Recent News (Since April 24)
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2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17 - Apr 28, 2024 Skeptical Science |
| Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here endless subplots definitely depend upon one central element in the unfolding drama of our grand physics accident: the dominant story mechanic is that we're changing Earth's climate. This leads to outcomes. One way of seeing this is via the abstraction of statistics, while another perspective is that of individual experiences each of which is only an anecdote but together lead us back to statistics. Our story of the week is Carbon Brief's annual summary State of the climate: 2024 off to a record-warm start: This year is shaping up to either match or surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record. Global temperatures have been exceptionally high over the past three months – at around 1.6C above pre-industrial levels – following the peak of current El Niño event at the start of 2024. The past 10 months have all set new all-time monthly ... |
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The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars - Apr 28, 2024 VOX -Environment |
| Cars, you might have noticed, have grown enormous. Low-slung station wagons are all but extinct on American roads, and even sedans have become an endangered species. (Ford, producer of the iconic Model T a century ago, no longer sells any sedans in its home market.) Bulky SUVs and pickup trucks - which have themselves steadily added pounds and inches - now comprise more than four out of every five new cars sold in the US, up from just over half in 2013, even as national household size steadily declines. The expanding size of automobiles - a phenomenon I call car bloat - has deepened a slew of national problems. Take road safety: Unlike peer nations, the US has endured a steep rise in traffic deaths, with fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists, who are at elevated risk in a crash with a huge car, recently hitting 40-year highs. Vehicle occupants face danger as well. A 2019 study concluded that compared to a smaller vehicle, an SUV or a pickup colliding with a ... |
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'Everyone sits out': Yangon parks offer heat wave relief - Apr 27, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Earth |
| As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city's parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military's 2021 coup, Myanmar's creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel generators must face at least eight hours daily at the mercy of the scorching heat. For many in the city of some eight million, relief comes only at night and outdoors with the metropolis' parks offering natural shade and blissful breezes. "My parents can't ... |
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Fact Brief - Is Antarctica gaining land ice? - Apr 27, 2024 Skeptical Science |
| Sea ice forms during the Antarctic winter and retreats during the warmer months. Such freeze-thaw cycles have no impact on sea levels since they happen within the ocean. However, Antarctic land ice has seen a net decrease, resulting in a significant increase in fresh water flowing into the sea. That does affect global sea levels. The behavior of Antarctic land ice varies from region to region. In particular, the West Antarctic Peninsula has seen drastic ice retreat. On the other hand, East Antarctica's land ice has remained relatively stable to date. But if global warming crosses a specific threshold, serious loss is expected to occur. The planet has already moved a third of the way towards that threshold and will pass it within a century, if fossil fuel burning continues unabated. Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one. Sources Nature Mass balance ... |
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NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet - Apr 27, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Earth |
| NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth stopped sending back understandable data last November. Flight controllers traced the blank communication to a bad computer chip and rearranged the spacecraft's coding to work around the trouble. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California declared success after receiving good engineering updates late last week. The team is still working to restore transmission of the science data. It takes 22 1/2 hours to send a signal to Voyager 1, more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away in interstellar space. The signal travel time is double that for a round trip. Contact was never lost, rather it was like making a phone call where you can't hear the person on the other end, a JPL spokeswoman said Tuesday. Launched in 1977 to study Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 1 has been exploring interstellar space - the space between ... |
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Scientists are shaking up lithium extraction with a different kind of chemistry - Apr 27, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Technology |
