'Bloodsicles', baths keep Philippine zoo animals cool as heat wave hits:
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| 'Bloodsicles', baths keep Philippine zoo animals cool as heat wave hits - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · A Philippine zoo is giving tigers frozen treats made of animal blood and preventing lions from mating during the hottest time of the day as a heat wave scorches the country.
Unusually hot weather has sent temperatures in the capital Manila to a record high in recent days and forced schools across the archipelago nation to suspend in-person classes.
As people flock to air-conditioned shopping malls and swimming pools for relief from the extreme heat, animals at Manila Zoo are also trying to cool off.
Preventing heat stroke, particularly among the big cats, was the "main priority", zoo veterinarian Dave Vinas told AFP on Tuesday when the mercury hit 37 degrees ... Read more ...
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8 years into America’s e-scooter experiment, what have we learned?:
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| 8 years into America’s e-scooter experiment, what have we learned? - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation |
Apr 30 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When the sharing economy took off in the 2010s and upended entire industries, the firmest proponents of the model heralded it as an economic revolution that would help slash emissions. Of all the ideas that emerged and dissolved over the years, shareable electric scooters seemed to possess the most promise for climate. Almost anyone with a smartphone and a credit card could grab one and ride it down the block or across town, eschewing automobiles.
Yet, as the industry matures and Lime - which, with operations in 280 cities worldwide, is the biggest ... Read more ...
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A Flamingo flock inspires hope: Have the rare birds returned to the Everglades for good?:
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| A Flamingo flock inspires hope: Have the rare birds returned to the Everglades for good? - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 29 · For the last century, flamingos in Florida were more likely to be spotted on T-shirts and cups in a souvenir shop than flapping around in the wild.
Then last summer, a flock of the rare and beautiful birds - a group is fittingly known as a "flamboyance" of flamingos - was blown to Florida on the fierce winds of Hurricane Idalia.
Eight months later, they remain on the shores of Florida Bay, delighting scientists and inspiring hope that this could be the year they stick around for good. May is the beginning of their nesting season, and researchers are crossing their fingers that the large, apparently healthy population could start popping out fledglings on Florida soil for ... Read more ...
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A rare and little-known group of monkeys could help save Africa's tropical forests:
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| A rare and little-known group of monkeys could help save Africa's tropical forests - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · At a time when hunting of wildlife and habitat loss are driving long-term changes to ecosystems, including stark wildlife population declines and greater vulnerability to climate change and zoonotic disease transmission, the scientists identified red colobus monkeys as key indicators of tropical forest health and flagships for local and international conservation initiatives.
Writing in the journal Conservation Letters, the authors focus on five priority action areas:
The above actions build on the Red Colobus Conservation Action Plan, initiated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group and 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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A Virus Could Help Save Billions of Gallons of Wastewater Produced by Fracking:
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| A Virus Could Help Save Billions of Gallons of Wastewater Produced by Fracking - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · An estimated 168 billion gallons of wastewater -- or produced water -- is generated annually by the Permian Basin fracking industry, according to a 2022 report by the Texas Produced Water Consortium. The major waste stream has proved both difficult and costly to treat because of the chemical complexity of the water.
In a new study published in the journal Water, researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have identified a novel means of treating the wastewater generated by oil and gas production: bacteriophages.
Ramón Antonio Sánchez, a doctoral candidate within UTEP's chemistry program, is the first author on the publication, detailing how ... Read more ...
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A virus could help save billions of gallons of wastewater produced by fracking:
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| A virus could help save billions of gallons of wastewater produced by fracking - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · In a new study published in the journal Water, researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have identified a novel means of treating the wastewater generated by oil and gas production: bacteriophages.
Ramón Antonio Sánchez, a doctoral candidate within UTEP's chemistry program, is the first author on the publication, detailing how bacteriophages, viruses that are often highly specific and lethal to a single species of bacteria, can be used as a rapid and cost-effective method to treat produced water on an industrial scale.
Sánchez said if the work is successful, it would give the oil and gas industry a means of treating, reusing and recycling ... 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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Amazon reports strong 1Q results driven by its cloud-computing unit and Prime Video ad dollars:
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| Amazon reports strong 1Q results driven by its cloud-computing unit and Prime Video ad dollars - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 1 · Amazon on Tuesday reported strong results for the first quarter, driven by growth in its cloud-computing unit and new advertising dollars from its Prime Video streaming service.
