'Everyone sits out': Yangon parks offer heat wave relief:
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| 'Everyone sits out': Yangon parks offer heat wave relief - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 27 · 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Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military's 2021 coup, Myanmar's creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season.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 ... Read more ...
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2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17:
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| 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17 - Skeptical Science |
Apr 28 · 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 ... Read more ...
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A strategy to boost the efficiency of perovskite/organic solar cells:
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| A strategy to boost the efficiency of perovskite/organic solar cells - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 28 · So far, organic solar cells have achieved a maximum certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.4%, which is lower than that exhibited by silicon solar cells. A proposed strategy to boost their efficiency and stability entails combining these cells with cells based on mixed halide wide-bandgap perovskites, creating perovskite/organic tandem solar cells.
While perovskite/organic tandem solar cells could theoretically achieve high PCEs and stabilities, their performance is hindered by a process known as phase segregation. This process degrades the performance of wide-bandgap perovskite cells and in turn adversely affects recombination processes at the tandem solar cells' ... Read more ...
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Abrupt permafrost thaw found to intensify warming effects on soil CO₂ emission:
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| Abrupt permafrost thaw found to intensify warming effects on soil CO₂ emission - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · According to a recent study published in Nature Geoscience, scientists have found that soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are more sensitive to climate warming in permafrost-collapsed areas than in non-collapsed areas.
This study, based on field warming experiments combined with laboratory incubation of soils from a large-scale sampling, provides new insights about permafrost carbon–climate feedback in the context of future climate warming.
Warmer temperatures have led to rapid permafrost thawing in high-latitude and high-altitude permafrost regions. Abrupt permafrost thaw, known as thermokarst, occurs in approximately 20% of the northern permafrost region, but this ... Read more ...
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African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change:
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| African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 29 · From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking to the past and future to respond to climate change.
Africa, with the world's youngest population, faces the worst effects of a warming planet while contributing the least to the problem. Farmers are scrambling to make sure the booming population is fed.
With over 60% of the world's uncultivated land, Africa should be able to feed itself, some experts say. And yet three in four people across the continent cannot afford a healthy diet, according to a report last year by the African Union and United Nations ... Read more ...
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Alabama and the U.S. Gulf Coast region have seen a sudden burst of sea level rise, spurring flooding in low areas exacerbated by rainfall and high tides.:
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| Alabama and the U.S. Gulf Coast region have seen a sudden burst of sea level rise, spurring flooding in low areas exacerbated by rainfall and high tides. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Apr 29 · On June 19, southern Mobile County, Ala., experienced torrential rain and severe flooding. Roads and some homes near the Fowl River were submerged.
But this was no ordinary flood.
THEODORE, Ala.
John Corideo drove the solitary two-lane highways of southern Alabama, eyeing the roadside ditches. It had been raining off and on for days and Corideo, chief of the Fowl River Fire District, knew that if it continued, his department could be outmatched by floodwaters.
It kept raining. Water filled the ditches and climbed over roads, swallowing parts of a main highway. About 10 residents who needed to be rescued were brought back to the station in firetrucks. More ... Read more ...
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Alaska Native community experiments with growing food above the Arctic Circle:
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| Alaska Native community experiments with growing food above the Arctic Circle - Yale Climate Connections - Agriculture |
Apr 29 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Above the Arctic Circle, in Kotzebue, Alaska, college students and community members are growing greens, potatoes, and beans in campus gardens.
Naylor: “I think it’s very important that we can grow our own.”
Minnie Naylor is director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Chukchi campus.
She says homegrown vegetables can help supplement traditional Native foods.
Naylor: “We have bearded seal, caribou. We have a lot of fish, sea fish, trout, birds, ducks, geese.”
But many of those foods are becoming more difficult to access. The ... Read more ...
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Amazon Rainforest 'Tops’ Forbes' Billionaires List:
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| Amazon Rainforest 'Tops’ Forbes' Billionaires List - Sustainable Brands |
Apr 26 · The campaign from Natura, Forbes and Africa Creative highlights the power of the Amazon’s $317B bioeconomy and that the standing forest is worth seven times more than the potential earnings from its destruction.
Move over, Elon Musk: The Amazon Rainforest has topped Forbes’ ranking of the world’s richest billionaires in a special advertising campaign by global beauty brand Natura. The Amazon earned the distinction thanks to its staggering $317 billion valuation, as calculated by the World Bank in 2023.
This edition of Forbes’ annual billionaires list featuring the Amazon Rainforest as the richest entity in the world goes live online today, with a corresponding print ... Read more ...
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Analysis of future EV load using real-world data shows major upgrade needed for California in the coming decades:
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| Analysis of future EV load using real-world data shows major upgrade needed for California in the coming decades - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Yanning Li and Alan Jenn describe their analysis of California's electrical grid and how it will have to be changed to support the expected number of EVs running on its roads in the coming decades.
In 2022, California became the first state in the U.S. to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles—the ban will be implemented in a stepwise fashion, with a complete ban taking place by 2035—cars already on the road will be allowed to continue to use gasoline with no restrictions.
For this new study, the research pair looked at the capacity of the state's current grid system and then ... Read more ...
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Anthropologist Documents How Women and Shepherds Historically Reduced Wildfire Risk in Central Italy:
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| Anthropologist Documents How Women and Shepherds Historically Reduced Wildfire Risk in Central Italy - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · Fire management lessons from the past could help to improve resilience as the Mediterranean faces increased fire risk from climate change. University of California, Santa Cruz Anthropology Professor Andrew Mathews shows how traditional land management practices once greatly reduced fuel for wildfires, and how these practices were forgotten, in part due to historical politics of classism and sexism.
In the last several decades, large forest fires have increasingly threatened communities across the Mediterranean. Climate change is expected to make these fires larger, hotter, and more dangerous in the future. But fire management lessons from the past could help to improve the ... Read more ...
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Bangladesh again closes schools nationwide due to heat wave:
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| Bangladesh again closes schools nationwide due to heat wave - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · A Bangladeshi court ordered a nationwide shutdown of schools on Monday due to an ongoing heat wave, the day after the government sent millions of children back to class despite searing temperatures.
Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
Average temperatures in the capital Dhaka over the past week have been 4-5 degrees Celsius (7.2-9 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 30-year average for the same period.
