Featured blog: Switching to light bulbs that contain mercury might, surprisingly, reduce overall mercury releases to the environment. Plus, what to do when you break your fluorescent bulb.

Featured blog: When it comes to attitudes about climate change, the chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wide. Political-polling analysts speculate that a McCain win in November might do more than an Obama victory to win over the minds of climate-change skeptics.

Featured blog: Goods exported from China to the United States and elsewhere account for a huge share of the Asian behemoth's emissions of greenhouse gases.

Featured blog: Nanomagnets and wires point to a potentially better mousetrap — or crude trap — for dealing with oil spills.

City buildings offer opportunities for farms to grow up instead of out

Big action and big bucks are needed to deal with the United States' energy problems, research leaders argued today.

An abnormally hot year can significantly suppress growth in grasslands, a stifling effect that lingers well into the next year even if temperatures return to normal. It can also hinder how well the grasslands absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.