Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Solutions to climate change: Using trees and grasses to capture carbon and produce energy
A unique research project in the UK is investigating how coppiced trees and grass crops can be used both to generate renewable energy and to trap carbon in the soil...
Fermenting fodder into fuel
(PhysOrg.com) -- As climate change challenges continue to crop up around fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, identifying renewable fuel materials and developing processes that...
Study Fumes Over City Park Grass
Plants are usually our allies when it comes to reducing the atmosphere's greenhouse gases, converting carbon dioxide into food and storing the gas' carbon in the soil below.
Chevron sinks billions into Brazil fields
SAN RAMON, Calif., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. supermajor Chevron Corp. announced its Brazilian subsidiary moved to develop its Papa Terra project in the deep waters of the Campos...
NIST rules on Cowboys' facility collapse
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The final report on the cause of last May's collapse of a fabric-covered Dallas Cowboys practice facility blames design problems for the incident.
Research on global 'sun block' needed now
Internationally coordinated research and field-testing on 'geoengineering' the planet's atmosphere to limit risk of climate change should begin soon along with building international governance of the technology, say scientists from...
American opinion cools on global warming
Public concern about global warming has dropped sharply since the fall of 2008, according to a national survey released today by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities...
Effects of forest fire on carbon emissions, climate impacts often overestimated
A recent study at Oregon State University indicates that some past approaches to calculating the impacts of forest fires have grossly overestimated the number of live trees that burn up...
The fungus among us: An eco-friendly way of decomposing BPA-containing plastic
Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic - source of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A (BPA) content - may be the key to...
The Sur, Baleares and Segura basins are the driest in Spain
There is some discrepancy among the scientific community as to the situation of reservoirs in Spain, one of the countries with the greatest water stress in Europe. For this purpose,...
Study: Big Northwest waves getting bigger
A new study puts the spotlight on an imminent threat to coastal communities: extreme waves that are growing taller over time in some parts of the world. ...
Indonesia to set up $1 billion green fund
JAKARTA, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Indonesia plans to set up a $1 billion green investment fund to reduce carbon emissions by at least 26 percent by 2020.
Reports: Russia's Superjet to be certified in July
(AP) -- Russia's much-anticipated regional passenger aircraft, the Sukhoi Superjet, should be given flight certification by the summer, officials reportedly said Wednesday.
Running Shoes Changed How Humans Run
Running shoes may have changed the way people run, causing them to strike the ground with their heel first, a new study says.
Farmers 'jury' voices agricultural research concerns
Farmers in West Africa have asked for a broader scope to agricultural research, a focus on local crops and a better grasp of farmers' needs
What Is The Average Global Temperature?
I recently encountered the following chart as part of an argument that CO2 does not affect global temperatures. It instantly raised my suspicions because the temperature data is just too...
ESPO pipeline to deliver first cargo
MOSCOW, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft announced the first oil deliveries for the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline would start during the weekend.
Penises and caustic soda: the case of the Cambridge antiquities
The antiquities gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge reopens to the public on Saturday – with some fascinating storiesIn the Greek and Roman gallery in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge –one of the...
Conservationists urge Gordon Brown to create 'Britain's Great Barrier Reef'
This week the 10,000th person joined a campaign to create the Earth's biggest marine protected area in the Chagos archipelagoA coalition of conservationists is calling on the British public to urge Gordon Brown...
California Energy storage project heralded
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The Southern California Public Power Authority says it plans to create the nation's first cost-effective, utility-scale, distributed energy storage project.
A forensic analysis of Hurricane Katrina's impact: methods and findings
A recent special edition of the Elsevier journal Ocean Engineering provides an analysis of the impact of Hurricane Katrina and an overview of the lessons learned in the aftermath of...
Thick ice caps climate history
Antarctica has rocks tens of millions of years old – and a scientific voyage will drill to recover them for a climate record.
Climate sceptics distract us from the scientific realities of global warming | John Cook
Is the goal of climate sceptics to lead us into greater scientific truth – or merely to sow doubt about the temperature record?When you peruse the many sceptic arguments against man-made global warming,...
Special weather needs model
A researcher is working on a certain type of low that can cause severe weather, hoping to improve the accuracy of climate modelling.
Feature: The trees of Delhi
Indian environmentalist Pradip Krishen had to dig deep in his groundbreaking restoration project of the desert landscape in West Rajasthanntro.
UK's top scientist urges care in presenting results of climate change
• Be frank on degree of uncertainty, but as such it is no excuse for inaction• John Beddington responds to scepticism after melting glaciers mistake A failure by some scientists to be...
Urban 'green' space may aid global warming
IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A University of California-Irvine study suggests urban "green" areas might be aggravating the formation of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Making Steel Recycling Greener
A new process developed by Siemens cuts the energy required to recycle steel and also lowers carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.