http://www.enn.com/ ENN RSS News http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/40162 Two NASA probes are on their way to the moon in the hopes of finding water ice and safe landing sites that could pave the way for the return of astronauts to the lunar surface. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and a piggyback mission called Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) took off at 2132 GMT on Thursday aboard an Atlas V rocket from a launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40160 Besides the obvious benefits they bring, it looks like we owe our very existence to plants, which helped prevent the Earth from freezing over during the past 25 million years. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40158 The US ranks next to last among G8 member countries when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and paving the way toward a clean energy economy, according to a World Wildlife Fund SE-Allianz study released July 1. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40157 Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history—significantly longer lifespans. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40156 The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, according to research published in the July issue of Nature Geoscience. If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile (1.4 kilometers) a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator -- even those that currently enjoy abundant rainfall -- may be drier within decades and starved of freshwater by midcentury or sooner. The prospect of additional warming because of greenhouse gases means that situation could happen even sooner. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40154 The US Environmental Protection Agency today announced the next steps in a coordinated strategy to reduce emissions from ocean-going vessels. EPA is proposing a rule under the Clean Air Act that sets tough engine and fuel standards for U.S. flagged ships that would harmonize with international standards and lead to significant air quality improvements throughout the country. "These emissions are contributing to health, environmental and economic challenges for port communities and others that are miles inland. Building on our work to form an international agreement earlier this year, we’re taking the next steps to reduce significant amounts of harmful pollution from getting into the air we breathe," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Lowering emissions from American ships will help safeguard our port communities, and demonstrate American leadership in protecting our health and the environment around the globe." http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40153 http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40152 The extremely well-preserved remains of a 66-million-year-old hadrosaur, known as a "dinosaur mummy," have just yielded soft-tissue skin structures and organic molecules, according to a new study. While research on other dinosaurs has led to the identification of organic material linked to bones, co-author Roy Wogelius told Discovery News that "this is the first dinosaur to reveal intact skin structure and associated organic molecules." http://www.enn.com/business/article/40151 The current strain of H1N1 influenza, or swine flu, has people scared because it’s a novel virus that most of the population has never been exposed to. But as a group, H1N1 viruses aren’t new. They’ve been circulating since 1918, when a new strain appeared simultaneously in pigs and humans and killed 40 to 50 million people in a single year. Over the past 91 years, the virus has jumped back and forth between humans, pigs and birds — and possibly even been resurrected from a laboratory freezer. Taking a historical view of the swine flu is critical to understanding the current pandemic, and future outbreaks, argue scientists in two perspectives published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40149 The federal government on Monday agreed to put gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region back on the endangered species list — at least temporarily. http://www.enn.com/health/article/40146 For the first time in more than 35 years, EPA has proposed to strengthen the nation’s nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air quality standard that protects public health. http://www.enn.com/energy/article/40145 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced measures on Monday to hasten the development of solar energy on public lands in six western states. Salazar expects to have 13 commercial-scale projects with solar power arrays under construction by the end of 2010. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40144 Dust in the wind is rewriting the cycle of life in the mountains. Throughout memory the warmth of spring has begun the mountain snowmelt, bringing life-giving water to greening plants so they can blossom and renew their species. But now, scientists say, the timing is being thrown off by desert dust stirred as global warming dries larger areas and human activity increases in those regions. http://www.enn.com/energy/article/40143 US President Barack Obama on Sunday expressed his opposition to a provision in the clean energy bill that would impose trade penalties on countries that do not accept limits on global warming pollution, The New York Times reported late Sunday. http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/40141 Staples such as cassava on which millions of people depend become more toxic and produce much smaller yields in a world with higher carbon dioxide levels and more drought. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40140 The Amazon rainforest, one of the planet's most precious and besieged natural resources, is even more fragile than realized. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40139 Desperate to halt the erosion of Louisiana’s coast, officials there are talking about breaking Mississippi River levees south of New Orleans to restore the nourishing flow of muddy water into the state’s marshes. But in a new analysis, scientists at Louisiana State University say inland dams trap so much sediment that the river no longer carries enough to halt marsh loss, especially now that global warming is speeding a rise in sea levels. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40138 Environmental health researchers from UCLA, the University of Southern California and the California Air Resources Board have found that during the hours before sunrise, freeway air pollution extends much further than previously thought. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40136 The Sahara Desert is crossing the Mediterranean, according to Italian environmental protection group Legambiente which warns that the livelihoods of 6.5 million people living along its shores could be at risk. "Desertification isn't limited to Africa," said Legambiente Vice President Sebastiano Venneri. "Without a serious change of direction in economic and environmental policies, the risk will become concrete and irreversible." http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40135 President Barack Obama scored a major victory on Friday when the House of Representatives passed legislation to slash industrial pollution that is blamed for global warming. The Democratic-controlled House passed the climate change bill, a top priority for Obama, by a vote of 219-212. http://www.enn.com/health/article/40134 Swine flu has infected as many as 1 million Americans, U.S. health officials said Thursday, adding that 6 percent or more of some urban populations are infected. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40131 European environment ministers have sidestepped the key emissions reduction strategy of classifying carbon dioxide as a pollutant during consideration of new laws to limit industrial pollution. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40130 The International Whaling Commission may be shifting towards a more conservation-oriented role after backing an ambitious Australian plan for non-lethal whale research. http://www.enn.com/business/article/40128 Recycling industry representatives suggest that the tide is turning, with export demand building up slowly and domestic demand finally stabilizing. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40127 A new regulation adopted today will force more than a dozen California landfills to install equipment that captures methane gas created by decomposing solid waste. The California Air Resources Board’s newly adopted measure will also impact other landfills by forcing them to change their operating practices to reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.