A new study by scientists at NASA and the University of California at Irvine finds more than 75 percent of the water loss in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin since late 2004 came from underground sources. The extent of groundwater loss may pose a greater threat to the water supply of the western United States…
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have gone looking for water vapor in the atmospheres of three planets orbiting stars similar to the sun — and have come up nearly dry. The three planets, known as HD 189733b, HD 209458b, and WASP-12b, are between 60 and 900 light-years away from Earth and were thought to…
NASA embarked this week on a coordinated ship and aircraft observation campaign off the Atlantic coast of the United States in an effort to advance space-based capabilities for monitoring microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food chain. Phytoplankton, tiny ocean plants that absorb carbon dioxide and deliver oxygen to Earth’s atmosphere, play…
They may be little, but they pack a big star-forming punch. New observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show small galaxies, also known as dwarf galaxies, are responsible for forming a large proportion of the universe’s stars. Studying this early epoch of the universe’s history is critical to fully understanding how these stars formed and…
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have assembled a comprehensive picture of the evolving universe – among the most colorful deep space images ever captured by the 24-year-old telescope. Researchers say the image, in new study called the Ultraviolet Coverage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, provides the missing link in star formation. The Hubble…
By Glynn Wilson – At the behest of President Obama and after months of planning and public feedback, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the much anticipated Clean Power Plan proposal on Monday. It seeks to cut carbon pollution from existing coal-fired power plants — the largest source of carbon pollution in the country —…
Glaciologist Richard Alley explains that losing West Antarctica would produce 10 feet of sea level rise in coming centuries. That’s comparable to the flooding from Sandy, but permanent. – By Chris Mooney – If you want to truly grasp the scale of Earth’s polar ice sheets, you need some help from Isaac Newton. Newton taught…
A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea. The study presents multiple lines of evidence, incorporating…
By Glynn Wilson – The Obama Administration released the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment report on Tuesday, May 6, calling it “the most authoritative and comprehensive source of scientific information to date about climate-change impacts across all U.S. regions and on critical sectors of the economy.” The report, a key part of President Obama’s so-called…
By Glynn Wilson – It was July 5, 2010, while BP’s Deepwater Horizon was still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and I was watching helpless from Gulf Shores, Alabama, that I began to ask the question: Where Oh Where Have All the Wildlife Gone? Are most of the birds already dead from the oil,…
By Glynn Wilson – The United States Supreme Court upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the air pollution from coal-fired power plants on Tuesday in a ruling that is being hailed as a major victory for the environment but a political setback for the Obama administration. The 6-to-2 ruling upholds the…
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered what appears to be the coldest “brown dwarf” known — a dim, star-like body that, surprisingly, is as frosty as Earth’s North Pole. Images from the space telescopes also pinpointed the object’s distance to 7.2 light-years away, earning it the title for fourth closest…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — While many local and state governments across the country are joining the federal government in turning away from the development of fossil fuel production in favor of clean, renewable energy to fight climate change due to global warming and create the good, high paying jobs of the future,…
Coming Clean By Michael Brune Choose Wisely… We all make choices, and some turn out better than others do. But the choices we end up regretting the most are usually the ones we make against our better judgment. Both individually and collectively, we humans seem uniquely capable of acting as our own worst enemy. We…
What Shall We Do With the Social and Political World? – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – It took about 10,000 years of human existence and increasing knowledge for scientists to say definitively they proved that the universe is infinite and always expanding. When will political conservatives in the U.S. finally admit that…
By Glynn Wilson – A majority of Americans, 57 percent, believe increases in the Earth’s temperature during the past century are due to pollution from human activities, while 40 percent still say it is due to naturally occurring changes in the environment, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence and incredibly rare scientific consensus showing that…
By Glynn Wilson – Earth’s climate will likely continue in a man-made warming trend for the remainder of the 21st century on track with previous estimates, despite the recent slowdown in the rate of global warming, a new NASA study concludes. The latest research hinges on a new and more detailed calculation of the sensitivity…
By Glynn Wilson – Astronomers have accomplished the first direct measurement of the spin of a distant black hole, an important advance for understanding how black holes grow over time, scientists say. The research suggests that this black hole grew by gradually merging material rather than pulling in material in from different directions. NASA’s Chandra…
Slashing Air Pollution and Providing Health Benefits to ThousandsBy Glynn Wilson – The Obama administration issued the final emission standards for cars and gasoline Monday to improve fuel efficiency in cars and trucks, significantly reduce harmful pollution and prevent thousands of premature deaths and illnesses every year. Based on extensive input from the public and…
By Glynn Wilson – How the federal government fights climate change will be on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a rare 90 minute oral argument session, an indication that the court thinks cases against the Environmental Protection Agency filed by chemical industry groups, conservative states and the U.S. Chamber of…
