Earth

COLUMBIA, Mo. – More than 20 million tons of plastic are placed in U.S. landfills each year. Results from a new University of Missouri study suggest that some of the largely petroleum-based plastic may soon be replaced by a nonpolluting, renewable plastic made from plants. Reducing the carbon footprint and the dependence on foreign oil, this new 'green' alternative may also provide an additional cash crop for farmers.

By controlling emissions of fossil fuels we may be able to greatly delay the start of the next ice age, new research from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen concludes. The results have been published in the scientific magazine, Geophysical Research Letters.

MADISON — Taking a chemical approach, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into a promising biofuel. The process, which is described in the Wednesday, Feb. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, is unprecedented in its use of untreated, inedible biomass as the starting material.

Boulder, CO, USA - March-April GSA BULLETIN studies include new findings on Mars; flood-driven sedimentation effects on a Kauai coral reef; New Mexico fossil soils and Earth's ancient atmosphere; the rocks of Mount Everest, including the famous Yellow Band carbonate; evidence that sand grains from the ancestral Appalachian belt now make up the scenic cliffs of Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion National Parks on the Colorado Plateau; and metamorphic rocks along the deepest river gorge in the world.

Bethesda, MD (February 10, 2009) – Digestive, liver and pancreatic diseases result in more than 100 million outpatient visits and 13 million hospitalizations annually at a cost of $141.8 billion. A new report commissioned by the National Institutes of Health finds that costs, doctor visits, prescription costs and hospitalizations related to digestive diseases have risen significantly in recent years. The Burden of Digestive Diseases in the United States report is summarized in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

The economy isn't just squeezing the middle class on land, it's also affecting fish.

According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations, researchers discovered a surprising correlation between "middle class" communities in Eastern Africa and low fish levels. Curiously, areas with both low and high socio-economic levels had comparatively higher fish levels.

Scientists have found proof in Bermuda that the planet's sea level was once more than 21 meters (70 feet) higher about 400,000 years ago than it is now. Their findings were published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews Wednesday, Feb. 4.

The cycling of iron throughout the oceans has been an area of intense research for the last two decades. Oceanographers have spent a lot of time studying what has been affectionately labeled the Geritol effect ever since discovering that the lack of iron is a reason why phytoplankton grow lackadaisically in some of the most nutrient-rich surface waters. Just like humans, sometimes the ocean needs a dose of iron to function more effectively.

Iron dust, the rarest nutrient for most marine life, can be washed down by rivers or blown out to sea or--a surprising new study finds--float up from the sea floor in the material spewed from hydrothermal vents.

The discovery, published online Feb. 8, 2009, in a paper in the journal Nature Geoscience, connects life at the surface to events occurring at extreme depths and pressures. The two worlds were long assumed to have little interaction.

SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah biologists discovered that young "right whales" learn from their mothers where to eat, raising concern about their ability to find new places to feed if Earth's changing climate disrupts their traditional dining areas.

"A primary concern is, what are whales going to do with global warming, which may change the location and abundance of their prey?" asks Vicky Rowntree, research associate professor of biology and a coauthor of the new study. "Can they adapt if they learn from their mother where to feed – or will they die?"

Local schools and homes in the small Georgian town of Reepham in Norfolk are taking part in the groundbreaking 12-month trial, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Like two million homes across the UK and Ireland, the properties depend on heating oil for warmth and hot water, and the aim of the UEA trial is to prove that environmentally-friendly renewable heating oil is a viable option.

Iron dust, the rare but necessary nutrient for most life, can not only be washed into the ocean from rivers or blown out to sea, but it can bubble up from the depths of the ocean floor, a new study led by a University of Minnesota scientist shows.

TORONTO, ON – University of Toronto geophysicists have shown that should the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse and melt in a warming world – as many scientists are concerned it will – it is the coastlines of North America and of nations in the southern Indian Ocean that will face the greatest threats from rising sea levels.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – If global warming some day causes the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to collapse, as many experts believe it could, the resulting sea level rise in much of the United States and other parts of the world would be significantly higher than is currently projected, a new study concludes.

TORONTO, ON – University of Toronto geophysicists have shown that should the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse and melt in a warming world – as many scientists are concerned it will – it is the coastlines of North America and of nations in the southern Indian Ocean that will face the greatest threats from rising sea levels.