Environment
press releases.

Environment13 Dec 2024

Multinational enterprises are failing the world’s sustainability goals

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are not just falling short of global sustainability targets but are actively contributing to the very problems they claim to address, according to a new study from the University of Surrey. This study argues that there is an urgent need for MNEs to reassess their innovation strategies to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research team found that many MNEs are prioritising profit over sustainable practices. The study highlights how MNEs often adopt superficial compliance measures rather than engaging in meaningful, sustainable innovations by analysing case studies from various countries, including both advanced ...

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Environment13 Dec 2024

Scientists innovate breeding strategies to create climate-smart crops

A recent study has reported a novel breeding strategy to rapidly create climate-smart crops that show higher yield under normal conditions and greatly rescue yield losses under heat stress both in staple grain and vegetable crops. The study, which was published in Cell on 13 December, was conducted by Prof. XU Cao’s team from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The year 2050 is fast approaching and farm productivity must increase by 60% in order to feed a projected global population of 10 billion. However, current crop production is insufficient and is expected to worsen due to the abiotic-stress burden ...

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Environment13 Dec 2024

Oxidation in glacial rivers and lakes could help mitigate methane emissions

(Carlisle, Pa.) — A new study in the journal Scientific Reports offers a rare glimmer of hope in the face of climate change, suggesting glacial rivers and lakes may play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that recent studies have shown emerging as glaciers melt in warming global temperatures. This new study, led by Dickinson College Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Kristin Strock, looked at what happens when glaciers melt and release trapped methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Strock, a 2019 National Geographic Explorer, led an all-female team of researchers ...

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Environment13 Dec 2024

Hippos 'vulnerable' as gaps in data hinder conservation efforts

A new database of African hippo populations has revealed huge gaps in our knowledge of where the megaherbivores live and thrive, with populations fragmented and reliant on protected areas. Hippos are classified as “vulnerable to extinction” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and have been called the “neglected megafauna”, with a lack of scientific attention and much less research into their lives and habitats than other large mammals. University of Leeds School of Biology Postgraduate Researcher Hannah Lacy ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

Surveys show full scale of massive die-off of common murres following the ‘warm blob’ in the Pacific Ocean

Murres, a common seabird, look a little like flying penguins. These stout, tuxedo-styled birds dive and swim in the ocean to eat small fish and then fly back to islands or coastal cliffs where they nest in large colonies. But their hardy physiques disguise how vulnerable these birds are to changing ocean conditions. A University of Washington citizen science program — which trains coastal residents to search local beaches and document dead birds — has contributed to a new study, led by federal scientists, documenting the devastating effect of warming waters on common murres in Alaska. In 2020, participants of the UW-led Coastal ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

Floods, insufficient water, sinking river deltas: hydrologists map changing river landscapes across the globe

AMHERST, Mass. — A new study in Science by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Cincinnati has mapped 35 years of river changes on a global scale for the first time. The work has revealed that 44% of the largest, downstream rivers saw a decrease in how much water flows through them every year, while 17% of the smallest upstream rivers saw increases. These changes have implications for flooding, ecosystem disruption, hydropower development interference and insufficient freshwater supplies. Previous attempts to quantify ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

New analytical approach revolutionizes reliability evaluation of power systems with renewable energy

In a recent study published in Engineering, a team of researchers led by Bo Hu and Changzheng Shao from Chongqing University in China has introduced a novel method for evaluating the real-time dynamic reliability of composite power systems integrated with renewable energy sources (RES). The research addresses the challenges posed by the uncertainties associated with RES, which have been a significant obstacle in ensuring the stable and reliable operation of power grids. The increasing integration of RES, such as wind and solar power, into the power grid has brought about concerns regarding power imbalance and load shedding due to their ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

New insights into the evolution and paleoecology of mosasaurs: most comprehensive study to date

Mosasaurs are extinct marine lizards, spectacular examples of which were first discovered in 1766 near Maastricht in the Netherlands, fueling the rise of the field of vertebrate palaeontology (the study of fossil remains of animals with backbones). Palaeontologist Michael Polcyn presented the most comprehensive study to date on the early evolution and ecology of these extinct marine reptiles. On 16 December, Polcyn will receive his PhD from Utrecht University for his research into the evolution of the mosasaurs. "Mosasaurs are a textbook example of macroevolution, ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

