Nature & Environment : Science World Report

May 10, 2012 08:56 AM EDT

Climate Scientists Discover New Weak Point of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf fringing the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, may start to melt rapidly in this century and no longer act as a barrier for ice streams draining the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

May 09, 2012 01:47 PM EDT

Biodiversity Loss Ranks with Climate Change and Pollution in Terms of Impacts to Environment

A recent study published by an international research team working at UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) has found that loss of biodiversity impacts the environment as significantly as climate change and pollution. The study, titled, "A global synthesis ...

May 09, 2012 12:11 PM EDT

AGU: Groundwater Pumping Leads to Sea Level Rise, Cancels out Effect of Dams

As people pump groundwater for irrigation, drinking water, and industrial uses, the water doesn't just seep back into the ground - it also evaporates into the atmosphere, or runs off into rivers and canals, eventually emptying into the world's oceans. This water adds up, and a new study calculates t...

May 09, 2012 12:01 PM EDT

GMES in Eastern Europe

As Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme nears its full operational phase, its benefits and economic potential for Eastern Europe came into focus last week at a conference in Bucharest, Romania.

May 09, 2012 10:47 AM EDT

Model Forecasts Long-term Impacts of Forest Land-use Decisions

The drive to develop crops for use as biofuel, continues to raise questions about additional uses of forest land. A cutting edge computer model developed at North Carolina State University offers detailed insight to predict the environmental impact - along with understanding forest ecosystem respons...

May 09, 2012 09:29 AM EDT

Methane Leaking through the Cracks

The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. As Earth's climate warms, that methane is vulnerable to possible release into the atmosphere, where it can add to global warming.

May 09, 2012 09:13 AM EDT

Plastic Trash Altering Ocean Habitats, Scripps Study Shows

A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study led by a graduate student researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

May 09, 2012 09:00 AM EDT

Citizen Backlash Keeps Malaysia Rare Earth Plant on Hold

The expensive machinery lies silent, idling as Malaysia's government weighs a delicate decision to allow shipments of raw material to arrive from Australia and finally start operations at the world's largest rare earths plant outside China.

May 09, 2012 08:19 AM EDT

Scientists Explore an Ancient Network of Rivers and Lakes in the Arabian Desert

Satellite images have revealed that a network of ancient rivers once coursed their way through the sand of the Arabian Desert, leading scientists to believe that the region experienced wetter periods in the past. The images are the starting point for a major potentially ground-breaking research proj...

May 09, 2012 06:19 AM EDT

Wettest April Since 1767 According to UKâ€™s Longest Rainfall Dataset

Last month was the wettest April on record, according to data from the UK's longest running rainfall data collection station. Although April 2012 was widely reported to be the wettest drought this century, it is likely to be the wettest April in Oxford for almost 250 years

May 08, 2012 02:23 PM EDT

University of Pittsburgh Geologists Map Prehistoric Climate Changes in Canada's Yukon Territory

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have joined an international group of scientists to study past climate changes in the Arctic. Comprising geologists from Pitt's Department of Geology and Planetary Science, the team h

May 08, 2012 10:22 AM EDT

Analysis of Speed of Greenland Glaciers Gives New Insight for Rising Sea Level

Changes in the speed that ice travels in more than 200 outlet glaciers indicates that Greenland's contribution to rising sea level in the 21st century could be significantly less than the upper limits some scientists thought possible.