The European Union may be planning to classify oil palm plantations as forests, raising fears among environmental groups of expanded conversion of tropical rainforests for biofuel production, reports the EUobserver,…

It was any birders dream come true: not only to see one of the world's rarest birds, but to discover a new unknown population. Israeli birder, Shachar Alterman, was surveying…

Researchers have long been fascinated by how insects migrate thousands of kilometers, for example from Britain to the Mediterranean. A new study, published in Science shows that although tiny, insects…

Boa Sr, the last speaker of ‘Bo’, one of the ten Great Andamanese languages, died last week, according to an indigenous rights group. She was 85. His death marks the…

Satellite image from Google Earth showing an interior region of Sarawak near Rumah Nor. This area was spectacular rainforest in the 1970s and 1980s; today it is scarred by logging…

Amazongate may land Sunday Times in hot water A claim published in the Sunday Times over the veracity of a statement published in an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)…

Amid questions over the Amazon forests' capacity to survive climate change, a renowned tropical biologist says that in fact the fears are real, reports Tierramerica. Speaking at the Biodiversity Science…

Newly released images from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center show that the Arctic's melt season has lengthened significantly over the past few decades. The melting season—i.e.…

NASA has released an updated satellite photo showing Dubai's artificial islands and its newly completed Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building which stands more than 800 meters (2600 feet tall).…

"No one would have ever predicted that we could turn the cells in our collection into stem cells and that you would be able to clone animals from these (stem)…

There is no question that governments around the world are moving slowly and sluggishly to combat climate change, especially when placed against the measures recommended by climate scientists. Only a…

U.S. Global Exotics, an exotic pet dealer accused of animal cruelty and linked with a notorious wildlife smuggler based in Malaysia, will not be getting back of the 26,000 animals…

Kihansi spray toad and toadlet. Photo by: Julie Larsen Maher of WCS Bronx Zoo puts 'extinct' frogs on display (02/02/2010) The Bronx Zoo has a put a most unusual frog…

The Bronx Zoo has a put a most unusual frog on display: the Kihansi spray toad. For one thing, the Kihansi spray toad survived on only 5 acres in the…

World Wetland Day 2010 brings with it new research on America's prairie wetlands and bad news for the country's waterfowl. A new study in BioScience finds that America's prairies are…

The approval of the hydro-electric Belo Monte Dam from the Brazilian environmental agency, IBAMA, has raised condemnations from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The dam will divert the flow of the…

地球物理研究快报报道了一项新的研究，该研究表明把城市的屋顶描绘成白色可以有效地抵消一些城市热岛效应和甚至降低城市温室气体的排放。 “我们的研究表明，白色屋顶至少可以在理论成为有效减轻城市热的方法，” Keith Oleson说，他是该研究的负责人，是国家大气研究中心（NCAR）的科学家。“这还有待观察，即使把城市的屋顶油漆成白色是可行的，但这种想法肯定需要进一步的调查证明。” 白色屋顶在城市风景中将充当一些镜子的作用，把一些太阳的热量反射回大气中。使用计算机模型模拟研究发现，理想的白色屋顶可以减轻33%的热导效应，把城市的温度的降低0.4℃（0.7华氏温度）。由于建模系统无法重现复杂的整个城市环境，如灰尘、风化以及描绘的障碍，效果可能会降低，但是仍然是很有意义的。 这个效果同样会降低室内温度，将使热城市的居民更少的使用空调以节约能源，从而降低温室气体排放。研究人员指出，某些类型的城市同其它城市相比将更有益，例如高密度的屋顶、特定的屋顶类型以及温暖的气候。 在具体的大城市来看，研究发现，通过把屋顶描绘成白色可以在夏季将纽约地区的温度降低1.1℃（2华氏度）。

Incorporating 17,000 tropical islands, Indonesia is one of the world's richest areas of biodiversity. However, according to the Jakarta Post, over half of this biodiversity remains unrecorded with only 20…

Jumbo squid are back in the waters of Southern California and anglers are seeing an uptick in business, reports the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper notes that more than 1,000…

Three recent studies reveal just how important top predators are to their ecosystems. Few species have faced such vitriolic hatred from humans as the world's top predators. Considered by many…

Lion with kill in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Photo by Rhett A. Butler, 2007 Why top predators matter: an in-depth look at new research (02/02/2010) Few species have faced such vitriolic…

An interview with Naftali Honig, director of Projet d'Appui à l'Application de la Loi sur la Faune in Republic of Congo. The bushmeat trade in the Congo basin has been…

"Waka, waka." The acorn woodpecker is best known for its chortle, which may have inspired Woody the Woodpecker's iconic laugh. But many California residents say there's nothing funny about the…

Nature never runs out of surprises. Exploring Sudest Island off of Papua New Guinea, researchers discovered a new species of frog that drastically changes its appearance from juvenile to adulthood,…

This year China has become the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind turbines, doubling its wind capacity since 2005. The economically booming nation—and the world's most populous—has also…

Russian police have raided the Baikal Environmental Wave organization reports the Moscow Times. Police seized several computers, citing the reason for the raid to uncover the use of unlicensed software.…

Only 4 percent of biofuel imported for use in the UK — and 20 percent of biofuel used overall — meets the environmental sustainability standard set by the Renewable Transport…