Nature & Environment : Science World Report

Mar 19, 2012 04:01 PM EDT

'Gravity Is Climate' - 10 Years of Climate Research Satellites GRACE

For the first time, the melting of glaciers in Greenland could now be measured with high accuracy from space. Just in time for the tenth anniversary of the twin satellites GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) a sharp image has surface, which also renders the spatial distribution of the gl...

Mar 19, 2012 02:17 PM EDT

Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as much as 70 Feet for Future Generations

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends, future generations will have to deal with sea levels 12 to 22 meters (40 to 70 feet) higher than at present, according to research published in the journal G...

Mar 19, 2012 10:43 AM EDT

Study Shows Air Emissions near Fracking Sites May Impact Health

In a new study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health have shown that air pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing or fracking may contribute to acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural gas drilling sites.

Mar 19, 2012 06:56 AM EDT

Pollution the Big Barrier to Freer Trade in Rare Earths

Tackling pollution, not freeing up trade, is regarded as the solution to a global shortage of rare earths, the metals that are the building blocks of the 21st century.

Mar 19, 2012 06:50 AM EDT

Natural Gas Pain Is Oil's Gain as frack Crews Head to North Dakota

Collapsing natural gas prices have yielded an unexpected boon for North Dakota's shale oil bonanza, easing a shortage of fracking crews that had tempered the biggest U.S. oil boom in a generation.

Mar 18, 2012 01:35 PM EDT

Mesquite Trees Displacing Southwestern Grasslands

As the desert Southwest becomes hotter and drier, semi-arid grasslands are slowly being replaced by a landscape dominated by mesquite trees, such as Prosopis velutina, and other woody shrubs, a team of University of Arizona researchers has found.

Mar 17, 2012 04:59 PM EDT

Regulator to Update Environmental Study on Reactor near NYC

Nuclear regulators plan to issue a new environmental report for Entergy Corp's Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York to update potential impacts on aquatic life in the Hudson River.

Mar 17, 2012 04:39 PM EDT

IAEA: "Significant" Nuclear Growth Despite Fukushima

Global use of nuclear energy could increase by as much as 100 percent in the next two decades on the back of growth in Asia, even though groundbreakings for new reactors fell last year after the Fukushima disaster, a U.N. report says.

Mar 17, 2012 04:32 PM EDT

Fracking did not Pollute Water near Homes: U.S.

A first round of tests showed no evidence that water at 11 homes in a small town in Pennsylvania near natural gas drilling operations had been polluted to unhealthy levels, U.S. environmental regulators said on Thursday.

Mar 17, 2012 04:21 PM EDT

France Restores Ban on GMO Maize Crops

France set a temporary new ban on the cultivation of Monsanto's MON810 genetically modified maize on Friday, after a previous moratorium was annulled by the country's top court in November.

Mar 17, 2012 03:59 PM EDT

Europe's Chief Scientist Warns Against Climate Delays

The European Union cannot use the economic slowdown as an excuse to delay action on fighting climate change, the bloc's first-ever chief scientific adviser has warned.

Mar 16, 2012 03:04 PM EDT

Building the European Union's Natura 2000 -- the Largest ever Network of Protected Areas

The European Union's Habitats Directive is now 20 years old, and its network of protected areas, known as Natura 2000, is nearing completion. After a slow start, the network now includes some 26 000 protected sites and covers approximately 18% of the EU's land surface as well as significant areas of...