Scientists face difficult challenges in predicting and understanding how much our climate is changing. When it comes to gases that trap heat in our atmosphere, called greenhouse gases (GHGs), scientists typically look at how much of the gases exist in the atmosphere.

However, Drew Shindell, a climatologist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, believes we need to look at the GHGs when they are emitted at Earth’s surface, instead of looking at the GHGs themse

The presence of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a component used to add oxygen to gasoline to meet Clean Air Act standards, has been detected as a contaminant in ground water supplies underlying urban areas, particularly in the northeastern United States. The study is published in the July-August issue of Ground Water.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey examined the occurrence of MTBE and gasoline hydrocarbons in ground water throughout the United States and found that

Detailed scientific analysis by the European Commission, through its advanced crop yield forecasting system, shows that this year’s production will be at least 28 million tonnes below last years’ record numbers (about 10% less), but total EU cereal harvest remains in line with the average of the last five years.

The main reason for this drop is the impact of drought on crop yields. Production areas most affected are in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Central Greece. The forecas

What will climate change do to biodiversity, forestry and agriculture? What will its impact be on patterns of disease, water resources and air quality? Leading climate change experts from the UK and China meet in Beijing to look at the latest predictions to emerge from computer modelling studies.

“Climate change is a global problem that cannot be tackled by any one country acting alone. British and Chinese scientists need to draw from each other’s research to understand

Immersive cave will allow audience to watch robots search for victims

As the July 7 bombings in London have so devastatingly illustrated, disaster relief is an arduous task, one that is carried out mainly by humans (and trained dogs), communicating face-to-face or by phones and walkie-talkies. Robots may provide limited support for search and rescue activities and are typically remotely operated by a separate team of humans, but such robots can be difficult to control.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University marine scientists who began monitoring surface water quality in the Neuse River in 2000 say their expanded effort has become a model for continuous ferry-based water assays throughout the nation.

Help and support from the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Ferries and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) deserves much of the credit, the researchers say.

Drs. Hans Paerl and Josep

1 million tonnes of waste cuttings (external leaves, stems, etc.) from vegetables prior to processing are generated every year in Europe and 3.4 million of barley husks as a result of beer brewing processes. These sub-products are currently thrown away or managed by means of techniques that are not very environment-friendly, despite the fact that they contain considerable quantities of high-value components.

It is within this context that the REPRO (Reducing Food Processing Waste) has arise

Thanks to extensive GPS measurements and analyses by TU Delft and its scientific partners, unique images showing the development of the earthquake on 26 December 2004 in South East Asia have been created. This is the first time that a quake of such magnitude has been recorded and made visible using GPS. Today, Thursday 14 July 2005, an article on this subject will be published in the scientific journal Nature.

In the past few years, working together with French, Indonesian, Malaysia

Researchers at the Kentucky Geological Survey are studying options to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced by the burning of coal, gasoline, and natural gas and has been linked to global warming. Sequestration involves the injection of carbon dioxide gas captured from the burning of fossil fuels into underground geologic structures to store it rather than allow it to be released into the atmosphere. Potential geologic sites include deep sal

Mercury and DDT are 60X higher as a result of bird droppings, say researchers

Seabirds are the surprising culprits in delivering pollutants – through their guano – to seemingly pristine northern ecosystems, a new Canadian study shows.

The most common form of wildlife in the Arctic, seabirds are responsible for transporting most of the human-made contaminants to some coastal ecosystems, the researchers found. “The effect is to elevate concentrations of pollutants such a

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has expressed deep concern about a congressional demand for detailed documentation on the scientific work and professional history of three researchers whose studies suggest temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere are warmer than they have been for a thousand years.

In a July 13 letter to U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner said the committee’s requests to

Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes.

David Pimentel, a Cornell University professor of ecology and agriculture, concludes, “Organic farming offers real advantages for such crops as corn and soybeans.” Pimentel is the lead author of a study that is published in the July issue of Bioscience (Vol. 55:7) analyzing t

A new way to monitor the effects of climate change on rainforests is being investigated at Cambridge University. Researchers are using biomarkers in the shape of epiphytes (‘air-plants’ which grow on other plants) to find out how their photosynthesis and water evaporation have been affected by climate change over the last 50 years.

Using types of epiphytes known as bromeliads, Monica Mejia-Chang from Professor Howard Griffiths’ lab in Cambridge has been measuring the levels of two s

UCR research shows boosting plant vitamin C levels can minimize ozone’s damaging effects

The harmful effects of smog on people and animals – the stinging eyes and decreased lung capacity – are the stuff of well-researched fact. Now, the body of knowledge about air pollution’s effects on plants has grown with University of California, Riverside Biochemistry Professor Daniel Gallie’s discovery of the importance of vitamin C in helping plants defend themselves against the ravages of

Unusually preserved fossils shed new light on how macroscopic, complex life evolved and lived 550 million years ago

Scientists interested in ancient life have a wealth of fossils and impressions frozen in rocks that they can study from as far back as 540 million years ago – when animals with shells and bones began to become plentiful. But evidence of complex life older than 540 million years is scant and difficult to study.

Now, a research team from Virginia Tech in

Stories of two-headed serpents and epic battles between Thunderbird and Whale, common among Northwest native peoples, have their root in the region’s seismic history. New research led by a University of Washington scientist has found stories that could relate to a large Seattle fault earthquake around A.D. 900 and specific eyewitness accounts linked to a mammoth 1700 earthquake and tsunami in the Cascadia subduction zone.

The stories come from people living in areas from nort