Density in the urban environment can encompass a multitude of factors such as population or dwelling density or the density of green areas. A new study surveyed professionals regarding how decisions on urban density are made, and has revealed that many feel that developers make most of these decisions, but that local authority planners should have more influence.

Pollination studies have, to date, focused almost entirely on bees , butterflies and hoverflies; however, other kinds of flies also have an important role to play in this vital ecosystem service, a new study suggests. Using data from 33 farms, the researchers found that non-hover flies were in fact responsible for carrying 84% of the pollen transferred by flies between flowers in farmland.

The number of overexploited or collapsed fish stocks in the Mediterranean Sea has been increasing at a rate of approximately 38 every 10 years between 1970 and 2010, a new study has shown. In the Black Sea, the equivalent figure is 13 stocks per decade, the researchers found. The study’s authors augmented traditional methods of stock assessments with a variety of other data sources on multiple fish species to give a more accurate overview of these marine ecosystems. These results should be used to improve conservation and management, they recommend.

Increases in the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere can be beneficial to crops, by providing a source of carbon for growth. However, very high levels of CO₂ have the reverse effect, decreasing the yield and quality of vegetable crops, a new study has shown. The researchers say atmospheric CO₂ concentration should be kept below 5 000 ppm to enhance the yield of leafy vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce.

The global production, trade and use of goods and services has a significant impact on the environment — and rates of consumption are rising. A new study combines two assessment methods to quantify the impact of European trade on the environment. It finds that, overall, the EU was a net importer of environmental impact from 2000 to 2010, that machinery, equipment and vehicles contributed most to the EU’s export impacts and that the EU’s trade balance (import impact minus export impact) is increasing over time. The two assessment methods complement one another well and could form the basis for future country or region-wide studies, suggest the researchers, by enabling a detailed analysis of individual steps within a product’s trade flow, while also providing a larger picture of the overall process.

In 1989, researchers dragged a plough harrow across the seafloor of the Peru Basin to recreate some of the effects of deep-sea mining. Twenty-six years later, a new team of researchers returned to the site to assess whether there were any long-term ecological effects. They found that the seabed ecosystem remained disrupted, with significantly fewer suspension feeder species, such as anemones and sea sponges, than in undisturbed areas of seafloor. This suggests that deep-sea mining could cause irreversible changes to marine food webs in highly disturbed areas.

Invasions of alien species are rising at an alarming rate, largely due to growing global trade and transport routes. Preventing the successful establishment of alien species by better understanding the factors determining success is a step toward limiting the threat of future biological invasions. Statistical modelling using observed bird invasion data — including location, event and species-level factors showed which factors were key to successful establishment by the alien species.

The most comprehensive glacier assessment yet reveals that glacier melt was responsible for 27mm of sea level rise between 1961 and 2016. Ice loss from glaciers is now the second biggest contributor to rising sea levels after warming water. If glaciers continue to melt at current rates, most — including many in central Asia, central Europe, western Canada and the USA — will vanish during the second half of this century.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of toxic molecules produced by forest fires, industrial processes and the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. The airborne particles containing these molecules are often washed into watercourses, where they can persist. This study uses long-term monitoring data from the Elbe river, Saxony, Germany, to show how changes in PAH sources affect both the concentrations of these chemicals and the corresponding environmental risks. The researchers suggest that controlling PAHs is the best prevention of harm to aquatic and human health.

Groundwater is the earth’s largest freshwater resource and is vital for irrigation and global food production. In dry periods farmers pump groundwater to water crops, this is already happening at an unsustainable level in many places — exceeding the rate at which rain and rivers can refill the groundwater stores. This study seeks to identify where groundwater pumping is affecting stream flows and estimates where and when environmentally critical stream flows — required to maintain healthy ecosystems — can no longer be sustained.

A survey of over 600 private boats docked in marinas throughout the Mediterranean showed that 71% are carrying non-indigenous species. In certain cases, non-indigenous species can become ‘invasive’ and have enormous and long-lasting impacts on ecosystems. The findings suggest that a common monitoring strategy may be necessary to prevent further disruptions to natural ecosystems.

An early-warning system developed by researchers could help forest managers in Europe predict which trees are at greatest risk of bark- beetle infestation. The study looked at the probability of bark-beetle outbreaks on two important conifer-tree species in Slovenia: the Norway spruce (Picea abies) and silver fir (Abies alba). It found that high temperatures, and extreme weather linked to climate change — including droughts and ice storms — weakened trees, making them more vulnerable to attack by bark beetles.

