http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest recorded since satellites began measuring sea ice extent in 1979, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://phys.org/news172419739.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:22:40 EST news172419739 The role of clouds in climate change has been a major question for decades. As the earth warms under increasing greenhouse gases, it is not known whether clouds will dissipate, letting in more of the sun's heat energy and making the earth warm even faster, or whether cloud cover will increase, blocking the Sun's rays and actually slowing down global warming. http://phys.org/news167579418.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:50:56 EST news167579418 Britain announced plans Wednesday to slash emissions with a huge increase in the use of renewable energy to generate one third of the country's electricity needs by 2020. http://phys.org/news166899089.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:00:03 EST news166899089 Just months before world leaders are scheduled to meet to devise a new international treaty on climate change, a research team led by Princeton University scientists has developed a new way of dividing responsibility for carbon emissions among countries. http://phys.org/news166120730.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:40:01 EST news166120730 The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, according to research published in the July issue of Nature Geoscience. http://phys.org/news165675816.html Space & Earth Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:10:01 EST news165675816 (AP) -- One contributor to global warming - bigger than coal mines, landfills and sewage treatment plants - is being left out of efforts by the Obama administration and House Democrats to limit greenhouse gas emissions. http://phys.org/news164735430.html Space & Earth Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:51:24 EST news164735430 Recently, Air New Zealand ran a test flight of a jet plane fueled with a biofuel blend made with jatropha. The results showed a fuel savings of 1.2%, amounting to more than a ton of fuel over the course of a 12-hour flight. The CO2 emissions from the airplane were reduced by an even more impressive amount -- in excess of 60%. The flight is one that offers some evidence that perhaps it is feasible for airlines to adopt biofuels in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. http://phys.org/news164470713.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:50:01 EST news164470713 A study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers argues that new lighting technologies can be a key player in the portfolio of strategies needed to promote energy efficiency and to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. http://phys.org/news163781965.html Technology Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:59:57 EST news163781965 (AP) -- Republicans on Saturday attacked the climate change proposal crafted by congressional Democrats and endorsed by President Barrack Obama as doing little to reduce global warming while saddling Americans with high energy costs. http://phys.org/news162884240.html Space & Earth Sat, 30 May 2009 06:37:45 EST news162884240 Cutting down forests for agriculture vents excess carbon dioxide into the air just as industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuels do. But whether policies to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should include this terrestrial source of carbon dioxide is under debate. According to a new study this week in Science, failing to include land use changes in such policies could lead to massive deforestation and higher costs for limiting carbon emissions. http://phys.org/news162739940.html Space & Earth Thu, 28 May 2009 14:32:55 EST news162739940 Scientists are, for the first time, objectively evaluating ways to help species adapt to rapid climate change and other environmental threats via strategies that were considered too radical for serious consideration as recently as five or 10 years ago. Among these radical strategies currently being considered is so-called "managed relocation." Managed relocation, which is also known as "assisted migration," involves manually moving species into more accommodating habitats where they are not currently found. http://phys.org/news162491300.html Biology Mon, 25 May 2009 17:28:50 EST news162491300 (AP) -- Wealthy nations, as history's biggest polluters, should cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, China says in a policy document on climate change. The government also rolled out fresh help for solar power and other "green energy." http://phys.org/news162183967.html Space & Earth Fri, 22 May 2009 04:07:01 EST news162183967 A new front in the battle against climate change will open Tuesday, when President Barack Obama unveils sweeping new auto regulations described as equivalent to taking 177 million cars off the road. http://phys.org/news161937425.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 May 2009 07:37:29 EST news161937425 The IEA world energy watchdog urged action on Wednesday to make computers, mobile phones and other devices more energy-efficient as the number of users worldwide soars. http://phys.org/news161438693.html Electronics Wed, 13 May 2009 13:05:21 EST news161438693 The Pacific Northwest has spent two decades retooling dams, rebuilding damaged watersheds and restoring stream flows to keep salmon from disappearing. http://phys.org/news161366583.html Biology Tue, 12 May 2009 17:03:27 EST news161366583 With the U.S. Congress beginning to consider regulations on greenhouse gases, a troubling hypothesis about how the sun may impact global warming is finally laid to rest. http://phys.org/news161268877.