News and Articles


Penn. Scientists Follow Water to Study Drought

Water is a precious resource many take for granted until there is too little or too much. Scientists and engineers have positioned instruments at the Susquehanna Shale Hills Observatory at Pennsylvania State University to learn much more about the water cycle there. It is one of six Critical Zone Observatories in the United States.

Research Links Water Disinfection Byproducts to Adverse Health Effects

This study, published in Environmental Science & Technology, suggests a possible connection to adverse health effects, including neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Researcher Discovers Male Bottlenose Dolphins Using Social Network to Secure Mate

Marine biologist Jo Wiszniewski has observed a fascinating approach to mating among the Port Stephens Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.

Climate Change is Altering the Lives of Alaska Natives

Although the effects of change are well documented along the coast, where higher tides and ferocious storms have threatened native communities, a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGC) has found indigenous people in Alaska's interior also have felt the transformation to a warmer climate during the past several decades of their lifetimes.

Students at The University of Findlay Living Green in Campus Houses

The houses at 138 and 146 W. Foulke Ave. on the campus of The University of Findlay, Ohio, may look like “normal” student residences, but the students living in those houses chose to live there with a common goal to reduce energy consumption and to lower their carbon footprints.

Production of Biofuel from Forests will Increase Greenhouse Emissions

The largest and most comprehensive study yet done on the effect of biofuel production from West Coast forests has concluded that an emphasis on bioenergy would increase carbon dioxide emissions from these forests at least 14 percent, if the efficiency of such operations is optimal.

U.S. Residents Say Hawaii's Coral Reef Ecosystems Worth $33.57 Billion Per Year

A peer-reviewed study commissioned by NOAA shows the American people assign an estimated total economic value of $33.57 billion for the coral reefs of the main Hawaiian Islands.

How Plants Sense Touch Gravity and Other Physical Forces

At the bottom of plants' ability to sense touch, gravity or a nearby trellis are mechanosensitive channels, pores through the cells' plasma membrane that are opened and closed by the deformation of the membrane.

Protein Reveals Oxygen Availability to Plants

Plants need water to grow, but every hobby gardener knows that you shouldn’t carry this to excess either. During waterlogging or flooding, plants can’t take up enough oxygen that they urgently need for their cellular respiration and energy production.

Trees Detect Contaminants and Health Threats

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a method to detect the presence of soil and groundwater contamination without turning a shovel or touching the water. Instead, they’re using trees.

Poisonous Oceans Delayed Animal Evolution

Animals require oxygen, but oxygenated environments were rare on early Earth. New research from University of Southern Denmark shows that poisonous sulfide existed in the oceans 750 million years ago making large areas of the seafloor inhospitable to animal life. Such ocean conditions may have prohibited the emergence of animals on early Earth.

feature pet waste

DNA Lab Aims to Reduce Your Pet's Carbon Footprint

There’s an unsuspecting culprit contributing to U.S. water pollution: pet poop.

Significant Ozone Hole Remains Over Antarctica

The Antarctic ozone hole, which yawns wide every Southern Hemisphere spring, reached its annual peak on Sept. 12, stretching 10.05 million square miles, the ninth largest on record.

1,500 Toxic Drums and Containers Removed from Abandoned Warehouse in Puerto Rico

Removing a significant threat to public health and safety, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the municipality of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, are proceeding with an emergency cleanup of improperly stored hazardous materials at a storage facility in Barrio Vietnam, Guaynabo.

Manuka Oil Shows Promise as a More Effective but Natural Weed Deterrent

Weeds have a greater impact on crop yields than any other pests. Over the past several decades, farmers have continually turned to synthetic herbicides because they are the most effective deterrent against weeds.

EPA Awards $50 Million for Clean Diesel Projects

Reducing diesel emissions helps decrease asthma attacks and premature deaths.

Research Eyes Energy-Saving Fluoros

The global trend toward using fluorescent globes instead of incandescent ones as a strategy to beat climate change could be increasing eye disease, according to new research by scientists at The Australian National University.

New Approach to Solar Power with Hybrid Solar-Thermoelectric Systems

Systems to harness the sun's energy typically generate either electricity or heat in the form of steam or hot water. But a new analysis by researchers at MIT shows that there could be significant advantages to systems that produce both electricity and heat simultaneously.

NOAA Releases Status on Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Marine Resources

NOAA scientists have found that pressure from increasing coastal populations, ship and boat groundings, marine debris, poaching, and climate change are critically threatening the health of the Florida Keys ecosystem. Many historically abundant marine resources such as green sea turtles and coral habitat continue to be at risk with low rates of recovery.

U.S. EPA Delegates Clean Water Act Authority to Northern California Tribe

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that Dry Creek Rancheria in Sonoma County, Calif., has gained authority to administer its own water quality programs under the federal Clean Water Act.