Energy-saving powder
It is currently estimated that natural gas resources will be exhausted in 130 years; however, those reserves where extraction is cost-effective will only flow for another 60 years or so. view more (2009-11-12)
Interactions with aerosols boost warming potential of some gases
For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances -- notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles -- that affect Earth's climate. view more (2009-10-30)
Caltech researchers reveal unexpected sources of nitrogen fixation
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have identified an unexpected metabolic ability within a symbiotic community of microorganisms that may help solve a lingering mystery about the world's nitrogen-cycling budget. view more (2009-10-16)
Arctic land and seas account for up to 25 percent of world's carbon sink
In a new study in the journal Ecological Monographs, ecologists estimate that Arctic lands and oceans are responsible for up to 25 percent of the global net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide. view more (2009-10-15)
Coal-mining hazard resembles explosive volcanic eruption, study shows
Worldwide, thousands of workers die every year from mining accidents, and instantaneous coal outbursts in underground mines are among the major killers. But although scientists have been investigating coal outbursts for more than 150 years, the precise mechanism is still unknown. view more (2009-10-01)
Denver to Barcelona: Global cities and greenhouse gas emissions
Denver released the largest amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) and Barcelona the smallest amount in a new study documenting how differences in climate, population density and other factors affect GHG emissions in global cities. view more (2009-09-24)
Stressed crops emit more methane than thought
Scientists at the University of Calgary have found that methane emission by plants could be a bigger problem in global warming than previously thought. view more (2009-08-18)
Warming ocean contributes to global warming
The warming of an Arctic current over the last 30 years has triggered the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from methane hydrate stored in the sediment beneath the seabed. view more (2009-08-17)
Mars, methane and mysteries
Mars may not be as dormant as scientists once thought. The 2004 discovery of methane means that either there is life on Mars, or that volcanic activity continues to generate heat below the martian surface. view more (2009-08-10)
Surface features on Titan form like Earth's, but with a frigid twist
"It is really surprising how closely Titan's surface resembles Earth's," says Rosaly Lopes, a planetary geologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, who is presenting the results on Friday, 7 August. view more (2009-08-07)
Earth's biogeochemical cycles, once in concert, falling out of sync
What do the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone," global climate change, and acid rain have in common? They're all a result of human impacts to Earth's biology, chemistry and geology, and the natural cycles that involve all three. view more (2009-08-04)
Hydrocarbons in the deep Earth?
The oil and gas that fuels our homes and cars started out as living organisms that died, were compressed, and heated under heavy layers of sediments in the Earth's crust. Scientists have debated for years whether some of these hydrocarbons could also have been created deeper in the Earth and formed without organic matter. view more (2009-07-27)
Methane-eating microbes can use iron and manganese oxides to 'breathe'
Iron and manganese compounds, in addition to sulfate, may play an important role in converting methane to carbon dioxide and eventually carbonates in the Earth's oceans, according to a team of researchers looking at anaerobic sediments. view more (2009-07-10)
Rampant helper syndrome
The Archaea are single-celled organisms and a domain unto themselves, quite apart from the so called eukaryotes, being bacteria and higher organisms. view more (2009-07-06)
Nickel isotope may be methane producing microbe biomarker
Nickel, an important trace nutrient for the single cell organisms that produce methane, may be a useful isotopic marker to pinpoint the past origins of these methanogenic microbes, according to Penn State and University of Bristol, UK, researchers. view more (2009-06-23)
Milk goes 'green': Today's dairy farms use less land, feed and water
Dairy genetics, nutrition, herd management and improved animal welfare over the past 60 years have resulted in a modern milk production system that has a smaller carbon footprint than mid-20th century farming practices. view more (2009-06-11)
Spring agricultural fires have large impact on melting Arctic
Scientists from around the world will convene at the University of New Hampshire June 2-5, 2009, to discuss key findings from the most ambitious effort ever undertaken to measure "short-lived" airborne pollutants in the Arctic and determine how they contribute in the near term to the dramatic changes underway in the vast,... view more... (2009-05-27)
Researchers find way to cut cattle methane, threat to environment, by 25 percent
Beef farmers can breathe easier thanks to University of Alberta researchers who have developed a formula to reduce methane gas in cattle. view more (2009-05-08)
Landfill Cover Soil Methane Oxidation Underestimated
Landfilled waste decomposes in the absence of oxygen and results in the production of methane. Landfills are classified as the second-largest human-made source of CH4 in the U.S. Additionally, landfill gas contains numerous non-methane hydrocarbons that are either volatilized directly from waste materials or produced through biochemical reactions... view more... (2009-04-28)
Wetlands likely source of methane from ancient warming event
An expansion of wetlands and not a large-scale melting of frozen methane deposits is the likely cause of a spike in atmospheric methane gas that took place some 11,600 years ago, according to an international research team led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. view more (2009-04-24)
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