The government said at least seven people had died as a result of the extreme heat since the start of April, with maximum temperatures in the capital forecast to remain above ... Read more ...
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Biden Administration Moves to Speed Up Permits for Clean Energy:
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| Biden Administration Moves to Speed Up Permits for Clean Energy - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 30 · The White House wants federal agencies to keep climate change in mind as they decide whether to approve major projects.
The Biden administration on Tuesday released rules designed to speed up permits for clean energy while requiring federal agencies to more heavily weigh damaging effects on the climate and on low-income communities before approving projects like highways and oil wells.
As part of a deal to raise the country’s debt limit last year, Congress required changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, a 54-year-old bedrock law that requires the government to consider environmental effects and to seek public input before approving any project that ... | By Coral Davenport Read more ...
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Calling Out Climate Lies for a Living:
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| Calling Out Climate Lies for a Living - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy |
Apr 29 · I have spent the better part of the last 12 years writing about lies. My colleagues call it “disinformation,” and I generally do, too, but let’s call it for what it is: lying. During this stretch, I have written more than 200 articles and columns, and most of them were either about CEOs who lie, experts who lie, scientists who lie, attorneys general who lie, legislators who lie, or a president who lies. And I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill white lies. I’m talking about lies that have grave consequences for the future of the planet.
(I should add that I also wrote 65 columns featuring Q&As with scientists and experts who work for my organization, the Union of Concerned ... Read more ...
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Changing Weather Patterns - What's Next?:
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| Changing Weather Patterns - What's Next? - Facing Future |
Apr 28 · As weather patterns change, bringing stronger storms and droughts, we need to free more land to absorb flooding, recover hydrology and enhance natural systems to sequester CO2. \n\nOur automotive age has brought unprecedented mobility, at a steep cost. From extraction to tailpipe emissions, gas cars are an environmental disaster. To accommodate the car, whole #Ecosystems have been lost as paved surfaces cover soil and absorb heat. EVs will not change that. Add to that, the ¾ of arable land converted to animal agriculture - and we have a recipe for disaster. What can we do about it? \n\nBill Selby, Emeritus Professor at Santa Monica College, \nAuthor, The California Skywatcher, ... | By Facing Future Read more ...
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China's bid to decarbonize may have hidden costs:
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| China's bid to decarbonize may have hidden costs - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · In a paper published in Communications Earth & Environment, Stefano Galelli, associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in Cornell Engineering, and colleagues attempt to quantify how decarbonizing the China Southern Power Grid, which provides electricity to more than 300 million people, will negatively impact river basins, most of which run from China into downstream countries, and will reduce the amount of cropland in China.
"If we think of any major technological change, they always have costs and unintended consequences," Galelli said. "The sooner we realize and address them, the more sustainable and equitable the energy transition will be. We ... Read more ...
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China's cement industry: Potential contributor to carbon neutrality:
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| China's cement industry: Potential contributor to carbon neutrality - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · In a recent study published in Science China Earth Sciences, researchers from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have unveiled new advances in the carbon capture capabilities of China's cement industry and its potential contribution to carbon neutrality.
Cement production is a significant source of human-induced carbon emissions. China accounts for more than half of the world's annual cement production. The industry's carbon emissions are estimated to be about 7% of the country's total emissions.
However, the alkaline compounds in cement materials can slowly absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surrounding environment through mineral ... Read more ...
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Climate change reveals intricate dynamics of reproductive barriers in marine species:
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| Climate change reveals intricate dynamics of reproductive barriers in marine species - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 29 · As climate change continues to reshape ecosystems, a new study from the Faculty of Science at Monash University sheds light on the complex interplay between temperature, parental sex and reproductive barriers in marine tubeworms, known as Galeolaria, from southern Australia's fast-warming biodiversity hotspot.
Galeolaria tubeworms are foundation species found on the rocky shores of temperate Australia. The tubeworms build and occupy dense colonies of stony tubes, which enhance coastal biodiversity by providing habitat and refuge from heat stress for species that would not otherwise persist there.
The study, published in Evolution, was motivated by the fact that climate ... Read more ...
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Climate change, Brexit threaten to wilt Dutch tulips:
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| Climate change, Brexit threaten to wilt Dutch tulips - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Arjan Smit gazes out over his tulip fields, a riot of red and pink flowers he has cultivated all his adult life and part of a family business his grandfather started in 1940.
The 55-year-old has seen many changes over a long career but he says climate change is making an all-consuming profession even harder.
"The climate has changed. We can feel that. We have more wet periods. Last year, it was just raining, raining, raining and you can see the result," he told AFP.
From a distance, the fields of Smitflowers are a picture-perfect row of flowers, the type found on Dutch tourist brochures that attract visitors from around the world.
But he also pointed to muddy ... Read more ...
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Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope:
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| Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope - Legal Planet |
Apr 29 · The bad news is that we’re not yet on track to avoid dangerous climate change. But there’s also good news: We’ve taken important steps that will ease further progress. We should resist the allure of easy optimism, given the scale of the challenges. Neither should we wallow in despair. There’s a good basis for hope.
To begin with, there’s been major progress in U.S. climate policy. The first half of Biden’s term saw the passage of three bills that collectively devote about half a trillion dollars to emission reduction: the Infrastructure Law’s support for emission cuts in transportation, the CHIPS Act with research and development funding for clean energy ... Read more ...
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Climate policy outlook: Ottawa plastics talks wrap up:
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| Climate policy outlook: Ottawa plastics talks wrap up - Greenbiz |
Apr 29 · This week’s most important climate policy stories.
As the Ottawa talks wrap up, negotiators are far from solving the world's plastic emergency. Source: Mohamed Abdulraheem via Shutterstock
Earlier, GreenBiz vice president of circularity Jon Smeija rounded up the three things that activists are looking for from the eventual treaty. Bottom line: None of them is guaranteed.
The next session of the talks is scheduled for November in Busan, South Korea. | By Leah Garden Read more ...
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Deer Are Expanding North, and That's Not Good for Caribou:
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| Deer Are Expanding North, and That's Not Good for Caribou - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · As the climate changes, animals are doing what they can to adapt.
Over the past century, white-tailed deer have greatly expanded their range in North America, explains Melanie Dickie, a doctoral student with UBC Okanagan's Wildlife Restoration Ecology Lab.
