Latest Natural environment Stories

Did volatile halogenated gases from giant salt lakes at the end of the Permian Age lead to a mass extinction of species?The largest mass extinction in the history of the earth could have been triggered off by giant salt lakes, whose emissions of halogenated gases changed the atmospheric composition so dramatically that vegetation was irretrievably damaged. At least that is what an international team of scientists have reported in the most recent edition of the "Proceedings of the Russian...

Unparalleled warming over the last few decades has triggered widespread ecosystem changes in many temperate North American and Western European lakes, say researchers at Queen's University and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.The team reports that striking changes are now occurring in many temperate lakes similar to those previously observed in the rapidly warming Arctic, although typically many decades later. The Arctic has long been considered a "bellwether" of what will...

MANILA, Philippines, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spectrum Blue Steel Corporation announced today the forging of a consortium agreement with Al Manhal International Group of Abu Dhabi, UAE to market the Global Environmental Biosphere system (Global Environmental: Deutsche Borse: GLI.F) (BULLETIN BOARD: GEECF) (http://www.geecf.ru/) and technology in Gulf, Arab, African, other Asian and European countries. In an announcement by Ronald Flynn, the Chairman of Spectrum Blue Steel-Al...

WASHINGTON, July 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- David Moulton, Director of Climate Policy at The Wilderness Society, released the following statement today in response to the decision of the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to delay regulation of greenhouse gas pollution in the United States: "Today EPA is expected to make it official: our nation's protector of the environment has decided to take a summer vacation from global warming regulation, and instead has headed...

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - June 17, 2008) - This summer, Environment Canada's Biosphere is pleased to present a very special programming that allows members of the general public to have unique experiences and discover how to reduce their environmental footprint. For the first time, visitors can tour the Ecoological House, a solar house, play the giant Get in Green Gear game on sustainable transport and take the GeoTour 67 interactive walking tour using GPS. The Ecoological House For...

Scientists from Durham University will use robots to explore the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to study the growth of underwater volcanoes that build the Earth's crust.The Durham experts will lead an international team of 12 scientists aboard Britain's Royal Research Ship James Cook which will set sail from Ponta Delgada, San Miguel, in the Azores on Friday, May 23.During the five-week expedition they will use explorer robots to map individual volcanoes on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge tectonic plate...

Humans have regularly been introducing exotic species into natural environments in order to provide for their nutritional necessities or meet less indispensable purposes such as horticulture, fishing or hunting. However, the particular environments are not always adapted for hosting new arrivals. Past introduction attempts, such as that of wild rabbit into Australia or brown fario trout into Southern hemisphere water courses, led to an awareness that these different species, qualified by...

Ten questions driving the geological and planetary sciences were identified today in a new report by the National Research Council. Aimed at reflecting the major scientific issues facing earth science at the start of the 21st century, the questions represent where the field stands, how it arrived at this point, and where it may be headed."With all the advancements over the last 20 years, we can now get a better picture of Earth by looking at it from micro- to macro-perspectives, such as...

LONDON (Reuters) - Rock formations in Western Australia may not only be some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth but also the first signs of biodiversity, scientists said on Wednesday. Doubts about whether the formations known as stromatolites were signs of ancient life have persisted since they were described almost three decades ago. Some scientists believe they were formed by micro-organisms that lived on Earth more than 3 billion years ago. Others argued that they were...

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - Spending to protect the environment, from coral reefs to forests, can bring big returns to aid a worldwide assault on poverty, a U.N.-backed report said on Wednesday. The study, coinciding with a summit of world leaders in New York, even suggested that forests may be more valuable when left standing rather than being cleared for crops because trees can absorb the heat-trapping gases widely blamed for global warming. "The...