Some plants can increase ozone production by 50 times

September 16th, 2009 TORONTO - Ozone layer alterations, prompted by climate change, will enhance ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the tropics and Antarctica, according to a discovery by physicists. Climate change is an established fact, but scientists are only just beginning to understand its regional manifestations, said Michaela Hegglin, a physics researcher at the University of Toronto (U-T) and lead study author.

September 16th, 2009 TORONTO - A new study by University of Toronto (U of T) physicists has shown that climate change will lead to less ultraviolet radiation over northern high latitudes. They discovered that changes in the Earth's ozone layer due to climate change will reduce the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in northern high latitude regions such as Siberia, Scandinavia and northern Canada.

September 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Human urine and wood ash appear to make a potent, low cost fertiliser for boosting output of food crops. A new study found that plants fertilised with urine produced four times more tomatoes than nonfertilised plants and as much as plants given synthetic fertiliser.

August 31st, 2009 SYDNEY - A new study has found manure is the major contributor to rising nitrous oxide levels since the beginning of last century. According to a report by ABC Science, the study was carried out by soil scientist and study author Dr Eric Davidson from the Woods Hole Research Centre in Massachusetts, US.

August 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has determined that nitrous dioxide, popularly known as 'laughing gas', has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century. The study was authored by A.R.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A research team led by Indian-origin scientist from North Carolina State University has devised a new technique that can help eliminate foul odour and air pollutants from industrial chicken rendering facilities. Rendering facilities take animal byproducts (e.g., skin, bones, feathers) and process them into useful products such as fertilizer.

August 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that cleaning up black carbon emissions, created through diesel and solid biomass fuel burning, provides instant benefits against global warming. The research was conducted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC (University of California) San Diego climate and atmospheric scientist V.

August 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have determined that depletion in the ozone layer is reducing the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake of the Southern Ocean. Most current models predict that the strength of the Southern Ocean CO2 sink should increase as atmospheric CO2 rises, but observations show that this has not been the case.

August 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Using energy production from microalgae, a team of scientists is developing closed photo-bioreactors and novel cell disruption methods. Microalgae are monocellular, plant-like organisms engaged in photosynthesis and converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into biomass.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists at University of California Irvine (UCI) have discovered a previously unknown chemical reaction that could account for up to 40 parts per billion of ozone. This reaction is not included in computer models used to predict air pollution levels and the effectiveness of ozone control strategies that can cost billions of dollars.

July 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of NASA-funded researchers have found that future concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone in the atmosphere and of nitrogen in the soil are likely to have an important but overlooked effect on the cycling of water from sky to land to waterways. With the help of a modeling experiment, the researchers concluded that models of climate change may be underestimating how much water is likely to run off the land and back into the sea as atmospheric chemistry changes.

June 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research indicates that high ozone conditions causes a 30 percent decrease in yield and an increase in the concentration of a group of toxic compounds within oilseed rape plants. Scientists arrived at these findings by combining the results of previous studies which have shown a decrease in oil, protein and carbohydrate content of oilseed rape seeds in high ozone.

June 27th, 2009 LONDON - In a new research, scientists have found that the ozone hole is responsible for the drop in carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption in the Southern Ocean, which is considered as a major carbon sink. In theory, oceans should absorb more CO2 as levels of the gas in the atmosphere rise.

June 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are good for protecting the ozone layer from destruction, could increasingly contribute to global warming. The research was conducted by scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and their colleagues.

June 5th, 2009 Washington, June 5 (ANI): Scientists have discovered that Mother Nature has a previously unknown cleaning agent that scrubs away toxic air pollution, cleaning Earth's atmosphere. Many studies have shown that trace gases and pollutants in the lowest level of our atmosphere break down naturally, thanks to molecules called hydroxyl (OH) radicals.