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Dec 26, 2024

Mount Polley mine spill: a hazard of Canada's industry-friendly attitude?

The scale of the devastation only became apparent from the air. A dam at a waste pond on the site of a British Columbia open-pit mine had burst, releasing 10m cubic meters of water and 4.5m cubic meters of potentially toxic slurry

Wang, Africa's last polar bear, dies

The last polar bear in Africa died Wednesday after months of grieving his longtime companion at a zoo in Johannesburg, a far cry from his Arctic habitat. Wang, 28, suffered from chronic arthritis and liver failure. The Johanne

Global warming is moistening the atmosphere

We have long suspected that greenhouse gases which cause the Earth to warm would lead to a wetter atmosphere. The latest research published by Eul-Seok Chung, Brian Soden, and colleagues provides new insight into what was thought

Could Sharks be Heading for Extinction?

Troubles run deep. The lagoon and other coastal nursery habitats for sharks are reeling from pollution, fishing pressure and other threats. Sharks that survive to adulthoodthen face an ocean of troubles, from fishermen seeking an

China Must Lift Trade Restrictions on Rare Earth Elements

In a decision that affects automakers around the world, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, has ruled that Chinaâ€™s export duties and quotas on rare earth elements are not justified for reasons of environment

Feds reduce area in Atlantic Ocean for wind farm plans off NC coast

The US Department of Interior has reduced the areas of the Atlantic Ocean where turbines can be built, dealing a potential blow to North Carolina's hopes for wind farms off the coast. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports the

Iowa's Corn Farmers Learn To Adapt To Weather Extremes

Climate change is creating all kinds of challenges and opportunities for business. One of the sectors that feels the effects most immediately is agriculture. Already, weather patterns are making it more challenging to raise corn â

Pacific Nation Bans Fishing in One of World's Largest Marine Parks

Anote Tong, the president of Kiribatiâ€”a chain of islands about halfway between Hawaii and Fijiâ€”announced Monday that commercial fishing will end in the country's Phoenix Islands Protected Area on January 1, 2015. "We will

Wolverines lose chances at protection over climate change 'ambiguity'

Federal wildlife officials plan to withdraw proposed protections for the snow-loving wolverine Tuesday, in a course reversal that highlights lingering uncertainties over what a warming climate means for some temperature-sensitive

Is Climate Change Responsible for the Severity of the Ebola Outbreak?

The army base, a cut of cleared land amidst a thick, verdant, unnamed jungle, is filled with soldiers and locals, dead or dying of a mystery disease. A pile of bodies burns outside. At the sound of a U.S. army plane approaching, A

Submerged Spherical Fish Farm to Raise Tons of Tuna

The demand worldwide for tuna is at an all-time high, which is why populations of this fish are at all-time low. Schools of large predator fish have declined worldwide by two-thirds and the Pacific Bluefin, specifically, is down 9

Mexico urged to act and save world's smallest porpoise â€“ the little sea cow

The world's smallest porpoise faces imminent extinction unless the Mexican government eliminates gill-net fishing in its only habitat, the upper Sea of Cortez, scientists have warned. Recent studies conducted using underwater a

Environment Canada Launching New Radar Software

Two weeks after a tornado hit, the cleanup continues for many residents in Grand Bend. Residents had roughly 30 minutes warning of the arrival of the storm that levelled over 8,000 trees. Bill Weber, mayor of the Municipal

Extreme weather becoming more common, study says

Extreme weather like the drought currently scorching the western US and the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010 is becoming much more common, according to new scientific research. The work shows so-called â€œblocking pattern

Boeing betting on tobacco as new aviation fuel source

Boeing is getting into the tobacco business. The airplane maker is part of a joint venture to develop aviation fuel from a new, hybrid tobacco plant. The goal is to cut carbon emissions and reduce the demand for petroleum-based

Geneticists Are Hacking Plants So They Can Grow in the Shade

The human version of nocturnal shutdowns has absolutely nothing on plants. When we sleep, our bodies continue doing a lot of the functions they do when we're awake. But when darkness sets in over the plant kingdom, at least the ve

