The Elephant
A resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
The ElephantA resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
Visit: phys.org
COP29 climate hosts say they'll keep expanding fossil fuels
2024-06-07 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe incoming president of the COP29 UN climate summit in Azerbaijan told AFP on Friday that his country would keep increasing fossil fuel production "in parallel" with investments in cleaner alternatives.
Discharge of scrubber water into the Baltic Sea is responsible for hundreds of millions in costs
2024-05-07 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyDischarge from ships with so-called scrubbers cause great damage to the Baltic Sea. A new study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that these emissions caused pollution corresponding to socioeconomic costs of more than €680 million (approximately $730 million) between 2014 and 2022.
Market-based schemes not reducing deforestation, poverty: Report
2024-05-06 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyMarket-based approaches to forest conservation like carbon offsets and deforestation-free certification schemes have largely failed to protect trees or alleviate poverty, according to a major scientific review published on Monday.
Mass fish die-off in Vietnam as heat wave roasts Southeast Asia
2024-05-01 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHundreds of thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in southern Vietnam's Dong Nai province, with locals and media reports suggesting a brutal heat wave and the lake's management are to blame.
Northern permafrost region emits more greenhouse gases than it captures, study finds
2024-04-15 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyPermafrost underlies about 14 million square kilometers of land in and around the Arctic. The top 3 meters contain an estimated 1 trillion metric tons of carbon and 55 billion metric tons of nitrogen. Historically, the northern permafrost region has been a sink for carbon, as frozen soils inhibit microbial decomposition. But rising temperatures contribute to thawing permafrost and enhance the biogeochemical activities that exacerbate climate change by releasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).
New study suggests we're likely underestimating the future impact of PFAS in the environment
2024-04-08 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyPer-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances—commonly known as PFAS—are a group of over 14,000 human-made chemicals that have been popular since the 1950s for their diverse skills in resisting heat, water, grease and stains.
Bogota restricts water as reservoirs hit 'critical' lows
2024-04-08 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe mayor of Colombia's capital Bogota on Monday announced water restrictions as reservoirs in the sprawling Andean city hit "critical" levels.
India's water problems set to get worse as the world warms
2024-03-11 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyWinter storms that provide crucial snow and rainfall to northern India are arriving significantly later in the year compared to 70 years ago, a new study has found, exacerbating the risk of catastrophic flooding while also reducing vital water supplies for millions of residents of India.
Tagged under: Climate Change Impacts | Climate Change | Water Resources | Flooding | Himalayas | India
New study finds little-known toxic crop chemical in four out of five people tested
2024-02-15 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new Environmental Working Group study has found chlormequat, a little-known pesticide, in four out of five people tested. Because the chemical is linked to reproductive and developmental problems in animal studies, the findings suggest the potential for similar harm to humans.
Amazon rainforest at a critical threshold: Loss of forest worsens climate change
2024-02-14 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system. A new Nature study by an international research team including scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research (PIK) reveals that up to 47% of the Amazonian forest is threatened and identifies climatic and land-use thresholds that should not be breached to keep the Amazon resilient.
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Collapse | Trees | Tipping Points
Currently stable parts of East Antarctica may be closer to melting than anyone has realized
2024-02-05 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyIn a warming climate, meltwater from Antarctica is expected to contribute significantly to rising seas. For the most part, though, research has been focused on West Antarctica, in places like the Thwaites Glacier, which has seen significant melt in recent decades.
Tagged under: Global Warming
Unprecedented ocean heating shows risks of world 3C warmer
2024-01-31 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyRecord-high ocean temperatures observed in 2023 could become the norm if the world moved into a climate that is 3°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, according to a new study.
Tagged under: Oceans | Global Warming
Global food production at risk as rising temperatures threaten farmers' physical ability to work, new study finds
2024-01-19 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe future of global food production is under threat as temperature rises will impact farmers' physical capacity to work, a new study has revealed.
Tagged under: Farming | Food Production and Consumption
Report: Warmer planet will trigger increased farm losses
2024-01-18 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyExtreme heat is already harming crop yields, but a new report quantifies just how much that warming is cutting into farmers' financial security. For every 1 degree Celsius of warming, yields of major crops like corn, soybeans and wheat fall by 16% to 20%, gross farm income falls by 7% and net farm income plummets 66%.
