Geochemistry News

August 25, 2016

Solar Activity Has Direct Impact On Cloud Cover

Converting Carbon Dioxide Gas Into Fuel

Biofuels Not as 'Green' as Many Think

Light-Driven Conversion: Greenhouse Gas to Fuel

Latest Headlines

updated 10:26pm EDT

Sea Temperature and the Lunar Cycle Predict the Arrival of Jellyfish in Israel

Aug. 25, 2016 — Large swarms of jellyfish reach the coast of Israel when the sea temperature ranges between 28.2 and 30 degrees Celsius and ... read more

New Electrical Energy Storage Material Shows Its Power

Aug. 24, 2016 — A new material could one day speed up the charging process of electric cars and help increase their driving range. The modified covalent organic framework (COF) material combines the ability to store ... read more

Humans Have Caused Climate Change for 180 Years

Aug. 24, 2016 — An international research project has found human activity has been causing global warming for almost two centuries, proving human-induced climate change is not just a 20th ... read more

Study Measures Methane Release from Arctic Permafrost

Aug. 22, 2016 — A new research project has provided the first modern evidence of a landscape-level permafrost carbon feedback, in which thawing permafrost releases ancient carbon as ... read more

Sugar Hitches a Ride on Organic Sea Spray

Aug. 23, 2016 — Hitching a ride on fatty molecules, a "sticky" strategy shields sugary molecules from their soluble nature, and may explain the discrepancies between models and actual ... read more

New Insights Into the Relationship Between Erosion and Tectonics in the Himalayas

Aug. 23, 2016 — Earth's climate interacts with so called surface processes -- such as landslides or river erosion -- and tectonics to shape ... read more

Ancient Air Pockets Changing the History of Earth’s Oxygen

Aug. 22, 2016 — Geologists are using new direct methods to measure the Earth's oxygenation. They identified, for the first time, exactly how much oxygen was in Earth's atmosphere 813 million ... read more

Urban Water Pumping Raises Arsenic Risk in Southeast Asia

Aug. 22, 2016 — Large-scale groundwater pumping is opening doors for dangerously high levels of arsenic to enter some of Southeast Asia's aquifers, with water now seeping in through ... read more

Map Helps Maximize Carbon-Capture Material

Aug. 22, 2016 — A new map will help natural gas producers fine-tune porous materials to sequester carbon dioxide to both help the environment and reduce costs, according ... read more

Antarctica's Past Shows Region's Vulnerability to Climate Change

Aug. 22, 2016 — Fresh understanding of West Antarctica has revealed how the region's ice sheet could become unstable in a warming ... read more

Residents Must Leave Housing Complex Due To Lead

Water Contamination in New Zealand Leaves Thousands Ill

Artist Turns Cow Dung Into Eco-Friendly Fashion

Authorities Warn Brazilians, Tourists of Super-Bacteria in Water

Climate Change May Extend Ozone Season in the Southeastern US

Aug. 22, 2016 — Extreme weather conditions associated with climate change may extend the ozone season in the Southeastern United States as drought-stressed trees emit more of the precursor compound that helps form ... read more

How Cars Could Meet Future Emissions Standards: Focus on Cold Starts

Aug. 22, 2016 — Car emissions is a high-stakes issue, as last year's Volkswagen scandal demonstrated. Wrongdoing aside, how are automakers going to realistically meet future, tougher emissions requirements to ... read more

Fungi Recycle Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries

Aug. 21, 2016 — Rechargeable batteries in smartphones, cars and tablets don't last forever. Old batteries often wind up in landfills or incinerators, potentially harming the environment. And valuable materials ... read more

New Study Challenges Assumption of Asbestos' Ability to Move in Soil

Aug. 19, 2016 — A new study challenges the long-held belief that asbestos fibers cannot move through soil. The findings have important implications for current remediation strategies aimed at capping asbestos-laden ... read more