Researchers reveal key factors behind Japan’s plastic waste removal rates in rivers

Plastic pollution is an ever-growing problem in today’s world, as most societies have become overly dependent on plastics for packaging, medical supplies, and general goods. Plastic litter accumulation in the ocean, either through deliberate dumping or by being transported from a river, poses significant environmental challenges. Additionally, this plastic eventually degrades into small fragments called microplastics, which then impact diverse marine and land ecosystems by working their way up the food chain and into most living organisms. Though their negative effects on cell health are still under study, many nations have taken a cautionary stance, ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

Sleepers made from recycled plastic could make railways even more eco-friendly

Railways, the most climate-friendly mode of transport bar long-distance buses, are bound to play an important role in the fight for net zero. The total emissions of railway travel are currently 31 grams of CO2 equivalents (CO2e) per passenger kilometer, half the amount as for the most economical electrical vehicles. But the carbon emissions of railway traffic can be further reduced, shows a new study in Frontiers in Sustainability by authors in Finland. This is because typical construction materials such as steel and concrete are energetically costly to produce, transport, handle, and maintain. Even on the ...

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Environment12 Dec 2024

Air pollution in India linked to millions of deaths

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that long-term exposure to air pollution contributes to millions of deaths in India. The research, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, emphasises the need for stricter air quality regulations in the country. Air pollution consisting of particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter, PM2.5, can enter the lungs and bloodstream and is a major health risk in India. Researchers have now examined the link between these particles and mortality over a ten-year ...

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Environment11 Dec 2024

The Welch Foundation honors Rice’s Wang for pioneering contributions to sustainable energy solutions

The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s leading private funders of basic chemistry research, has awarded the 2025 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research to Haotian Wang, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. Wang is recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to carbon dioxide electrochemistry, which pave the way for sustainable energy solutions. Wang’s innovative research focuses on harnessing the catalyst-electrolyte ...

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Environment11 Dec 2024

Pre-seed funding to recolor the world greener

To commercialize a completely new way of creating colors, a coalition between Kobe University and the venture capital firm ANRI received startup development funding of ¥300 million from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). With their lightweight, unfading and environmentally friendly way of producing color, they want to first enter the security ink and cosmetics markets before moving om to paints for cars, airplanes and other mobility applications. We color our world, and ourselves, to display information, to protect the underlying surface, to uniquely identify an object, ...

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Environment11 Dec 2024

What is a unit of nature? New framework shows the challenges involved with establishing a biodiversity credit market

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 GMT WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER / 19:01 ET TUESDAY 10 DECEMBER 2024 Leading ecologists have devised a new framework to classify how biodiversity credit operators define what a unit of nature is. The new analysis demonstrates the challenges involved with devising a biodiversity credit market to fund nature recovery, and the risks of relying too heavily on ‘offsetting.’ Nature conservation faces an estimated $700 billion annual funding gap, in order to halt and begin to reverse ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

A greener, cleaner way to extract cobalt from ‘junk’ materials

Siddarth Kara’s bestseller, “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of Congo Powers Our Lives,” focuses on problems surrounding the sourcing of cobalt, a critical component of lithium-ion batteries that power many technologies central to modern life, from mobile phones and pacemakers to electric vehicles. “Perhaps many of us have read how lithium-ion batteries are vital for energy storage technologies,” says Eric Schelter, the Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. “But how material that make up such batteries are sourced can be concerning and problematic, both ethically and environmentally.” Schelter ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Flood disasters associated with preterm births and low birth weights

AGU Annual Meeting 9 – 13 December 2024 Walter E. Washington Convention Center 801 Allen Y. Lew Place NW Washington, D.C. 20001 8 December 2024 Press Release 24-40 EMBARGOED until Tuesday, 10 December at 8:00 am EST Researcher contact: Julia Gohlke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, jgohlke@vt.edu (UTC-5 hours) AGU press contact: Rebecca Dzombak, news@agu.org (UTC-5 hours) WASHINGTON — Floods can shape someone’s health before they’re even born, according to new research. The findings will be presented ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Heavy rains deliver largest amounts of fertilizer-derived nitrogen pollution to the Gulf of Mexico, new study finds

