More than twenty years after the historic Chesapeake Bay Agreement set out a roadmap for a coordinated clean-up effort at state and federal levels, the region is struggling to follow it, scientists say.

Panelists speaking at a February 20 session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC emphasized the importance of an adaptive approach to restoration in the Chesapeake––which scientists call adaptive management, in which ideas and approac

At AAAS annual conference – Feeding the world can be a constant battle between opposing forces.

Agriculture is often seen as being in conflict with natural resources as farmers attempt to feed the world without poisoning the Earth, said Charles W. Rice, a Kansas State University soil microbiologist and professor of agronomy. Excessive tillage, low productivity, soil erosion and residue removal result in loss of soil structure, organic matter, nutrients and biodiversity.

Biologists speaking at a symposium in Washington, D.C., this week warn that fundamental assumptions underlying current fisheries management practices may be wrong, resulting in management decisions that threaten the future supply of fish and the long-term survival of some fish populations. The symposium, organized by Steven Berkeley of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Larry Crowder of Duke University Marine Laboratory, is part of the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Association f

El Niño’s effects on a Pacific Northwest river valley offer forecasters a window to dry years ahead

Global warming conversations have shifted from whether climate is changing to how we will deal with the inevitable consequences. And the price you pay will depend on where you live and how well you prepare, suggests one of the most detailed studies to date on global warming and its likely effect on human activity.

“Like politics, global climate change is local,” said

Around 60 nations and more than 40 international organisations joined ESA and host the European Community at the Third Earth Observation summit on Wednesday. History was made at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels as assembled delegates formally agreed a ten-year plan to implement a Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

The plan summarises the steps that need to be taken to put a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) in place. GEOSS will build on existing Earth

A panel of acknowledged international experts has identified Sweden’s foremost environments for basic research. The Swedish Research Council will be able to finance ten of the 27 research environments of excellence that have been winnowed from 261 applications. These research teams are from all over the country and represent all disciplinary domains.

“This is proof that Sweden boasts a number of competitive and creative research nodes of the highest international class. It also

Climate warming likely to impact water resources in regions around the globe

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and their colleagues have produced the first clear evidence of human-produced warming in the world’s oceans, a finding they say removes much of the uncertainty associated with debates about global warming. In a new study conducted with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Program for Cl

Although most people think of California when they think of earthquakes, the Feb. 10 quake in Arkansas was not unusual, said UAB geologist Scott Brande, Ph.D. “There are fault zones throughout the Eastern United States, and many are associated with the Appalachian Mountains.

The one causing the earthquake in Arkansas was the New Madrid seismic zone, which has a long history of earthquake activity. Hundreds of earthquakes occur there each year along the borders of Missouri, Kentucky, T

Several large earthquakes with magnitude higher than 8 on the Richter scale have already occurred along the margins between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, under the ocean off Ecuador and Colombia. This region is vulnerable, all the more so because since the 1980s, Ecuador’s oil export terminal is sited within it. More information is needed on this zone of extremely high seismic risk. For this reason, two scientific campaigns, “Amadeus” and “Esmeraldas” were launched on 3 Februa

Fossils push human emergence back to 195,000 years ago

When the bones of two early humans were found in 1967 near Kibish, Ethiopia, they were thought to be 130,000 years old. A few years ago, researchers found 154,000- to 160,000-year-old human bones at Herto, Ethiopia. Now, a new study of the 1967 fossil site indicates the earliest known members of our species, Homo sapiens, roamed Africa about 195,000 years ago. “It pushes back the beginning of anatomically modern humans,” says

Making the Nature Conservancy’s list of Last Great Places doesn’t guarantee a safe habitat. The osprey, a fish-feeding bird, nests along the Delaware River and Bay and continues to face contaminated living conditions. Although stable, osprey reproduction is stressed, according to an article published in the latest issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Ospreys and other wildlife share the Delaware River and Bay area with factories, manufacturers and water traffic using

The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) of the University of Stanford has announced that it will be investing 9 million Dollars in seven research proposals. Over a period of three years, The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and TU Delft together will receive 2,3 million Dollars for innovative research in the field of energy related technology, in an effort to reduce greenhouse gasses.

The research projects selected by the GCEP cover a number of different proce

A key first step has been taken in the construction of IceCube, a giant neutrino telescope spanning a volume of one cubic kilometer of ice at the South Pole: Working under harsh Antarctic conditions, an international team of scientists, engineers and technicians – among them scientists from the DESY research center – has successfully deployed a first critical part of the telescope, a string of 60 optical detectors, in a 2.4-kilometer-deep hole drilled into the Antarctic ice. Comprising a total of

Working under harsh Antarctic conditions, an international team of scientists, engineers and technicians has set in place the first critical elements of a massive neutrino telescope at the South Pole.

The successful deployment – in a 1.5 mile-deep hole drilled into the Antarctic ice – of a string of 60 optical detectors designed to sample phantom-like high-energy particles from deep space represents a key first step in the construction of the $272 million telescope known as IceCu

The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) today expressed concern that the UK’s allocation of greenhouse gas emissions is still not finally decided, but applauded the UK Government’s decision to press the European Commission for approval of the revised limits.

“The changes the UK Government has now suggested still leave industry in a more difficult position than with the original targets. It is vital that the UK secures the amendment to the current emissions cap; otherwise we risk further

Europe’s airplane engine manufacturers are now pooling their resources to make flying more environmentally friendly. In collaboration with some select universities and university colleges they are using millions in financial support from the EU to set up a major research project aiming to reduce noise, fuel use, and emissions. University of Trollhättan/Uddevalla, HTU is one of the project participants in Sweden.

This is the first time the university college has taken part as a f