Pacific Sea Level Predicts Global Temperature Changes

Aug. 18, 2016 — Sea level changes in the Pacific Ocean can be used to estimate future global surface temperatures, according to a new paper. Scientists knew both the rate at which global surface temperature is ... read more

New Method for Quantifying Methane Emissions from Manure Management

Aug. 17, 2016 — The EU Commision requires Denmark to reduce drastically emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture. But it is currently not possible to quantify emissions of methane from livestock manure -- and ... read more

Climate Change Alters the Rules of Sperm Competition in the Sea

Aug. 17, 2016 — Increasing ocean acidification, brought about by humanmade carbon emissions, reduces sperm performance in a species of sea urchin, say scientists. The impact of climate change on global seawater ... read more

What Will California's Strawberry Industry Do Without Methyl Bromide?

Aug. 16, 2016 — 2016 is the final year for the soil fumigant to be used in California crop fields. A new article examines the impact of the methyl bromide phaseout on strawberries, California's third most ... read more

Big Fish, and Their Urine, Are Key Parts of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Aug. 16, 2016 — Large, carnivorous fish excrete almost half of the key nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, that are essential for the survival of coral reefs, report scientists, making them a key part of a coral ... read more

Humble Moss Helped Create Our Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere

Aug. 15, 2016 — The evolution of the first land plants including mosses may explain a long-standing mystery of how Earth's atmosphere became enriched with oxygen, according to an international ... read more

Nature and the Nurture of Aerosols

Aug. 12, 2016 — Scientists conducted a collaborative study that answered foundational questions about how nature influences the composition of aerosols. The team's findings could help avoid unintended ... read more

'Chemtrails' Not Real, Say Atmospheric Science Experts

Aug. 12, 2016 — Well-understood physical and chemical processes can easily explain the alleged evidence of a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program, commonly referred to as 'chemtrails' or ... read more

Greenland Sharks Live for Hundreds of Years

Aug. 12, 2016 — The 5 meter long Greenland shark's general biology and way of life have been a mystery to biologists for many years. However, marine biologists have now deployed an epoch-making method to unveil ... read more

Discovery of Sunlight-Driven Organic Chemistry on Water Surfaces

Aug. 11, 2016 — Fatty acids found on the surface of water droplets react with sunlight to form organic molecules, a new study reports, essentially uncovering a previously unknown form of ... read more

Global Warming's Next Surprise: Saltier Beaches

Aug. 11, 2016 — Batches of sand from a beach on the Delaware Bay are yielding insights into the powerful impact of temperature rise and evaporation along the shore that are in turn challenging long-held assumptions ... read more

With Droughts and Downpours, Climate Change Feeds Chesapeake Bay Algal Blooms

Aug. 10, 2016 — A study shows that weather patterns tied to climate change may increase the severity of algal blooms in Chesapeake Bay as extreme rainfall cycles flush larger amounts of nitrogen from fertilizer and ... read more

Double Whammy for Important Baltic Seaweed

Aug. 9, 2016 — Rising seawater temperatures and increased nutrient concentrations could lead to a decline of the bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus in the Baltic Sea in the future, according to experiments conducted ... read more

Accounting for Ozone: Study First to Quantify Impact of Oil and Gas Emissions on Denver's Ozone Problem

Aug. 8, 2016 — A new study is the first to directly quantify how emissions from oil and gas activities influence summertime ozone pollution in the Colorado Front Range confirms that chemical vapors from oil and gas ... read more

Contamination from Marine Mammals May Hamper Recovery of California Condors

Aug. 8, 2016 — Biologists have discovered high levels of pesticides and other contaminants from marine mammals in the tissues of endangered California condors living near the coast that they say could complicate ... read more

Magma-Limestone Interaction Can Trigger Explosive Volcanic Eruptions and Affect the Global Carbon Cycle

Aug. 7, 2016 — New research shows what happens when magma meets limestone on its way up to the surface. Magma-limestone interaction might help explain why volcanoes like Vesuvius in Italy and Merapi in Indonesia ... read more

Monday, August 22, 2016

Sunday, August 21, 2016