| When people think of chemistry, the image that typically comes to mind is a variety of colored liquids in beakers, flasks, and test tubes in a lab. But in actual practice, chemistry can involve materials in all states: liquids, gases, and even solids. Scientists at the Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub, led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames National Laboratory, are using a subdiscipline of chemistry called mechanochemistry that literally shakes up the conventional understanding of chemical reactions, using mechanical forces that agitate, tumble, and smash solids to initiate chemical reactions. Their new process, mechanochemical extraction of lithium at low temperatures, or MELLT, is a creative solution to increase and diversify the supply of lithium in the United States. Lithium is a high-demand element with an associated supply chain risk. It is needed for high-performance rechargeable batteries found in technologies such as cell phones, medical ... |
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Species living closely together in symbiosis is far older and way more common than you might think - Apr 27, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Biology |
| One of the most common symbiotic relationships is between various species of algae and fungi, or between cyanobacteria (commonly known as blue-green algae though it's not algae) and fungi. These paired species take the form of lichens. The term symbiosis was first used in the 19th century to describe the lichen relationship, which was thought to be highly unusual. Since then, we've discovered symbiosis is the norm, rather than the exception. In fact, it has shaped the evolution of most life on Earth. Symbiosis is almost everywhere we look Lichens are diverse. They grow on tree trunks, on roof tiles and on ancient rocks. The symbiosis of two different species allows both to survive in environments they might not be able to colonize otherwise. The fungus provides a suitable environment for its partnering species of algae or cyanbacteria to grow—it might otherwise be too exposed or dry, for example. In return, the fungus gets to share some of the ... |
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The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean - Apr 27, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Biology |
| In a new study, scientists report that deep-sea corals that lived 540 million years ago may have been the first animals to glow, far earlier than previously thought. "Light signaling is one of the earliest forms of communication that we know of—it's very important in deep waters," said Andrea Quattrini, a co-author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Today, marine creatures that glimmer include some fish, squid, octopuses, jellyfish, even sharks—all the result of chemical reactions. Some use light to startle predators, "like a burglar alarm," and others use it to lure prey, as anglerfish do, said Quattrini, who is curator of corals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Still other animals use light as a beacon to find mates. Many deep-sea soft coral species light up briefly when bumped—or when stroked with a paintbrush. That's what scientists used, attached to a ... |
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We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives - Apr 27, 2024 VOX - Science |
| High temperatures across the US have the potential to increase risks for drought, wildfires, and hurricanes. The United States could be in for another scorcher this summer, per a new study from the National Weather Service (NWS). And that could mean more extreme weather events - as well as heightened health concerns. The NWS outlook, released this month, found that many parts of the US - including New England and the Southwest - are likely to have higher than average temperatures from June through August. In recent years, hotter summer temperatures have been driven by climate change and, in some cases, the arrival of a climate pattern known as La Niña, which contributes to drier conditions in certain regions in the US. According to the Weather Channel, there’s a possibility this summer could even wind up being one of the hottest on record, adding to existing milestones. A hotter summer could have serious environmental consequences, including a higher ... |
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A framework to compare lithium battery testing data and results during operation - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Technology |
| Existing methods to estimate the amount of Li in batteries rely on capacity measurements, describing how much charge a battery can hold, and coulombic efficiency values, which indicate how much charge a battery retains during cycles. Yet these measurements are not always accurate, as they do not account for unpredictable side reactions, self-discharge, and other effects affecting a battery's performance. "The primary objective of our study was to find a reliable methodology to compare battery testing data and operating results from various sources and conditions, as this could help to advance battery technology and development," Boryann Liaw, co-author of the paper, told Tech Xplore. "The conventional battery capacity analysis is empirical, heavily relying on test protocols and conditions, lacking a reliable framework for comparison. This work provides a thermodynamic framework and methodology that can compare data from across the board ... |
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Anthropologist documents how women and shepherds historically reduced wildfire risk in Central Italy - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Earth |