Tagged under: Global Warming | Farming
Most Earth system models are missing key piece of future climate puzzle, researchers say
2024-01-18 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe way science is funded is hampering Earth system models, and may be skewing important climate predictions, according to a new comment published in Nature Climate Change by Woodwell Climate Research Center and an international team of model experts.
Scientists discover southern Africa's temps will rise past rhinos' tolerance
2024-01-17 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologySouthern Africa contains the vast majority of the world's remaining populations of both black and white rhinoceroses (80% and 92%, respectively). The region's climate is changing rapidly as a result global warming. Traditional conservation efforts aimed at protecting rhinos have focused on poaching, but until now, there has been no analysis of the impact that climate change may have on the animals.
Tagged under: Global Warming | Africa
Climate change isn't producing expected increase in atmospheric moisture over dry regions: Study
2024-01-17 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe laws of thermodynamics dictate that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, but new research has found that atmospheric moisture has not increased as expected over arid and semi-arid regions of the world as the climate has warmed.
Climate change threatens global forest carbon sequestration, study finds
2024-01-15 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyClimate change is reshaping forests differently across the United States, according to a new analysis of U.S. Forest Service data. With rising temperatures, escalating droughts, wildfires, and disease outbreaks taking a toll on trees, researchers warn that forests across the American West are bearing the brunt of the consequences.
Tagged under: Drought | Wildfires | Trees
Greenhouse vegetable production emits high levels of nitrous oxide, study finds
2023-12-22 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new study has found that greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) systems are major sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, a potent greenhouse gas.
Antarctic octopus DNA reveals ice sheet collapse closer than thought
2023-12-21 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyScientists investigating how Antarctica's ice sheets retreated in the deep past have turned to an innovative approach: studying the genes of octopuses that live in its chilly waters.
Tagged under: Collapse
Surge in extreme forest fires fuels global emissions
2023-12-20 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyClimate change and human activities have led to more frequent and intense forest blazes over the past two decades. Climate change and human activities have led to more frequent and intense forest blazes over the past two decades.
Tagged under: Trees
Exoplanets' climate: It takes nothing to switch from habitable to hell, say researchers
2023-12-18 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Earth is a wonderful blue and green dot covered with oceans and life, while Venus is a yellowish sterile sphere that is not only inhospitable but also sterile. However, the difference between the two is only a few degrees in temperature. A team of astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), with the support of the CNRS laboratories of Paris and Bordeaux, has achieved a world's first by managing to simulate the entirety of the runaway greenhouse process that can transform the climate of a planet from idyllic and perfect for life, to a place more than harsh and hostile.
Natural gas is actually migrating under permafrost, and could see methane emissions skyrocket if it escapes
2023-12-16 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyBeneath Svalbard's permafrost, millions of cubic meters of methane are trapped—and scientists have now learned that it can migrate beneath the cold seal of the permafrost and escape. A large-scale escape could create a cycle of warming that would send methane emissions skyrocketing: warming thaws the permafrost, causing more gas to escape, allowing more permafrost to thaw and more gas to be released.
Tagged under: Global Warming | Methane
Climate change causing 60% of plants and insects to fall out of sync
2023-12-12 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologySeasonal timings of plants are advancing an average of four times faster than insects, throwing key interactions like pollination out of sync. This is according to new findings from researchers at the University of Oxford and Chinese Academy of Sciences that will be presented at the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting in held Belfast December 12–15.
Tagged under: Insects
Annual report shows fossil CO₂ emissions at record high in 2023
2023-12-04 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyGlobal carbon emissions from fossil fuels have risen again in 2023—reaching record levels, according to new research from the Global Carbon Project science team.
Carbon dioxide becomes more potent as climate changes, study finds
2023-12-01 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA team of scientists found that carbon dioxide becomes a more potent greenhouse gas as more is released into the atmosphere.
