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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY

Biodiversity Survey Shows 'Serious Extinction Crisis'

In a major international study, scientists have found that more than a third of 47,677 species assessed are threatened with extinction, according to a report by the BBC.

In other environmental news, scientists say climate change is likely to blame for the massive decline of aspen trees across the American West, a trend that began seven years ago.

It occurred to British mathematician Lewis Fry Richardson that the laws that govern the atmosphere might actually be very simple, if only we looked at it the right way. Now an international team of scientists has found evidence that Richardson's insight may have been correct.

Engineers say it may be easier and less expensive to capture the carbon dioxide at oil refineries, chemical plants and cement factories than it is to sequester it from coal-fired power plants.

And, finally, a new climate simulation that factors in chemical interactions between various gases and atmospheric aerosols is giving scientists a better idea of the climate-altering effects of those gases.