ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

Why climate change is driving some to skip having kids

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 01:00 PM PDT

A new study finds that overconsumption, overpopulation and uncertainty about the future are among the top concerns of those who say climate change is affecting their reproductive decision-making.

Carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in ancient meteorite

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:12 PM PDT

Scientists detect small pockets of carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in a meteorite dating from the early solar system.

Air pollution data in five Chinese cities: Local vs. U.S. monitoring stations

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:12 PM PDT

When air quality in China is poor, locally reported air pollution measurements diverge from U.S. embassy-reported measurements more than would be expected by random chance, finds an analysis of air pollution data from five large Chinese cities.

Mice master complex thinking with a remarkable capacity for abstraction

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

Categorization is the brain's tool to organize nearly everything we encounter in our daily lives. Grouping information into categories simplifies our complex world and helps us to react quickly and effectively to new experiences. Scientists have now shown that also mice categorize surprisingly well. The researchers identified neurons encoding learned categories and thereby demonstrated how abstract information is represented at the neuronal level.

Central African forests are unequally vulnerable to global change

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

An international study reveals the composition of the tropical forests of Central Africa and their vulnerability to the increased pressure from climate change and human activity expected in the coming decades. Thanks to an exceptional dataset - an inventory of over 6 million trees across five countries - the researchers have produced the first continuous maps of the floristic and functional composition of these forests, allowing them to identify the most vulnerable areas.

Climate 'tipping points' need not be the end of the world

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

The disastrous consequences of climate 'tipping points' could be averted if global warming was reversed quickly enough, new research suggests.

Wildfire smoke linked to skin disease

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

Wildfire smoke can trigger a host of respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms, ranging from runny nose and cough to a potentially life-threatening heart attack or stroke. A new study suggests that the dangers posed by wildfire smoke may also extend to the largest organ in the human body, and our first line of defense against outside threat: the skin.

In calculating the social cost of methane, equity matters

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

A new study reports that the social cost of methane - a greenhouse gas that is 30 times as potent as carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat - varies by as much as an order of magnitude between industrialized and developing regions of the world.

To design truly compostable plastic, scientists take cues from nature

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

Scientists have designed an enzyme-activated compostable plastic that could diminish microplastics pollution. Household tap water or soil composts break the hybrid plastic material down to reusable small molecules, called monomers, in just a few days or weeks.

Freshwater salt pollution threatens ecosystem health and human water security

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT

Drivers of freshwater salt pollution such as de-icers on roads and parking lots, water softeners, and wastewater and industrial discharges further threaten freshwater ecosystem health and human water security.

Solar panels are contagious - but in a good way

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT

The number of solar panels within shortest distance from a house is the most important factor in determining the likelihood of that house having a solar panel, when compared with a host of socio-economic and demographic variables. This is shown in a new study by scientists using satellite and census data of the city of Fresno in the US, and employing machine learning.

Unexpected presence of great white sharks in Gulf of California

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT

A new study suggests the white shark population for the eastern north Pacific, especially those listed in the Gulf of California, might be underestimated. Researchers found that the mortality rates for these white sharks might be underestimated as well, as an illicit fishery for the species was uncovered in the Gulf of California, suggesting that fishers were killing many more white sharks than has been previously understood.

Camera traps find endangered dryas monkeys

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 06:25 AM PDT

The Endangered dryas monkey is one of Africa's most mysterious primates. They are difficult to find because they live in dense vegetation in secondary forest thickets. Using non-invasive research and no-flash camera traps from 2014 to 2019, scientists have confirmed the occurrence of the dryas monkey at seven locations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo spanning a total area of 3,453 square kilometers, based on opportunistic reports provided by local village residents and park patrols.

Energy unleashed by submarine volcanoes could power a continent

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:29 AM PDT

Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to new research.

Complexity of microplastic pollution

Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:28 AM PDT

Microplastics -- small plastic pieces less than 5 millimeters in length -- are ubiquitous in the environment, and they can have significant effects on wildlife. A new study reveals that there are multiple impacts of different microplastics -- with varying sizes, shapes, and chemical makeup -- to the survival, growth, and development of larval fathead minnows, an important prey species in lakes and rivers in North America.