Humans are disrupting natural 'salt cycle' on a global scale, new study shows
2023-10-31 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe planet's demand for salt comes at a cost to the environment and human health, according to a new scientific review led by University of Maryland Geology Professor Sujay Kaushal. Published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the paper revealed that human activities are making Earth's air, soil and freshwater saltier, which could pose an "existential threat" if current trends continue.
Tagged under: Health
New research finds that ancient carbon in rocks releases as much carbon dioxide as the world's volcanoes
2023-10-07 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new study led by the University of Oxford has overturned the view that natural rock weathering acts as a CO2 sink, indicating instead that this can also act as a large CO2 source, rivaling that of volcanoes. The results, published today in the journal Nature, have important implications for modeling climate change scenarios.
'It's an emergency.' Midwest towns scramble as drought threatens drinking water
2023-09-22 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyJames Rainbolt typically can tackle most problems at his rural water plant with some extra time or money.
Tagged under: Drought
Study finds human-driven mass extinction is eliminating entire branches of the tree of life
2023-09-19 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe passenger pigeon. The Tasmanian tiger. The Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin. These rank among the best-known recent victims of what many scientists have declared the sixth mass extinction, as human actions are wiping out vertebrate animal species hundreds of times faster than they would otherwise disappear.
Tagged under: Rivers | Whales and Dolphins
Humanity deep in the danger zone of planetary boundaries: Study
2023-09-17 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHuman activity and appetites have weakened Earth's resilience, pushing it far beyond the "safe operating space" that keeps the world livable for most species, including our own, a landmark study said Wednesday.
Where's the trust? US climate deniers have no faith in university researchers
2023-09-09 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyU.S. voters who don't trust universities are also more likely to believe that human activity doesn't cause climate change, a new collaborative study from researchers at the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) revealed in PLOS Climate.
Tagged under: Climate Change | California
Warming trends will likely result in major disturbances of networks of forest fungi
2023-09-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyChildren are taught to leave wild mushrooms alone because of their potential to be poisonous. But trees on the other hand depend on fungi for their well-being.
Tagged under: Children | Women and Children | Trees
Scientists investigate green sea turtle tumor disease
2023-08-31 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new epidemiological study of endangered juvenile green sea turtles in eastern Brazil suggests that factors such as water temperature, salinity and proximity to environmental stressors could trigger the development of a tumor disease associated with a herpesvirus.
Tagged under: Brazil
Reality check: what the path to a 1.5C world looks like
2023-08-29 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe world needs to rapidly purge fossil fuels from its energy mix if it is to have any hope of limiting global warming enough to avoid disastrous climate impacts, according to a prominent climate scientist.
Tagged under: Fossil Fuels
Air pollution greatest global threat to human health, says benchmark study
2023-08-29 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAir pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol, with the threat worsening in its global epicenter South Asia even as China fast improves, a study showed Tuesday.
Tagged under: Health
Climate-changing human activity could lead to 1 billion deaths over the next century, according to new study
2023-08-28 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyIf global warming reaches or exceeds two degrees Celsius by 2100, University of Western Ontario's Joshua Pearce says it is likely that mainly richer humans will be responsible for the death of roughly one billion mainly poorer humans over the next century.
Tagged under: Global Warming
UN-backed deforestation carbon credits failing: study
2023-08-28 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyOnly a small fraction of the forest-based carbon credits that companies and governments have purchased to offset their greenhouse gas emissions actually help prevent deforestation, according to new research.
Tagged under: Deforestation | Trees
Top science publisher withdraws flawed climate study
2023-08-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyTop science publisher Springer Nature said it has withdrawn a study that presented misleading conclusions on climate change impacts after an investigation prompted by an Agence France-Presse (AFP) inquiry.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts
US ignored own scientists' warning in backing Atlantic wind farm
2023-08-23 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyU.S. government scientists warned federal regulators the South Fork offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast threatened the Southern New England Cod, a species so venerated in the region a wooden carving of it hangs in the Massachusetts state house.
Tagged under: Wind Power
How microplastics end up in the marine atmosphere
2023-08-16 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyMicroplastic particles are present in the marine atmosphere even in remote parts of the world. These tiny particles come from land sources but are also re-emitted into the atmosphere from the sea, a study by a team of German and Norwegian researchers led by Dr. Barbara Scholz-Böttcher of the University of Oldenburg has shown.