In the boreal forest of Western Canada, researchers have considered that both changing climate and increased habitat alteration have enabled deer to push farther north. Climate change can create milder winters, while habitat alteration from forestry and energy exploration creates new food sources for deer.
As they conclude their study, researchers caution that what is good for the deer isn't necessarily suitable ... Read more ...
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Electric vehicle drivers can estimate their personalized fuel savings with new Argonne tool:
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| Electric vehicle drivers can estimate their personalized fuel savings with new Argonne tool - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · The tool, Driving Electric: Local Fuel Savings Calculator, is freely available to the public. Drivers can enter their ZIP code or state, as well as any information they have about their vehicle size, model year, tank size, fuel economy and annual mileage. The tool then generates estimates of how much drivers can save.
"Driving a plug-in electric vehicle rather than a conventionally fueled vehicle results in fuel cost savings and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in more than 99% of U.S. ZIP codes," said Yan (Joann) Zhou, principal transportation systems analyst in the Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis (ESIA) division at Argonne.
"With this new tool, drivers ... Read more ...
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Energy Trades Could Help Resolve Nile Conflict:
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| Energy Trades Could Help Resolve Nile Conflict - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · 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 organisations, offers a glimmer of hope at a ... Read more ...
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Environmental Prize Highlights Work to Keep Fossil Fuels at Bay:
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| Environmental Prize Highlights Work to Keep Fossil Fuels at Bay - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 29 · Around the world, grass-roots organizers and Indigenous communities are taking proposed coal, oil and gas projects to court - and winning.
New coal mines continue to open each year, and oil and gas companies are still exploring new parts of the world. But increasingly, people - especially Indigenous communities - are saying no to new fossil fuel developments on their land and using courts and legislatures to deliver the message.
In India, protests by Adivasi communities persuaded officials to cancel the auction of land for coal mines in the biodiverse forests of Chhattisgarh State. In South Africa, the Mpondo people stopped the Shell Global company from carrying out ... | By Delger Erdenesanaa Read more ...
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European Bison can adapt well to the Mediterranean climate of southern Spain, analysis suggests:
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| European Bison can adapt well to the Mediterranean climate of southern Spain, analysis suggests - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · A study published in Biodiversity and Conservation which involved the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has conducted a comparative analysis, for the first time, of the feeding of three large herbivores, the European bison (Bison bonasus), the red deer (Cervus elaphus) and the fallow deer (Dama dama), all of which coexist in Mediterranean forests.
The study was carried out on the El Encinarejo farm, with an area of 1,000 ha and located in the Sierra de Andújar (Jaén), characterized by a typical Mediterranean scrubland habitat with a predominance of holm oak groves and an abundance of shrubs such as mastic, lavender ... Read more ...
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Fighting Plastic Pollution: Time for Change | UN Environment Programme | United Nations:
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| Fighting Plastic Pollution: Time for Change | UN Environment Programme | United Nations - Climate Change (United Nations - Playlist) |
Apr 28 · Since the 1950s, plastic has become so ubiquitous that it's now used in everything from children’s toys and medical equipment to beauty products and airplanes. And while plastic was once hailed as a miracle product, we now know the damage plastic pollution does to ecosystems, the climate, human health and the economy.\n\nCentral to ending plastic pollution is the elimination of unnecessary plastic, the redesign of products – including packaging – so they can be more easily reused, repaired and recycled, and switching to non-plastic substitutes that help protect the environment, human health, and our economy. \n\nSo, it's time to write a new story and ... | By United Nations Read more ...
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Finding space for wind farms might be easier than we thought:
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| Finding space for wind farms might be easier than we thought - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Apr 28 · Towering wind turbines dot landscapes across the country, stretching hundreds of feet into the sky. But the huge structures topped with massive rotating blades only take up five percent of the land where they’ve been built, new research shows.
The rest of the space can be used for other purposes, such as agriculture, according to a study published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology.
This means developers could fit turbines in places that are often perceived as unsuitable for a wind farm.
To meet the Biden administration’s goal of weaning the electric grid off fossil fuels by 2035, the United States needs to add more wind ... Read more ...
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First Nations woman one of seven global winners of prestigious Goldman prize for environmental activism:
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| First Nations woman one of seven global winners of prestigious Goldman prize for environmental activism - Guardian - Energy |
Apr 2 · Murrawah Johnson recognised for role in landmark legal case to block coalmine backed by Clive Palmer
For Murrawah Johnson, the impacts of the climate crisis and the destruction of land to mine the fossil fuels that drive it are more than simple questions of atmospheric physics or environmental harm.
“What colonisation hasn’t already done, climate change will do in terms of finalising the assimilation process for First Nations people,” the 29-year-old Wirdi woman from Queensland says.
“[It is] totally destroying our ability to maintain a cultural identity, cultural existence and to be able to pass that on.”
Johnson is one of seven global winners of the ... Read more ...
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Fueling the future: Researchers evaluate emissions in the aviation industry:
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| Fueling the future: Researchers evaluate emissions in the aviation industry - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 10 · The paper provides an analytical review of the cutting-edge methodologies for CO2-to-jet fuel conversion with an assessment of the practicality of current industrial models.
The concentration of greenhouse gases has steeply increased in the atmosphere due to dependency on carbon-intensive energy sources. In particular, CO2 and CH4 have been especially challenging to reincorporate into the chemical industry because of high energy demands and current technological constraints. Amid this great challenge, numerous governments have adopted different strategies to reduce carbon emissions.
"Among the diverse strategies employed for the recycling of carbon emissions, such as CO2 ... Read more ...
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G7 reportedly agrees end date for coal-fired power plants:
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| G7 reportedly agrees end date for coal-fired power plants - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · G7 energy ministers have agreed a time frame for phasing out coal-fired power plants, a British minister said Monday, as the UN warned "excuses" for failing to take bold actions on climate change were "not acceptable".
The Group of Seven meeting in Turin is the first big political session since the world pledged at the UN's COP28 climate summit in December to transition away from coal, oil and gas.
On the first of the two days of talks, energy and ecological transition ministers from the G7 agreed to committing to a common target of shutting down coal-fired power plants, according to British Nuclear and Renewables Minister Andrew Bowie.
"We do have an agreement to ... Read more ...
