Compostable food containers seem like a great idea: They degrade into nutrient-rich organic matter, reducing waste and the need for chemical fertilizers. But much of this packaging relies on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to repel water and oil. Now, researchers have shown that PFAS can leach from the containers into compost. However, the potential…

Does a warmer climate mean more dry land? For years, researchers projected that drylands — including deserts, savannas and shrublands — will expand as the planet warms, but new research challenges those prevailing views. Previous studies used atmospheric information, including rainfall and temperature, to make projections about future land conditions. The real picture is more…

No matter which of the widely accepted global circulation models ultimately comes closest to predicting the amount of warming caused by climate change, corn production will be reduced, according to a new study. They evaluated the potential impacts of 18 warming scenarios, dictated by various atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, to determine the potential effects of…

Intense blooms of toxic algae are becoming common occurrences along the coast of Florida and elsewhere. Results from a new study found that wearing the face mask everyone has become accustomed to during the COVID-19 pandemic may help protect against these airborne toxins too. The UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science researchers designed…

Miniscule plants growing on desert soils can help drylands retain water and reduce erosion, researchers have found. Biocrusts are a rich assortment of mosses, lichens, cyanobacteria, and microscopic organisms such as bacteria and fungi that live on the surface of dryland soils. Drylands, collectively, are the world’s largest biome. «Biocrusts are critically important because they…

Researchers find more similarities between the thylacine and wolf. «Remarkably, the Tasmanian tiger pups were more similar to wolf pups than to other closely related marsupials,» Professor Andrew Pask from the University of Melbourne said. The collaborative study with Flinders University and Museums Victoria complement earlier findings that thylacine and wolf have evolved similar instructions…

Because rivers are in near-constant motion, researchers previously assumed lightweight microplastics quickly flowed through rivers, rarely interacting with riverbed sediments. With new simulations, researchers now have discovered hyporheic exchange — a process in which surface water mixes with water in the riverbed — can trap lightweight microplastics that otherwise might be expected to float. Because…

Researchers examined the rainfall history of Central America over the last 11,000 years. The results provide context for the development of tropical rainforest ecosystems in the region, and long-sought answers to what has been controlling rainfall in Central America for several millennia. It’s hard to believe the landscape ever looked any different. But according to…

Coastal communities face increasing danger from rising water and storms, but the level of risk will be more closely tied to policy decisions regarding development than the varying conditions associated with climate change. The findings, published in the journal Water, provide an important framework for managing the interactions between human-made and natural systems in cities…

Scientists have completed one of the largest and longest examinations to trace unprocessed nitrate movement in forests. The team found that some nitrate occasionally moves too fast for biological uptake, resulting in ‘unprocessed’ nitrate bypassing the otherwise effective filter of forest biology. Scientists found that some nitrate, which is a form of nitrogen that plants…