Tagged under: Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Oceans are growing hotter, triggering global weather disasters
2023-07-29 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHeat searing enough to knock out mobile phones. Wildfire smoke that turns the skies an apocalyptic orange. Flash floods submerging towns in upstate New York and Vermont.
Tagged under: Oceans
Human activity has degraded more than a third of the remaining Amazon rainforest, scientists find
2023-07-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Amazon rainforest has been degraded by a much greater extent than scientists previously believed with more than a third of remaining forest affected by humans, according to a new study published on January 27 in the journal Science.
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Trees
Doom-and-gloom climate news may scare but also encourage audiences
2023-07-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA team of Penn State researchers investigated how seeing frightening news about climate change day after day may shape the way people feel about the phenomenon and how willing they are to take action to address it.
Tagged under: Climate Change
Study suggests 21st century economic growth will be slower than expected
2023-06-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe global economy will grow slower in the 21st century than economists have expected, a finding that has implications for our ability to adapt to climate change in the coming decades, according to new research.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth
Ecological doom-loops: Why ecosystem collapses may occur much sooner than expected
2023-06-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAround the world, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy tundra is thawing. Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded "regime shifts" like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystem where tipping points have been passed. Around the world, more than 20% of ecosystems are in danger of shifting or collapsing into something different.
Tagged under: Collapse | Tipping Points
Global average sea and air temperatures are spiking in 2023, before El Niño has fully arrived
2023-06-23 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyRecent spikes in ocean heat content and average global air temperature have left climate scientists across the world scrambling to find the cause. The global average air temperature, relative to 1850-1900, exceeded the 1.5℃ lower Paris Agreement threshold during part of March and the first days of June. This last happened in 2020, and before that during the powerful 2015-16 El Niño.
Tagged under: Oceans | El Niño
New research suggests wheat crops may be threatened by unprecedented heat and drought
2023-06-03 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe world is getting hotter, causing shifts in seasonal patterns and increasing the amount of extreme weather such as severe droughts and heat waves, which can affect crop yields and food supplies. A recent study led by a researcher at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University has found that the likelihood of extreme temperatures that could affect crop yields has increased significantly in wheat-producing regions of the U.S. and China.
Tagged under: Drought
Increasing heat likely a major factor in human migration
2023-05-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyRising temperatures due to climate change are likely influencing human migration patterns, according to a new study by Rita Issa of University College London and colleagues, published May 24 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate.
Tagged under: Climate Change
Half of the world's largest lakes are losing water, shows new study
2023-05-24 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyMore than 50% of the largest lakes in the world are losing water, according to a new assessment published today in Science . The key culprits are not surprising: warming climate and unsustainable human consumption.
First observational evidence of Beaufort Gyre stabilization, which could be precursor to huge freshwater release
2023-05-09 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new study provides the first observational evidence of the stabilization of the anti-cyclonic Beaufort Gyre, which is the dominant circulation of the Canada Basin and the largest freshwater reservoir in the Arctic Ocean.
Humanity's tipping point? How the Queen's death stole a climate warning's thunder
2023-05-07 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThink back to September last year. What happened early that month? What news shook the world and reverberated for weeks, if not months?
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Crisis-hit Sudan faces biggest threat yet: climate change
2023-05-03 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyConflict, coups, dire poverty: Sudan is reeling from multiple crises, but environmental activist Nisreen Elsaim warns a bigger problem dwarfs them all—climate change.
Tagged under: Conflict | Climate Change | Activism
Exploring carbon emissions in peatland restoration
2023-04-15 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyPeatlands are important players in the global carbon cycle, storing vast amounts of carbon in the ground. Water keeps bog soils wet and anaerobic, which facilitates this storage and keeps the ecosystem thriving.
Scientists discover a way Earth's atmosphere cleans itself
2023-04-09 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHuman activities emit many kinds of pollutants into the air, and without hydroxyl radicals (OH), many of these pollutants would keep aggregating in the atmosphere.
