Latest science news in Earth & Climate

Scotland sinks cash into green projects

13 years ago from UPI

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The Scottish government has more than $49 million set aside for forestry projects that will help protect the country's biodiversity, the environment secretary...

Natural reforestation in southern Pyrenees favours orchid

13 years ago from Science Daily

A 13-year study has been key to understanding how and why an orchid species (Cypripedium calceolus), which is endangered in some countries in Europe, is surviving and recovering in the...

Global sea-level rise at the end of the last Ice Age

13 years ago from

Southampton researchers have estimated that sea-level rose by an average of about 1 metre per century at the end of the last Ice Age, interrupted by rapid 'jumps' during which...

Rainforest conservation needs a new direction to address climate change

13 years ago from

Conservation and international aid groups may be on the wrong course to address the havoc wreaked by climate change on tropical rainforests, according to a commentary appearing in the journal...

Effects of El Nino land South Pacific reef fish in hot water

13 years ago from Science Daily

Unseasonal warm temperatures caused by El Niño have a profound effect on the fish populations of coral reefs in the South Pacific, scientists have found.

Many coastal wetlands likely to disappear this century

13 years ago from

Many coastal wetlands worldwide - including several on the U.S. Atlantic coast - may be more sensitive than previously thought to climate change and sea-level rise projections for the 21st...

New model to assess urban water security

13 years ago from Physorg

University of Adelaide water engineering researchers have developed a model to estimate potential urban water supply shortfalls under a range of climate change scenarios.

U.S. shuts waters to oil, gas drilling

13 years ago from UPI

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean aren't potential sites for energy development, the U.S. interior secretary declared.

Rain gardens are sprouting up everywhere

13 years ago from Science Daily

Rain gardens are increasingly popular with homeowners and municipalities and are mandatory for many communities nationally. US Department of Agriculture scientists are finding ways to improve rain gardens so they...

Study: Primates best at coping with change

13 years ago from UPI

DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Primates are more adept than other animals at dealing with seasonal environmental changes, especially rainfall, U.S. researchers say.

Amazon deforestation lowest in 22 years

13 years ago from UPI

BRASILIA, Brazil, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon region is at its lowest rate in 22 years due to better monitoring and police control, the country's...

Mexico sees US emissions target as 'modest'

13 years ago from Physorg

(AP) -- The host nation of the U.N. climate talks in Cancun on Wednesday called the U.S. pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions "modest," while praising other nonbinding offers...

Meteosat project in further hitch

13 years ago from BBC News: Science & Nature

Portugal's financial difficulties could delay the start of work on Europe's next generation weather satellite programme.

Drought Tolerant Rice in Development

13 years ago from Newswise - Scinews

Rice production faces the threat of a growing worldwide water scarcity. Approximately, 75% of the world's rice is grown in flooded, lowland conditions. Scientists have developed a rice crop...

Energy: Supergrid

13 years ago from News @ Nature

Is a vast undersea grid bringing wind-generated electricity from the North Sea to Europe a feasible proposition or an overpriced fantasy?

Old socks and yeast to lure mosquitoes

13 years ago from SciDev

Mosquito traps baited with worn socks and the gases produced by fermenting yeast have been successful in Kenyan field trials.

Sub-Saharan Africa news in brief: 18 November–1 December

13 years ago from SciDev

Southern Africa gets climate research centres, Nigeria needs US$1.5 trillion to meet power demand, a cycle pump for slums and more.

Green equals growth, OECD says

13 years ago from UPI

PARIS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Energy conservation is an obvious way to reduce emissions, though a report from Paris found paying for carbon would help even more.

Wing Waves tap motion of the ocean

13 years ago from MSNBC: Science

Two miles offshore of Fort Pierce, Fla., a pair of eight-foot-tall metal wings flap to and fro on the seabed, cradled by the ocean's swells.

Cameron wants sea change in climate talks

13 years ago from UPI

LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Changing the climate change conversation from the language of threats to profits will encourage needed reforms, the British prime minister said in London.

Willow removal equals water savings

13 years ago from Physorg

Removing willows growing in the stream bed of creeks and rivers could return valuable water resources to river systems, new CSIRO research has found.

Asia home to glacier melt, human vulnerabilities

13 years ago from Physorg

A new report prepared by scientists from the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a collaboration of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland, provides recommendations on how to...

Predicting motions and sounds of the ocean

13 years ago from Physorg

Ocean variability -- the perpetual changing of currents, temperatures, salinity and the contours of the seafloor -- alters the way sound travels through the water. A new analysis of how...

A sustainable planet needs scientists to think ahead

13 years ago from News @ Nature

Globalization means that Earth's life-support system can no longer be treated as separate from the socio–economic system, says Sybil Seitzinger.

Estonia's rare earth break China's market grip

13 years ago from Physorg

High-tech firms across the globe have been hit hard by China's slashing of rare earth metals exports but it is turning out to be good news for Estonia's small Silmet...

A cool trick with hot water at -40C

13 years ago from BBC News: Science & Nature

BBC News visited the Russian village of Oymyakon in Siberia, officially the coldest inhabited place on Earth.

China says 2010 pollution goal met

13 years ago from Physorg

China has met its 2010 target to cut emissions of key pollutants and is on track to meet its energy efficiency goal, state media on Wednesday quoted the country's top...

Anti-whaling activists launch 'Godzilla' speedboat

13 years ago from Physorg

Militant anti-whaling campaigners said Wednesday they had launched a new "Godzilla" speedboat to chase Japanese harpooners hunting the giant mammals in Antarctic waters.