Engineers at a company co-founded by a University of Texas at Dallas professor have identified a material that can reduce the pollution produced by vehicles that run on diesel fuel.
A new carbon cycling model developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory better accounts for the carbon dioxide-releasing activity of microbes in the ground, improving scientists' understanding of the role soil will play in future climate change.
Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt's Nile Delta document the region's ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.
The mayor of Dallas, Texas, Mike Rawlings, signed a proclamation Aug. 15 declaring a local state of disaster to be in effect for seven days as officials in the city and Dallas County respond to a widespread outbreak of West Nile Virus.
A new study led by scientists at the University of York has shown how birds, butterflies, other insects and spiders have colonised nature reserves and areas protected for wildlife, as they move north in response to climate change and other environmental changes.
An analysis of a decade's worth of tropical cyclones shows that when hurricanes blow over ocean regions swamped by fresh water, the conditions can unexpectedly intensify the storm.
A freshwater snail declared extinct in 2000 was recently rediscovered in the Cahaba River by a University of Alabama graduate student.
This year's Atlantic hurricane season got off to a busy start, with 6 named storms to date, and may have a busy second half, according to the updated hurricane season outlook issued Aug. 9, 2012 by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service.
According to the United Nations' 2011 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, global urban population is expected to gain more than 2.5 billion new inhabitants through 2050.
After studying a decade’s worth of satellite images, a team of researchers found what appears to be a correlation between El Niño events and increased deaths due to the pollutants in smoke from fires.
In California's Los Angeles Basin, levels of some vehicle-related air pollutants have decreased by about 98 percent since the 1960s, even as area residents now burn three times as much gasoline and diesel fuel.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, along with collaborators from Italy and Spain, have created a material that catalyzes the burning of methane 30 times better than do currently available catalysts.
Pine trees are one of the biggest contributors to air pollution. They give off gases that react with airborne chemicals -- many of which are produced by human activity -- creating tiny, invisible particles that muddy the air.
Four California businesses were honored by the California Product Ste wardship Council (CPSC) during the organization’s Arrow Awards ceremony in Oakland, CA at the California Resource Recovery Association’s 36th annual conference.
Two researchers have reprised in the journal Energy Policy their groundbreaking finding that improvements in lighting — from candles to gas lamps to electric bulbs — historically have led to increased light consumption rather than lower overall energy use by society.
The design firm Perkins+Will has released what it calls the first-ever report on asthmagens and asthma triggers in building materials and products.
NOAA and the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement have expanded the online mapping tool used by emergency responders during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response to include the Arctic, calling this step important for any response needed in the region.
Forests hammered by windstorms, avalanches and wildfires may appear blighted, but a Washington State University researcher says such disturbances can be key to maximizing an area's biological diversity.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded five grants totaling almost $2 million to academic institutions for research on innovative processes to further improve air quality in the U.S. and help track the effectiveness of pollution control measures.
Microbes, sponges, and worms -- the side effects of pollution and heavy fishing -- are adding insult to injury in Kenya's imperiled reef systems, according to a recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Azores.