Tag Archives: environmental fate

Where Does Charcoal, or Black Carbon, in Soils Go?

Scientists find surprising new answers in wetlands such as the Everglades

Scientists have uncovered one of nature’s long-kept secrets–the true fate of charcoal in the world’s soils.

The ability to determine the fate of charcoal is critical to knowledge of the global carbon budget, which in turn can help understand and mitigate climate change.

However, until now, researchers only had scientific guesses about what happens to charcoal once it’s incorporated into soil. They believed it stayed there.

Surprisingly, most of these researchers were wrong. (more…)

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UA Researchers Hunt Bomb-Eating Bugs

UA researchers are investigating bacterial eating habits as part of a $1 million study to determine the environmental fate of newly developed munitions.

University of Arizona researchers are studying the environmental effects of insensitive munitions compounds, or IMCs, which are new, more stable explosives that won’t detonate in response to heat or shock.

Not much is known about the environmental impact of IMCs, which the U.S. Department of Defense hopes will reduce injuries and fatalities among troops who handle explosives. (more…)

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CU-Boulder Team to Assess Air Quality and Respiratory Health Risks Stemming From Gulf Oil Spill

Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students from Professor Mark Hernandez’s environmental engineering lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder will travel to the Gulf Coast this week to begin studying the effect of this summer’s oil spill on air quality along impacted shores.

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