Mining the Bottom of the Ocean Is as Bad for the Environment as it Sounds

Have you ever wondered how much the ocean floor is worth? The answer is in the trillions. Metals and materials are the foundation of our life, but with seven billion people occupying the earth, supplies are rapidly dwindling. So m

Last cranes released into British wild

The final set of cranes from an ambitious project to reintroduce the birds to Britain has been released at a secret location in Somerset. Cranes used to be common throughout the country but were driven to extinction in the 16th

From the Field: Explore the California Current with Scripps Researchers

Scientists and students from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego are exploring the California Current system and analyzing details of its varied components from August 6 to September 4, 2014, aboard the research ve

History of fire and drought shapes the ecology of California, past and future

Fire season has arrived in California with vengeance in this third year of extended drought for the state. A series of large fires east of Redding and Fresno, in Yosemite, and on the Oregon border prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to decl

Galapagos hawks hand down lice like family heirlooms

AUA-led study provides some of the first evidence for the hypothesis of co-divergence between parasites and hosts acting as a major driver of biodiversity. Say what you will about the parasitic lifestyle, but in the game of evolut

U.S. Should Lead on Climate Fight Say African Negotiators

African climate negotiators attending the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington this week said leadership from the United States is critical to finalizing a global deal on measures to address climate change in 2015 after years Reuters

As Oysters Die, Climate Policy Goes on the Stump

Billions of baby oysters in the Pacific inlets here are dying and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington is busy spreading the bad news. â€œIt used to be the canary in the coal mine,â€ Mr. Inslee said in a recent interview. â€œNow itâ€

Chicago water declared safe after testing prompted by Ohio toxins

An overnight test of Lake Michigan water samples showed none of the toxins found in Toledo, Ohio, water that officials over the weekend deemed unsafe to drink. chicagotribune.com - Nation &

Melt ponds shine in NASA laser altimeter images

Even from 65,000 feet above Earth, aquamarine melt ponds in the Arctic stand out against the white sea ice and ice sheets. These ponds form every summer, as snow that built up on the ice melts, creating crystal clear pools. ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

Dot Earth Blog: Fresh Focus on Siberian Permafrost as Hole Count Rises

Leibman, the chief scientist at the Earth Cryosphere Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has studied permafrost since 1973 and has a remarkable publication record. She describes how the first h NYT > Environment

Sinosphere Blog: Pangolins Are Being Eaten out of Existence

Consumer demand, which has already pushed the pangolin to the edge of extinction in Asia, is now driving poaching in Africa, threatening the indigenous species there, according to the Pangolin Specialist Group of the International NYT > World

NOAA-led study shows Alaska fisheries and communities at risk from ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is driving changes in waters vital to Alaskaâ€™s valuable commercial fisheries and subsistence way of life, according to new NOAA-led research that will be published online in Progress in Oceanography. Many

Swimming, climbing robots explore the hostile Arctic

A TIRELESS scientific expedition is currently encamped across a huge stretch of Arctic pack ice. The daytime temperature is just above freezing. Regardless, the team sends data day and night to a string of labs around the world. SCUBA News...

Wading birds declining in the UK

The magical winter wildlife spectacle of hundreds of thousands of wading birds converging on British estuaries could be under threat as research shows big declines in some of the most familiar species. Results from the Wetland

Lead pollution beat explorers to South Pole, persists today

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole in December 1911. More than 100 years later, an international team of scientists has proven that air pollution from industrial activities arrived to th ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

Bid to Save Tigers Threatened by Poor Data

Efforts to save the tiger are being undermined by a lack of information about how many of the endangered cats live in the wild, the conservation group WWF said on Tuesday. Play Video How a Genetic Mistake Can Save Whi Discovery News - Top Stories

Dinosaurs fell victim to perfect storm of events, study shows

Dinosaurs might have survived the asteroid strike that wiped them out if it had taken place slightly earlier or later in history, scientists say. They found that in the few million years before a 10km-wide asteroid struck what ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