Humanity's emissions '100-times greater' than volcanoes
2023-04-05 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHuman activity churns out up to 100 times more planet-warming carbon each year as all the volcanoes on Earth, says a decade-long study released Tuesday.
Deep ocean currents around Antarctica headed for collapse, study finds
2023-03-30 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe deep ocean circulation that forms around Antarctica could be headed for collapse, say scientists.
Tagged under: Oceans | Antarctic | Collapse
Switching to hydrogen fuel could prolong the methane problem
2023-03-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHydrogen's potential as a clean fuel could be limited by a chemical reaction in the lower atmosphere, according to research from Princeton University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
Tagged under: Oceans | Hydrogen | Methane
Confirmed: Global floods, droughts worsening with warming
2023-03-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has "sharply" increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Water. These aren't merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such as crop failure, infrastructure damage, even humanitarian crises and conflict.
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Extreme Rainfall | Drought | Conflict
Senegalese recyclers seek solutions in fight against plastic
2023-03-13 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyDiscarded containers and bags are an eyesore in many towns, while beaches are covered by debris—Senegal's notorious problem of plastic pollution is not going away.
Massive Australia wildfires increased Antarctic ozone hole: Study
2023-03-12 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologySmoke from monster wildfires in Australia caused a chemical reaction that widened the ozone hole 10 percent, researchers said Wednesday, raising fears that increasing forest fires could delay the recovery of Earth's atmospheric protection against deadly UV radiation.
Tagged under: Wildfires | Antarctic | Forest Fires | Trees
Space dust as Earth's sun shield
2023-02-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyOn a cold winter day, the warmth of the sun is welcome. Yet as humanity emits more and more greenhouse gases, the Earth's atmosphere traps more and more of the sun's energy and steadily increases the Earth's temperature. One strategy for reversing this trend is to intercept a fraction of sunlight before it reaches our planet. For decades, scientists have considered using screens, objects or dust particles to block just enough of the sun's radiation—between 1 or 2%—to mitigate the effects of global warming.
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases
Insects contribute to atmospheric electricity
2023-01-16 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyBy measuring the electrical fields near swarming honeybees, researchers have discovered that insects can produce as much atmospheric electric charge as a thunderstorm cloud. This type of electricity helps shape weather events, aids insects in finding food, and lifts spiders up in the air to migrate over large distances. The research, appearing on October 24 in the journal iScience, demonstrates that living things can have an impact on atmospheric electricity.
Tagged under: Insects | Electricity
No debate anymore: Climate change makes extreme weather worse, federal scientists say
2023-01-11 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologySouth Florida has always been hot, rainy and vulnerable to hurricanes. So it's understandable that some longtime residents remain skeptical that climate change is doing anything to make the region's age-old problems any worse.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Florida
Scientists warn of 'insect apocalypse' amid climate change
2022-10-26 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAn emerging "insect apocalypse" will have radical effects on the environment and humankind, an Australian scientist has warned.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Insects
Ancient ocean methane is not an immediate climate change threat
2022-10-19 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyDeep below the ocean's surface, the seafloor contains large quantities of naturally occurring, ice-like deposits made up of water and concentrated methane gas. For decades, climate scientists have wondered if this methane hydrate reservoir might "melt" and release massive amounts of methane to the ocean and the atmosphere as ocean temperatures warm.
Tagged under: Oceans | Methane | Climate Change
Professors call for more research into climate-change related threats to civilization
2022-10-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAn opinion piece published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences urgently calls for more research into the specific pathways by which civilization could potentially collapse due to climate change.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Collapse
Why are the glaciers in southeast Tibet melting so fast?
2022-09-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyMillions of people depend on water from the glaciers of High-Mountain Asia. South-eastern Tibet, however, has some of the most rapidly melting glaciers in Asia. This is due to less summer snowfall, as a study led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL shows.
Tagged under: Trees
Amazon rainforest growth limited by lack of phosphorus
2022-08-21 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyGrowth of the Amazon rainforest in our increasingly carbon-rich atmosphere could be limited by a lack of phosphorus in the soil, new research shows.