| The latest research paper from environmental anthropologist and University of California, Santa Cruz Professor Andrew Mathews explores these issues in the Monte Pisano region of Central Italy. The paper is published in the journal Ambio. In particular, Mathews found that peasant women, who historically collected leaf litter in the forests, and shepherds, who grazed their flocks and conducted occasional managed burns, were critical in maintaining fire-resistant landscapes. Yet the social status of these groups meant the importance of their work went unrecognized. In Monte Pisano and much of the broader Mediterranean, forests and other plant communities have been shaped by thousands of years of intensive human management of the land. But migration to cities since the 1960s has left rural lands increasingly abandoned. And without people to maintain them, local forests have become overgrown with highly flammable brush. At the same time, many traditional rural ... |
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Atlanta’s population could boom as people flee sea level rise, wildfires, and hurricanes - Apr 26, 2024 Yale Climate Connections - Policy |
| Join Bob Henson and attribution science experts for a webinar on Friday, May 3 at 12 p.m. Eastern. Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our newsletters. Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Yale Climate Connections “A climate-driven migration has already begun,” writes climate change journalist Abrahm Lustgarten in his must-read book, “On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America,” which I reviewed in my previous post. And few places in the U.S. will likely see more climate migrants than Atlanta, which lies close to coastal areas of the Southeast U.S. where sea level rise can be expected to displace millions of people this century. Through the eyes of Jairo Garcia, former director of climate policy at the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience, Lustgarten tells Atlanta’s climate change story. Every city will face enormous ... |
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California battery storage increasing rapidly, but not enough to end blackouts, Gov. Newsom says - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Technology |
| Gov. Gavin Newsom said on April 25 that California continued to rapidly add the battery storage that is crucial to the transition to cleaner energy, but admitted it was still not enough to avoid blackouts during heat waves. Standing in the middle of a solar farm in Yolo County, Newsom announced the state now had battery storage systems with the capacity of more than 10,000 megawatts - about 20% of the 52,000 megawatts the state says is needed to meet its climate goals. "This is critical to how we achieve 100% clean energy by 2045," Newsom said. "Batteries allow us to use clean energy captured by solar and other renewable sources at all times of the day, especially when solar generation drops after the sun goes down." The ultimate goal, he said, is to slow climate change. "As the hots get hotter, the drys get drier, the wets get wetter, simultaneous droughts, and rain bombs, we have to address these issues with a ferocity that is required of us and we're ... |
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Cat hides in Amazon return package - then ends up in California 700 miles from home - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Technology |
| A cat went missing after hiding in an Amazon return package. Then her Utah owner got a call - from hundreds of miles away - that "changed everything." On April 10, Galena the kitty "vanished" from her home in Lehi, her owner, Carrie Stevens Clark, said in an April 21 Facebook post. Clark said she searched "every nook and cranny" in the home before flooding the neighborhood, a suburb of Salt Lake City, with fliers and posting on social media. "Nothing made sense!!," Clark said. Then came an unexpected breakthrough. Seven days later, Clark got a call saying Galena had been found in California and identified with her microchip, she said. Galena, it turned out, had jumped into one of Clark's Amazon return packages and was shipped back to the return center in Los Angeles, about 700 miles away from her home, she said. Brandy Hunter, an employee at the Amazon warehouse where the cat was found, said in an April 17 Facebook post that she received a ... |
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Corals bred in a zoo have joined Europe's largest reef. This is offering scientists hope - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Biology |
| Just like the animals on Noah's Ark, the corals arrived in a pair. On Monday, divers with gloved hands gently nestled the self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project among their cousins in Europe's largest coral reef at the Burgers' Zoo in the Netherlands. "This is the first project where we started to keep these corals with a known origin. As we know exactly where they're coming from, they have the potential to be placed back into the wild. … So it is very important to keep these corals, as it's going not very well in the wild," Nienke Klerks, a biologist at the Royal Burgers' Zoo in Arnhem, told The Associated Press. It's among several projects worldwide seeking to address the decline of coral reef populations, which are suffering from bleaching caused by rising sea temperatures. Corals are central to marine ecosystems, and while these projects won't stem the tide of damage from human-caused climate change, they are seen as part of broader ... |
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Energy trades could help resolve Nile conflict - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Earth |
