Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Bowhead whales using the Northwest Passage
(PhysOrg.com) -- According to a new study published in Biology Letters, the climate changes and melting of ice in the Northwest Passage are leading to the mingling of two bowhead...
NASA's TRMM Satellite sees Typhoon Roke intensify rapidly before landfall in Japan
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured rainfall and cloud data from Typhoon Roke as it rapidly intensified before making landfall in Japan earlier today.
Population could keep climbing — and we must be prepared
Population forecasts may be based on unrealistic assumptions of demographic change in the developing world, warns Carl Haub.
Dot Earth Blog: Unheeded Tornado Warnings Just One Lesson from Joplin
The high death count among people who sought shelter from the Joplin, Mo., tornado implies that unheeded warnings were just one factor leading to the high death toll.
New BP spill tar balls could mean trouble: study
Could show oil not degrading as quickly as thought and still on seabed, portending possible ecosystem woes, scientists say
Study: Gulf spill burns made tons of soot
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Controlled burning of surface oil in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico put 1 million pounds of soot into the...
Green Blog: Weaving 'Climate' Into 'Corporate'
The latest annual survey by the Carbon Disclosure Project finds that for the first time, the majority of American companies responding now "integrate climate change into core business strategy."
Dot Earth Blog: A 'Climate Reality' Presenter Weighs Gore Project
A participant in Al Gore's climate webcast explains her goals and worries.
Sustaining young forest communities
The recent Southern Research Station (SRS) publication Sustaining Young Forest Communities: Ecology and Management of Early Successional Habitats in the Central Hardwood Region, USA, addresses a variety of concerns raised...
Scientist at Work Blog: Battle of the Subs: Alvin vs. Jason
Scientists gauge the relative merits of the manned submersible Alvin and its unmanned counterpart, Jason.
Green Blog: Of Beach Sand, War and Carbon
The British entrepreneur Richard Branson has thrown his weight behind a consortium devoted to energy upgrades for commercial buildings. In his view, people don't need to believe that global warming...
A look at the acidic oceans in our future
The underwater volcanoes off a tiny Italian island are helping scientists peer into the future of a world altered by increasing amounts of carbon dioxide emitted into the air and...
Japanese scientists say giant plumes will prevent new Pangaea
(PhysOrg.com) -- For much of Earth's history, the continents have shifted around, sometimes joining with others, sometimes tearing apart to form new continents. One such shift resulted in what Earth...
Humanity falls deeper into ecological debt: study
Humankind will slip next week into ecological debt, having gobbled up in less then nine months more natural resources than the planet can replenish in a year, researchers said Tuesday.
Religion and ecology among China's Blang people
Fieldwork conducted by two researchers could help develop culturally appropriate conservation efforts and environmental education programs in a remote mountainous area of southwest China where deforestation is a major environmental...
Green Blog: Parks Waive Admissions Charge
In tandem with a free admission day at all national parks, volunteers are invited to join a sprucing-up effort on both federal and state lands on Saturday.
Texas AgriLife Research scientists making better melons
With the extended statewide dry spell, researchers at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde and elsewhere have been focusing their attention on improving varieties of more drought-tolerant...
Subsidized Solar Energy - Let's Not Buy Any More Magic Rocks
People may complain about tax breaks for successful energy companies but the one thing worse is spending real money on lousy ones. Yet it has happened because advocacy is...
Greenland ice-melt map gets the cold shoulder
Greenland ice-melt map gets the cold shoulderNature News , 20092011 doi: 10.1038/news.2011.547Lucas LaursenPolar researchers mobilize to clear up atlas's icesheet error.
US court upholds Chevron oil fine
A US appeals court lifts a block on Ecuadoreans collecting multi-billion dollar damages from Chevron in a long-running legal battle over Amazon oil pollution.
If insurance companies pay out too often, farmers will be threatened with ruin in the long term
Insurance can help farmers to survive dry periods. However, it can also result in the long term in overgrazing and therefore threaten their existence if insurance companies pay out in periods of moderate...
Tracking equipment could be harming wild birds, experts warn
Postmortem study of red kites has aroused suspicions that radio transmitters be damaging their health and welfareHi-tech tracking equipment that maps the lives of bird species appears to be damaging the health and...
Will Tar Sands Pipeline Threaten Groundwater?
Environmentalists worry that a diluted bitumen, or dilbit, spill from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could threaten groundwater in the U.S., especially the massive Ogallala Aquifer.
Green Blog: Can the Paddlefish Sustain Itself?
So far, efforts by Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia to put paddlefish back into the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers have produced underwhelming results.
Scientists raise concerns regarding erroneous reporting of Greenland ice cover
Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) have raised concerns regarding what they believe are erroneous claims of a 15% decrease in the permanent ice cover of Greenland in...
L'Aquila Earthquake Gallery: A Day of Destruction
The 6.3-magnitude earthquake crumbled medieval buildings, taking hundreds of lives.
US scientists testing earthquake early warning
Elizabeth Cochran was sitting in her office when her computer suddenly sounded an alarm.
$44.4-million settlement reached in San Francisco Bay oil spill
Local, state and federal officials reach the settlement with the owners and operators of the container ship Cosco Busan, which spilled 53,000 gallons of oil after striking the Bay Bridge...