Latest Greenhouse gases Stories

Scientists at the University of Calgary have found that methane emission by plants could be a bigger problem in global warming than previously thought.A U of C study says that when crops are exposed to environmental factors that are part of climate change -- increased temperature, drought and ultraviolet-B radiation -- some plants show enhanced methane emissions. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas; 23 times more effective in trapping heat than carbon dioxide."Most studies just look...

A previously unrecognized player in the process by which gases produced by trees and other plants become aerosols"”microscopically small particles in the atmosphere"”has been discovered by a research team led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).Their research on the creation and effects of these chemicals, called epoxides, is being featured in this week's issue of the journal Science.Paul Wennberg, the R. Stanton Avery Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and...

MAHWAH, N.J., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Directravel, a leading corporate travel management company, today announced the availability of two new CO2 tracking reports - the CO2 Air Summary Report and a CO2 Combined (Air/Car/Hotel) Summary Report, available through its reporting package. These reports were designed in response to client requests for an easy way to track CO2 usage on various domestic and international trips and compare them to alternative travel methods. The Air Summary report...

Current methods for estimating greenhouse gas emissions have limitations that make it difficult to monitor CO2 emissions and verify an international climate treaty, says a new National Research Council letter report to the administrator of NASA, Charles F. Bolden Jr.NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory -- which failed to launch in February -- would have offered proof that greenhouse gas emissions could be monitored from space, as well as provided baseline data on CO2 emissions trends from a...

The accidental discovery of a bowl-shaped molecule that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air suggests exciting new possibilities for dealing with global warming, including genetically engineering microbes to manufacture those CO2 "catchers," a scientist from Maryland reports in an article scheduled for the August 3 issue of ACS' Inorganic Chemistry, a bi-weekly journal.J. A. Tossell notes in the new study that another scientist discovered the molecule while doing research unrelated...

U.S. scientists say they have discovered marine microorganisms use manganese and iron to convert methane into carbon dioxide. The Pennsylvania State University researchers said their finding is important because carbon dioxide can produce compounds that sequester carbon in the ocean, reducing the amount of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere. That process had previously been thought to be dependent on compounds containing sulfur. Graduate student Emily Beal, principal author of the study, said the...

Iron and manganese compounds, in addition to sulfate, may play an important role in converting methane to carbon dioxide and eventually carbonates in the Earth's oceans, according to a team of researchers looking at anaerobic sediments. These same compounds may have been key to methane reduction in the early, oxygenless days of the planet's atmosphere."We used to believe that microbes only consumed methane in marine anaerobic sediment if sulfate was present," said Emily Beal,...

NEEDHAM, Mass., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Environmental Health & Engineering (EH&E), Inc., a leading Massachusetts-based environmental and engineering consulting firm, recently partnered with Goucher College (Baltimore, MD) to complete a greenhouse gas emissions inventory as required by the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The commitment requires participating colleges and universities to complete an inventory of all their greenhouse gas emissions. The...

HFO-1234ze provides an environmentally-preferable alternative MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that its new HFO-1234ze propellant is reducing the global-warming impact of some industrial aerosol cleaning products by up to 99.6 percent. HFO-1234ze is being used by MicroCare, a leading manufacturer of precision cleaning, coating and lubricating products, in four of their best-selling aerosol cleaners in Europe. "This new propellant is...

Carbon tetrachloride is present worldwide in elevated levels thanks in part to society's former use of the probable human carcinogen, U.S. scientists say. Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor Allen Robinson said thanks to the former popularity of carbon tetrachloride, the chemical now serves as a threat to future generations, USA Today reported Wednesday. This is a great example of "¦ where we thought we had some great technology, but we learned there were unintended...