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Here’s what record-breaking temperatures looked like around the globe:
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| Here’s what record-breaking temperatures looked like around the globe - Yale Climate Connections - Weather |
Apr 29 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
You probably know that 2023 was a very warm year for our planet - and that this heat is continuing into 2024. And you likely know some effects of this heat in your own region or continent - in the U.S., for instance, the Canadian wildfire smoke that covered the U.S. East Coast, the Midwest’s unusually warm winter, or the recent million-plus-acre wildfire in the Texas Panhandle.
If you live in the U.S. and happen to get most of your news from national broadcast channels ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, these big stories may be most of what you know about recent ... Read more ...
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How artificial intelligence can transform U.S. energy infrastructure:
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| How artificial intelligence can transform U.S. energy infrastructure - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · It is an exceptionally complex and daunting challenge. But it is not impossible if we harness the transformative capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to help, according to a groundbreaking new report issued by leading energy researchers and scientists from across America's national laboratories. The report is titled AI for Energy. It provides a bold framework for how the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) can use AI to accelerate the nation's clean energy transformation.
"AI can manage complexity and make connections across multiple scientific and engineering disciplines, multiple model and data types, and multiple outcome priorities. This can enable AI to create ... Read more ...
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How Can Forests Be Reforested in a Climate-Friendly Way?:
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| How Can Forests Be Reforested in a Climate-Friendly Way? - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · Europe's forests have already been severely affected by climate change. Thousands of hectares of trees have already died due to drought and bark beetles. Scientists from the University of Vienna and the Technical University of Munich TUM have now investigated which trees can be used for reforestation. Their findings: only a few tree species are fit for the future, such as English oak in the UK. However, mixed forests are important for the survival of forests, otherwise the forest ecosystem as a whole could be weakened. The results of the study were recently published in the renowned journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Although European forests are naturally home to a mix of ... Read more ...
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How China is winning the GREEN ENERGY race.:
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| How China is winning the GREEN ENERGY race. - Just Have A Think |
Apr 28 · China's perceived march towards global domination appears to be ruffling some feathers here in the Western world. Their version of the industrial revolution has lifted hundreds of millions out of abject poverty, but it is still held up by some as the greatest modern sin against humanity and our climate. So, how accurate is that allegation?\n\nHelp support this channels independence at \nhttp://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink \n\nOr with a donation via Paypal by clicking here\nhttps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick\u0026hosted_button_id=GWR73EHXGJMAE\u0026source=url \n\nYou can also help keep my brain ticking over during the long hours of research and editing via the nice ... | By Just Have a Think Read more ...
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How did the early Great Barrier Reef manage rapid environmental change?:
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| How did the early Great Barrier Reef manage rapid environmental change? - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · It has been speculated, with little direct data, that these factors inhibited the emergence of the modern Great Barrier Reef. Now, for the first time, geoscientists have managed to determine how these factors, particularly water quality, contributed to the reef's development between about 8,000 and 6,000 years ago.
Their findings, published in Quaternary Science Reviews, confirm a long-standing idea that elevated nutrient levels impacted reef growth. In modern coral reefs, nutrient-rich waters have been observed to favor macro algae, which can outcompete corals, as well as cause increases in bio-eroders that can weaken coral skeletons.
As the modern reef emerged ... Read more ...
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Human activities have an intense impact on Earth's deep subsurface fluid flow:
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| Human activities have an intense impact on Earth's deep subsurface fluid flow - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 28 · "We looked at how the rates of fluid production with oil and gas compare to natural background circulation of water and showed how humans have made a big impact on the circulation of fluids in the subsurface," said Jennifer McIntosh, a professor in the UArizona Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences and senior author of a paper in the journal Earth's Future detailing the findings.
"The deep subsurface is out of sight and out of mind for most people, and we thought it was important to provide some context to these proposed activities, especially when it comes to our environmental impacts," said lead study author Grant Ferguson, an adjunct professor in the UArizona ... Read more ...
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Hydrogen Offers Germany a Chance to Take a Lead in Green Energy:
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| Hydrogen Offers Germany a Chance to Take a Lead in Green Energy - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 30 · A subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp, Germany’s venerable steel producer, is landing major deals for a device that makes the clean-burning gas from water.
Workers transporting cell modules for an electrolyzer built by ThyssenKrupp Nucera, next to a steel mill in Duisburg, Germany.Credit...Felix Schmitt for The New York Times
Stanley Reed, who writes on energy and the environment, and Melissa Eddy, a Berlin economics and business correspondent, visited ThyssenKrupp Nucera’s sites in Germany.
In the city of Duisburg in Germany’s industrial heartland is a vast steel complex that is one of Europe’s largest polluters. But alongside the mill’s furnaces and smelters, technicians ... | By Stanley Reed and Melissa Eddy Read more ...
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Just 1,200 square kilometers of land could fulfill Australia's solar and wind energy needs:
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| Just 1,200 square kilometers of land could fulfill Australia's solar and wind energy needs - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · So how much land is needed to fully decarbonize energy in Australia? When we switch completely to solar and wind, do we have the space for all the panels, turbines and power lines?
I've done the sums. All we need is 1,200 square kilometers. That's not much. The area devoted to agriculture is about 3,500 times larger at 4.2 million square kilometers. The area of land that would be taken away from agriculture works out at about 45 square meters per person—about the size of a large living room.
We can ditch fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions with negligible impact on agriculture. And in many cases, farmers can be paid for hosting renewable energy ... Read more ...
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Laser excitation of Th-229 nucleus: New findings suggest classical quantum physics and nuclear physics can be combined:
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| Laser excitation of Th-229 nucleus: New findings suggest classical quantum physics and nuclear physics can be combined - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Now this hope has come true: The long-sought thorium transition has been found, and its energy is now known exactly. For the first time, it has been possible to use a laser to transfer an atomic nucleus into a state of higher energy and then precisely track its return to its original state.
This makes it possible to combine two areas of physics that previously had little to do with each other: Classical quantum physics and nuclear physics. A crucial prerequisite for this success was the development of special thorium-containing crystals.
Switching quantum states
Manipulating atoms or molecules with lasers is commonplace today: If the wavelength of the laser is ... Read more ...
