A proposed U.N. study of climate extremes will be a practical guide for tackling natural disasters and fill a gap in past reports focused on the gradual effects of global warming, experts said.
A new chemical process may help unlock biofuels from trees and plant waste in a shift from using food crops such as sugar cane to generate fuel, scientists said Thursday.
They said they found an enzyme that helped break down chitin, a stiff material similar to woody cellulose that is found in the skeletons of crustaceans -- such as lobsters or crabs -- as well as insects.
Europeans started over-exploiting freshwater fish at least 1,000 years ago, according to historical studies that could help manage depleted modern fish stocks worldwide.
Whales teemed in waters off New Zealand in the 19th century and a now almost non-existent cod stock in the Gulf of Maine totalled a huge 70,000 tonnes a year in the mid-19th century, according to historical records.