The amount of land and ocean that a country uses in order to produce food and other commodities, or its land or ocean ‘footprint’, increases by over a third for each doubling of income, new research shows. Thus, as nations become richer, and lifestyles become more affluent, pressure on natural resources increases.

New research has compared the environmental impact of four alternative methods of water supply in Copenhagen. Results indicated that rain and stormwater harvesting is the most environmentally sound approach, whilst desalination currently has a large environmental impact, mainly due to electricity use. However, if freshwater extraction is included as an impact, the environmental credibility of desalination is improved.

Green supply chain management (GSCM) is a holistic approach to improving environmental performance along the supply chain. A new study by Italian researchers on over 4000 manufacturing facilities in seven developed countries has indicated that GSCM increases environmental performance.

The qualities of sustainable design and the obstacles that Design for Sustainability (DfS) faces are explored by a new study which provides recommendations on how to overcome these challenges. It suggests that design education needs to change and provides advice on how to improve our understanding of consumer behaviour.

Scientists in the US have found a way to make a 'biorenewable' plastic from wood by-products. Their fossil fuel-free plastic is similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - a material used to make plastic bottles and packaging. Such green chemistry approaches could help reduce reliance on dwindling fossil fuel resources.

A recent study has compared the environmental impact of a range of building materials. Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and water demand can all be reduced by switching to renewable sources of energy, improving technologies and promoting eco-friendly alternative materials.

A recent Swiss study compared consumer perceptions of the environmental friendliness of vegetables with the results of scientific assessments of the vegetables’ environmental impact. The two did not always tally and findings from this study can provide useful information for sustainable consumption campaigns.

There is a need to broaden the debate on sustainable food security from a straight comparison between organic and conventional farming to a consideration of a variety of farming techniques. This is the conclusion of a new review of research that indicates, for some crop types, organic yields can nearly match conventional yields under good management practices and growing conditions.

New research has produced a starch-based bioplastic with similar properties to equivalent traditional oil-based plastics. By adding an ammonium salt to thermoplastic starch (TPS) the study demonstrated an improvement in the plasticisation process, rendering it flexible, mouldable and potentially recyclable.

New research has assessed the environmental impact of gold production using life cycle assessment and estimated embodied energy and greenhouse gases, embodied water and solid waste burden that each tonne of gold produces, using various processes.

Fish farms, and other forms of aquaculture, are seen as a potential solution to meeting increasing global demand for seafood. However, according to recent research, they must reduce their reliance on wild fish for animal feed if current production levels from both aquaculture and wild fisheries are to be maintained.

There is a wide range of systems for assessing and communicating the sustainability of buildings, but the variation can be confusing. Recent research has analysed the elements needed for effective assessment and examined the needs of stakeholders to inform the presentation and communication of assessment results.

Increasing the use of recycled materials could substantially reduce the carbon footprint of plastic packaging, research suggests. A new study of the life-cycle of plastic trays has shown that increasing the proportion of recycled material could lead to a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

A new concrete-reinforcement system, used by the LIFE INSU-SHELL1 project, replaces steel rods with non-corrosive textile structures to reduce the amount of concrete needed in construction. This nearly halves the global warming potential of traditional steel-reinforced concrete which is the largest producer of CO2 emissions in the building industry.

Staff in buildings that have been certified as ‘green’ under the LEED scheme are just as satisfied with their indoor working environment as people working in non-LEED buildings, according to research on commercial buildings. The study suggests that investment in the thermal and acoustic aspects of buildings, however, would further improve occupant satisfaction.

Twitter is warning users impersonating unsupported browsers to enable the original site theme that the legacy version will be shut down on June 1st, 2020. [...]

Microsoft Edge is now giving users the ability to hide those pesky browser notification dialog boxes that are commonly used by web sites to push their content, or even spam, on visitors. [...]

A new global map of urban areas is available for use which shows that cities occupy less than 0.5 per cent of the world’s total land area.

