ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Stopping at red lights exposes drivers to high levels of air pollution Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:20 PM PST UK commuters spend an average of about 1.5 hours a day at the wheel. Road vehicles in particular are known to emit polluting nanoparticles which contribute to respiratory and heart diseases. Now, researchers have found that where drivers spend just 2% of their journey time passing through traffic intersections managed by lights, this short duration contributes to about 25% of total exposure to these harmful particles.

Global rainfall satellites require massive overhaul Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:35 PM PST A new study warns that the existing system of space-based rainfall observation satellites requires a serious overhaul. Particularly in many developing countries, satellite-based flood prediction has weak spots, which could lead to major flooding that catches people by surprise.

Urban pollinators get the job done Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST Native bees in San Francisco provide adequate pollination to crop plants such as tomato plants, new research shows. Plants left open to the air produced more and larger tomatoes than those that self-pollinated only, and even matched the production of artificially pollinated plants. The research also found that the density of flowers in a garden -- and not the garden's size -- is the key factor in attracting more pollinators.

Warming pushes Western U.S. toward driest period in 1,000 years: Unprecedented risk of drought in 21st century Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST During the second half of the 21st century, the US Southwest and Great Plains will face persistent drought worse than anything seen in times ancient or modern, with the drying conditions 'driven primarily' by human-induced global warming, a new study predicts.

An ocean of plastic: Magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean calculated Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:45 PM PST Ocean currents have been carrying floating debris into all five of the world's major oceanic gyres for decades. The rotating currents of these so-called 'garbage patches' create vortexes of trash, much of it plastic. However, exactly how much plastic is making its way into the world's oceans and from where it originates has been a mystery -- until now.

Magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean calculated: 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans per year Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:44 PM PST How much mismanaged plastic waste is making its way from land to ocean has been a decades-long guessing game. Now scientists have put a number on the global problem. Their study found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline.

Patterns in sky brightness depend very strongly on location Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:25 AM PST At many locations around the world, the night sky shines hundreds of times brighter than it did before the introduction of artificial light. Scientists have now studied variations in the radiance of the night sky and found remarkably large variations in artificial night sky brightness at the different observation sites. The introduction of light into the nighttime environment is one of the most striking changes humans have made to the Earth’s physical environment, and it is associated with several unintended negative consequences.

High seas fishing ban could boost global catches, equality Posted: 12 Feb 2015 06:25 AM PST Closing the high seas to commercial fishing could be catch-neutral and distribute fisheries income more equitably among the world's maritime nations, according to new research.