EurekAlert

(University of Georgia) The sun provides the most abundant source of energy on the planet. However, only a tiny fraction of the solar radiation on Earth is converted into useful energy.

(Cell Press) Coral reefs are in decline, but their collapse can still be avoided with local and global action. That's according to findings reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 9 based on an analysis that combines the latest science on reef dynamics with the latest climate models.

(National Science Foundation) The Arctic was very warm during a period roughly 3.5 to 2 million years ago -- a time when research suggests that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was roughly comparable to today's -- leading to the conclusion that relatively small fluctuations in carbon dioxide levels can have a major influence on Arctic climate, according to a new analysis of the

(Case Western Reserve University) The water found on the moon, like that on Earth, came from small meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites in the first 100 million years or so after the solar system formed, researchers from Brown and Case Western Reserve universities and Carnegie Institution of Washington have found.

(University of Massachusetts at Amherst) "While existing geologic records from the Arctic contain important hints about this time period, we are presenting the most continuous archive of information about past climate change from the entire Arctic borderlands.

(University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences) Bioenergy crops, such as Miscanthus and switchgrass, appear to be promising resources for renewable energy, but these new crops did not come with a manual on how to measure details on their sustainability impacts.

(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Steelmaking, a major emitter of climate-altering gases, could be transformed by a new process developed at MIT.

(British Antarctic Survey) While the impact of climate change on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet has been widely studied, a clear understanding of the key process of iceberg production has eluded researchers for many years.

(University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna) At the current temperatures, all hibernators have probably emerged from their winter hibernation and are enjoying the warm weather. However, this is quite different during the cold season.

(National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) The National Center for Atmospheric Research, building on a pioneering wind energy forecasting system that saved millions of dollars for Xcel Energy ratepayers in eight states, has entered into a new agreement with the utility for even more sophisticated weather forecasts to increase the reliability o