Biology: Botany Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

'Shoebox' satellites help scientists understand trees and global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As scientists try to understand the effect of climate on trees, advances in imaging technology are helping them see both the whole forest and every individual tree. High-resolution images taken by cubesats, small, shoebox-sized devices launched into low Earth orbit, are helping environmental scientists make more precise measurements about trees' response to a warming climate.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Inside-out heating and ambient wind could make direct air capture cheaper and more efficient      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Chemical engineers use coated carbon fibers and eliminate steam-based heating in their simpler design, which also can be powered by wind energy.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Antarctic ice shelves experienced only minor changes in surface melt since 1980      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of glaciologists set out to quantify how much ice melt occurred on Antarctica's ice shelves from 1980 to 2021. The results might seem to be good news for the region, but the researchers say there's no cause for celebration just yet.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Smart farming platform improves crop yields, minimizes pollution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new farming system aims to solve one of the biggest problems in modern agriculture: the overuse of fertilizers to improve crop yields and the resulting chemical runoff that pollutes the world's air and water.

Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Wildfire smoke downwind affects health, wealth, mortality      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Smoke particulates from wildfires could cause between 4,000 and 9,000 premature deaths and cost between $36 to $82 billion per year in the United States, according to new research.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Drug-resistant fungi are thriving in even the most remote regions of Earth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has found that a disease-causing fungus -- collected from one of the most remote regions in the world -- is resistant to a common antifungal medicine used to treat infections.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Caribbean seagrasses provide services worth $255B annually, including vast carbon storage, study shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Caribbean seagrasses provide about $255 billion in services to society annually, including $88.3 billion in carbon storage, according to a new study. The study has put a dollar value on the many services -- from storm protection to fish habitat to carbon storage -- provided by seagrasses across the Caribbean, which holds up to half the world's seagrass meadows by surface area and contains about one-third of the carbon stored in seagrasses worldwide.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

The art and science of living-like architecture      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Collaborators have created 'living-like' bioactive interior architecture designed to one day protect us from hidden airborne threats. This publication establishes that the lab's biomaterial manufacturing process is compatible with the leading-edge cell-free engineering that gives the bioactive sites their life-like properties.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Engineers 'strike gold' with innovation that recovers heavy metals from biosolids      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have developed a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to remove heavy metals, including copper and zinc, from biosolids. The team's work advances other methods for heavy-metal removal by recycling the acidic liquid waste that is produced during the recovery phase, instead of throwing it away.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Environmental risks and opportunities of orphaned oil and gas wells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are leading an international team whose goal is to create a framework to help governments in the U.S. and around the world assess and prioritize remediation strategies for orphaned oil and gas wells. These inactive wells represent environmental risks since they have the potential to contaminate water supplies, degrade ecosystems, and emit methane and other air pollutants that are harmful to human health. But plugging the wells also offers various potential environmental opportunities such as underground storage of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, or the development of geothermal energy systems.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

New research reveals the impact of different species and their traits on human wellbeing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has revealed that well-functioning ecosystems are crucial to human health and wellbeing, with human-biodiversity interactions delivering wellbeing gains equating to substantial healthcare cost-savings, when scaled-up across populations.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Supersized fruit eater database on climate change frontline      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To conserve precious and fragile biodiversity hotspots, a crucial step is knowing how the fruit eaters are doing. To assist in that, scientists and students have supersized a database to keep track of such animals and birds.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

New study reveals irrigation's mixed effects around the world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Trajectory of irrigation water use in many regions is unsustainable, but practice is vital in managing climate change and future agricultural development, researchers conclude.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Climate action plans mobilize limited urban change, researchers report      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), released just prior to an international climate convention in 2015, explicitly stated that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions were the highest in history, with clear and widespread impacts on the climate system. Since then, hundreds of cities across the world have published their own climate action plans (CAPs), detailing how their urban areas will handle climate change. How do the plans stack up against one another and against the recommended guidelines established by the United Nations-Habitat Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning?

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Severe Weather Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

A Tongan volcano plume produced the most intense lightning rates ever detected      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research showed that the plume emitted by the Hunga Volcano eruption in 2022 created the highest lightning flash rates ever recorded on Earth, more than any storm ever documented.

Biology: Cell Biology Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Clean, sustainable fuels made 'from thin air' and plastic waste      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes -- or even directly from the air -- and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the Sun.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Study shows ancient Alaskans were freshwater fishers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A scientific team has discovered the earliest-known evidence of freshwater fishing by ancient people in the Americas. The research offers a glimpse at how early humans used a changing landscape and could offer insight for modern people facing similar changes.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

How fungus farming ants keep their gardens healthy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

'Weed early and often' is the key to a productive garden. Interestingly, certain species of ants are also avid gardeners, a practice they've refined over 50 million years. They too weed their underground fungus gardens, but how they know what to weed out has been a mystery. Now, a multidisciplinary team of scientists report how ants distinguish the good fungus from the bad.