Tue, 11/23/2010 - 07:02 by Prince damin
Exeter, England -- Carbon dioxide emissions, the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, continue to rise and may reach record levels this year, U.K. researchers say.
A study led by the University of Exeter is part of the annual carbon budget update by the Global Carbon Project, ScienceDaily.com reported Monday.
The study found that despite the global financial crises affecting Western economies that led to a 1.2 percent reduction of CO2 emissions from record 2008 levels, that reduction was less than half what was predicted a year ago.
Meanwhile, emerging economies like China and India experienced strong economic performance despite the financial crisis and recorded substantial increases in CO2 emissions.
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Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:44 by Rakhi
Boulder, Colo. -- Global emissions of carbon dioxide could be significantly affected by changes in the growth and composition of the world's population, a U.S. study says.
It is estimated the global population could rise by more than 3 billion people during the next 40 years, with most of that increase occurring in urban areas. A slowing of population growth, one path considered plausible by demographers at the United Nations, could contribute to significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a release from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said Monday.
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Tue, 10/12/2010 - 09:58 by Rakhi
Cambridge, Mass. -- Levels of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in Beijing and surrounding provinces suggest energy efficiency is improving in the region, researchers say
The six-year study was conducted by atmospheric scientists and environmental engineers from Harvard University and Beijing's Tsinghua University to measure combustion efficiency, a component of overall energy efficiency, a Harvard release said.
The researchers say their findings are consistent with official Chinese government statistics and could bolster China's credibility during international negotiations on the country's commitments to combating climate change.
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Fri, 09/03/2010 - 09:59 by Rakhi
West Lafayette, Ind. -- As million of eggs in the U.S. are recalled for possible salmonella contamination, a method to create ice within shells is in the spotlight, researchers say.
Purdue University food-science Professor Kevin Keener has spent a decade working on a system that uses carbon dioxide to create a thin layer of ice inside eggs shortly after they are laid, the Toronto Star reported Thursday.
"Currently, when eggs are put into pallets they are cooled using traditional refrigeration," Keener says. "Eggs near the center of the pallets can take up to six days to cool to the point where salmonella can't grow."
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Thu, 09/02/2010 - 10:04 by Rakhi
Washington -- Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may threaten climate change and be bad news for humans but poison ivy likes it, U.S. researchers say.
A report in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives last year said the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has grown by 22 percent since 1960, not so good for humans but great for poison ivy and other vines, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
In a study in Durham, N.C., a researcher simulated the carbon dioxide content in the air 50 years ago, today and -- using projections -- for the year 2050.
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Wed, 09/01/2010 - 09:45 by Prince damin
Plymouth, England -- A "natural laboratory" in the Mediterranean revealing effects of carbon dioxide levels in oceans paints a bleak picture for future marine life, researchers say.
Scientists from the University of Plymouth in England, along with Brazilian researchers, studying single celled organisms called Foraminifera around natural volcanic carbon dioxide vents off of Naples, Italy, found that increasing levels of the gas caused diversity of the creatures to fall from 24 species to 4, ScienceDaily.com reported Tuesday.
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Fri, 08/27/2010 - 09:51 by Prince damin
Boston -- Scientists say a substance dubbed "dry water" resembling powdered sugar could absorb and store carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas causing global warming.
In a presentation Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, scientists hinted at additional uses, including a greener, more efficient method of jump starting the chemical reactions involved in the creation of hundreds of consumer products, and a safer way to store and transport hazardous industrial materials, ScienceDaily.com reported.
"There's nothing else quite like it," researcher Ben Carter said. "Hopefully, we may see 'dry water' making waves in the future."
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Wed, 08/04/2010 - 04:00 by Prince damin
Athens, Ga. -- A belief that open water in polar regions created by melting ice can absorb carbon dioxide and lessen global warming may be wrong, U.S. scientists say.
A University of Georgia biochemist led a survey of waters in the Canada Basin from north of Alaska to the North Pole showing its value as a potential carbon dioxide "sink" may be short-lived at best and minor in terms of what the planet will need to avoid future problems, a university release said Tuesday.
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Tue, 07/27/2010 - 10:28 by Rakhi
Potsdam, Germany -- The hunt for Earth-like planets in the universe, which usually looks for where water might exist, should consider photosynthesis instead, German scientists say.
Researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research argue while primitive life can exist without photosynthesis, it would be necessary for more complex multicellular organisms to emerge, Astrobiology Magazine reported.
"Photosynthesis-sustaining habitable zones" around stars, the researchers say, would be where the average surface temperature of a world in the zone stays between the freezing and boiling points of water, 32 degrees to 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Sat, 07/24/2010 - 10:25 by Rakhi
Uppsala, Sweden -- Carbon dioxide locked in the world's freshwater lakes could be released into the atmosphere as warmer climate conditions continue, scientists say.
Swedish researchers say organically bound carbon is held in temperature-sensitive sediments, sometimes for thousands of years, but warmer climate could result in much of it being released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a study published in the journal Nature reported.
Researchers at Uppsala University have found a strong connection between the carbon dioxide production in lake sediment and bottom-water temperature, the study says.
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Sat, 07/03/2010 - 01:14 by Pankaj Damin
Albuquerque-- Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could soon be used to create fuel to drive the word's cars and trucks, researchers say.
Solar-powered technology could be used to "photosynthesize" hydrocarbon fuels that present-day vehicles could run on without major modifications, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
Solar reactors can take carbon dioxide and turn it into carbon monoxide and can also turn water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The results can react with a catalyst to form hydrocarbon fuels, in a technique known as the Fischer-Tropsch process.
Tests have been conducted with solar reactors in New Mexico and Zurich, Switzerland.
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Thu, 07/30/2009 - 00:14 by surajdogra
Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Global warming is speeding the release of carbon dioxide, a chief greenhouse gas, from underground peat forms in subarctic wetlands, Dutch research indicates.
The research suggests rising temperatures are adding to the magnitude and velocity of global warming, Free University plant ecologist Ellen Dorrepaal and colleagues write in the journal Nature.
Their research shows that raising temperatures around 1 degree Celsius accelerates total ecosystem respiration rates by as much as 60 percent, creating an effect that can last for at least eight years.
This is greater than previously thought, highlighting the extreme sensitivity of northern peatland carbon reservoirs to global warming, the researchers say.
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