250-Year-Old Eyewitness Accounts of Icier Arctic Attest to Loss of Sea Ice

Scientists have theorized that the loss of Arctic sea ice over the last three decades is part of a recent, dramatic change in global climate. Now they have proof from an unorthodox collection of sources. Scientific American

Climate Change Could Alter Range of Caribou and May Impact Hunters' Access

Due to climate change, some communities in rural Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada may face a future with fewer caribou according to new research published by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska, Fairban USGS Newsroom

Hit by Climate Change, Dwindling Antarctic Seal Population Grows More Diverse

Although climate change continues to stir up opportunities and challenges for animals across the world, new research published today in Nature shows the ups and down this change is creating for one species in particular. (Scientif Scientific American

Belize safeguards barrier reef with conservation drones (Science Daily)

Seeking to gain a high-tech edge over illegal fishers, the Government of Belize will use "eyes in the sky" to enforce fishing regulations in the biodiverse Glover's Reef Marine Reserve and other reef systems in what is the first u Ocean Today

New view of Rainier's volcanic plumbing

By measuring how fast Earth conducts electricity and seismic waves, a University of Utah researcher and colleagues made a detailed picture of Mount Rainier's deep volcanic plumbing and partly molten rock that will erupt again some

Has the expansion of Antarctic sea ice accelerated?

Despite global warming, the fringe of sea ice around Antarctica is expanding slightly, in contrast to the marked decline of sea ice in the Arctic. Scientists have blamed this curious fact on various forces, from shifting winds to ScienceNOW

UK's new energy and environment ministers opposed green energy

The new set of Conservative environment and energy ministers announced on Tuesday bring a track record of opposing renewable energy, having fought against wind and solar farms, enthusiastically backed fracking and argued that gree Reuters

Study maps fracking methane risk to drinking water

A major study into the potential of fracking to contaminate drinking water with methane has been published. The British Geological Survey and the Environment Agency have mapped where key aquifers in England and Wales coincide w

Scalloped Hammerheads Become First Shark Species on the U.S. Endangered Species List

Scalloped hammerhead sharks have became the first species of shark to be protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, one of the worldâ€™s strongest wildlife conservation laws. The final rule to list four of the existing six dist

Despite decade of protection, resident orcas still in trouble

In the decade since Puget Soundâ€™s southern resident killer whales were protected under the Endangered Species Act, scientists have figured out where they go in winter, learned that they eat mostly chinook and have documented the

Migrating Monarch Butterflies Use Magnetic Compass to Cut Through Clouds

It turns out they use Earth's magnetic field as a kind of backup navigational system. It's not unusual for animals engaged in long-distance migrations, including sea turtles and birds, to use an internal magnetic compass to get

Climbers work to care for the environment

In a recent (June 20) opinion piece, Van Keele accused local climbers of hurting the environment and violating Forest Service regulations. Keele frequently expresses his opinion in the Ravalli Republic on a wide range of subjects.

Insecticides put world food supplies at risk, say scientists

The worldâ€™s most widely used insecticides have contaminated the environment across the planet so pervasively that global food production is at risk, according to a comprehensive scientific assessment of the chemicalsâ€™ impacts.

Russia 'secretly working with environmentalists to oppose fracking'

The head of one of the worldâ€™s leading groups of democratic nations has accused Russia of undermining projects using hydraulic fracturing technology in Europe. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Tr

Dutch arrest 44 Greenpeace activists blocking Russian Arctic oil tanker

The very different reactions of European countries to Greenpeace protests was seen on Thursday when 10 Dutch armed anti-terror police boarded the environment groupâ€™s flagship outside Rotterdam port and arrested 44 activists tryi

Public to help scientists assess climate role

Spare computer time lent to researchers at Oxford University will allow intensive climate modelling of 2013-14 conditions. Citizen scientists can help to solve a critical question raised by England's wettest winter in at least 250 Environment news, comment and

Antarctic Research Bases Spew Toxic Wastes Into Environment

Antarctica is one of the most pristine environments on Earth, but it's wrestling with a pollution problem. National Geographic News

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