Fallen autumn leaves transfer as much, if not more, hazardous mercury from the atmosphere to the environment as does precipitation each year, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey research.
Researchers found that bacterial microbes inside the slick degraded the oil at a rate five times faster than microbes outside the slick—accounting in large part for the disappearance of the slick some three weeks after Deepwater Horizon's Macondo well was shut off.
New research suggests that nearly half the Earth's heat comes from the radioactive decay of materials beneath the surface, according to a large international research collaboration that includes a Kansas State University physicist.
Aerosol particles, including soot and sulfur dioxide from burning fossil fuels, essentially mask the effects of greenhouse gases and are at the heart of the biggest uncertainty in climate change prediction.
The ebb and flow of the ocean tides, generally thought to be one of the most predictable forces on Earth, are actually quite variable over long time periods, in ways that have not been adequately accounted for in most evaluations of prehistoric sea level changes.
A group of scientists from the University of Alabama are exploring caves in the South Pacific to gain insight on ancient weather patterns.
Over the past six years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has plugged close to 300 abandoned – and in some cases leaking – oil wells in Western New York in an effort to prevent any remaining oil that may be in the wells from reaching nearby lakes, rivers and streams.
Genetic tests on more than 1,000 Chinese tallow trees from the United States and China show the famed U.S. statesman did not import the tallow trees that are overrunning thousands of acres of U.S. coastal prairie from Florida to East Texas.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed standards to reduce harmful air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations.
In the last 30 years, more than 90 percent of the reef-building coral responsible for maintaining major marine habitats and providing a natural barrier against hurricanes in the Caribbean has disappeared because of a disease of unknown origin.
When miners abandoned Michigan’s Copper Country, they left a lot of the red metal behind, and not in a good way. Waste from the mining operations still contains a high fraction of copper, so high that almost nothing can grow on it—and hasn’t for decades, leaving behind moonscape expanses that can stretch for acres.
Senior energy executive Karl W. Miller is a major supporter in establishing a comprehensive energy plan for the U.S.
Erosion happens. But for the modern geologist a vexing question remains: how fast does this erosion happen? For more than a century, scientists have looked for ways to measure and compare erosion rates across differing landscapes around the globe—but with limited success.
After a 10,000-year absence, wildfires have returned to the Arctic tundra, and a University of Florida (UF) study shows that their impact could extend far beyond the areas blackened by flames.
A new study by top global fisheries experts presents an alarming assessment of several economically important fish populations. The analysis of 61 species of "scombrids," which include tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels, and billfishes, which include swordfish and marlins, classified seven as threatened with extinction and four as "near threatened" for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been reduced by an accumulated 5.7 million metric tonnes (mt) in Mexico City since it began implementing its Green Plan in 2008, the Mexico City government recently announced.
An increase in wildfires due to climate change could rapidly and profoundly alter the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to a new study authored by environmental engineering and geography Professor Anthony Westerling of the University of California, Merced.
An old theory in ecology is that in any ecosystem, a small-sized animal species will be more populous than a large species. All you need is a summer picnic to prove the point: your barbecue might end up attracting thousands of tiny ants — but only a few rotund squirrels.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers from CSIRO, University of Queensland and United States Geological Survey present a pragmatic decision framework for determining when, if ever, to move species in the face of climate change.
Surface water quality is important for the proper function of aquatic ecosystems, as well as human needs and recreation. Pasturelands have been found to be major sources of sediment, phosphorus and pathogens in Midwest surface water resources.