Enviro

Levels of methane, the second most important greenhouse gas in our atmosphere, continued their unrelenting rise in 2020 despite the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A team of scientists, from the University of Leeds, have used data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite to pinpoint locations with large surges of methane emissions. These findings […]

In a study just released in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment, Dr. Armineh Barkhordarian confirms that this systematic warming pool is not the result of natural climatic variations – but of human influences instead. “This warming pool will continue to increase the water temperature in the future, increasing both the frequency and intensity of […]

Stung Treng, Cambodia – What has long been one of the great wildlife mysteries – the identity of the world’s largest freshwater fish – appears to have been solved last week as fishers in northern Cambodia, working with an international team of scientists, discovered a 661-pound (300 kilos) giant freshwater stingray near a remote island […]

PHILADELPHIA — Ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision on West Virginia vs Environmental Protection Agency, a case that will determine the EPA’s authority to regulate climate pollution, Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund are releasing a new factsheet ranking America’s dirtiest power plants. Though increased renewable energy generation has led to decreased emissions from the […]

AMES, Iowa, June 13, 2022 – A new study led by Iowa State University researchers shows how artificial light has affected the natural seasonal processes of plants in urban regions of the United States. The study, published in the peer-reviewed academic journal PNAS Nexus, demonstrates how urbanization affects the natural world, resulting in noticeable changes for […]

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills struggled to breed at high temperatures. Nicholas B. Pattinson Nicholas B. Pattinson, University of Cape Town Rapid climate change has the potential to strongly influence the physiology, behaviour and breeding success of animals. Research is showing that increasing temperatures, for instance, are having negative effects on animals. These range from mass die-off […]

Packing foam is forever – it can’t be recycled, and its petroleum-based plastic components can persist in the environment for centuries. With packaging waste making up about one-third of total U.S. waste every year, it’s a major challenge. Engineer and entrepreneur John Felts has an intriguing solution: shrimp shells. Felts and his partners devised a […]

May 31, 2022 – Strong precipitation or extreme drought – the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing worldwide. Existing climate models, however, do not adequately show their dynamics. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) assume that ultrafine particles in the atmosphere have a significant impact on cloud physics and, hence, on weather. Their […]

Missoula, MT – The wolverine has regained candidate species status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) following a Montana District Court decision late Thursday. The Court agreed with conservation groups that the wolverine is entitled to additional ESA protections while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reconsiders its 2020 decision to deny a petition […]

Planting a tree seems like a good thing to do for the environment. Trees take in carbon dioxide, offsetting some of the emissions that contribute to climate change. But all that carbon in trees and forests worldwide could be thrown back into the atmosphere again if the trees burn up in a forest fire. Trees […]

Climate change will make the U.S. Corn Belt unsuitable for cultivating corn by 2100 without major technological advances in agricultural practices, an Emory University study finds.  Environmental Research Letters published the research, which adds to the evidence that significant agricultural adaptation will be necessary and inevitable in the Central and Eastern United States. It is critical […]

For the first time ever recorded, in the late summer of 2021, rain fell on the high central region of the Greenland ice sheet. This extraordinary event was followed by the surface snow and ice melting rapidly. Researchers now understand exactly what went on in those fateful summer days and what we can learn from […]

May 19, 2022 – Thirteen years ago, co-lead author Angela Ziltener (@DWAORG), a wildlife biologist at the University of Zurich, first observed dolphins rubbing against coral in the Northern Red Sea, off the coast of Egypt. She and her team noticed that the dolphins were selective about which corals they rubbed against, and they wanted […]

New research modeling smoke from two recent megafires sets the stage for better forecasting of how emissions from these global-scale events will behave and impact temperatures. As huge wildfires become more common under climate change, increased attention has focused on the intensity and duration of their emissions, which rival those of some volcano eruptions. Megafires […]

Conservation efforts for other animals have likely helped protect many reptile species, according to a new study led by scientists at NatureServe and other organizations. The study, published in the journal Nature, presents an analysis of the first comprehensive extinction risk assessment for reptiles on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. It […]

Working outdoors during periods of extreme heat can cause discomfort, heat stress, or heat illnesses – all growing concerns for people who live and work in Southwestern cities like Las Vegas, where summer temperatures creep higher each year. But, did you know that female outdoor workers are experiencing disproportionate impacts? Or, that more experienced outdoor […]

The number of fires inside protected conservation areas across the island of Madagascar shot up dramatically when COVID-19 lockdowns led to the suspension of any on-site management for five months during 2020. The findings suggest that governments should consider keeping some staff in protected areas at all times as an “essential service”, even during periods […]

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2022 — The Environmental Protection Agency will analyze the toxic effects of polyvinyl chloride, commonly referred to as “PVC” or “vinyl”, as the result of a legal agreement reached today with the Center for Biological Diversity. PVC is one of the most widely used forms of plastic, and about 7 billion pounds of PVC […]

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ — The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) approved an aquifer protection permit late Thursday, April 28, 2022 for a uranium mine near Grand Canyon National Park. The mine, owned by Energy Fuels Resources, has a history of flooding as it depletes shallow groundwater aquifers that express at South Rim springs. It also threatens […]

In November 2019, visitors to Joshua Tree National Park in California encountered a strange sight. Joshua trees and the closely related Mojave yuccas, which normally remain reproductively dormant until late spring, were in full bloom at the tail end of autumn. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural […]