Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Proposal To Merge NOAA And US Geological Survey To Form An Earth Systems Science Agency
In a new article in the journal Science, a group of former senior federal officials call for the establishment of an independent Earth Systems Science Agency to meet the unprecedented...
Volcanic Activity Shaped Mercury After All
Planetary geologists have determined that volcanism played a central role in forming Mercury's surface. The evidence of volcanic activity, published in Science, lends important insights into Mercury's geologic history.
Australia needs carbon trading to fight climate change: study
A major climate change report for Australia's government on Friday recommended the rapid introduction of an emissions trading scheme to curb greenhouse gases and warned that delay could be disastrous.
Aborted badger cull angers farmers
LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn's decision not to cull badgers throughout the country could be disastrous, farming officials say.
Report: Canada safest from climate change
LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- A British consultancy group has concluded Canada is the safest place to survive global climate change, while the Comoros Islands is least equipped.
Seasonal Factor Seen in Melting and Ice Shifts in Greenland
A study using 17 years of satellite measurements suggests that the movement of glacial ice is not as rapid as had been feared.
Landowners blame drainage system for new 'wetland' designation
Angry landowners in Ottawa's western rural outskirts are calling on the city to fix drainage ditches that they blame for causing the province to designate their land protected wetlands, potentially...
July 4th boaters: Steer clear of NJ dolphin family
(AP) -- Authorities protecting a dolphin family in a New Jersey river are stepping up enforcement over the July Fourth holiday.
Can Weeds Help Solve the Climate Crisis?
Weedy ancestors of our food crops, some scientists predict, will cope far better with coming climatic changes than their domesticated descendants.
Observatory: Coral Trout Thrive in Protected Parts of Reef
Scientists report that numbers of coral trout increased rapidly after “no-take” zones were created in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park .
A New Twist in Penguins’ Already Uncertain Future
P. Dee Boersma has been watching the penguins of Punta Tombo for almost 30 years and now sees a new threat to their survival: a changing climate.
R. C. Seamans Jr., NASA Figure, Dies at 89
Dr. Seamans was NASA’s nuts-and-bolts manager of the Apollo moon-landing program, later serving as the first administrator of the federal energy research agency.
Gophers Beware: Biology Team Builds a Better Trap
Better gopher trap helps University of Arkansas at Little Rock scientists study gopher behavior.
Chile pushes for high tech biofuel
Chile is offering US$6 million for projects joining the private-public sectors, to develop and commercialisehigh tech biofuel.
Lasers, Software And The Devil's Slide
Running for more than 1,000 kilometers along picturesque coastline, California's Highway 1 is easy prey for many of the natural hazards plaguing the region, including landslides.
VIDEO: Safer Snow
Snow machines at ski resort use a questionable protein/bacteria slush to encourage water to freeze. Newfound microbes may be better.
Mercury's Surface Dominated By Volcanism And Iron-deficiency
Multispectral data on the composition of rock untis of the surface of Mercury show a widespread role for volcanism and an apparent deficiency in iron in the rocks' minerals.
Acidifying Oceans Add Urgency To Carbon Dioxide Cuts
It's not just about climate change anymore. Besides loading the atmosphere with heat-trapping greenhouse gases, human emissions of carbon dioxide have also begun to alter the chemistry of the ocean....
Scientists Set Out To Measure How We Perceive Naturalness
Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory are working towards producing the world's first model that will predict how we perceive naturalness. The results could help make synthetic products so good...
Oil drilling may help biomedical research
WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service says it has identified three marine organisms that may be useful in biomedical research.
New Pathway For Methane Production In The Oceans Discovered
A new pathway for methane production has been uncovered in the oceans, and this has a significant potential impact for the study of greenhouse gas production on our planet. The...
Japan beefs up undersea quake monitoring system
Japan, one of the most tremor-prone countries in the world, started work Thursday to beef up its undersea earthquake monitoring system.
UN's climate change guru sees record oil price as a positive
The UN's top climate change official said Thursday that record oil prices, which have surged to 146 dollars a barrel, were positive for the environment.
New software helps tunnel excavators
BLACKSBURG, Va., July 3 (UPI) -- New U.S. technology is helping engineers safely excavate a roadway tunnel beneath a landslide-prone stretch of California's Highway 1.
8 dangerous volcanoes around the world
The eruption of the Chaiten volcano in southern Chile in May claimed at least one life and serves as a stark reminder that slumbering volcanoes pose grave dangers.
Health-care rally in Grand Falls-Windsor expected to draw thousands
A rally in Grand Falls-Windsor in central Newfoundland on Thursday afternoon in support of overworked doctors is expected to be attended by thousands protesting cutbacks in health-care services in that...
G-8 climate scorecard shows US in last
BERLIN (AP) -- The U.S. has done the least among the world's eight largest economies to address global warming, a study released Thursday found....
Africa moves to stop fish theft
African governments meet to stop illegal and unregulated fishing that costs the continent $1bn a year.