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High Mountain Regions Could Be Warming Faster Than Previously Believed

An international team of scientists is calling for urgent and temperature patterns in mountain regions after compiling evidence that high elevations could be warming faster than previously thought.

25 Apr 2015

Ambient Air Pollution Can Damage Brain Structures and Impair Cognitive Function

Air pollution, even at moderate levels, has long been recognized as a factor in raising the risk of stroke. A new study led by scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine suggests that long-term exposure can cause damage to brain structures and impair cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults.

25 Apr 2015

UTEP Center for Inland Desalination Team Wins 2nd Place in Desal Prize Competition

Carbon, held in frozen permafrost soils for tens of thousands of years, is being released as Arctic regions of the Earth warm and is further fueling global climate change, according to a Florida State University researcher.

25 Apr 2015

Clean Fuels and Pollution Control Measures in School Buses Improve Health, Less Absenteeism

Use of clean fuels and updated pollution control measures in the school buses 25 million children ride every day could result in 14 million fewer absences from school a year, based on a study by the University of Michigan and the University of Washington.

25 Apr 2015

Environmental Ratings of Peers Can Motivate Unrated Companies to Reduce Their Emissions

A new study by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Assistant Professor Amanda Sharkey and University of Utah Assistant Professor Patricia Bromley found that environmental ratings have spillover effects on other companies' behavior.

25 Apr 2015

Ancient Carbon Locked in Arctic Permafrost Being Transformed into Carbon Dioxide

While climatologists are carefully watching carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, another group of scientists is exploring a massive storehouse of carbon that has the potential to significantly affect the climate change picture.

25 Apr 2015

Casa dos Ventos Places $30 Million Power Infrastructure Order for Wind Farms with ABB

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth around $30 million from Casa dos Ventos, a leading renewables company in Brazil, to provide substations and related power infrastructure enabling the efficient integration of power from two new wind complexes (comprising 13 wind farms) into the country’s transmission grid. The orders were booked in the first quarter of 2015.

25 Apr 2015

Earth Day: BAE Systems Strives to Protect the Environment with Cleaner Transit Technology

The observation of Earth Day began 45 years ago and as of 2012, the Earth Day Network registered more than one billion actions in the advance of sustainability. This momentum continues to build toward the next billion actions as people around the world take strides to protect the environment and ensure that future generations grow up in healthy, vital communities. At BAE Systems, we too strive to protect the environment and are playing our part to move toward the next billion actions in advance of sustainability.

24 Apr 2015

New Sustainable Strategies Can Help Farming Adapt to Hotter Conditions

Agriculture can be both a victim and a cause of climate change, say global warming experts. But new sustainable strategies that can help farming adapt to hotter conditions may help reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint too.

24 Apr 2015

Soy Lecithin Offers a Less Toxic Way to Disperse Crude Oil Spills

If you've studied ingredient labels on food packaging, you've probably noticed that soy lecithin is in a lot of products, ranging from buttery spreads to chocolate cake. Scientists have now found a potential new role for this all-purpose substance: dispersing crude oil spills. Their study, which could lead to a less toxic way to clean up these environmental messes, appears in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

24 Apr 2015

Less Expensive, Better Performing Batteries Essential for Reducing Cost of Plug-In Electric Vehicles

Vehicle cost, current battery technology, and inadequate consumer knowledge are some of the barriers preventing widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Developing less expensive, better performing batteries is essential to reducing overall vehicle cost, and a market strategy is needed to create awareness and overcome customer uncertainty. The report recommends a range of incentives that the federal government can offer to address these and other barriers.

24 Apr 2015

Cooper's Hawk Could be the Most Polluted Wild Bird

A Cooper's hawk, found in Greater Vancouver, is the most polluted wild bird that has been found anywhere in the world. A team of Canadian researchers made this startling discovery while analyzing liver samples from birds of prey that were discovered either injured or dead in the Vancouver area.

24 Apr 2015

Several Countries in the Race to Exploit Gas Hydrates

Gas hydrate is also known as the ice that burns. And all that burns releases energy. And a lot of energy is stored in hydrates: a cubic meter of methane hydrate, for example, compresess as much as 168 m3 of the natural gas. And there are gigatonnes of it stored in the sediments of the oceans.

24 Apr 2015

New Method to Calculate Cost-Efficiency of Plug-In Hybrids

Plug-in hybrids have low fuel consumption, but require more costly parts than cars with a regular combustion engine. During development, the optimal cost balance must be calculated, which has been extremely time consuming to date. Now researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed a new method that dramatically reduces the time needed for these calculations.

23 Apr 2015

Market Based and Cost Effective Support Schemes Needed to Support Wind Energy

On 22 April 2015, it is world Earth Day. The idea is to raise awareness of the need to rely on renewable energy. The EU requires its member states to provide a a 27% share of renewable energies by 2030—up from a 23.3% share of the overall electricity generated in Europe in 2012.

23 Apr 2015