Tag: research
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Purdue and Cornell Researchers Reveal Up to 1,000 Times More Methane Emissions Than Estimated
Because natural gas has less carbon than dirty coal, gas producers and even the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have applauded it as a cleaner alternative. Hopefully, a joint study from researchers at two universities will change that. Purdue and Cornell universities on Monday released a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of…
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Parasitic Flatworm Could Decimate Coral Reefs Worldwide
A coral-eating flatworm with a unique camouflaging strategy could be a major threat to the world’s coral reefs, according to researchers in the U.K. The parasite, called Amakusaplana acroporae, infects a type of staghorn coral known as acropora, a major component of reefs, and can destroy its coral host very quickly. [caption id="attachment_330349" align="alignnone" width="500"] Acropora grandis (Staghorn…
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Scientists Discover New Atmospheric Hole Reinforcing Ozone Depletion
Researchers have discovered a large opening in the Earth’s atmosphere that is enabling pollutants to rise into the stratosphere and destroy the ozone layer. [caption id="attachment_329642" align="alignnone" width="500"] Location and extent of low ozone concentrations and thus of the OH hole over the West Pacific. Graphic courtesy of Alfred Wegener Institute[/caption] The hole, which is in a…
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Clean Energy Breakthrough Uses Sun to Create Solar Materials
In a recent advance in solar energy, researchers have discovered a way to tap the sun not only as a source of power, but also to directly produce the solar energy materials that make this possible. [caption id="attachment_329453" align="alignnone" width="500"] The sun could almost be a “one-stop shop” that produces both the materials for solar…
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Deforestation in Sandy Ecosystems Increases Release of CO2
Deforestation may have far greater consequences for climate change in some soils than in others, according to new research led by Yale University scientists—a finding that could provide critical insights into which ecosystems must be managed with extra care because they are vulnerable to biodiversity loss and which ecosystems are more resilient to widespread tree…