Latest science news in Earth & Climate
U.S. ground beef recall expands
WASHINGTON, July 4 (UPI) -- A recall of tainted ground beef is expanded to include all products used to make approximately 5.3 million pounds of ground beef, U.S....
Going Green: Savings And Comfort Are The Best Incentives
Would shrinking your carbon footprint, recycling more, and going green be easier if you could monitor your household's environmental impact? Researchers recorded and compared heating fuel, electricity, water, vehicle fuel...
Biofuel waste becomes valuable chemicals
HOUSTON, July 3 (UPI) -- U.S. chemical engineers say they have developed a technology for cleanly converting problematic biofuel wastes into valuable organic acids.
Scientists: Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers...
Can Bovine Growth Hormone Help Slow Global Warming? [News]
Talk about milking an issue. Adding a new twist to the debate over the safety of hormones in milk, a new industry study concludes that injecting cows with a growth...
Where Is Your Soil Water? Crop Yield Has The Answer
Crop yield is highly dependent on soil plant-available water, the portion of soil water that can be taken up by plant roots. New research has shown that measured plant-available water...
Toward Long-range Beach Forecasts On Bacterial Contamination
Long-range forecasts of beach bacterial contamination are inching closer to reality because of a new water quality prediction method.
Humans, global warming threaten penguins
SEATTLE, July 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist says global warming, fishing and petroleum pollution are all contributing to declines, some severe, in many species of penguins.
Laser Spectrometer Opens Way For More Effective Carbon Trading, Drug Development And Carbon Dating
Carbon offsets increasingly are becoming a major component in the arsenal for reducing global warming. Even Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones and the Dave Matthews Band are doing it: acquiring...
Pesticides Persist In Ground Water
Numerous studies over the past four decades have established that pesticides, which are typically applied at the land surface, can move downward to reach the water table at detectable concentrations....
Penguins setting off sirens over health of world's oceans
Rain has soaked this Adélie penguin chick in Antarctica before its feathers are capable of repelling water. Though the icy continent is in essence a desert, coastal rainfall is becoming...
Global Update: A How-to Book for Everything From Water Filters to Fly Traps
“A Community Guide to Environmental Health,” took eight years and $1.6 million to put together, according to its authors.
When Was the 4th of July First Celebrated?
John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife Abigail that Americans would celebrate their Independence Day on July 2. Off by two days — not too bad for government...
Consumers' Refrigerators: a Danger Zone
Research shows that only 20 percent of consumers use thermometers, and a mere 30 percent are aware that they should have them in their refrigerators. "You don't have to go...
Prince Charles Goes Green, Saves Dough
Prince Charles' income grew last year, while his carbon footprint shrank.
Goats Can Be Too Much of a Good Thing for Pastures
Recent research confirmed that--up to a point--liming the soil ameliorates the nitrogen "burn" from the urine, as well as the plant scorching effects of the urine's concentrated salts and organic...
Opinion: A whole new level of crazy
Developers and officials in China and India are unlikely to bother themselves too much about the Western obsession with carbon, argues Mark Lawson.
Rocky Mountain conservation deal tops $500 million
(AP) -- Some of the most prized land in the northern Rocky Mountains is being protected from development in a conservation land deal hailed as the largest of its...
Volcanoes may be active under Arctic ice
WOODS HOLE, Mass., June 30 (UPI) -- U.S.-led scientists say they've discovered signs of volcanic activity under Arctic Ocean ice, defying assumptions about sea floor pressure and volcanoes.
Volcano to be tapped for power
ANCHORAGE, Ala., June 30 (UPI) -- Alaska officials say they will lease part of the volcano Mount Spurr to encourage geothermal exploration,
B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day
British Columbians will pay more at the gas pump as the provincial government's carbon tax on all fossil fuels takes effect Tuesday.
Squeezing Oil From A Stone
There's a revolutionary way to extract tons of valuable oil from rock - and Colorado's shale could hold more oil than the entire Middle East. Kelly Cobiella looks at what's...
Obituary: Peter Bullock
Obituary: Nobel-prizewinning scientist keen for soil to be treated as a sustainable resource
Canada, U.S. to team up on Arctic seabed mapping project
The United States and Canada, which have been known to disagree on certain Arctic sovereignty claims, will collaborate for the first time on a United Nations scientific mapping project aimed...
Nitrogen: Nutrient of Life
Nitrogen is a key component of agricultural fertilizers and is crucial to the world's food supply. A comprehensive review of the principles and management implications of nitrogen in the soil-plant-water...
Is There a Definition for Natural Foods?
The term "natural" adds a premium to food products and makes them appear fresher, minimally processed, and safer. But consumers and the food industry will have to wait to know...
Germany to start storing carbon dioxide underground
Germany is due to inaugurate Europe's first underground carbon dioxide storage site on Monday, the country's national geoscience institute said.
Wildfires Spread in California [News]
President Bush declared a state of emergency in northern California on Saturday as firefighters scrambled to control about 1,400 raging wildfires. Lightning is blamed for setting off the fires, including...