Billions of years ago, when Earth’s atmosphere reeked of unbreathable gases, microbes evolved in the absence of oxygen. As Earth matured and the nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere formed, these anaerobic, or oxygen-averse, bacteria retreated into the mud of the ocean floor and other environments where they would be safe from oxygen-rich air.

Identifying the sources of aerosol ammonium is essential because ammonium can impact the Earth’s radiative balance, as well as human health and biological diversity. The sources of ambient ammonia concentrations can be quantified based on the stable isotopic composition of ammonia for various endmembers. However, isotopic source apportionment of aerosol ammonium is challenging in the urban atmosphere, where there is excess ammonia and nitrogen isotopic fractionation commonly occurs.

Education, awareness and skill development programmes can help Pakistan reduce its carbon emissions without compromising economic growth, according to a new Pakistan-Chinese study.

The University of Alberta will lead a project to design, build and launch Ex-Alta 2, a new cube satellite to help combat forest fires, thanks to funding of $250,000 from the Canadian Space Agency.

When people are out and about, they leave plumes of chemicals behind them—from both car tailpipes and the products they put on their skin and hair. In fact, emissions of siloxane, a common ingredient in shampoos, lotions, and deodorants, are comparable in magnitude to the emissions of major components of vehicle exhaust, such as benzene, from rush-hour traffic in Boulder, Colorado, according to a new CIRES and NOAA study.

Plastic is famous for its unyielding durability, making it perfect for consumer products but a unique and persistent menace to the natural environment.

For the loggerhead sea turtles that nest on the once-pristine beaches bounding the Gulf of Mexico, millimeters-thick pieces of broken down plastic — called microplastics — pose a particularly urgent threat.

A new MIT study reports that if China follows through with its international pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, every one of its provinces will experience benefits to air quality and human health, with associated monetary savings that could offset the total cost of implementing the climate policy.

Drop an electric motor into a ship and you’re all set to sail into a cleaner environment, right?

If only it were that simple, says a University of Victoria mechanical engineer whose research focuses on hybrid electric propulsion systems.

Bacteria can become a workforce that helps redefine our energy sector.

A new WCS paper published in the journal BioScience finds that the enormous trends toward population stabilization, poverty alleviation, and urbanization are rewriting the future of biodiversity conservation in the 21st century, offering new hope for the world’s wildlife and wild places.