Science Alert August 5, 2022 An international team of researchers (Sweden, Switzerland) hypothesized that environmental contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) defines a separate planetary boundary and that this boundary has been exceeded. They tested the hypothesis by comparing the levels of four selected perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in various global environmental media (i.e., rainwater, soils, and surface waters) with recently proposed guideline levels. On the basis of the test, the researchers concluded that (1) levels of PFOA and PFOS in rainwater often greatly exceed US EPA Lifetime Drinking Water Health Advisory levels and the sum of the four PFAAs […]
Category Archives: Environmental science
Expert prognosis for the planet – we’re on track for a ghastly future
Science Daily January 13, 2021 An international team of researchers (Australia, USA – Stanford University, Virginia Tech, UC Berkeley, industry, Oregon State University, UCLA, Mexico) outlines clearly and unambiguously the likely future trends in biodiversity decline, mass extinction, climate disruption, planetary toxification, all tied to human consumption and population growth to demonstrate the near certainty that these problems will worsen over the coming decades, with negative impacts for centuries to come. It also explains the impact of political impotence and the ineffectiveness of current and planned actions to address the ominous scale of environmental erosion…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A Mysterious Seismic Wave Recently Shook Earth, And Scientists Can’t Explain It
Science Alert November 29, 2018 While the cause of this mysterious disturbance remains unknown, it’s somehow linked to an ongoing seismic swarm that’s been rumbling the archipelago of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean for several months. The researchers’ best guess is the anomalous vibration was also linked to volcanic activity, perhaps due to a huge movement of magma under the Indian Ocean. GPS readings indicate that since July – after the swarm began – the island has shifted approximately 60 mm (2.4 in) to the east and 30 mm (1.2 in) south. According to one analysis, this movement could be due […]
China Air Pollution fight is the current biggest global environmental effort
Next Big Future November 2, 2018 Over the next five-years China is implementing emission controls of diesel trucks that are cleaner than the level 6 European standard. There will be European level 6 standard by 2020 for China’s trucks. China is replacing a million heavy duty diesel trucks, almost 20 percent of the national fleet, with ones that burn cleaner fuel by 2020. This will cost China $2.8 billion annually by 2030 but it will return $57 billion in health and other benefits. Each $1 it costs China, it returns $21 and tens of thousands of lives are saved every […]
Electrospun sodium titanate speeds up the purification of nuclear waste water
Eurekalert June 27, 2018 Electrospun ion exchange fibres provide highly efficient and sustainable material for separation of trace pollutants, such as radionuclides and heavy metals. Researchers in Finland developed a process for electrospinning sodium titanate fibres and tested its ion exchange kinetics measurements. They found that by exploiting electrospun inorganic sub-micron fibres the ion exchanger mass required for a given capacity can be decreased significantly. With the help of this new method, waste water can be treated faster than before, and the environmentally positive aspect is that the process leaves less solid radio-active waste… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
This Has Got to Be One of The Most Beautiful And Powerful Climate Change Visuals We’ve Ever Seen
Science Alert May 25, 2018 Climate scientist Ed Hawkins has been developing unique ways to make climate change easier for the public to imagine. And his newest project has got to be one of the most beautiful and powerful climate change visuals we’ve ever seen. Starting with dark blue and ending in dark red, Hawkins creates a clear and terrifying translation of global warming using the UK’s Met Office data from 1850 to 2017… read more.
PNNL successfully vitrifies three gallons of radioactive tank waste
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory May 16, 2018 To vitrify the material, researchers mixed the liquid waste with glass-forming materials and pumped it, at a controlled rate, into the melter which sits inside a furnace that keeps the glass forming materials within it at 2100°F. The test produced approximately 20 pounds of glass immobilizing the radioactive and chemical materials within a durable glass waste form. The laboratory-scale demonstration is an important step toward the eventual treatment of millions of gallons of hazardous waste generated during past plutonium production at Hanford… read more.
Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme
Phys.org April 16, 2018 An international team of researchers (UK, USA – DOE NERL, University of South Florida, Brazil) engineered an enzyme that is even better at degrading the plastic than the one that evolved in nature. The enzyme can also degrade polyethylene furandicarboxylate, or PEF, a bio-based substitute for PET plastics that is being hailed as a replacement for glass beer bottles. The researchers are now working on improving the enzyme further to allow it to be used industrially to break down plastics in a fraction of the time. The discovery could result in a recycling solution for millions […]
New source of global nitrogen discovered
Science Daily April 4, 2018 Nitrogen is both the most important limiting nutrient on Earth and a dangerous pollutant, so it is important to understand the natural controls on its supply and demand. A team of researchers in the US (UC Davis, industry) found that up to 26 percent of the nitrogen in natural ecosystems is sourced from rocks which is determined by weathering, which can be physical, such as through tectonic movement, or chemical, such as when minerals react with rainwater. According to the study large areas of Africa are devoid of nitrogen-rich bedrock while northern latitudes and mountainous […]
R&D Special Focus: Green Technology
R&D Magazine March 29, 2018 Throughout the month of March, R&D Magazine highlighted many of those green-minded R&D 100 Awardees as well as other innovators working on important environmentally sustainable and clean technologies. With new green technologies like those they featured this month emerging every day, advocacy groups across the country are needed to work with federal and state agencies, school districts and small business owners to promote these innovations… read more.