Research News
The Research news feed includes stories about new climate change and energy research from research press releases, Nature Publishing Group, and ScienceDaily.
Planes, trains, or automobiles: Travel choices for a smaller carbon footprint
Planes, trains, or automobiles: what's the most climate-friendly way to travel? A new study by researchers from IIASA and CICERO brings better estimates of how much personal travel impacts the climate.
Jet stream changes cause climatically exceptional Greenland Ice Sheet melt
Scientists have shown that unusual changes in atmospheric jet stream circulation caused the exceptional surface melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet in summer 2012.
How useful is fracking anyway? Study explores return of investment
(Wiley) The value of a fuel's long-term usefulness and viability is judged through its energy return on investment; the comparison between the eventual fuel and the energy invested to create it. The energy return on investment study published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology finds that shale gas has a return value which is close to coal.
Submarine springs reveal how coral reefs respond to ocean acidification
(University of California - Santa Cruz) Ocean acidification due to rising carbon dioxide levels will reduce the density of coral skeletons, making coral reefs more vulnerable to disruption and erosion, according to a new study of corals growing where submarine springs naturally lower the pH of seawater.
Polymer-coated catalyst protects 'artificial leaf'
(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) One option is to use the electrical energy generated inside solar cells to split water by means of electrolysis, in the process yielding hydrogen that can be used for a storable fuel.
'Cold snap' 116 million years ago triggered marine ecosystem crisis
A "cold snap" 116 million years ago triggered a similar marine ecosystem crisis to the ones witnessed in the past as a result of global warming, according to new research. The international study confirms the link between global cooling and a crash in the marine ecosystem during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse period.
Global cooling as significant as global warming
(Newcastle University) International study confirms the link between global cooling and a crash in the marine ecosystem similar to that witnessed as a result of global warming.
Noble gases hitch a ride on hydrous minerals
(Brown University) The six noble gases do not normally dissolve into minerals, leaving earth scientists to wonder how they are recycled back into the Earth. Now, researchers at Brown have discovered that the lattice structure of minerals such as amphibole is actually quite capable of dissolving noble gases.
Bushfires in north of Western Australia
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Since Australia is heading into their winter as the northern climates head into summer, the north of Western Australia is ripe for bushfires. Many have already begun as evidenced from this satellite pass by NASA's Aqua satellite which acquired this image with the Moderatete Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard it.
Dramatic loss in snowfall for Los Angeles-area mountains predicted
By midcentury, snowfall on Los Angeles–area mountains will be 30 to 40 percent less than it was at the end of the 20th century, according to a new study.