Tagged under: Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest
Antarctica's ice shelves could be melting faster than we thought
2022-08-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new model developed by Caltech and JPL researchers suggests that Antarctica's ice shelves may be melting at an accelerated rate, which could eventually contribute to more rapid sea level rise. The model accounts for an often-overlooked narrow ocean current along the Antarctic coast and simulates how rapidly flowing freshwater, melted from the ice shelves, can trap dense warm ocean water at the base of the ice, causing it to warm and melt even more.
Tagged under: Oceans | Antarctic | Ice Melting | Sea Level
New research reveals that wildfires can influence El Niño
2022-08-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyWildfire is a phenomenon that has affected pretty much every vegetated environment on Earth for millions of years. However, during the past few decades, the planet has been experiencing extraordinary wildfire activity, with widespread devastation in diverse places such as the Mediterranean, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Australia and even Siberia. The current year has already shown troubling signs of massive fires—for example, Europe's total burnt area for the 2022 fire season is four times greater than the 2006–2021 average, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
Tagged under: Wildfires | Forest Fires | El Niño | Trees
It's raining PFAS: Even in Antarctica and on the Tibetan Plateau, rainwater is unsafe to drink
2022-08-05 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made hazardous chemicals that are spread globally in the atmosphere and as a result they can be found in the rainwater and snow in even the most remote locations on Earth. During the last 20 years, guideline values for PFAS in drinking water, surface waters and soils have decreased dramatically due to new insights into their toxicity. As a result, the levels in environmental media are now ubiquitously above guideline levels. A perspective article by researchers from Stockholm University and ETH Zurich published in Environmental Science & Technology suggests that PFAS define ...
Tagged under: Antarctic | PFAS aka Forever Chemicals
New study reveals that climate change will severely impact bird species by 2080
2022-08-04 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyBioscientists from Durham University, UK and Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Germany have predicted in their latest research that bird communities will change worldwide in 2080 due to climate change, largely as result of shifting their ranges.
Tagged under: Predictions | Climate Change
Humans will be extinct in 100 years says eminent scientist
2022-07-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology(PhysOrg.com) -- Eminent Australian scientist Professor Frank Fenner, who helped to wipe out smallpox, predicts humans will probably be extinct within 100 years, because of overpopulation, environmental destruction and climate change.
Tagged under: Predictions | Climate Change
Summer swelter: Persistent heat wave breaks records, spirits
2022-06-24 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyFrom the normally chilly Russian Arctic to the traditionally sweltering American South, big swaths of the Northern Hemisphere continued to sizzle with extreme heat as the start of summer more resembled the dog days of August with parts of China and Japan setting all-time heat records Friday.
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | China | Arctic | Russia | Japan
Biogas and biomethane supply chains leak twice as much methane as first thought
2022-06-19 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA new Imperial analysis has found that biogas and biomethane, while more climate friendly, leak more than twice as much methane as previously thought.
Tagged under: Methane
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears 'moment of reckoning'
2022-06-19 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAs the West endures another year of unrelenting drought worsened by climate change, the Colorado River's reservoirs have declined so low that major water cuts will be necessary next year to reduce risks of supplies reaching perilously low levels, a top federal water official said Tuesday.
Tagged under: Colorado River | Drought | Climate Change | Rivers
Treaties protecting fossil fuel investors could jeopardize global efforts to save the climate, and cost billions
2022-05-15 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyFossil fuel companies have access to an obscure legal tool that could jeopardize worldwide efforts to protect the climate, and they're starting to use it. The result could cost countries that press ahead with those efforts billions of dollars.
Southern Ocean storms cause outgassing of carbon dioxide
2022-01-26 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyStorms over the waters around Antarctica drive an outgassing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to a new international study with researchers from the University of Gothenburg. The research group used advanced ocean robots for the study, which provides a better understanding of climate change and can lead to better global climate models.
Tagged under: Oceans | Climate Change | Antarctic
Scientists urge quick, deep, sweeping changes to halt and reverse dangerous biodiversity loss
2022-01-19 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyHalting, then reversing the dangerous, ongoing loss of Earth's plant and animal diversity requires far more than an expanded global system of protected areas of land and seas, scientists warned today.