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Lawmakers hope to use this emerging climate science to charge oil companies for disasters:
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| Lawmakers hope to use this emerging climate science to charge oil companies for disasters - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · A fast-emerging field of climate research is helping scientists pinpoint just how many dollars from a natural disaster can be tied to the historic emissions of individual oil companies - analysis that is the centerpiece of new state efforts to make fossil fuel companies pay billions for floods, wildfires and heat waves.
When a flood or wildfire hits, researchers in "attribution science" run computer models to help determine whether the disaster was caused or intensified by climate change.
As those models become more precise, other scientists are working to measure how specific companies, such as Exxon Mobil or Shell, have contributed to climate change through their ... Read more ...
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Longer-lasting ozone holes over Antarctica expose seal pups and penguin chicks to much more UV:
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| Longer-lasting ozone holes over Antarctica expose seal pups and penguin chicks to much more UV - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 28 · But over the last four years, even as the hole has shrunk it has persisted for an unusually long time. Our new research found that instead of closing up during November it has stayed open well into December. This is early summer—the crucial period of new plant growth in coastal Antarctica and the peak breeding season for penguins and seals.
That's a worry. When the ozone hole forms, more ultraviolet rays get through the atmosphere. And while penguins and seals have protective covering, their young may be more vulnerable.
Why does ozone matter?
Over the past half century, we damaged the earth's protective ozone layer by using chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and ... Read more ...
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Low Carbon Materials’ CEO on Decarbonizing Construction:
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| Low Carbon Materials’ CEO on Decarbonizing Construction - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Apr 25 · Natasha Boulding, Co-Founder \u0026 CEO of Low Carbon Materials shares how the climate tech startup is redefining concrete and bringing circularity to this hard-to-abate industry at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit 2024 in London. \r\n--------\r\nSubscribe to Bloomberg Live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7UFcUbAd8oyCBWCogVpJ6g?sub_confirmation=1 | By Bloomberg Live Read more ...
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Mammals on 'sky islands' may be threatened by climate change, human development:
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| Mammals on 'sky islands' may be threatened by climate change, human development - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 29 · The paper, "Shifting mammal communities and declining species richness along an elevational gradient on Mt Kenya," is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
By comparing their new photos to those taken during the Roosevelt expedition, the researchers were able to observe how mammal communities had changed over six different habitat types located within a relatively small geographic area. This mosaic of habitats hosted a wide range of species, but many of those species were only found in one or two different habitats.
"These highly specialized species are threatened by a phenomenon known as the 'elevator to extinction,'" said Matt Snider, corresponding author of ... Read more ...
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Maps developed with artificial intelligence confirm low levels of phosphorus in Amazonian soil:
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| Maps developed with artificial intelligence confirm low levels of phosphorus in Amazonian soil - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · And it is exactly this combination that is described in research published in the journal Earth System Science Data by a group associated with Brazilian institutions. The work resulted in a series of maps that more accurately describe the quantity of the different chemical forms of phosphorus in the soil of the Amazon. "Built" using a new methodology based on artificial intelligence, the maps confirm that the region has a very low concentration of the mineral.
The impact of this is that a lack of phosphorus affects the growth cycle of species and can, for example, prevent trees from reacting to the increase in carbon dioxide associated with climate change.
"When we were ... Read more ...
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NASA uses small engine to enhance sustainable jet research:
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| NASA uses small engine to enhance sustainable jet research - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · Located inside a high-tech NASA laboratory in Cleveland is something you could almost miss at first glance: a small-scale, fully operational jet engine to test new technology that could make aviation more sustainable.
The engine's smaller size and modestly equipped test stand means researchers and engineers can try out newly designed engine components less expensively compared to using a more costly full-scale jet engine test rig.
Named DGEN380 Aero-Propulsion Research Turbofan, or DART, the engine is tiny enough to fit on a kitchen table, measuring at just 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) long. That's about half the length of engines used on single-aisle airliners.
DART - ... Read more ...
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New Algorithm Cuts Through 'Noisy' Data to Better Predict Tipping Points:
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| New Algorithm Cuts Through 'Noisy' Data to Better Predict Tipping Points - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · Whether you're trying to predict a climate catastrophe or mental health crisis, mathematics tells us to look for fluctuations.
Changes in data, from wildlife population to anxiety levels, can be an early warning signal that a system is reaching a critical threshold, known as a tipping point, in which those changes may accelerate or even become irreversible.
But which data points matter most? And which are simply just noise?
A new algorithm developed by University at Buffalo researchers can identify the most predictive data points that a tipping point is near. Detailed in Nature Communications, this theoretical framework uses the power of stochastic differential ... Read more ...
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New Approach Could Make Reusing Captured Carbon Far Cheaper, Less Energy-Intensive | News Center:
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| New Approach Could Make Reusing Captured Carbon Far Cheaper, Less Energy-Intensive | News Center - news.gatech |
Apr 25 · Engineers at Georgia Tech have designed a process that converts carbon dioxide removed from the air into useful raw material that could be used for new plastics, chemicals, or fuels.
Their approach dramatically reduces the cost and energy required for these direct air capture (DAC) systems, helping improve the economics of a process the researchers said will be critical to addressing climate change.
The key is a new kind of catalyst and electrochemical reactor design that can be easily integrated into existing DAC systems to produce useful carbon monoxide (CO) gas. It’s one of the most efficient such design ever described in scientific literature, according to lead ... Read more ...
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New California Legislation Would Help Us Better Understand Wildfire Health Impacts:
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| New California Legislation Would Help Us Better Understand Wildfire Health Impacts - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming |
Apr 26 · Last year, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) made headlines across the country when we published a report demonstrating how worsening wildfires in the West are linked to the unrelenting, shameless emissions of the fossil fuel companies. While we hope that our science will bolster efforts to hold these companies accountable, the truth is that such accountability is necessary but insufficient.
Climate-change fueled disasters will continue to have impacts on human health. We must measure these impacts and mitigate them. Wildfires have the most obvious and devastating effects on the lives of the people living in the neighborhoods that they destroy, but the impact they have ... Read more ...
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New insights into tree canopy light absorption and its climate implications:
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| New insights into tree canopy light absorption and its climate implications - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · A recent publication in the Journal of Remote Sensing, published April 12, 2024, delves into how vegetation canopies influence light absorption in various ways, a crucial aspect for understanding photosynthesis and climate interactions.
