ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Felling of tropical trees has soared, satellite shows, not slowed as UN study found Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:18 PM PST The rate at which tropical forests were cut, burned or otherwise lost from the 1990s through the 2000s accelerated by 62 percent, according to a new study which dramatically reverses a previous estimate of a 25 percent slowdown over the same period.

First direct observation of carbon dioxide's increasing greenhouse effect at Earth's surface Posted: 25 Feb 2015 10:21 AM PST Scientists have observed an increase in carbon dioxide's greenhouse effect at Earth's surface for the first time. They measured atmospheric carbon dioxide's increasing capacity to absorb thermal radiation emitted from Earth's surface over an 11-year period at two locations in North America. They attributed this upward trend to rising carbon dioxide levels from fossil fuel emissions.

New technology could make treatment of oil and gas wastewater simpler, cheaper Posted: 25 Feb 2015 09:27 AM PST Oil and gas operations in the United States produce about 21 billion barrels of wastewater per year. The saltiness of the water and the organic contaminants it contains have traditionally made treatment difficult and expensive.

Cellular communication offers easy fog detection for roads and runways Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:44 AM PST Thick fogbanks can blanket open roads and runways and dramatically reduce visibility -- often causing devastating accidents. A new study suggests that a practical solution to fog detection can be found in cellular communication networks already in place all over the world.

Learning by eye: Silicon micro-funnels increase the efficiency of solar cells Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:44 AM PST A biological structure in mammalian eyes has inspired scientists to design an inorganic counterpart for use in solar cells: micron-sized vertical funnels were etched shoulder-to-shoulder in a silicon substrate. Using mathematical models and experiments, they tested how these kind of funnel arrays collect incident light and conduct it to the active layer of a silicon solar cell. Their result: this arrangement of funnels increases photo absorption by about 65 percent in a thin-film solar cell.

Electric-car driving range and emissions depend on where you live Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:43 AM PST Many car buyers weighing whether they should go all electric to help the planet have at least one new factor to consider before making the switch: geography. Based on a study of a commercially available electric car, scientists report that emissions and driving range can vary greatly depending on regional energy sources and climate.

Magnetic nanoparticles enhance performance of solar cells Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:43 AM PST Magnetic nanoparticles can increase the performance of solar cells made from polymers -- provided the mix is right. Adding about one per cent of such nanoparticles by weight makes the solar cells more efficient, according to new findings.

Researchers enable solar cells to use more sunlight Posted: 25 Feb 2015 06:41 AM PST Scientists report progress in photovoltaic research: they have improved a component that will enable solar cells to use more energy of the sun and thus create a higher current.

Being better problem solvers helps mountain chickadees survive at higher altitudes Posted: 25 Feb 2015 06:41 AM PST Being better problem solvers helps mountain chickadees survive at higher altitudes. Living on harsh, unforgiving icy mountains can make one mentally sharper, and this applies to birds as well. That's what biologists learned after finding that mountain chickadees that live at higher altitudes are better problem solvers than birds of this species hailing from lower regions.

Fitting meters has immediate effect on consumers' water saving habits Posted: 25 Feb 2015 05:28 AM PST Consumers reduce their water consumption by 16.5 per cent after they receive a metered connection – based on the study of a five-year program to install nearly half a million water meters in the south-east of England. This reduction is far more than the national average of ten per cent and is mainly achieved very quickly after a meter is installed.

Agricultural insecticides pose a global risk to surface water bodies, researchers find Posted: 25 Feb 2015 05:28 AM PST Streams within approximately 40 percent of the global land surface are at risk from the application of insecticides. These were the results from the first global map to be modeled on insecticide runoff to surface waters. Streams, especially those in the Mediterranean, the United States, Central America and Southeast Asia are at risk.

Himalayan ice shows chemicals ban is working Posted: 25 Feb 2015 05:25 AM PST A unique study of frozen ice cores from the Tibetan Himalayas has shown that international agreements on phasing out the use of toxic persistent organic pollutants are working. "Chemical residues are carried thousands of miles on the prevailing winds and deposited in the ice. Ice cores are very effective barometers of pollution over time as ice is laid down over the decades," authors explain.

Crocodiles rocked pre-Amazonian Peru: Seven crocodile species found in single 13-million-year-old bone bed Posted: 24 Feb 2015 04:27 PM PST Thirteen million years ago, as many as seven different species of crocodiles hunted in the swampy waters of what is now northeastern Peru, new research shows. This hyperdiverse assemblage, revealed through more than a decade of work in Amazon bone beds, contains the largest number of crocodile species co-existing in one place at any time in Earth's history, likely due to a food source that forms a small part of modern crocodile diets: mollusks.

Climate science literacy unrelated to public acceptance of human-caused global warming Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:38 AM PST Deep public divisions over climate change are unrelated to differences in how well ordinary citizens understand scientific evidence on global warming. Indeed, members of the public who score the highest on a climate-science literacy test are the most politically polarized on whether human activity is causing global temperatures to rise.