Science Daily: Earth & Climate News

Shorter work commutes are one way to reduce gasoline consumption, but a new study finds that not all cities are equal in how easy it would be to achieve that goal. Research suggests that Atlanta and Minneapolis may be the US metropolitan areas that would find it most difficult to reduce the miles that workers commute each day.

Arctic sea ice extent during the 2008 melt season dropped to the second-lowest level Sept. 14 since satellite measurements began in 1979 and may represent the lowest volume of sea ice on record, according to researchers.

More plant species grow in German towns and cities than in the countryside, but those in towns and cities are more closely related and are often functionally similar. This makes urban ecosystems more susceptible to environmental impacts.

New research shows certain countries and some US states stand to benefit from the use of compact fluorescent lighting more than others, and some places may even produce more mercury emissions by switching from incandescent light bulbs to CFLs.

More than 20 years later, researchers from Case Western Reserve University traveled to Sweden and Poland to gain insight into the downward migration of Chernobyl-derived radionuclides in the soil. Among the team's findings was the fact that much more plutonium was found in the Swedish soil at a depth that corresponded with the nuclear explosion than that of Poland.

Eye color and hair color play a role in human partner choice, but visual stimuli can also determine mating preferences in the animal kingdom. In many species, the male's fortunes in the mating stakes are decided by a conspicuous breeding dress. A study of brightly colored fish has now demonstrated that this has less to do with aesthetics than with the sensitivity of female eyes, which varies as a result of adaptation to the environment.

Newly found fossils revealed a herd of dinosaurs that perished in a catastrophic event 72.5 million years ago. Scientists describe the animals as having a bony frill on the back of the skull ornamented with smaller horns. They also had large bony structures above their nose and eyes which lends them their name: Pachyrhinosaurus (thick-nosed lizard). These structures probably supported horns of keratin.

Yale scientists report that genetic traces of extinct species of Galapagos tortoises exist in descendants now living in the wild, a finding that could spur breeding programs to restore the species.

DNA test could be used to detect harmful algal blooms across the globe, an article the International Journal of Environment and Pollution.

The United Nations estimates that 1.1 billion people across the globe lack access to sustainable, clean drinking water. How can science help provide more drinkable water for a growing population on an Earth with limited fresh surface-water and groundwater resources? One researcher shows that desalinization -- removing salt from ocean water to create fresh water -- is a practical way to meet the growing human need.