The Eco News Roundup brings stories and commentary about issues related to climate change, renewable energy and the environment.

EPA Takes Next Step to Implement 2008 Ozone Standards / Most areas that need to take steps to reduce ozone pollution are close to meeting the standards; only three new areas have been added In 2008, EPA set new smog standards at 75 parts per billion. Working with states and tribes and following an open [...]

Scientists Across U.S. Launch Study of Thunderstorm Effects on Upper Atmosphere Research examines how thunderstorm structure and cloud chemistry interact Scientists are targeting thunderstorms in Alabama, Colorado and Oklahoma this spring to discover what happens when clouds suck air many miles into the atmosphere from Earth’s surface. The Deep Convective Clouds & Chemistry (DC3) Experiment, [...]

Global Warming Refuge Discovered Near At-Risk Pacific Island Nation of Kiribati Ocean currents may mitigate warming near handful of equatorial islands Scientists predict ocean temperatures will rise in the equatorial Pacific by the end of the century, wreaking havoc on coral reef ecosystems. But a new study shows that climate change could cause ocean currents [...]

Scientists Find Night-Warming Effect Over Large Wind Farms in Texas Wind turbines interact with atmospheric boundary layer near the surface Large wind farms in certain areas in the United States appear to affect local land surface temperatures, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study, led by Liming Zhou, [...]

The Eco News Roundup brings stories and commentary about issues related to climate change, renewable energy and the environment.

Can Nature’s Beauty Lift Citizens From Poverty? Researchers release findings on who benefits from nature tourism Using nature’s beauty as a tourist draw can boost conservation in China’s valued panda preserves, but it isn’t an automatic ticket out of poverty for the humans who live there, a unique long-term study shows. Often those who benefit [...]

EPA Awards More Than $1 Million to College Teams for Innovative Environmental Solutions Release Date: 04/25/2012 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded more than $1 million in grants to 15 university and college teams from across the country who participated in the 8th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall [...]

New Genetic Map of Potato May Lead to Improved Crops Improved potato crops would help feed the hungry An international consortium of scientists has produced a new map of the potato genome that may lead to the development of an ultra-nutritious potato that could help feed the world’s hungry. By sequencing and identifying genes in [...]

Dissecting Dyslexia: Linking Reading to Voice Recognition Research shows dyslexia involves difficulty processing language sounds in dyslexic brains When people recognize voices, part of what helps make voice recognition accurate is noticing how people pronounce words differently. But individuals with dyslexia don’t experience this familiar language advantage, say researchers. The likely reason: “phonological impairment.” Tyler [...]