Dire future etched in the past: CO2 at 3-million year-old levels
2022-01-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyPlanet-warming carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere—at its highest level in three million years—is poised to lock in dramatic temperature and sea level rises over a timescale of centuries, scientists warned this week.
Tagged under: Sea Level
By 2025, carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere will be higher than at any time in the last 3.3 million years
2022-01-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyBy 2025, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels will very likely be higher than they were during the warmest period of the last 3.3 million years, according to new research by a team from the University of Southampton published today in Nature Scientific Reports.
Strong evidence shows Sixth Mass Extinction of global biodiversity in progress
2022-01-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe history of life on Earth has been marked five times by events of mass biodiversity extinction caused by extreme natural phenomena. Today, many experts warn that a Sixth Mass Extinction crisis is underway, this time entirely caused by human activities.
Tagged under: Extreme Weather
Unprecedented die-offs, melting ice: Climate change is wreaking havoc in the Arctic and beyond
2022-01-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyForces profound and alarming are reshaping the upper reaches of the North Pacific and Arctic oceans, breaking the food chain that supports billions of creatures and one of the world's most important fisheries.
Tagged under: Oceans | Arctic | Climate Change | Fish | Ice Melting
Time lag between intervention and actual CO2 decrease could still lead to climate tipping point
2021-12-18 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA simplified mathematical model of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and temperature found a "lag time" between human intervention and an actual decrease in CO2 levels. This lag time has ramifications for intervention strategies meant to avoid climate tipping points and potentially catastrophic temperature increases.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Expansion of wind and solar power too slow to stop climate change
2021-10-22 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe production of renewable energy is increasing every year. But after analyzing the growth rates of wind and solar power in 60 countries, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University in Sweden and Central European University in Vienna, Austria, conclude that virtually no country is moving sufficiently fast enough to avoid global warming of 1.5°C or even 2°C.
Tagged under: Renewable Energy | Solar Energy | Climate Change | Wind Power
Tunisia plants seeds of hope against climate change
2021-09-02 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyTunisian farmers are turning to the past to ensure a future by planting indigenous seeds as the North African country suffers at a time of drought, disease and climate change.
Tagged under: Farming | Drought | Climate Change | Africa
Climate change will reduce crop yields sooner than we thought
2021-04-18 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA study led by the University of Leeds has shown that global warming of only 2°C will be detrimental to crops in temperate and tropical regions, with reduced yields from the 2030s onwards.
Tagged under: Climate Change
Snow chaos in Europe caused by melting sea-ice in the Arctic
2021-04-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThey are diligently stoking thousands of bonfires on the ground close to their crops, but the French winemakers are fighting a losing battle. An above-average warm spell at the end of March has been followed by days of extreme frost, destroying the vines with losses amounting to 90 percent above average. The image of the struggle may well be the most depressingly beautiful illustration of the complexities and unpredictability of global climate warming. It is also an agricultural disaster from Bordeaux to Champagne.
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Arctic | Ice Melting | France
Ignoring climate change will lead to unprecedented, societally disruptive heat extremes in the Middle East
2021-03-26 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) is a climate change hot spot where summers warm much faster than in the rest of the world. Some parts of the region are already among the hottest locations globally. A new international study led by scientists from the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center of the Cyprus Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry predicts that ignoring the signals of climate change and continuing business as usual with increasing greenhouse gas emissions will lead to extreme, life-threatening heatwaves in the region. Such extraordinary heat events will have a severe impact on the people of...
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Heatwaves | Greenhouse Gases | Africa | Predictions | Climate Change | Middle East
The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse
2021-03-11 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologySatellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by "urchin barrens," where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and other algae.
Tagged under: California | Collapse | Trees
Billions projected to suffer nearly unlivable heat in 2070
2021-03-10 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyIn just 50 years, 2 billion to 3.5 billion people, mostly the poor who can't afford air conditioning, will be living in a climate that historically has been too hot to handle, a new study said.
