ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Models predict where lemurs will go as climate warms Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:19 PM PST Climate change is likely to leave a lot of lemurs looking for new places to live on their island home of Madagascar. A new study predicts where lemurs are likely to seek refuge as temperatures rise between now and 2080. The researchers identified three areas on the island that will be particularly important for lemurs in the future, as well as key corridors that will allow lemurs to reach these areas from their current spots.

Understanding forces of abrupt climate change Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:16 PM PST Research of Africa's Lake Bosumtwi sediments provides insights into abrupt climate change, scientists say. The lake samples were obtained by drilling 1,000 feet to the lake's bottom and another 1,000 feet into the meteor impact structure. The sediments span 1-million years but the paper focused on the past 20,000 years.

Gear technology helps lower cost of wave energy farming Posted: 18 Feb 2015 06:21 AM PST A Swedish company has cracked the challenge of scaling up wave energy, with the help of new technology. CorPower Ocean's new wave energy system, which uses a gearbox design, generates five times more energy per ton of device, at one third of the cost when compared to competing state-of-the art technologies. Energy output is three to four times higher than traditional wave power systems.

Eco-composites, a solution for residual agricultural plastics Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:32 AM PST Researchers have carried out a study research that enables to recover agricultural plastic waste and turns them into new materials with higher added value, low price and improved recyclability. This would reduce the environmental impact generated by agricultural waste.