#Environment209

6 Aug 2026

Scientists Find Plant Protein That Helps Reduce Fertilizer Use

Scientists have discovered a protein called HHO5 that controls how plants absorb nitrogen. Turning off this protein could help crops absorb more nutrients and allow farmers to use less fertilizer.

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Photo by Steven Weeks, Unsplash

23 Jul 2026

Nature sights and sounds help mental health

A study at North Carolina State University found that being in nature and hearing natural sounds changes emotions and reduces stress more than noisy city settings. People felt most restored when they were in green space and heard birds.

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20 Jul 2026

Carbon capture could reduce data centers' climate impact

A new study finds that US data center electricity use may grow sharply by 2030 and that carbon capture and storage (CCS) in underground saline aquifers could cut many related emissions.

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17 Jul 2026

Wildfire smoke linked to fewer birds in New York

New research found that smoke from Canadian wildfires reduced bird sightings across New York during recent breeding seasons. Scientists matched air pollution data with nearly 99,000 eBird checklists and saw declines for many forest songbirds.

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22 Jun 2026

Ozone Pollution Rises in India’s Heatwaves

A new study finds that ground-level ozone in India rises during pre-monsoon heatwaves and often exceeds the WHO safe limit. The higher ozone is linked to more deaths from heart and lung disease and to strong sunlight.

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31 May 2026

Soil life survived the Mojave Dome Fire

A 2020 fire in the Mojave Desert killed many Eastern Joshua trees, but researchers found that fungi and other soil microbes did not decline. The result affects how restoration might proceed.

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31 May 2026

Drought Shrinks Habitat for Large Western Mammals

A study finds historic drought in the American Southwest has reduced prime habitat for mule deer, black bears and cougars. Researchers used long-term GPS tracking to measure how drought changed those areas.

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30 May 2026

Lake Erie algal blooms produce many toxic compounds

A study of western Lake Erie finds harmful algal blooms make a wider range of bioactive cyanopeptides beyond microcystin. Scientists sampled lake water across seasons, linked compounds to bacteria, and found mixtures can increase cellular toxicity.

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30 May 2026

People Change Wild Animal Behaviour

A large global study shows that the simple presence of people changes how wild animals move. Researchers tracked many species with GPS and mobile phone data and say conservation should consider when and where people go.

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28 May 2026

Study finds no major health harms from wind turbines

Researchers studied households near wind turbines using location and purchase data. They found no moderate-to-large health effects at typical distances, but said very small, hard-to-detect effects cannot be ruled out.

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18 May 2026

Data centers and mining could raise US power costs by 2030

A new study warns that growing electricity use by data centers and cryptocurrency mining could raise power prices and CO2 emissions in the United States by 2030. Researchers modelled hourly power needs across 26 regions to find likely impacts.

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14 May 2026

Air pollution linked to higher post-surgery risks in Utah

A study of 49,615 non-emergency surgeries on Utah’s Wasatch Front found that higher PM2.5 in the week before surgery was associated with more post-surgical complications. The research appears in Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica.

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13 May 2026

Volcanic plume removed methane after Hunga Tonga eruption

After the January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai, satellites showed the volcanic plume helped destroy some methane. Researchers say sunlight on salt and ash likely created reactive chlorine that broke down methane, with implications for climate action.

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