Greenland ice loss may have begun as early as the mid-'80s
2021-03-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe amount of snow falling on Greenland's glaciers may have been less than the water lost through icebergs calving and melting since at least the mid-1980s, a study of almost 40 years of satellite images has revealed.
Tagged under: Ice Melting
An international effort to understand cycad pollinators
2020-10-30 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyUniversity of Guam researchers continue to expand knowledge of a unique group of plants called cycads. The world's contemporary cycad plants depend on small insects for pollination services. The Guam team's 2017 discovery of the new Cycadophila samara beetle and its pollination of cycads is now contributing to an international effort to more fully understand the intimate relationship between plant and insect.
Tagged under: Insects
Study shows wetter climate is likely to intensify global warming
2020-10-05 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA study in the May 6th issue of Nature indicates the increase in rainfall forecast by global climate models is likely to hasten the release of carbon dioxide from tropical soils, further intensifying global warming by adding to human emissions of this greenhouse gas into Earth's atmosphere.
Tagged under: Global Warming | Extreme Rainfall | Greenhouse Gases
The costly collateral damage from Elon Musk's Starlink satellite fleet
2020-06-14 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA colossal chess game of immense consequences is being fought in outer space, right now. On March 18 and April 22 2020, two rockets from SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, each put 60 satellites into orbit. Those launches are but the sixth and seventh in a series intended to rapidly make 1,584 satellites available.
Why we should be wary of blaming 'overpopulation' for the climate crisis
2020-02-05 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe annual World Economic Forum in Davos brought together representatives from government and business to deliberate how to solve the worsening climate and ecological crisis. The meeting came just as devastating bush fires were abating in Australia. These fires are thought to have killed up to one billion animals and generated a new wave of climate refugees. Yet, as with the COP25 climate talks in Madrid, a sense of urgency, ambition and consensus on what to do next were largely absent in Davos.
New climate models suggest Paris goals may be out of reach
2020-01-20 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyNew climate models show carbon dioxide is a more potent greenhouse gas than previously understood, a finding that could push the Paris treaty goals for capping global warming out of reach, scientists have told AFP.
Tagged under: Global Warming | Greenhouse Gases
Geographers find tipping point in deforestation
2020-01-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyUniversity of Cincinnati geography researchers have identified a tipping point for deforestation that leads to rapid forest loss.
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points | Trees
Immediate, science-based community action can stop insect decline
2020-01-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThis year, German environmentalists collected 1.75 million signatures for a 'save the bees' law requiring an immediate transition toward organic farming. But to create healthy ecosystems worldwide, people in communities across the globe will need to take similar action based on empathy for insects—and not only for bees and butterflies—according to entomologists Yves Basset from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Greg Lamarre from the University of South Bohemia, writing in Science. The authors present immediate, science-based actions to mitigate insect decline.
Tagged under: Farming | Butterflies and Moths | Bees | Insects | Health
Researchers united on international road map to insect recovery
2020-01-06 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyIt's no secret that many insects are struggling worldwide. But we could fix these insects' problems, according to more than 70 scientists from 21 countries. Their road map to insect conservation and recovery is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution this week. From urgent 'no-regret' solutions to long-term global comparisons.
Tagged under: Insects
Bacteria may contribute more to climate change as planet heats up
2019-11-13 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAs bacteria adapt to hotter temperatures, they speed up their respiration rate and release more carbon, potentially accelerating climate change.
Tagged under: Climate Change
Industrial methane emissions are 100 times higher than reported, researchers say
2019-06-11 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyEmissions of methane from the industrial sector have been vastly underestimated, researchers from Cornell and Environmental Defense Fund have found.
Tagged under: Methane
Industrial methane emissions are 100 times higher than reported, researchers say
2019-06-09 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyEmissions of methane from the industrial sector have been vastly underestimated, researchers from Cornell and Environmental Defense Fund have found.
Tagged under: Methane
Energy giants spent $1bn on climate lobbying, PR since Paris: watchdog
2019-03-22 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe five largest publicly listed oil and gas majors have spent $1 billion since the 2015 Paris climate deal on public relations or lobbying that is "overwhelmingly in conflict" with the landmark accord's goals, a watchdog said Friday.
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