For the study, by employing the advanced large-scale remote sensing data and image simulation framework (LESS) model within the radiation transfer model intercomparison (RAMI)-V framework, the team meticulously calculated the CI across various viewing angles and vegetation types, such as coniferous and broad-leaf forests. This index measures how leaves within a canopy are clustered, affecting the passage of light through the canopy.
Their ... Read more ...
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NSW to announce life extension of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station:
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| NSW to announce life extension of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station - Guardian - Energy |
Apr 3 · Exclusive: Decision to keep the ageing plant operating for up to four more years could cost taxpayers as much as $150m a year
The New South Wales government will announce within days that it will extend the operations of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for as long as four more years.
The decision involves providing taxpayer subsidies to Origin Energy’s Eraring power station for two years with permits to run for two more, according to several people who have been briefed on the plans.
The cost of the subsidies are due to be discussed by the Minns government’s expenditure review committee as soon as this Friday. Environmental groups and local MPs were ... Read more ...
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Offering clean energy around the clock:
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| Offering clean energy around the clock - MIT - Energy |
Apr 30 · d="M12.132,61.991a5.519,5.519,0,0,1-5.866,5.753A5.554,5.554,0,0,1,.4,61.854a5.809,5.809,0,0,1,1.816-4.383,6.04,6.04,0,0,1,4.05-1.37C9.9,55.965,12.132,58.43,12.132,61.991Zm-8.939-.137c0,2.328,1.117,3.7,3.073,3.7s3.073-1.37,3.073-3.7-1.117-3.835-3.073-3.835C4.45,58.156,3.193,59.526,3.193,61.854Z" transform="translate(-0.4 -55.965)" fill="#333"/> d="M17.884,67.531l-3.352-5.753-1.257-2.191v7.944H10.9V56.3h2.793l3.212,5.616c.419.822.7,1.37,1.257,2.328V56.3h2.374V67.531Z" transform="translate(3.765 -55.889)" fill="#333"/> ... Read more ...
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Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather:
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| Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather - Skeptical Science |
Apr 29 · In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or any other disaster, because weather variability always plays a primary role in the genesis of the events.
However, climate change can make these events more intense and, given the non-linearities in the damages, this can vastly increase the damage and misery from extreme weather. So quantifying the role of climate change is therefore of great interest.
To do this, scientists turn to extreme event attribution studies. These ... Read more ...
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Probing the effects of interplanetary space on asteroid Ryugu:
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| Probing the effects of interplanetary space on asteroid Ryugu - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Analyzing samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has revealed new insights into the magnetic and physical bombardment environment of interplanetary space. The results of the study, carried out by Professor Yuki Kimura at Hokkaido University and co-workers at 13 other institutions in Japan, are published in the journal Nature Communications.
The investigations used electron waves penetrating the samples to reveal details of their structure and magnetic and electric properties, a technique called electron holography.
Hayabusa2 reached asteroid Ryugu on 27 June 2018, collected samples during two delicate touchdowns, and ... Read more ...
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Promoting Climate Action and Green Growth in the Western Balkans and Beyond:
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| Promoting Climate Action and Green Growth in the Western Balkans and Beyond - Climate Change (World Bank - Playlist) |
Apr 24 · With the support of Austria's Federal Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, the Climate Support Facility's Western Balkans Plus Program has been promoting climate action and green growth across the countries of the Western Balkan Six since 2020 and expanded its activities intro Central Asia in 2023. This program shows that international collaboration, innovation, and timely funding can enable countries to address crucial climate and environmental challenges and build a more sustainable, resilient future for all. Learn more: http://wrld.bg/Ajeg50Ro9mv #climateaction\n\n00:00 The Western Balkans climate challenge\n00:27 Climate Support Facility Western Balkans Program\n00:45 Program ... | By World Bank Read more ...
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Protecting forests through better forest management:
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| Protecting forests through better forest management - Greenbiz |
Apr 29 · Understanding sustainable forestry practices can lead to more responsibly made products.
This article is sponsored by P&G.
As recent wildfires have demonstrated, an untouched forest isn’t necessarily a healthier one. In parallel with climate action, responsible forest management is one of the best tools to build resilient forests that will in turn help in the fight against climate change.
There are 3 billion acres of working forests around the world - that is, forests that are managed to supply a steady, renewable supply of wood for thousands of items people use every day. Those that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ensure that the forest is ... | By Chris Reeves Read more ...
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Q&A: Study reveals importance of action plans to protect environmental refuges for escaping the summer heat:
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| Q&A: Study reveals importance of action plans to protect environmental refuges for escaping the summer heat - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Mendoza presents a case study, titled "Environmental refuges during summertime heat and elevated ozone levels: A preliminary case study of an urban 'cool zone' building," in the journal Buildings.
Mendoza and co-authors measured indoor and outdoor temperature and ozone levels at the Millcreek library, a building designated as a "cool zone" for the public to escape increasingly hostile environment extremes by climate change.
Mendoza spoke with AtTheU about environmental refuges and how cities can better protect vulnerable individuals.
How are heat and health related?
In Utah, we're very aware of air quality-related health concerns, but we're not as aware of ... Read more ...
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Red Sea diversions spew carbon emissions equal to 9 million cars:
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| Red Sea diversions spew carbon emissions equal to 9 million cars - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Ships seeking to avoid ongoing attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea area are emitting millions of additional tons of carbon, making it tougher for companies using ocean freight to reduce pollution across their supply chains.
Instead of passing through Egypt's Suez Canal, hundreds of vessels since mid-December are sailing around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope - a detour that adds at least a week to the journey between South Asia and northern Europe.
The additional fuel burned has led to approximately an extra 13.6 million tons of CO2 emissions over the past four months - equivalent to the pollution of about 9 million cars over that same period, according to a report ... Read more ...
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Reforestation study finds only a few tree species can survive a century of rapid climate change:
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| Reforestation study finds only a few tree species can survive a century of rapid climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Their findings indicate only a few tree species are fit for the future, such as English oak in the UK. However, mixed forests are important for the survival of forests, otherwise the forest ecosystem as a whole could be weakened. The results of the study were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Although European forests are naturally home to a mix of trees, the number of tree species is lower than in climatically comparable areas of North America or East Asia. In the future, even fewer species will be available to the forestry industry, as scientists led by Johannes Wessely and Stefan Dullinger from the University of Vienna have shown in their new study.