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 May 2009 13:54:56 EST news161268877 Wood or concrete? Railroads around the world face that decision as they replace millions of deteriorating cross ties, also known as railway sleepers, those rectangular objects used as a base for railroad tracks. A new report concludes that emissions of carbon dioxide — one of the main greenhouse gases contributing to global warming -- from production of concrete sleepers are up to six times less than emissions associated with timber sleepers. The study is scheduled for the June 1 issue of ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology. http://phys.org/news160943084.html Space & Earth Thu, 07 May 2009 19:25:02 EST news160943084 (PhysOrg.com) -- Geologists may have uncovered the answer to an age-old question - an ice-age-old question, that is. It appears that Earth's earliest ice ages may have been due to the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, which consumed atmospheric greenhouse gases and chilled the earth. http://phys.org/news160910438.html Space & Earth Thu, 07 May 2009 10:21:43 EST news160910438 (AP) -- The Obama administration renewed its commitment Tuesday to speed up investments in ethanol and other biofuels while seeking to deflect some environmentalists' claims that huge increases in corn ethanol use will hinder the fight against global warming. http://phys.org/news160766172.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 May 2009 18:16:38 EST news160766172 (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency says that corn ethanol - as made today - wouldn't meet a congressional requirement that ethanol produce 20 percent less greenhouse gas than gasoline. But the agency said it is still more climate friendly than gasoline. http://phys.org/news160751096.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 May 2009 14:05:22 EST news160751096 (PhysOrg.com) -- New York City has a goal to reduce its overall carbon footprint. For Manhattan, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gases 30% by 2017. As part of this effort, the New York City Police Department just added 40 hybrid cars to its fleet. The Nissan Altima Hybrids are the first NYPD alternative fuel patrol cars, but they probably won't be the last. The NYPD plans to deploy at least 100 hybrids in total this year. http://phys.org/news160734148.html Technology Tue, 05 May 2009 09:22:58 EST news160734148 (AP) -- The Obama administration called hydrofluorocarbons widely used in refrigerators and air conditioners "a very significant" threat to climate change Monday, and expressed a preference for drastically reducing HFCs that are promoted under the U.N.'s ozone treaty rather than phasing them out entirely. http://phys.org/news160674985.html Space & Earth Mon, 04 May 2009 16:58:09 EST news160674985 China has more than tripled its target for wind power capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2020, likely making it the world's fastest growing market for wind energy technology, state press said. http://phys.org/news160643608.html Technology Mon, 04 May 2009 08:14:03 EST news160643608 (AP) -- The Obama administration, in a major environmental policy shift, is leaning toward asking 195 nations that ratified the U.N. ozone treaty to enact mandatory reductions in hydrofluorocarbons, according to U.S. officials and documents obtained by The Associated Press. http://phys.org/news160295222.html Space & Earth Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:27:26 EST news160295222 (AP) -- The top U.S. negotiator on climate change said Tuesday that he is slightly more optimistic about striking a new international agreement to curb global warming after a two-day meeting with the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. http://phys.org/news160163818.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:57:29 EST news160163818 In car-crazy California, a new fuel standard ordered by state officials to curb greenhouse gases could dramatically change how vehicles run. It also could have a huge effect on cost. http://phys.org/news160148187.html Technology Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:41:13 EST news160148187 (AP) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says a Democratic proposal to limit global warming pollution will "punish the American people" with higher energy costs and lost jobs. Gingrich appeared before a House subcommittee writing a broad energy and climate bill aimed at cutting greenhouse gases by 80 percent by mid-century. http://phys.org/news159807764.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:03:44 EST news159807764 (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore, a leading voice on climate change, urged lawmakers Friday to overcome partisan differences and pass legislation to curb greenhouse gases. http://phys.org/news159797027.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:04:18 EST news159797027 Maintaining a healthy body weight is good news for the environment, according to a study which appears today in the International Journal of Epidemiology. http://phys.org/news159427837.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:30:59 EST news159427837 (AP) -- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he will make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to overturn a controversial Bush administration regulation that limits the reach of the Endangered Species Act. http://phys.org/news159346025.html Biology Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:47:47 EST news159346025