Extreme weather events and other natural disasters claimed the lives of more than 2,700 people and caused around US $42 billion in damage worldwide in the first half of 2014, but this was well below the first half of last year and a 10-year average, according to new research from reinsurer Munich Re. However, the…

Edinburgh-based biofuel company Celtic Renewables has signed an agreement with Europe’s foremost biotechnology pilot facility to undergo next-stage testing of its process to turn whisky by-products into biofuel that can power current vehicles. The partnership, which will allow the company to develop its technology at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP) in Ghent, has been…

Pregnant women who lived in close proximity to fields and farms where chemical pesticides were applied experienced a two-thirds increased risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental delay, according to a new study. The research discovered the associations were even stronger when the exposures occurred during the second and third…

Climate engineering is unlikely to provide an effective or practical solution to slowing global warming, according to a new study. Reducing the release of carbon remains the only likely answer to tackling climate change ahead of fanciful projects such as positioning giant mirrors in space to reduce the amount of sunlight being trapped in the…

Setting strong standards for climate-changing carbon emissions from power stations would provide the added bonus of reducing other air pollutants that can make people sick and damage the environment. A first-of-its-kind study released today by scientists at Syracuse University and Harvard has mapped the potential environmental and human health benefits of power plant carbon standards…

The growing consequences of climate change are putting more than two dozen of the most iconic and historic sites in the US at risk, according to a new report. From Ellis Island to the Everglades, Cape Canaveral to California’s César Chávez National Monument, a lengthy list of treasured sites is being threatened by the effects…

Greenland’s icy reaches are far more vulnerable to warm ocean waters from climate change than had been thought, according to new research by UC Irvine and NASA glaciologists. The work, published today in Nature Geoscience, shows previously uncharted deep valleys stretching for dozens of miles under the Greenland Ice Sheet. The bedrock canyons sit well…

Eco Marine Power (EMP) has announced that it has taken another major step forward towards bringing its pioneering wind and solar harnessing EnergySail to the market by forming a strategic alliance with Teramoto Iron Works Co. – a manufacturer of marine equipment located in Hiroshima, Japan.

Reducing air pollution in New York City would result in substantial gains in the lifetime earnings of the future generation by as much as $215 million as a result of increasing their IQs, according to new research.

For the first time in the history of human exploration, scientists have found litter is now arriving before man himself. A 10-year large-scale seafloor survey off the European coast has found the widespread presence of bottles, plastic bags, fishing nets and other types of human litter at all sample locations, many previously unvisited. One researcher…