Depending ... Read more ...
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Researchers improve the plasticity of ceramic materials at room temperature:
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| Researchers improve the plasticity of ceramic materials at room temperature - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Plasticity or plastic deformability is a material's ability to be deformed by compression, tension or shear into a specific shape or geometry without breaking. Typically, ceramic materials exhibit very limited plastic deformability under room temperature.
Haiyan Wang and Xinghang Zhang lead a Purdue team whose method improves ceramic room-temperature plastic deformability by first introducing high-density defects in brittle ceramics under high temperatures. Wang is the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering and Zhang is a professor of materials engineering in Purdue's School of Materials Engineering.
"Such a strategy can prominently improve the room-temperature plastic ... Read more ...
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Samsung says Q1 operating profits soar nearly tenfold on-year:
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| Samsung says Q1 operating profits soar nearly tenfold on-year - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that its first-quarter operating profits had risen nearly tenfold year-on-year amid recovering chip prices and growing demand, notably for generative AI.
The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
"Operating profit increased to KRW 6.61 trillion ($4.85 billion) as the Memory Business returned to profit by addressing demand for high value-added products," it said in a statement.
Strong smartphone sales, higher prices for semiconductors plus a focus on high-value-added products including HBM ... Read more ...
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Schools closed, warnings issued as Asia swelters in extreme heat wave:
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| Schools closed, warnings issued as Asia swelters in extreme heat wave - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · South and Southeast Asia braced for more extreme heat on Sunday as authorities across the region issued health warnings and residents fled to parks and air-conditioned malls for relief.
A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted the region over the past week, sending the mercury as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) and forcing thousands of schools to tell students to stay home.
The Philippines announced on Sunday the suspension of in-person classes at all public schools for two days after a record-shattering day of heat in the capital Manila.
In Thailand, where at least 30 people have died of heatstroke so far this year, the meteorological ... Read more ...
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Scientists are shaking up lithium extraction with a different kind of chemistry:
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| Scientists are shaking up lithium extraction with a different kind of chemistry - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 27 · 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 ... Read more ...
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Scientists discover a new type of porous material that can store greenhouse gases:
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| Scientists discover a new type of porous material that can store greenhouse gases - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 29 · In a collaboration with the University of Liverpool, Imperial College London, the University of Southampton, and East China University of Science and Technology in China, the team used computer modeling to accurately predict how molecules would assemble themselves into the new type of porous material.
These cage molecules were assembled using other cages to create a new type of porous material that the scientists say is the first of its kind in its porous "cage of cages" structure.
Materials scientist Dr. Marc Little, an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University's Institute of Chemical Sciences and an expert in porous materials, jointly led the research.
He ... Read more ...
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Scientists harness the wind as a tool to move objects:
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| Scientists harness the wind as a tool to move objects - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · "Airflow or wind is everywhere in our living environment, moving around objects like pollen, pathogens, droplets, seeds and leaves. Wind has also been actively used in industry and in our everyday lives—for example, in leaf blowers to clean leaves. But so far, we can't control the direction the leaves move—we can only blow them together into a pile," says Professor Quan Zhou from Aalto University, who led the study.
The first step in manipulating objects with wind is understanding how objects move in the airflow. To that end, a research team at Aalto University recorded thousands of sample movements in an artificially generated airflow and used these to build ... Read more ...
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Southern Africa drought flags dilemma for loss and damage fund:
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| Southern Africa drought flags dilemma for loss and damage fund - Climate Change News - Finance |
Apr 29 · Scientists blame the current drought on El Niño – which could exclude those affected from receiving aid for climate-change damage
Residents of Pumula East township walk home after fetching water from a well, (March 7, 2024. REUTERS/KB Mpofu)
Since January, swathes of southern Africa have been suffering from a severe drought, which has destroyed crops, spread disease and caused mass hunger. But its causes have raised tough questions for the new UN fund for climate change losses.
Christopher Dabu, a priest in Lusitu parish in southern Zambia, one of the affected regions, said that because of the drought, his parishioners “have nothing”- including ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Species living closely together in symbiosis is far older and way more common than you might think:
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| Species living closely together in symbiosis is far older and way more common than you might think - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 27 · 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 ... Read more ...
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Study says California's 2023 snowy rescue from megadrought was a freak event. Don't get used to it:
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| Study says California's 2023 snowy rescue from megadrought was a freak event. Don't get used to it - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Don't get used to it because with climate change the 2023 California snow bonanza —a record for snow on the ground on April 1—will be less likely in the future, said the study in Monday's journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study authors coined the term "snow deluge" for one-in-20-year heavy snowfalls, when it's cold and wet enough to maintain a deep snowpack through April 1. But even among these rare snow deluges, last year's stood out as the snowiest, edging out 1922 in snow water equivalent, said study lead author Adrienne Marshall, a hydrologist at the Colorado School of Mines.
It's timing couldn't be better. Last year's snow came ... Read more ...
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Taxing big fossil fuel firms 'could raise $900bn in climate finance by 2030’:
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| Taxing big fossil fuel firms 'could raise $900bn in climate finance by 2030’ - Guardian - Energy |
Apr 2 · Levy on oil and gas majors in richest countries would help worst-affected nations tackle climate crisis, says report
A new tax on fossil fuel companies based in the world’s richest countries could raise hundreds of billions of dollars to help the most vulnerable nations cope with the escalating climate crisis, according to a report.
The Climate Damages Tax report, published on Monday, calculates that an additional tax on fossil fuel majors based in the wealthiest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries could raise $720bn (£580bn) by the end of the decade.
The authors say a new extraction levy could boost the loss and damage fund to ... Read more ...
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Tesla founder Musk visits China as competitors show off new electric vehicles at Beijing auto show:
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| Tesla founder Musk visits China as competitors show off new electric vehicles at Beijing auto show - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk met with a top government leader in the Chinese capital Sunday, just as the nation's carmakers are showing off their latest electric vehicle models at the Beijing auto show.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Musk that he hopes the U.S. will work more with China on "win-win" cooperation, citing Tesla's operations in China as a successful example of economic cooperation, China's state broadcaster CCTV said on its main evening news program.
For China, Musk is a welcome antidote to the tough talk from U.S. officials, which played out most recently during a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Li's remarks also reflect China's efforts to ... Read more ...
