Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Water arsenic including in public water is linked to higher urinary arsenic totals among the U.S. population      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that water arsenic levels are linked to higher urinary arsenic among the U.S. population for users of both private wells and public water systems.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Research collaboration aims to improve nationwide water quality, restore wetlands      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The new classification system demonstrates the effects wetlands have on water quality at a continental scale -- invaluable data that can be used to better define whether wetlands are federally regulated under the U.S. Clean Water Act.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Researchers develop carbon-negative concrete      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A viable formula for a carbon-negative, environmentally friendly concrete that is nearly as strong as regular concrete has been developed.  In a proof-of-concept work, the researchers infused regular cement with environmentally friendly biochar, a type of charcoal made from organic waste, that had been strengthened beforehand with concrete wastewater. The biochar was able to suck up to 23% of its weight in carbon dioxide from the air while still reaching a strength comparable to ordinary cement. The research could significantly reduce carbon emissions of the concrete industry, which is one of the most energy- and carbon-intensive of all manufacturing industries.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science
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Counting the cost of sunshine: Finding a better metric to measure human ecological footprints      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The human food-energy-water system is wickedly interconnected, but most of the links in the network are neither global nor local -- the action lies in everyday trade between counties and states that rely on each other's ecosystems. To capture a better picture of human impacts in this system, you need a measurement that starts at the source -- the sun.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Filtering pollution: A microfluidic device for collecting microplastics via acoustic focusing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Microplastics (MPs), plastic debris smaller than 5 mm, indirectly harm the environment. They are traditionally collected and removed from water by filtering through meshes, which is inefficient. Researchers have now developed a high-enrichment microfluidic device that utilizes acoustic focusing to collect and remove 10--200 ?m MPs from wastewater without recirculation. Its collection rates and enrichment ratios ranged approximately from 70--90% and 50--100, respectively on test samples.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

A solar hydrogen system that co-generates heat and oxygen      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have built a pilot-scale solar reactor that produces usable heat and oxygen, in addition to generating hydrogen with unprecedented efficiency for its size.

Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Temperature, drought influencing movement of Plains bison      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Temperature and severe drought can drive movement among herds of Plains bison, says a recent study. The team's GPS-backed data suggests that conserving the once-endangered species could depend on accounting for the climate extremes that Plains bison will likely encounter moving forward.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Recovering rare earth elements in environmental water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group has succeeded in selectively recovering trace rare earth elements in synthetic seawater and environmental water, such as hot spring water, using baker's yeast with a phosphate group added. The phosphorylated yeast is expected to be utilized as a material for recovering useful metals and removing toxic metals, thereby contributing to the realization of a metal resource-circulating society.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Scientists develop new way to measure wind      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Atmospheric scientists have developed an algorithm that uses data from water vapor movements to measure wind. This could help predict extreme events like hurricanes.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Nature-based management is making rivers more resilient      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nature-based management is making rivers more resilient. New research shows progress in Australia towards United Nations goals, making rivers more able to recover from flood, drought and other impacts. In July 2022, the 120-kilometre Wollombi Brook, which flows north into the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, suffered one of its biggest floods on record. And it held up remarkably well, says Professor Kirstie Fryirs of the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University. 'Yes, there was widespread inundation, but the flood waters were slower and the vegetation prevented large scale erosion and sediment movement. 'All the hard work that a very active community put into nature-based rehabilitation for more than 20 years, such as continuous streamside revegetation, played a role in this outcome.' It is one of the best examples in Australia of sustainable environmental restoration in the management of rivers, she says

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Shift to 'flash droughts' as climate warms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

'Flash droughts' have become more frequent due to human-caused climate change and this trend is predicted to accelerate in a warmer future, according to new research.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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The hidden culprit behind nitrogen dioxide emissions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team assesses neighborhood-scale NO2 exposure using a European satellite. High-rise apartment complexes are a significant source of emissions that should be considered in the development of clean air policies.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Your fork could someday be made of sugar, wood powders and degrade on-demand      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Single-use hard plastics are all around us: utensils, party decorations and food containers, to name a few examples. These items pile up in landfills, and many biodegradable versions stick around for months, requiring industrial composting systems to fully degrade. Now, researchers have created a sturdy, lightweight material that disintegrates on-demand -- and they made it from sugar and wood-derived powders.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
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How did Earth get its water?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Our planet's water could have originated from interactions between the hydrogen-rich atmospheres and magma oceans of the planetary embryos that comprised Earth's formative years.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

Critical observations of sinking coasts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using satellite-obtained data from 2007-21, researchers mapped the entire East Coast to demonstrate how the inclusion of land subsidence reveals many areas to be more vulnerable to floods and erosion than previously thought.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

World's biggest cumulative logjam, newly mapped in the Arctic, stores 3.4 million tons of carbon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Throughout the Arctic, fallen trees make their way from forests to the ocean by way of rivers. Those logs can stack up as the river twists and turns, resulting in long-term carbon storage. A new study has mapped the largest known woody deposit, covering 51 square kilometers (20 square miles) of the Mackenzie River Delta in Nunavut, Canada, and calculated that the logs store about 3.4 million tons (about 3.1 million metric tons) of carbon.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

As rising temperatures affect Alaskan rivers, effects ripple through Indigenous communities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Six decades of river gage data gathered from nine rivers in Alaska highlight the cumulative and consequential impacts of climate change for local communities and ecosystems in the Arctic.