Old houses and vacant lots may not look like much to the naked eye, but to some, the site is better than gold. Excavations over the years can create a challenge to study what's left behind and often appears as if dirt and debris ended up mixed in a blender then pressed by a giant trash compactor.
An analysis of 35 headwater basins in the United States and Canada found that the impact of warmer air temperatures on streamflow rates was less than expected in many locations, suggesting that some ecosystems may be resilient to certain aspects of climate change.
As global temperatures rise, the most threatened ecosystems are those that depend on a season of snow and ice, scientists from the nation's Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network say."The vulnerability of cool, wet areas to climate change is striking," says Julia Jones, a lead author in a special issue of the journal BioScience released today featuring results from more than 30 years of LTER, a program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Producing hydrogen from non-fossil fuel sources is a problem that continues to elude many scientists but University of Delaware’s Erik Koepf thinks he may have discovered a solution.
Many Christians give up certain foods for Lent, however ecologists have discovered these changes in human diet have a dramatic impact on the diet of wild animals.
Clever, inexpensive design can cut the energy used in new homes by up to 80 percent, says a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher.
USGS scientists have developed a new method for mapping grasslands that demonstrate high potential for biofuel crops with relatively little energy input and environmental impact.
A new study published in Conservation Letters aims to measure whether parks and reserves in the tropics succeed in protecting forests.
Almost all the sediment-associated chemical concentrations found in 131 of the nation's rivers that drain to the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts are lower than worldwide averages, according to a new study by the USGS.
The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) released a synthesis of reports from thousands of scientists in 60 countries who took part in the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08, the first in over 50 years to offer a benchmark for environmental conditions and new discoveries in the polar regions.
Ecosystems today face various threats, from climate change to invasive species to encroaching civilization. If we hope to protect these systems and the species that live in them, we must understand them — an extremely difficult and time-consuming task, given the world's seemingly endless number of ecosystems, each with its own complex dynamics and relationships.
Midtown Manhattan is red hot; Greenpoint a cool yellow and beige. It’s all a matter of energy: A new interactive, color-coded map created by a team at Columbia’s engineering school allows viewers to pinpoint and compare estimated energy usage, building lot by building lot, throughout New York City.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and partners signed an agreement this month that will safeguard some 80,000 acres of intact forest in Guatemala in the heart of the sprawling Maya Biosphere Reserve. Home to jaguars, macaws, pumas and various wildlife, the protected land will continue to serve as a safe haven to all inhabitants.
Researchers, including plant researchers from the University of Copenhagen, have developed a new type of the corn-like crop sorghum, which may become very significant for food supplies in drought-prone areas.
Starting with the arrival of Polynesian settlers in the fourth century, and peaking in the mid-1800s, the destructive forces of wildfires and pests and the grazing of feral pigs, goats, and cattle reduced the native forests of Maui, Hawaii, to just a tenth of their original extent.
To alter natural waterways is to take a serious risk of endangering species living on the entire length of a river. In a joint project, scientists from EPFL, EAWAG and Princeton University have modeled the flow of organisms living along river networks. Their research will be published this week in the journal PNAS.
Agency approves first applications for registration of ethanol to make E15.
An international research team is reporting the results of a research cruise they organized to study the amount, spread, and impacts of radiation released into the ocean from the tsunami-crippled reactors in Fukushima, Japan.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a total of $441,860 in grants to fund projects in New Jersey and New York that protect people’s health and the environment by preventing pollution.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cited Crespo Realty, Inc. , of Flushing, N.Y., for allegedly violating a federal law requiring the company to disclose information on lead-based paint hazards to tenants renting four Reading, Pa. properties.