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Allowing Natural Erosion Could Reduce Impact of Flooding Due to Rising Sea Levels

A study involving a scientist from the University of Southampton, which shows that ensuring continued flood protection for low lying coastal areas may mean sacrificing cliff top communities to the sea, has won the 2012 Lloyds Science of Risk prize for Climate Change research.

4 Dec 2012

Active Bacteria Found in Salty, Dark, Cold, Isolated Ecosystem within Antarctic Ice

Shedding light on the limits of life in extreme environments, scientists have discovered abundant and diverse metabolically active bacteria in the brine of an Antarctic lake sealed under more than 65 feet of ice.

27 Nov 2012

Elemo Program Delivers Preliminary Results on Pollution in Lake Geneva

One year after the MIR submersibles dove into the depths of Lake Geneva, the elemo program is delivering its first scientific results. And with the support of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, the operation will be extended with a campaign to make observations above the lake surface from a sensor-packed ultralight aircraft. The same experiments are planned above Lake Baikal in Russia.

22 Nov 2012

EPA's Draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment Report Found Inadequate

Late last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final judgment of a panel of independent experts retained to review its work to date on the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment (BBWA), in a report entitled 'External Peer Review of EPA's Draft Document: An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska."

16 Nov 2012

Scientists Study Hurricane Sandy’s Effects to Better Predict Environmental Impact of Future Storms

Beneath the 20-foot waves that crested off Delaware’s coast during Hurricane Sandy, thrashing waters reshaped the floor of the ocean, churning up fine sand and digging deep ripples into the seabed. Fish, crustaceans and other marine life were blasted with sand as the storm sculpted new surfaces underwater.

16 Nov 2012

Global Warming May Cause Severe Failures of Indian Monsoon

Global warming could cause frequent and severe failures of the Indian summer monsoon in the next two centuries, new research suggests.

6 Nov 2012

Global Warming Affected Recovery of Species after Mass Extinction

Researchers have discovered why plants and animals had a hard time recovering from the largest mass extinction in Earth's history 250 million years ago.

6 Nov 2012

Plants Themselves Degrade Fragile Dryland Ecosystems into Deserts

Research into how fragile dryland ecosystems degrade into deserts has revealed that the transition from grasslands to desert shrubs may be reinforced by the plants themselves.

3 Nov 2012

Geoscience Experts to Discuss the Impacts of Rapid Sea-Level Rise

In response to the devastation caused last week by Hurricane Sandy, organizers of the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting technical sessions on rapid sea-level rise and its impacts have created a break-out discussion panel consisting of geoscience experts.

3 Nov 2012

Study Heightens Concerns for Sustainability of Pacific Shark Populations

Research published today in the journal Conservation Biology presents the most comprehensive assessment of the status of Pacific shark populations to date.

1 Nov 2012