at the poles and bluer toward the equator, according to an analysis of satellite data published in Science on June 19. The change reflects shifting concentrations of a green pigment called chlorophyll made by phytoplankton, photosynthetic marine organisms at the base of the ocean food chain. If the trend continues, marine food webs could be affected, with potential repercussions for global fisheries. “In the ocean, what we see based on satellite measurements is that the tropics and the subtropics are generally losing chlorophyll, whereas ...

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Environment19 Jun 2025

No data, no risk? How the monitoring of chemicals in the environment shapes the perception of risks

Several hundred thousand chemicals are considered as potentially environmentally relevant. Scientists from the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany show that monitoring data for surface waters are only available for a very small fraction of these chemicals. In their article, published in the latest issue of Science, the authors also demonstrate that the environmental risks of highly toxic chemicals might be overlooked, because these chemicals affect ecosystems at concentrations that cannot be detected on a regular basis. “We analyzed a very extensive US database for the presence of chemicals in the US surface waters ...

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