News by Subject Atmospheric Science

Land conservation programs that have converted tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land in Illinois back to a more natural state appear to have helped some rare birds increase their populations to historic levels, a new study finds. Other bird species with wider geographic ranges have not fared as well, however.

Two UBC Okanagan biologists, who have publicly solicited images of wild cats for their research, have answered that question. Their recently published study explains how hard it can be when it comes to wildlife classification -- even experts have difficulty agreeing on whether a cat in a picture is a bobcat or a lynx.

Parent corals from the Gulf of Aqaba that experience increased temperatures and ocean acidification stress during the peak reproductive period are not only able to maintain normal physiological function, but also have the same reproductive output and produce offspring that function and survive as well as those which were produced under today's ambient water conditions.

Scientists predict that certain regions of the United States will experience higher levels of pollutants that cause smog, acid rain and respiratory problems due changes in forest soils from climate change.

Plastics recycling is complicated by the need to recycle similar plastics together. The presence of flame retardants in plastics also needs to be identified, and a NIR hyperspectral imaging method to do so is reported in this paper in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal, JSI -- Journal of Spectral Imaging.

Erik Johnson has what looks like a surefire way to hurt support for spending to protect the environment: Elect a Democratic president.

Physicists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (BFU) developed and applied a method of identifying microplastic collected in sea waters. The spectroscopy method allows to determine the chemical composition of contaminants regardless of their size. The article about the research was published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.