| Scientists have shed light on a new, transformative approach that could help resolve a dispute over the Nile river's water resources. The Nile is one of the longest rivers globally and spreads over 11 countries in East Africa, supplying water, energy production, environmental quality and cultural wealth. However, the use of Nile resources has been a long-standing source of tension, often overshadowing opportunities for cooperation and mutual benefit. But as the demand for energy, water, and food in Africa is steadily increasing, the study, led by The University of Manchester in collaboration with regional organizations, offers a glimmer of hope at a resolution. First author Dr. Mikiyas Etichia from The University of Manchester, said, "Traditionally, water disputes in transboundary river basins like the Nile have been approached through a water-centric viewpoint. However, sharing benefits of water resources, such as hydro-generated electricity, crops and ... |
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Five Major Climate Policies Trump Would Probably Reverse if Elected - Apr 26, 2024 New York Times - Climate Section |
| He has called for increased oil production and said that electric vehicles will result in an 'assassination’ of jobs. Former President Donald J. Trump has vowed to “cancel” President Biden’s policies for cutting pollution from fossil-fuel-burning power plants, “terminate” efforts to encourage electric vehicles, and “develop the liquid gold that is right under our feet” by promoting oil and gas. Those changes and others that Mr. Trump has promised, if he were to win the presidency again, represent a 180-degree shift from Mr. Biden’s climate agenda. When he was president, Mr. Trump reversed more than 100 environmental protections put in place by the Obama administration. Mr. Biden has in turn reversed much of Mr. Trump’s agenda. But climate advocates argue a second Trump term would be far more damaging than his first, because the window to keep rising global temperatures to relatively safe levels is rapidly closing. “It would become an all-out ... |
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Herds of endangered hippos trapped in mud in drought-hit Botswana - Apr 26, 2024 PHYS.ORG - Earth |
| Herds of endangered hippos stuck in the mud of dried-up ponds are in danger of dying in drought-struck Botswana, conservation authorities told AFP Friday. Southern Africa has been affected by severe drought, caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has threatened harvests and plunged millions into hunger. Several countries in the region have recently declared a state of national disaster. Near the vast wetlands of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, the dried-up Thamalakane River has forced herds of hippos to head for natural water reserves close to the tourist town of Maun. "The river system dries up and animals are in a compromised situation," said Lesego Moseki, spokesperson for Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in Botswana's capital Gaborone. Botswana is home to one of the world's largest populations of hippos living in the wild, estimated at between 2,000 and 4,000 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). |
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How Abrupt U-Turns Are Defining U.S. Environmental Regulations - Apr 26, 2024 New York Times - Climate Section |
| The polarization of politics means that rules are imposed, gutted and restored with each election. Experts say that’s bad for the economy. The Biden administration’s move on Thursday to strictly limit pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major policy shift. But in many ways it’s one more hairpin turn in a zigzag approach to environmental regulation in the United States, a pattern that has grown more extreme as the political landscape has become more polarized. Nearly a decade ago, President Barack Obama was the Democrat who tried to force power plants to stop burning coal, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels. His Republican successor, Donald J. Trump, effectively reversed that plan. Now President Biden is trying once more to put an end to carbon emissions from coal plants. But Mr. Trump, who is running to replace Mr. Biden, has promised that he will again delete those plans if he wins in November. The country’s participation in the Paris climate accord ... |
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How Brands Can Help Communities Thrive in a Changing Climate - Apr 26, 2024 Sustainable Brands |
| While heat is the leading cause of weather-related illnesses and deaths in both Canada and the US, companies can explore nature-based solutions to help reverse this trend and foster spaces where people can thrive. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2023 was the warmest year on record, recognizing many significant climate events. In Canada, communities were devastated by record-breaking heat. Dense urban environments, along with outdoor workers, are disproportionally affected by extreme heat. Heat is the leading cause of weather-related illnesses and deaths in both Canada and the United States. While this data is troubling, companies can explore nature-based solutions to help reverse this trend and foster spaces where people can thrive. Green spaces and trees can help counteract the causes and consequences of excessive urban heat. In fact, national collaborative projects such as the NOAA Urban Heat Island mapping ... |
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