Author: Division on Earth and Life Studies

People are constantly changing the land surface through construction, agriculture, energy production, and other activities. Changes both in how lan...

During the last decade, national and international scientific organizations have become increasingly engaged in considering how to respond to the b...

It is critical that we increase public knowledge and understanding of science and technology issues through formal and informal learning for the Un...

The world's ocean has already experienced a 30% rise in acidity since the industrial revolution, with acidity expected to rise 100 to 150% over pre...

Energy and mineral resources are essential for the nation's fundamental functions, its economy, and security. Nonfuel minerals are essential for th...

For thousands of years, the underground has provided humans refuge, useful resources, physical support for surface structures, and a place for spir...

Lead is a ubiquitous metal in the environment, and its adverse effects on human health are well documented. Lead interacts at multiple cellular sit...

In May 2012, the National Park Service (NPS) asked the National Research Council to conduct a scientific review of a Draft Environmental Impact St...

From the use of personal products to our consumption of food, water, and air, people are exposed to a wide array of agents each daymany with the po...

Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's wate...

Climate is changing, forced out of the range of the past million years by levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases not seen in the Earth...

Many factors contribute to variability in Earth's climate on a range of timescales, from seasons to decades. Natural climate variability arises fro...

Systematic review - a scientific investigation that focuses on a specific question and uses explicit, prespecified scientific methods to identify,...

The U.S. Gulf Coast provides a valuable setting to study deeply connected natural and human interactions and feedbacks that have led to a complex, ...

Water of appropriate quantity and quality is essential for drinking, sanitation, and food, energy, and industrial production for any society and is...

Exposures at low doses of radiation, generally taken to mean doses below 100 millisieverts, are of primary interest for setting standards for prote...

The extraction of mineral resources provides the raw materials necessary to produce the products and technologies on which the global economy depen...

The United States is an important food producer globally, in part because of its abundance of agriculturally productive soils. However, management ...

The ocean is central to the health of the planet and the well-being of human societies, but ongoing depletion, disruption, and pollution threaten i...

Uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been prohibited since 1982 by a state moratorium, although approval for restricted uranium explo...

Aquaculture now supplies half of the seafood and fisheries products consumed worldwide and is gaining international significance as a source of foo...

Since 1944, the National Research Council has published 10 editions of the Nutrient Requirements of Swine. This reference has guided nutritionists ...

New research opportunities to advance hydrologic sciences promise a better understanding of the role of water in the Earth system that could help i...

U.S. mariculture production of bivalve molluscs-those cultivated in the marine environment-has roughly doubled over the last 25 years. Although mar...

Technological Challenges in Antibiotic Discovery and Development is the summary of a workshop convened by the Chemical Sciences Roundtable in Septe...

Based on a one-day public workshop held in Washington, DC, Opportunities and Obstacles in Large-Scale Biomass Utilization: The Role of the Chemical...

The Earth's population, currently 7.2 billion, is expected to rise at a rapid rate over the next 40 years. Current projections state that the Earth...

Solar irradiance is a vital source of energy input for the Earth's climate system and its variability has the potential to mitigate or exacerbate a...

Climate change poses risks to human health and well-being through shifting weather patterns, increases in frequency and intensity of heat waves and...

The National Research Council's Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences held a 2-day workshop on January 15-16, 2015, in Washington, D...

U.S. Arctic waters north of the Bering Strait and west of the Canadian border encompass a vast area that is usually ice covered for much of the yea...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) applies scientific results that have been provided by various parts of its own organization and by extern...

Development of Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources in the Appalachian Basin is the summary of a workshop convened by the National Research Council...

The sea ice surrounding Antarctica has increased in extent and concentration from the late 1970s, when satellite-based measurements began, until 20...

The US Department of Defense (DOD) is faced with an overwhelming task in evaluating chemicals that could potentially pose a threat to its deployed ...

The United States' tradition of conserving fish, wildlife, habitats, and cultural resources dates to the mid-19th century. States have long sought ...

Students who participate in scientific research as undergraduates report gaining many benefits from the experience. However, undergraduate research...

The central purpose of all research is to create new knowledge. In the geographical sciences this is driven by a desire to create new knowledge abo...

Diluted bitumen has been transported by pipeline in the United States for more than 40 years, with the amount increasing recently as a result of im...

The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is a collection of 13 Federal entities charged by law to assist the United States and the world to u...

Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research has produced a wide array of important and exciting scientific advances. Spanning oceanography to ...

The U.S. Department of State charged the Academies with the task of producing a protocol for development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) th...

Gulf Coast communities and natural resources suffered extensive direct and indirect damage as a result of the largest accidental oil spill in US hi...

Passenger screening at commercial airports in the United States has gone through significant changes since the events of September 11, 2001. In res...

Undergraduate Chemistry Education is the summary of a workshop convened in May 2013 by the Chemical Science Roundtable of the National Research Cou...

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is an interagency program, established by the Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 1990, mandated ...