Chestnut Hill, Mass (12/10/2024) – As opposed to a constant flow from sources above and below ground, periods of heavy rain and runoff deliver the greatest amounts of fertilizer-derived nitrogen through creeks, rivers, and storm drains into the northern Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists led by Boston College researchers reports today in the journal Communications Earth and Environment. The findings clarify how nitrogen is delivered to the gulf and can be used to develop policies to protect the northern Gulf of Mexico, according to Boston College Assistant Professor of Earth and ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Long-distance friendships can provide conservation benefits

PULLMAN, Wash. – While sustaining friendships from afar can be challenging, they may offer unexpected benefits for environmental conservation. A Washington State University-led study, recently published in Conservation Letters, found that these social ties can positively influence community-based conservation. While the study focused on 28 fishing villages in northern Tanzania, it has potential broader implications for global conservation efforts. “Our findings challenge the notion that external connections undermine conservation,” said Kristopher Smith, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Tiny poops in the ocean may help solve the carbon problem

A Dartmouth-led study proposes a new method for recruiting trillions of microscopic sea creatures called zooplankton in the fight against climate change by converting carbon into food the animals would eat, digest, and send deep into the ocean as carbon-filled feces. The technique harnesses the animals' ravenous appetites to essentially accelerate the ocean's natural cycle for removing carbon from the atmosphere, which is known as the biological pump, according to the paper in Nature Scientific Reports. It begins ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Human disruption is driving ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ tree species shifts across Brazilian forests

Fast-growing and small-seeded tree species are dominating Brazilian forests in regions with high levels of deforestation and degradation, a new study shows. This has potential implications for the ecosystem services these forests provide, including the ability of these ‘disturbed’ forests to absorb and store carbon. This is because these “winning” species grow fast but die young, as their stems and branches are far less dense than the slow growing tree species they replace. Wildlife species adapted to consuming and dispersing the large seeds of tree species that ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

The inequity of wildfire rescue resources in California

AUSTIN, TX, December 10, 2024 – Wildfires in California are intensifying due to warmer temperatures and dry vegetation – putting more residents at risk of experiencing costly damages or losing their homes. Marginalized populations (lower income, elderly, and the disabled) often suffer the most and, according to a new study, may receive less economic and emergency assistance compared to wealthy residents. A detailed analysis of more than 500 California wildfire incidents from 2015 to 2022 by University at Buffalo scientists shows that disaster recovery resources in California favor people living in wealthy communities over disadvantaged ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Aerosol pollutants from cooking may last longer in the atmosphere – new study

New insights into the behaviour of aerosols from cooking emissions and sea spray reveal that particles may take up more water than previously thought, potentially changing how long the particles remain in the atmosphere. Research led by the University of Birmingham found pollutants that form nanostructures could absorb substantially more water than simple models have previously suggested. Taking on water means the droplets become heavier and will eventually be removed from the atmosphere when they fall as rain. The team, also involving researchers ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

ASH 2024: Study shows that genetic mutations accumulate in smokers with myelodysplastic syndromes and worsen outcomes

MIAMI, FLORIDA (STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL DEC. 9, 2024, AT 9 PM EST) – Smokers with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or a precursor condition had elevated levels of genetic mutations linked to the disease, a new study shows. The study also found that heavier smokers accumulated more mutations, and long-term smokers were more likely to show disease progression. Led by Sangeetha Venugopal, M.D., M.S., a physician-scientist at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the study further suggests that quitting smoking ...

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Environment10 Dec 2024

Online training could help older adults communicate in noisy environments

Online training that helps people recognise and understand new voices could be key to helping older adults improve communication in everyday environments, finds research by UCL experts. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, tested whether learned voices were easier to understand than unfamiliar voices in 20 older (55-73 years) and 20 younger (18-34 years) adults. Participants took part in some preparatory online training, where they were trained to understand three new voices by listening to them each say 10 meaningful sentences until they became “familiar”. They then had to listen to one of these voices speak ...

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Environment9 Dec 2024

Biodiversity at risk in most rainforests

New research has revealed less than a quarter of the remaining tropical rainforests around the globe can safeguard thousands of threatened species from extinction. The research, co-authored by The University of Queensland’s Professor James Watson, evaluated the global availability of structurally intact, minimally disturbed tropical rainforests for more than 16,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. “Using remote sensing and forest integrity indicators, we analysed the quality of the rainforests across the ranges of the forest-dependent vertebrates,” Professor Watson said. “Overall, up to 90 per cent of ...

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