A new study of attitudes towards transport and mobility has identified five groups of travellers. The groups differ significantly in their choice of transport, distance travelled and the impact their transport choices have on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Researchers have created a new Green Option Matrix (GOM) to describe and compare the ever growing number of options to develop green products and processes. The GOM was used to analyse 142 companies belonging to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

The growing influence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the seafood industry means that they now play a central role in setting standards for sustainable fisheries. In a new study, researchers used the Dutch Good Fish Guide to illustrate how NGOs can efficiently engage consumers, industry, fishermen and government.

People who are committed to reducing their environmental impact at home do not necessarily behave in the same way when on holiday, according to a new study. The study presents a more complex view of consumer environmental behaviour than is often used to inform policymaking.

The majority of respondents to a UK survey would like to see labels explaining the carbon footprint of the food they buy. 72% of the supermarket shoppers questioned were in favour of carbon labels on food. The survey also found that 42% had changed their shopping habits in the last 10 years in response to environmental concerns.

A recent study has investigated how waste disposal sites in southern Italy have affected residents living nearby. Villagers reported being annoyed by odours, but the perceptions of residents living in the village closest to the facilities were possibly influenced by receiving financial compensation for the presence of the facilities.

Sustainable management of complex ecosystems requires clear understanding of uncertainty. However, scientific guidance documents show a lack of clarity and coherence regarding uncertainties and tend to focus solely on the need for more data or monitoring, new research indicates. The researchers suggest that scientific guidance should recognise uncertainty as an inherent part of any complex ecosystem.

Simply supplying more scientific information on the environment may not be enough to persuade urban planners to give greater consideration to the environment, suggests new research. The Dutch study suggests that environmental values also need to be made more important to municipal decision makers.

Public participation in developing coastal management plans can have numerous benefits, such as augmenting expert information with local knowledge and building trust, a new study has confirmed; however, challenges remain, say the researchers. They use the experiences of 10 case studies to make a series of recommendations regarding how to improve the efficiency of the process.

The views of organisations and industries affected by marine protected areas (MPAs) have been gathered by a new survey. 36 organisations from the UK and France responded to the survey, which asked about the perceived socio-economic and environmental impacts of multiple-use MPAs. Environmental NGOs, managing agencies and research centres gave a largely positive response, while fishers’, shipping, and other industrial organisations perceived an overall negative impact on them. Gathering stakeholders’ views on MPAs may help improve socioeconomic outcomes through informing the planning and management of these marine areas, the researchers say.

A map of science could assist research planning strategies by helping to identify emerging topics. The map — which is based on links to almost 20 million scientific articles that have been published over the past 16 years — clusters and links scientific disciplines by citation-based relationships and serves as a highly detailed and scalable infographic. The authors hope it will be used by research planners to help distinguish — and potentially forecast — the research areas in science which have longevity, and also those which are innovative.

Harbour sediments should be tested for their toxic effects on living organisms in addition to being subject to the chemical, physical and biological tests usually conducted to assess water quality, according to recent research from Portugal. This would provide a better environmental assessment of dredged material to help guide port authorities’ decisions on its disposa

Sea level rise may cause soils in coastal regions to become more saline. In a recent study, reproduction in soil invertebrates was impaired in soils containing salt levels below the threshold used currently to define saline soils. The authors recommend community-level studies to further investigate the salt concentrations that are harmful to soil organisms.

The phrase ‘emerging risk’ has been widely used in scientific and business communities, but without consensus on how to define and govern such a risk. A new study proposes that risk emergence goes through four states, from ‘unknown unknowns’ to risks that are fully in the public domain. Understanding emergence as a process can help decision makers detect and manage risks on the basis of scientific evidence.

A fossil that has been in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History since it was discovered in 1951 is today helping scientists piece together the evolutionary history of whales and dolphins, including the origins of the endangered South Asian river dolphin.

read more

Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Málaga have proposed that the long extinct marsupial lion hunted in a very unique way - by using its teeth to hold prey before dispatching them with its huge claws.

read more

Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the University of Washington have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.

read more

When most people hear the word "pollinator," they think of bees and butterflies. However, certain beetles are known to pollinate plants as well, and new fossil evidence indicates that they were doing so 20 million years ago.

read more

The fossil remains of a new tiny species of marsupial lion which prowled the lush rainforests of northern Australia about 18 million years ago have been unearthed in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area of remote north-western Queensland.

read more

Archaeologists translating a very rare inscription on an ancient Etruscan temple stone have discovered the name Uni -- an important female goddess.

read more