Environment & Sustainability

Research in Wildlife Society Bulletin explores the impact of a falling number of hunters at a time when bird numbers are rising faster than they have for decades.

China’s environmental conditions have evoked great attention from both government and citizenry following two decades of rapid industrialization and economic growth. A new study in Social Science Quarterly examines environmental perceptions in China. The paper considers how the Chinese government has put environmental issues on the national agenda by evoking “environmental governance” and explores the implications for the growth of environmentalism among the Chinese people.

Special Issue Explores the Impact of Climate Change on the Fields of Toxicology and Chemistry

Celebrities like Sting, Madonna, and Woody Harrelson have drawn attention to the newest trend in eating: raw foods. 

Could vast geo-engineering projects offset the impact of climate change? Even if they could, would it be ethical, would it have popular support and could we afford it? A new issue of WIREs Climate Change brings together a range of experts to answer these questions, exploring historical precedents, popular perception of weather manipulation, as well as ethical and governance considerations.

Long before mankind developed flight, humans were changing the skies above us. From industrial pollution to jet engine contrails, man-made clouds have become a permanent feature of the sky. Writing in Weather, scientists from Barcelona explore the origins of these man-made cloud formations and argue that ‘anthropoclouds’ should be promoted as an entirely new and separate classification.

The 2^nd Edition of the Encyclopedia of Environmetrics published by Wiley in print and online is an expanded and revised reference work intended for use in university libraries, research laboratories, government institutions and consultancies concerned with the environmental sciences.

Local Planning for Terror and Disaster: From Bioterrorism to Earthquakes

An inclusive viewpoint of the species problem from a biologist point of view.

Carbon dioxide could be a useful alternative source of carbon for the chemical industry. It is inexpensive, is supplied in abundance by nature, and would help to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. In addition, it would significantly improve the carbon footprint of fuels and chemical products. The largest barrier to this process is the high stability of the carbon dioxide molecule. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Spanish researchers have now introduced a new process that traps carbon dioxide in the form of silyl formates, which are silicon-containing formic acid esters.

They are one of the most destructive forces of nature on Earth, but now environmental scientists are working to tame the hurricane. In a paper, published in Atmospheric Science Letters, the authors propose using cloud seeding to decrease sea surface temperatures where hurricanes form. Theoretically, the team claims the technique could reduce hurricane intensity by a category.

In the face of a changing climate many species must adapt or perish. Ecologists studying evolutionary responses to climate change forecast that cold-blooded tropical species are not as vulnerable to extinction as previously thought. The study, published in the British Ecological Society’s Functional Ecology, considers how fast species can evolve and adapt to compensate for a rise in temperature.

To reduce fossil fuel consumption while simultaneously improving the carbon footprint of fuels and chemical products, the use of carbon dioxide as a carbon source could be an attractive option. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, German researchers have now introduced a method by which carbon dioxide can be catalytically hydrogenated to make formic acid. In this process, carbon dioxide is not only a starting material; it also acts—in a supercritical state—as the solvent for separation of the product. This integrated approach makes it possible to directly obtain free formic acid as the product in a single step for the first time.

As the U.S. grows more bankrupt by the day, many Americans are looking for investing opportunities abroad. In his new book Brazil Is the New America: How Brazil Offers Upward Mobility in a Collapsing World, James Dale Davidson, acclaimed entrepreneur and cofounder of Agora and Newsmax, explains how Brazil has emerged as the new destination for investment success. 

Fossil-based resources are declining and their use releases the greenhouse gas CO₂. Both of these problems could be significantly mitigated if we could use CO₂ as a carbon source for the production of fuels and chemical feedstocks. Various different approaches are currently being explored for the catalytic conversion of CO₂ to methanol (CH₃OH). In the journal Angewandte Chemie, German researchers have now introduced a new possibility to conduct this stepwise reaction of CO₂ in solution with help of a homogeneous catalyst.

An international team of scientists have published the first continent-wide assessment of the Antarctic’s biogeography, and propose that the landmass should be divided into 15 distinct conservation regions to protect the continent from invasive alien species. The team’s findings are published in Diversity and Distributions, while the authors’ proposals were outlined today at a lecture to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Hobart, Tasmania.

In his new book Earth Wars: The Battle for Global Resources Geoff Hiscock draws on more than 30 years’ experience of writing about Asian and international business to explore the links between rising incomes in emerging markets and the global consumption of food, water, energy, metals and other resources.

The guides help professionals navigate the many factors involved in creating good designs for aged care environments.

The guides help professionals navigate the many factors involved in creating good designs for aged care environments.