Here is a welcome tool that is an easily-accessible indicator of your local air quality. How does your air quality compare with that in Beijing?
Visit this post often as the map updates automatically with the latest air quality forecast information.
According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2008 tied with 2001 and 2003 as the fifth warmest July since worldwide records began in 1880.
Elevating the importance of public understanding of science, the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) is building the foundations of 2009 as The Year of Science.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council reports that “. . . [a]phids are emerging as sentinels of climate change . . . One of the UK’s most damaging aphids–the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae)–has been found to be flying two weeks earlier for every 1°C rise in mean temperature for January and February combined.
Yesterday, J. Clarence Davies introduced a new report that while recognizing how nanotechnology is likely to affect most things in our lives—from medicine to agriculture to industrial processes—notes that the next Federal administration must address current shortcomings in nanotechnology oversight.
The National Research Council has released what it calls an Expert Consensus Report from its Committee on Hydrologic Impacts of Forest Management. The report notes that “. . . [m]odifications to forests’ structure and composition
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has reported on a once-abandoned technique that may allow a sophisticated, yet affordable, method to turn ordinary glass into a high-tech solar concentrator.
With support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Scotland Online the Frontlines of Climate Change Forum discloses community-based experiences with climate change impacts, opportunities and adaptation strategies.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced the release of a report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research assessing observed and projected changes in weather and climate extremes in North America and U.S. territories.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a peer-reviewed report (”Preliminary Review of Adaption Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources“) that finds climate change can increase the impact on ecosystems of such traditional stressors as pollution or habitat destruction.
In its next Special Issue, the International Journal of Environment and Pollution has Biomonitoring as its focus. A wide spectrum of techniques, biological monitoring or biomonitoring involves the direct measurement of levels of chemical substances in blood, urine, breast-milk or saliva; and such other tissues as bone, teeth, skin, hair and nails.
The June 13, 2008, issue of Science “. . . examines the future of the world’s forests against a backdrop of climate change and intensifying human activity.
Dr. Susan Solomon has been elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom.
Commenting on Solomon’s achievements, Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and NOAA administrator said, “This is yet another prestigious recognition of the talent and scientific skill of one of NOAA’s exemplary scientists”.
Launched in March, the EPA’s new multimedia portal is a one-stop location for environmental video, audio/podcasts, and photography.
The National Academies has announced its release of the “2008 edition of Understanding and Responding to Climate Change.” The edition highlights findings and recommendations of climate change-related Academies reports.
This is a free booklet designed to give the public a comprehensive and easy-to-read analysis
WaterQualityWatch embodies a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) web resource that allows access to real time water-quality monitoring data collected in surface waters throughout the United States. It is part of the USGS mission to describe national water resources.
Measurements available through WaterWatch include streamflow, water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. These measurements
This week in Nature, scientists report atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) concentration records for the past 800,000 years. Members of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) analyzed gases trapped in ice cores to reconstruct the longest record of CO2 and CH4.
Previous records of these two important greenhouse gases […]
Blackwell Publishing has announced that “Scientists in Italy [and the United States] have discovered a new perspective in the study of infectious disease. Normally, such studies are based upon laboratory work looking at an organism and how it works within the human body.
However, in a recent paper published in Environmental Microbiology, Drs. Carla Pruzzo, Luigi Vezzulli and Rita R Colwell [a member of the Encyclopedia of Earth’s International Advisory Board] studied an environmental bacteria and it’s interaction with the environment and found that this provided them with vast amounts of information about how the organism causes disease.
From the results of a survey, study of agency documents, and interviews the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has released a report that investigates political interference in science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. UCS notes that
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the simple yet profound charge ‘to protect human health and the environment.’ EPA scientists apply their expertise to protect the public from air and water pollution, clean up hazardous waste, and study emerging threats. . .
American Rivers explains that their 2008 report “. . .is more than a warning: it offers solutions and identifies those who have the power to save [rivers].
Each year since 1986, American Rivers and dozens of partners in the river movement have released the America’s Most Endangered Rivers™ report
