Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Envisat captures renewed volcanic activity
New eruptions from Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano have produced a 1600 km-wide ash cloud over the Atlantic. The brownish plume, travelling east and then south, is clearly visible in stark contrast...
Druze arrested in Israeli pipeline protest
JERUSALEM, May 7 (UPI) -- Four Israeli Druze were arrested in the Mount Carmel region for rioting outside a police station in protest of a natural gas pipeline, officials...
Arctic Ice May 2010
Arctic Ice May 2010 The Arctic melt, already more rapid than average this year, has begun to accelerate. I have no doubt that by the end of this month, May 2010, there...
EPA Rethink of Coal Ash Triggers Backlash
Agency Seeks to Regulate Ash and its Disposal as "Special Waste" Product
USGS: Several Tennessee rivers set records
NASHVILLE, May 6 (UPI) -- A U.S. Geological Survey study shows many rivers in middle Tennessee set high flow records due to heavy rainfall last weekend.
U.K. trawl fishing hurt by decline in fish
YORK, England, May 6 (UPI) -- British researchers said the U.K.'s trawl fishing fleet works 17 times harder to catch the same amount of fish as it did when...
Stream water study detects thawing permafrost
Among the worrisome environmental effects of global warming is the thawing of Arctic permafrost - soil that normally remains at or below the freezing point for at least a two-year...
Few details left in Iran-Pakistan gas deal
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 6 (UPI) -- There are only minor details left to resolve before Iran and Pakistan commit to sweeping oil and gas deals, the Pakistani natural resources...
Diatoms reveal freshwater pollution
Researchers in India have demonstrated that microscopic aquatic creatures could be used as the ecological equivalent of a canary in a coalmine for assessing inland freshwater lakes and ponds. Writing...
Global warming: Future temperatures could exceed livable limits, researchers find
Worst-case scenarios for global warming could lead to deadly temperatures for humans in coming centuries. Researchers for the first time have calculated the highest tolerable "wet-bulb" temperature and found it...
Webby Awards honour Ebert, Twitter, Times
Movie critic Roger Ebert, Twitter, the New York Times and the Muppets' cover of Bohemian Rhapsody have landed in the winners circle for the 14th edition of the Webby Awards.
Sensor predicts glass breakage
(PhysOrg.com) -- Modern glass façades inform the architecture of major cities throughout the world. In recent years, however, there have been cases of broken glass, with collapsing facades endangering passers-by....
After Years of Herbicide Use, Roundup-Resistant Superweeds Are Evolving to Invade U.S. Fields
U.S. farmers are dealing with a superweed epidemic, and it's not as groovy as it sounds on first read. Ubiquitous use of the weed killer Roundup over time has spawned herbicide-resistant superweeds ,...
Close, but not too close
Charitable giving is an important pillar of the American way of life, but in these choppy economic waters, philanthropies need to look more closely at their appeal to prospective givers....
Iran offers to help with U.S. oil spill
TEHRAN, May 4 (UPI) -- Iranian officials offered their oil workers to help prevent an ecological disaster from an oil spill off the southern coast of the United States.
Super-typhoon global frequency could increase tenfold by 2100: Japanese researchers
The frequency of violent typhoons whose winds exceed 194 kph (120.5 mph) could increase about tenfold by the end of this century due to the continuing trend of global warming,...
River sediment may counter Bangladesh sea level rise
Sea level rise, which threatens to flood Bangladesh, may be offset by sediment flowing down from the Himalayas.
BP to use domes to capture giant oil spill
Winds pushed a giant slick towards fragile wetlands on the United States coast Tuesday as efforts intensified to bottle up a ruptured oil well causing the growing environmental disaster.
Most Potent Greenhouse Gases Revealed
Chemicals with fluorine make most potent greenhouse gases because trap heat more efficiently.
USGS to fund earthquake monitoring
WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Geological Survey says it plans to award more than $7 million this year in cooperative agreements for earthquake monitoring.
Doing Science in the Past
History is not often thought of as a science, but it can be if it uses the “comparative method.” Jared Diamond, professor of geography at the University of California, Los...
Humans fail in rising heat
Climate change could make many areas uninhabitable, according to a new study – due to the way human bodies cope with humid heat.
Madison researchers field volcanic ash warning system
(PhysOrg.com) -- From a workstation in Madison, Mike Pavolonis hopes to lay eyes - satellite eyes, that is - on every natural chimney around the globe.
Conservation sites re-think urged
All developments and areas in the UK should have an element of nature conservation built in, the RSPB suggests.
Japan's prime minister says some of Marine base will stay on Okinawa
Island residents oppose the airfield, and Hatoyama had promised that it would be removed. ...
Plunge in state revenue dashes hopes of an easy budget fix
Legislators were hoping revenue would continue to exceed projections, forestalling deeper cuts and further tax hikes. But April's total was 30% below what was expected, leaving them with few options. ...
Trees tell of shifting world
(PhysOrg.com) -- Trees from the Harvard Forest to the Amazon rainforest are experiencing changing climactic conditions, with rising temperatures potentially making tropical trees a significant source of carbon dioxide.
Baxter Recalls Its Colleague Infusion Pumps
Baxter International will phase out the pumps and exchange them with a newer model.