Concrete is the most widely used building material for residential and commercial buildings. From its humble origins in Roman times, this mixture of Portland cement, aggregate, water, and chemical additives is now a $35 billion industry in the US alone, employing over two million workers. However, when it comes to greenhouse gases, concrete is believed to be a major culprit. The construction and operation of buildings in the United States accounts for about 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. According to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), certain measures can be taken to drastically reduce and possibly eliminate the carbon footprint of new concrete buildings, and even some older ones.

Scientists have discovered three previously unknown bat species in southern Indochina, reports Fauna & Flora International. Researchers from Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) described the new species, which belong to a group known as tube-nosed bats.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 1, 2011) — A group of scientists led by researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) has quantified dust and iron fluxes deposited in the Antarctic Ocean during the past 4 million years. The research study published in Nature evidences the close relation between the maximum contributions of dust to this ocean and climate changes occurring in the most intense glaciation periods of the Pleistocene period, some 1.25 million years ago. Data confirms the role of iron in the increase in phytoplankton levels during glacial periods, intensifying the function of this ocean as a CO2 sink.

During the first half of 2011, Germany for the first time generated more than 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, a new report says. While the country’s total electricity demand remained stable during the first six months of 2011, the share generated by renewable sources increased from 18.3 percent to 20.8 percent, according to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries.

Record-breaking triple-digit temperatures were prolonging a devastating drought that has been baking the South and the dry spell could extend into next year and beyond, climate experts said on Thursday. “Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse… we are seeing expansion of this drought. This drought will continue to persist and likely intensify,” said climatologist Mark Svoboda, with the University of Nebraska’s National Drought Mitigation Center. The drought is edging its way to the east even as it intensifies in the southern states, according to a weekly report released Thursday by a consortium of state and federal climatologists dubbed the U.S. Drought Monitor. “We are seeing intensification in the southeast, in particular Georgia, eastern Alabama,” said Svoboda. The drought increasingly looks likely to extend into next year, he said. Hurricane Irene offered only a little respite for some areas to the east, he said. But the rest of the nation was contending with mostly dry, warmer-than-normal weather.