Environment

Diazotrophs- The Engine That Powers Tropical Atlantic's Carbon Capture

Nutrients from the Amazon River spread well beyond the continental shelf and drive carbon capture in the deep ocean, according to the authors of a multi-year study. The finding does not change estimates of the oceans' total carbon uptake, but it revea ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 21 2008 - 5:43pm

Environmental Factors Impact Sex Ratios In Plants

Environmental factors can transform the ratio of females to males in plant populations according to new research out of the University of Toronto. The study conducted by Ivana Stehlik, a lecturer, Jannice Friedman, a PhD candidate, and Spencer Barrett, a ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 22 2008 - 4:07pm

Ancient Ostracods Fossil Shows Antarctica Was Once Much Warmer

A new fossil discovery, the first of its kind from the whole of the Antarctic continent, provides scientists with new evidence to support the theory that the polar region was once much warmer. The discovery by an international team of scientists was publis ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 22 2008 - 6:46pm

Titanium: A Greener Antiwear Additive For Engine Oil?

Modern engine oil is a complex, highly engineered lubricating mixture, up to 20 percent of which may be special additives to enhance properties such as viscosity and stability and to reduce sludge formation and engine wear. For years antiwear additives for ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 22 2008 - 11:47pm

Global Warming And Evolution In The Amazon

The results of a new study suggest that past climate changes and sea level fluctuations may have promoted the formation of new species in the Amazon region of South America. The Amazon basin is home to the richest diversity of life on earth- some place had ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 23 2008 - 10:04am

Will Conservation Work If Wealthy Nations Pay?

Wealthy nations willing to collectively spend about $1 billion annually could prevent the emission of roughly half a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year for the next 25 years, says a new study. It would take about that much money to put an end t ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 23 2008 - 3:44pm

Yayyy Bad Weather: The Carbon Sequestration Benefit Of Typhoons

Bring on the bad weather. A single typhoon in Taiwan buries as much carbon in the ocean (in the form of sediment) as all the other rains in that country all year long- combined. The study published in Geology the first to examine the chemistry of stream wa ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 24 2008 - 10:00am

Greenhouse Earth- No Ice In Antarctica 40 Million Years Ago

A snapshot of New Zealand's climate 40 million years ago reveals a greenhouse Earth, with warmer seas and little or no ice in Antarctica, according to research published this week in the journal Geology. The study suggests that Antarctica at that time ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 28 2008 - 9:22am

Are Conservationists Just Egotistical?

Do volunteers who take part in conservation efforts do it for the wildlife they are trying to protect or just to impress their friends and because they like the way wildlife looks on their property? A University of Alberta case study says it is not altruis ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 10 2008 - 1:57am

Extinction Threats Worsened By Humans, Says Study

Amphibians, reigning survivors of past mass extinctions, are sending a clear, unequivocal signal that something is wrong, as their extinction rates rise to unprecedented levels, according to a paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of S ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 11 2008 - 11:27pm