Nature & Environment : Science World Report

Apr 24, 2012 04:52 PM EDT

Do Urban 'Heat Islands' Hint at Trees of Future?

City streets can be mean, but somewhere near Brooklyn, a tree grows far better than its country cousins, due to chronically elevated city heat levels, says a new study.

Apr 24, 2012 04:04 PM EDT

Reno GPS Technology Used for NASA Quake Monitoring Test

GPS technology developed and implemented at the University of Nevada, Reno will be the centerpiece of a major test this year by NASA to pinpoint the location and magnitude of strong earthquakes along the West Coast of the United States. The project was announced by NASA today.

Apr 24, 2012 12:45 PM EDT

Geophysicists Employ Novel Method to Identify Sources of Global Sea Level Rise

As the Earth's climate warms, a melting ice sheet produces a distinct and highly non-uniform pattern of sea-level change, with sea level falling close to the melting ice sheet and rising progressively farther away. The pattern for each ice sheet is unique and is known as its sea level fingerprint. N...

Apr 24, 2012 10:05 AM EDT

Northern Canada Feels the Heat â€“ Climate Change Impact on Permafrost Zones

Permafrost zones extend over 50% of Canada's land area. Warming or thawing of permafrost due to climate change could significantly impact existing infrastructure and future development in Canada's north.

Apr 24, 2012 09:45 AM EDT

NASA's New Satellite Picture of 1 Week's Ash Activity from Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano

Satellites continue to provide a look at the ash and gas clouds being emitted from Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano. NASA has animated imagery from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite to provide a week long look at the volcano's activity.

Apr 24, 2012 06:36 AM EDT

Latest CryoSat Result about Artic Ice Revealed

After nearly a year and a half of operations, CryoSat has yielded its first seasonal variation map of Arctic sea-ice thickness. Results from ESA's ice mission were presented today at the Royal Society in London.

Apr 23, 2012 05:12 PM EDT

Palms Reveal the Significance of Climate Change for Tropical Biodiversity

Scientists at Aarhus University have spearheaded research results that shed new light on the processes forming the composition of species assemblages in the tropics.

Apr 23, 2012 05:05 PM EDT

Bark Beetle Management and Ecology in Southern Pine Forests

Periodic outbreaks of bark beetles can cause annual losses of millions of dollars and pose serious challenges for forest managers, and the suppression of outbreaks is particularly difficult and expensive.

Apr 23, 2012 04:35 PM EDT

Researchers Find Mechanism that Gives Plants 'Balance'

When a plant goes into defense mode in order to protect itself against harsh weather or disease, that's good for the plant, but bad for the farmer growing the plant. Bad because when a plant acts to defend itself, it turns off its growth mechanism.

Apr 23, 2012 03:29 PM EDT

Research Is Ensuring Stormwater Systems Are Designed for the Future

In a world of changing weather and rainfall patterns, engineers face challenges when designing stormwater management systems.

Apr 23, 2012 12:23 PM EDT

Study Finds Surprising Arctic Methane Emission Source

The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. As Earth's climate warms, the methane, frozen in reservoirs stored in Arctic tundra soils or marine sediments, is vulnerable to being released into the atmosphere, where it can add to glob...

Apr 23, 2012 11:05 AM EDT

Looking Inside the Earth

Defects found in rocks below the Earth's surface have a major impact on the transmission of seismic waves, such as those caused by earthquakes, researchers at The Australian National University have discovered.