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Tesla's stock leaps on reports of Chinese approval for the company's driving software:
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| Tesla's stock leaps on reports of Chinese approval for the company's driving software - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · Musk met with a senior government official in the Chinese capital Sunday, just as the nation's carmakers are showing off their latest electric vehicle models at the Beijing auto show.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter, Chinese officials told Tesla that Beijing has tentatively approved the automaker's plan to launch its "Full Self-Driving," or FSD, software feature in the country.
Although it's called FSD, the software still requires human supervision. On Friday the U.S. government's auto safety agency said it is investigating whether last year's recall of Tesla's Autopilot driving system did enough to make sure ... Read more ...
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The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean:
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| The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 27 · 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, ... Read more ...
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The giant sheep helping Tajikistan weather climate change:
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| The giant sheep helping Tajikistan weather climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · In the hills outside the Tajik capital Dushanbe, shepherd Bakhtior Sharipov was watching over his flock of giant Hissar sheep.
The breed, prized for profitability and an ability to adapt to climate change, garners celebrity status in the Central Asian country, which is beset by a shortage of both meat and suitable grazing land.
"They rapidly gain weight even when there is little water and pasture available," 18-year-old Sharipov said.
Facing a serious degradation in farmland due to years of overgrazing and global warming, the hardy sheep offer a potential boon to Tajikistan's farmers and plentiful supply of mutton to consumers.
Around 250 of the animals - ... Read more ...
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The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars:
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| The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars - VOX -Environment |
Apr 28 · 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 ... Read more ...
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Underwater mass spectrometry achieves 500-fold sensitivity enhancement for dissolved methane detection:
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| Underwater mass spectrometry achieves 500-fold sensitivity enhancement for dissolved methane detection - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · Monitoring ocean methane emissions is vital for understanding climate change and exploring clean energy sources like natural gas hydrates. However, existing data on dissolved methane in the ocean remain limited, leading to significant uncertainties in estimating oceanic methane flux due to sensitivity limitations.
While deep-sea mass spectrometry serves as a crucial tool for the rapid detection of dissolved gases in the ocean, its limited sensitivity restricts its application to specific regions or anomalous events.
In this research, the team developed a small-volume, low-power online water removal system to address challenges such as high gas content in samples and ... Read more ...
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Unveiling nature's custodians: Study highlights crucial role of scavengers in wetlands:
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| Unveiling nature's custodians: Study highlights crucial role of scavengers in wetlands - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · The article, published in Biological Reviews, emphasizes that the benefits provided by scavengers far outweigh the potential drawbacks. Among their essential functions are the recycling and transportation of nutrients and the regulation of water quality, benefiting the entire ecosystem, from soil and plants to birds and mammals.
Historically, animals that feed on other dead animals have received less attention from society, and they have even been assigned a secondary role in ecosystems. However, recent studies have shown that scavengers play a crucial ecological role in eliminating organic matter and rapidly recycling nutrients into the ecosystem. But despite the increased ... Read more ...
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US Supreme Court declines to hear Musk appeal over Tesla posts:
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| US Supreme Court declines to hear Musk appeal over Tesla posts - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 29 · The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Elon Musk of a settlement that requires the billionaire to have some of his social media posts about Tesla pre-approved by a company lawyer.
The nation's highest court rejected the Tesla and X owner's appeal without comment.
Musk was seeking to overturn restrictions imposed on him by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following a 2018 post on Twitter, now X.
In the tweet, Musk said he had acquired funding to take Tesla private, which caused a spike in the company's stock price, but he did not provide any proof or file paperwork with the SEC.
The tweet was ruled to be "false and misleading" ... Read more ...
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Walrus dies from bird flu on Arctic island: Researcher:
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| Walrus dies from bird flu on Arctic island: Researcher - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 29 · The first case of a walrus dying from bird flu has been detected on one of Norway's Arctic islands, a researcher said Monday.
The walrus was found last year on Hopen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Christian Lydersen, of the Norwegian Polar Institute, told AFP.
Tests carried out by a German laboratory revealed the presence of bird flu, Lydersen said. The sample was too small to determine whether it was the H5N1 or the H5N8 strain.
"It is the first time that bird flu has been recorded in a walrus," Lydersen said.
About six dead walrus were found last year in the Svalbard islands, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the North Pole and halfway between ... Read more ...
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We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives:
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| We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives - VOX - Science |
Apr 27 · 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 ... Read more ...
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Where seas are rising at alarming speed:
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| Where seas are rising at alarming speed - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Apr 29 · One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found.
Recent sea level rise
2010 to 2023
0
3
6
9 inches
At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 - a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.
Recent sea level rise
2010 to 2023
0
3
6
9 inches
Scientists are documenting a barrage of impacts - ones, they say, that will confront an even larger swath of U.S. ... Read more ...
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Why climate disclosure policy is critical to corporate sustainability:
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| Why climate disclosure policy is critical to corporate sustainability - Greenbiz |
Apr 29 · There are 3 primary reasons why disclosure rules can help accelerate climate policy progress.
There’s a lot of confusion and controversy swirling around the issue of climate disclosure: how much companies are mandated to tell the public about emissions they directly and indirectly generate. The controversy is now so thick that it has become a smokescreen, blocking a clear look at this issue. It’s important for sustainability professionals to know the facts and also understand how policy on disclosure can help drive the change we need to address our climate crisis.
In 2023, disclosure policy seemed to be on a fast track forward, with California’s enactment of the landmark ... | By Deborah McNamara & Bill Weihl Read more ...
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World War II-era ship docked in Alameda becomes testing tool to combat global warming:
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| World War II-era ship docked in Alameda becomes testing tool to combat global warming - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · The flight deck of a decommissioned World War II-era aircraft carrier docked at Alameda has recently begun launching something other than airplanes: microscopic droplets of salt water that scientists hope will help counteract the effects of climate change.
A team of atmospheric scientists from the University of Washington has teamed up with Silicon Valley-based Stanford Research Institute, an independent nonprofit research facility, and SilverLining, a nonprofit focused on near-term climate risks, to study whether adding plumes of salt water to a cloud will make it more reflective and stop excess heat from reaching the Earth's surface.
Cloud brightening is an idea first ... Read more ...
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