Three of the nation’s leading universities have joined with 15 US companies to launch a first-of-its-kind collaborative research center whose holistic approach to energy efficiency development could mean savings of millions of dollars and a much ‘greener’ electronics industry.
Slow-moving winter weather systems that can lead to massive snowfalls are more frequent during the decades when the North Atlantic Ocean is warmer than usual, a new NASA study finds. The study demonstrates that the impacts of such systems, which are often fueled by an atmospheric phenomenon known as atmospheric blocking, go far beyond the atmosphere and can trigger changes in ocean circulation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the State of Illinois' new and revised water quality standards for five segments of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers.
Whether a species can evolve to survive climate change may depend on the biodiversity of its ecological community, according to a new mathematical model that simulates the effect of climate change on plants and pollinators.
A new study on greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations has calculated a more than 50 percent increase in levels of CO2 emissions than previously thought – and warned that the demand for 'green' biofuels could be costing the earth.
Most of today's power plants--from some of the largest solar arrays to nuclear energy facilities--rely on the boiling and condensing of water to produce energy.
Allergists say home fragrance products contribute to indoor pollution and may cause respiratory problems.
This discovery is a significant breakthrough in the development of sustainable technologies such as dye-sensitized solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are evaluating the feasibility of developing renewable energy production on Superfund, brownfields, and former landfill or mining sites.
Scientists braved ticks and a tiger to discover how human activities have perturbed the nitrogen cycle in tropical forests. Studies at two remote Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory sites in Panama and Thailand show the first evidence of long-term effects of nitrogen pollution in tropical trees.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced its final research plan on hydraulic fracturing. At the request of Congress, EPA is working to better understand potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
U.S. lawns cover an area almost as large as Florida, making turfgrass our largest ‘crop’ and lawn fertilizer use a legitimate issue.
Hybrid cars, powered by a mixture of gas and electricity, have become a practical way to "go green" on the roads. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) are applying the term "hybrid" to power plants as well.
Some people may consider them pests, but ants are key to many plants’ survival.
The source of arsenic in India's groundwater continues to elude scientists more than a decade after the toxin was discovered in the water supply of the Bengal delta in India. But a recent study with a Kansas State University geologist and graduate student, as well as Tulane University, has added a twist -- and furthered the mystery.
Over the past decade, the populations of staghorn and elkhorn corals in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary have remained steady after dramatic declines in the last century. Long-term monitoring conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington (UNCW), has revealed that while populations of the iconic branching corals remain far below their historic numbers, the surviving populations of both species have not suffered further declines.
Pollution is making Arabian Sea cyclones more intense, according to a study in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
Flooding events in 2011 and previous years have greatly impacted America’s prime farmland. Floodwaters left sediment and debris, eroded large parts of producers’ fields and, in many cases, left land devastated.
Both climate change and humans were responsible for the extinction of some large mammals, according to research that is the first of its kind to use genetic, archeological, and climatic data together to infer the population history of large Ice-Age mammals.
In an effort to reduce human exposure to harmful chemicals, the EPA is taking the necessary steps by lifting certain rodent repellent products from store shelves.