Nature & Environment : Science World Report

Apr 17, 2012 06:15 AM EDT

Mexico Raises Alert for Popocatepetl Volcano

Mexican authorities raised the alert level for the Popocatepetl volcano near to Mexico City on Monday after it started spewing red-hot fragments of rock.

Apr 17, 2012 06:07 AM EDT

Strong Quake Shakes Chile, No Damage Reported

A powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Chile's eastern port of Valparaiso early on Tuesday, shaking buildings as far away as the capital Santiago, but there were no reports of significant damage and the country's main copper mines were unaffected.

Apr 16, 2012 10:35 AM EDT

Coral Reef Winners and Losers in a Warmer World

There are winners and losers among corals under the accumulating impacts of climate change, according to a new scientific study. In the world's first large-scale investigation of how climate affects the composition of coral reefs, an international team of marine scientists concludes that the pict...

Apr 16, 2012 10:17 AM EDT

Nanosponges Soak up Oil Again and Again

Researchers at Rice University and Penn State University have discovered that adding a dash of boron to carbon while creating nanotubes turns them into solid, spongy, reusable blocks that have an astounding ability to absorb oil spilled in water.

Apr 16, 2012 09:27 AM EDT

Drastic Changes Needed to curb Most Potent Greenhouse Gas

Meat consumption in the developed world needs to be cut by 50 per cent per person by 2050 if we are to meet the most aggressive strategy, set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to reduce one of the most important greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide (N2O).

Apr 16, 2012 07:27 AM EDT

Resurfacing Urban Areas to Offset 150 Billion Tons of CO2

Imagine a world where the rooftops and pavements of every urban area are resurfaced to increase the reflection of the Sun's light rays. Well, this is exactly what a group of Canadian researchers have done in an attempt to measure the potential effects against global warming.

Apr 16, 2012 07:20 AM EDT

Ocean Acidification Linked with Larval Oyster Failure in Hatcheries

Marine researchers have definitively linked the collapse of oyster seed production at a commercial oyster hatchery in Oregon to an increase in ocean acidification.

Apr 16, 2012 06:48 AM EDT

â€œIreneâ€ Retired from List of Atlantic Basin Storm Names

Irene has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical storm names by the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) hurricane committee because of the fatalities and damage it caused in August 2011 and will be replaced by Irma.

Apr 13, 2012 03:37 PM EDT

Scientists Examine a Hot Epoch to Forecast Climate Future

To figure out what is likely to happen to Earth's climate this century, scientists are looking 3 million years into the past.

Apr 13, 2012 10:13 AM EDT

Under Climate Change, Winners and Losers on the Coral Reef

As ocean temperatures rise, some species of corals are likely to succeed at the expense of others, according to a report published online on April 12 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology that details the first large-scale investigation of climate effects on corals.

Apr 13, 2012 09:35 AM EDT

Researchers Call for a New Direction in oil Spill Research

Inadequate knowledge about the effects of deepwater oil well blowouts such as the Deepwater Horizon event of 2010 threatens scientists' ability to help manage and assess comparable events in future, according to an article that a multi-author group of specialists will publish in the May issue of Bio...

Apr 13, 2012 09:25 AM EDT

Volcanic Plumbing Provides Clues on Eruptions and Earthquakes

Two new studies into the "plumbing systems" that lie under volcanoes could bring scientists closer to understanding plate ruptures and predicting eruptions-both of which are important steps for protecting the public from earthquake and volcanic hazards.