Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Battling climate change offers health benefits
Cutting emissions that cause global warming would not only make the planet healthier, it also would make people healthier too, new research suggests.
Competitive, trade-friendly nations weather volatile crop yields best
Richer nations with competitive crop production and few trade barriers would fare the best if climate change, weather events or other factors cause yields of grain and oilseed crops to...
Fish food fight: Fish don't eat trees after all, says new study
Recent theories suggesting that half of fishes' food comes from from land-based ecosystems may not hold water. Experiments show that algae, not land-based matter, is needed to build healthy and...
Cutting greenhouse pollutants could directly save millions of lives worldwide
Tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions will have major direct health benefits in addition to reducing the risk of climate change, especially in low-income countries,...
Senior doctors launch global movement to tackle climate change
Senior doctors from across the globe have come together to form the International Climate and Health Council. Their aim is to mobilise health professionals across the world to help tackle...
Time of day matters to thirsty trees
TORONTO, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they've found the manner in which a forest's trees genetically cope with drought differs according to the time of day.
2004 Calif. quake's aftershocks studied
ATLANTA, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've determined the 2004 earthquake along the San Andreas fault in California had 11 times more aftershocks than previously thought.
Intensive land management leaves Europe without carbon sinks
A new calculation of Europe's greenhouse gas balance shows that emissions of methane and nitrous oxide tip the balance and eliminate Europe's terrestrial sink of greenhouse gases.
Climate change could boost incidence of civil war in Africa
Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent within the next two decades, according to a new study led by a team...
Volcano devastated India 73,000 years ago
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- An Australian-led study has provided evidence a supervolcano eruption 73,000 years ago and deforested much of central India.
Building construction waste 'increases dengue rates'
A Brazilian study indicates that waste produced by building construction, such as rubble, can help spread the dengue vector.
Global warming dangers 'alarming'
Leading UK scientists issue an unprecedented statement about the dangers of failing to cut greenhouse gases.
First Nation pleads guilty to polluting lake
A small First Nations community in northern Saskatchewan has admitted wrongdoing after more than 5,000 litres of diesel fuel from a storage tank spilled and contaminated a nearby lake nearly...
NZ glaciers continue to shrink
An annual survey has revealed that New Zealand's glaciers continued to lose significant ice mass this year.
Opinion: Deforestation deceit reflects badly on environmental campaigners
Exaggerated deforestation statistics do little to forward environmental awareness and promote change, writes Mark Poynter.
Earth's greenhouse gases reach record highs
Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached record highs in 2008, with carbon dioxide levels increasing faster than previously, the UN weather agency said Monday in Geneva.
Nation by nation, evidence thin that boosting crop yields conserves land
Goals to intensify agriculture may not necessarily return farmland to nature, new survey of UN data finds
Time-Tunneling for Climate Change Clues
(PhysOrg.com) -- If you look closely at individual plant species' responses in the past, you may find that the largest effects of high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels occurred decades ago,...
Can Climate Change Cause Conflict? Recent History Suggests So
Some experts call the genocide in Darfur the world's first conflict caused by climate change. After all, the crisis was sparked, at least in part, by a decline...
Rescuing male turkey chicks
A novel approach to classify the gender of six-week-old turkey poults could save millions of male chicks from being killed shortly after birth, according to Dr. Gerald Steiner from the...
Bubble-fusion scientist debarred from federal funding
Office of Naval Research passes verdict on controversial researcher Rusi Taleyarkhan.
CO2 curve ticks upward as key climate talks loom
MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii (AP) -- The readings at this 2-mile-high station show an upward curve as the world counts down to climate talks: Global warming...
Is Energy Conservation Useless? One Scientist Thinks So
Short of a global economic collapse or the construction of a new nuclear power plant everyday, stabilizing or reducing greenhouse gas emissions is impossible, says University of Utah atmospheric scientist...
Switchgrass produces biomass efficiently
A USDOE and USDA study concluded that 50 million U.S. acres of cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture could be converted from current uses to the production of perennial grasses,...
Predicting the fate of underground carbon
A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new modeling methodology for determining the capacity and assessing the risks of leakage of potential underground carbon-dioxide...
After Landslides, Soil Carbon Storage Recovers Rapidly
Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have investigated carbon and nitrogen accumulation in soils formed on debris flows in a coniferous forest in southern California. Soil formation was studied...
Leaked emails mark dangerous shift in climate denial strategy | Mark Lynas
Instead of targeting high-profile science communicators, climate deniers are now encouraging mistrust of those who collect and interpret global warming dataThe theft and web publication by climate change deniers of private emails from...
Northwest Passage traffic breaks record
A record 23 vessels, from rowboats to cargo ships, travelled through the Northwest Passage this year, the Canadian Coast Guard says.