ENN Twitter
Sci/tech
Tiny Bubbles Used to Clean Oil-Contaminated Water and Soil
November 16, 2009 12:32 PM - Vanessa L. Bourlier, ENN
According to a recently published article in the journal Chemosphere, an inexpensive new method has been developed at the University of Utah to remove oil sheen from polluted water by repeatedly pressurizing and depressurizing ozone gas, creating microscopic bubbles that attack the oil so it can be removed by sand filters.
A National Security Perspective on Climate Change
November 16, 2009 06:48 AM - Thomas Schueneman, Global Warming is Real
One key aspect of the discussion this week at the Transatlantic Media Dialog — part of the ongoing effort of climate and energy cooperation began earlier this years as the "Transatlantic Climate Bridge" was the issue of perception. Specifically how climate change and climate policy is perceived in the US and EU, as well as across the globe. A key conclusion was that climate change is indeed a threat to America's national security, and key to that finding is the conclusion that global warming is a "threat multiplier" for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world, and that such volatility will reach even the most stable regions due to the tensions caused by climate change.
Electric Cars Face Obstacles to Consumer Acceptance
November 13, 2009 09:32 AM - Anne Paine, The Tennessean , Environmental Health News
Nashville is one of a handful of cities in the U.S. targeted to become an early focal point for electric vehicles, as Nissan plans to start production of a battery-powered car in Smyrna by 2012 and a program is launched to build a network of recharging stations. But getting to the point where electric vehicles are common will take time and work, said Joe Hoagland, TVA's vice president for environmental policy, science and technology.
Greenland Ice is Melting — Faster and Faster!
November 12, 2009 04:13 PM - Roger Greenway, ENN
A new paper, by scientists of Utrecht University, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, in collaboration with colleagues from the Netherlands Royal Meteorological Institute, Delft University of Technology, Bristol University (UK) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA) was published in Science recently. The work used the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model to calculate surface processes over Greenland, satellite radar measurements to determine iceberg production and ice sheet mass loss from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Mission (GRACE) satellites.
Brown Pelicans Recover from DDT, no longer Endangered
November 12, 2009 06:31 AM - Roger Greenway, ENN
Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton announced that the brown pelican, a species once decimated by the pesticide DDT, has recovered and is being removed from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
CO2 Emissions are not Changing the Ratio of Airborne CO2 to that taken up by the Oceans and Plants
November 11, 2009 03:14 PM - Roger Greenway, ENN
The University of Bristol in the UK has published a study based not on climate modeling, but on statistical analysis of data including historical data from Antarctic ice cores. The study shows that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb CO2 than had been previously expected.
October Third Coolest, Wettest on Record, Across US
November 11, 2009 07:00 AM - Roger Greenway, ENN
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that, on average, the mainland US (excluding Alaska) was the third coolest on record, and the records go back to 1895 at some stations. Average temperatures were 4.0 degrees F below the long term average. Rainfall average was 4.15, twice the long term average of 2.04 inches.
Glacier Retreat in Antarctica Has Unexpected Benefit
November 10, 2009 06:53 AM - Roger Greenway, ENN
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has been studying glaciers in Antarctica, looking at their reducing surface area. As the glaciers retreat, more open water is exposed, and lead author of a new study, Professor Lloyd Peck of the BAS found that large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonization is having a beneficial impact on climate change. The phytoplankton blooms are relatively short lived, and as they die back, phytoplankton sinks to the sea-bed where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years.
Not Science Fiction: Solar Power to be Zapped From Space By Lasers
November 9, 2009 10:59 AM - Huw Borland, Sky News Online , Environmental Health News
Japan is aiming to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth using laser beams or microwave.
Midwest Weather Looks Good for Harvest
November 7, 2009 09:45 AM - Reuters
U.S. Midwest weather is seen mostly dry through the next week, ideal for the corn and soybean harvest, a forecaster said on Friday. "This is outstanding weather. Considering the time of the year, this is about as good as you're going to get," said Mike Palmerino with DTN Meteorlogix.