News


GM Opens Community Urban Garden in Southwest Detroit

General Motors is unveiling Cadillac Urban Gardens on Merritt, a community project where 250 shipping crates from Orion Assembly — home of the Buick Verano and Chevrolet Sonic — are converted into raised garden beds.

Underwater Ecosystem Inundated by Sediment Plume

Scuba-diver scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey are returning to the mouth of Washington’s Elwha River this week to explore and catalogue the effect of released sediment on marine life following the nation’s largest dam removal effort.

EPA Identifies Substitutes for Toxic Flame Retardant Chemical

In its quest to identify possible substitutes for a toxic flame retardant chemical known as decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a draft report on alternatives.

Antiques Dealer Pleads Guilty to Crimes Related to Trafficking Endangered Rhinoceros Horns

David Hausman, an antiques dealer in Manhattan, pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to obstruction of justice and creating false records, in relation to illegal rhinoceros horn trafficking.

Coral Reef Thriving in Sediment-Laden Waters

Rapid rates of coral reef growth have been identified in sediment-laden marine environments, conditions previously believed to be detrimental to reef growth. A new study has established that Middle Reef -- part of Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef -- has grown more rapidly than many other reefs in areas with lower levels of sediment stress.

High Court Allows Exxon Valdez to Be Scrapped

Bloomberg and TradeWinds News reported July 30 that two judges on India’s Supreme Court have allowed the ship once named the Exxon Valdez to be scrapped at a yard in Alang on the country’s western coast.

250 Years of Global Warming Berkeley Earth Releases New Analysis

According to a new Berkeley Earth study released July 29, 2012, the average temperature of Earth's land has risen by 1.5 °C over the past 250 years. The good match between the new temperature record and historical carbon dioxide records suggests that the most straightforward explanation for this warming is human greenhouse gas emissions.

Tiny Airborne Pollutants Lead Double Life Study

The observations could have important implications for modelling global climate change and predicting air quality conditions. The tiny particles, which form part of an airborne chemical mix above cities, play a role in pollution by providing a surface for chemical reactions and in climate by reflecting and absorbing solar radiation and by acting as seed surfaces for water condensation and cloud formation.



Cooling, Not Population Loss, Led to Fewer Fires After 1500 in New World

In the years after Columbus' voyage, burning of New World forests and fields diminished significantly -- a phenomenon some have attributed to decimation of native populations by European diseases. But a new University of Utah-led study suggests global cooling resulted in fewer fires because both preceded Columbus in many regions worldwide.

Hong Kong Temperature Predicted to Rise by 2 to 3 Degrees Celcius in 30 Years

The temperature in the inner urban areas of Hong Kong is predicted to rise by 2 to 3 Celsius degree in 30 years' time, according to the latest scientific study by researchers at the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Adam M. Fasano, CIH of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Promoted to Principal

Adam M. Fasano, CIH has been promoted to Principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental’s Norwood, MA office. GZA is an environmental and geotechnical consulting firm.

Illinois Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Clean Air Act Violations Involving Asbestos

Duane “Butch” O’Malley, 59, of Bourbonnais, Ill., who was convicted by a federal jury on September 26, 2011, for the illegal removal, handling and disposal of asbestos from a Kankakee building in August 2009, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Federal District Court Judge Michael McCuskey.

Cloud Seeds and Ozone Holes

The destruction of atmospheric ozone can take place within newly forming Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs), which serve as the battleground for manmade chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to attack and destroy ozone.

Study: Cool Climate, Not Population Loss, Led to Fewer Fires

In the years after Columbus' voyage, burning of New World forests and fields diminished significantly – a phenomenon some have attributed to decimation of native populations by European diseases. But a new University of Utah-led study suggests global cooling resulted in fewer fires because both preceded Columbus in many regions worldwide.

Chronic 2000-04 Drought May Be the New Normal

The chronic drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 left dying forests and depleted river basins in its wake and was the strongest in 800 years, scientists have concluded, but they say those conditions will become the "new normal" for most of the coming century.

Fluid Imaging Technologies Enables Rutgers Student to Study Ecosystem Restoration

Laboratory instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies, Yarmouth, Maine (www.fluidimaging.com) has awarded its 2012 FlowCAM® Student Equipment and Travel Grant to Amanda Wenczel, a Ph. D. candidate in Ecology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

How Extreme Weather Contributes to Greenhouse Gas Emissions

While experts debate whether extreme weather conditions such as this summer’s record rainfall can be explained by climate change, University of Leicester geographers are investigating whether the opposite is true – does extreme weather impact on climate change?

Federal Court Awarding $1 Million to Preserve North Carolina Wetlands

North Carolina’s Waccamaw River watershed will benefit from a $1 million restitution order from a federal court, funding environmental projects to acquire and preserve wetlands in an area damaged by illegal releases of wastewater from a corporate hog farm.

Climate Change Linked to Ozone Loss: May Result in More Skin Cancer

For decades, scientists have known that the effects of global climate change could have a potentially devastating impact across the globe, but Harvard researchers say there is now evidence that it may also have a dramatic impact on public health.

Local Weather Patterns Affect Beliefs About Global Warming

Local weather patterns temporarily influence people's beliefs about evidence for global warming, according to research by political scientists at New York University and Temple University.