The Seattle-based e-commerce giant said it brought in $143.31 billion in revenue in the first three months of this year, a 13% jump compared to the same period last year. Net income came out to $10.43 billion, or 98 cents per share. That soundly beat Wall Street analysts' expectations for 84 cents a share, according to FactSet.
"It was a good start to the year across the business, and you can see that in both our customer experience improvements and financial results," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said ... Read more ...
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An AI model to reduce uncertainty in evapotranspiration prediction:
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| An AI model to reduce uncertainty in evapotranspiration prediction - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · ET includes evaporation from soil and open water pools such as lakes, rivers, and ponds, as well as transpiration from plant leaves. The difference between precipitation and ET indicates the water balance available for societal needs, including agricultural and industrial production. However, measuring ET is challenging. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign presents a computer model that uses artificial intelligence (AI) for ET prediction based on remote sensing estimates.
"Ground-based ET estimates capture the local fluxes of water transferred to the atmosphere but are limited in scale. In contrast, satellite data provide ET information on a global ... 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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April temperatures in Bangladesh hottest on record:
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| April temperatures in Bangladesh hottest on record - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 1 · Bangladesh's weather bureau said Wednesday that last month was the hottest April on record, with the South Asian nation and much of the region still enduring a suffocating heat wave.
Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
Punishing heat last month prompted Bangladesh's government to close schools across the country, keeping an estimated 32 million students at home.
"This year the heat wave covered around 80 percent of the country. We've not seen such unbroken and expansive heat waves before," Bangladesh Meteorological Department senior forecaster Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik told AFP. Read more ...
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Asteroid Ryugu and Interplanetary Space:
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| Asteroid Ryugu and Interplanetary Space - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · Samples reveal evidence of changes experienced by the surface of asteroid Ryugu, some probably due to micrometeoroid bombardment.
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 ... Read more ...
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At a glance - Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline':
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| At a glance - Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline' - Skeptical Science |
Apr 30 · On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a "bump" for our ask. This week features "Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline'". More will follow in the upcoming weeks. Please follow the Further Reading link at the bottom to read the full rebuttal and to join the discussion in the comment thread there.
It's been many years since 'climategate' - when in 2009, the email server at the Climate Research Unit, University of ... Read more ...
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Atmospheric 'teleconnections' sustain warm blobs in the northeast Pacific Ocean:
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| Atmospheric 'teleconnections' sustain warm blobs in the northeast Pacific Ocean - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · The first warm patch discovered in the northeast Pacific Ocean was the "Blob" event of 2013–2016, followed by another warm blob in 2019–2020.
The Blob stretched from coastal Alaska to the Baja region of California, with sea surface temperatures as much as 6°C above normal. Vital fish stocks such as sockeye salmon and Pacific cod were impacted, and the event saw geographical shifts of a number of species, including phytoplankton, as well as the closures of important fisheries and mass strandings of marine mammals and seabirds. But some species increased in numbers, such as pyrosomes, bioluminescent colonies of millimeter-sized individuals and commonly called ... 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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Believing environmental damage is done by others can cause 'race to the bottom':
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| Believing environmental damage is done by others can cause 'race to the bottom' - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · Common-pool resources, such as forests, fisheries, and groundwater, need to be managed effectively to reduce over-harvesting and environmental damage. Researchers knew that strong boundaries around a community's common-pool resource could promote effective management, but they weren't exactly sure why.
The new research—in collaboration with mangrove-dependent communities in Tanzania—reveals that boundaries don't just keep others out, but also promote good conservation practices by community members.
Without effective boundaries, communities can be subject to theft from neighbors. The study reveals that if they then believe that this theft is causing ... 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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Big data reveals true climate impact of worldwide air travel:
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| Big data reveals true climate impact of worldwide air travel - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · When countries signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty, high-income countries were required to report their aviation-related emissions. But 151 middle and lower income countries, including China and India, were not required to report these emissions, although they could do so voluntarily.
This matters because the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change relies on country reports of emissions during negotiations on country-specific emissions cuts.
"Our work fills the reporting gap, so that this can inform policy and hopefully improve future negotiations," says Jan Klenner, a Ph.D. candidate at NTNU's Industrial Ecology ... Read more ...
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Big Data Reveals True Climate Impact of Worldwide Air Travel:
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| Big Data Reveals True Climate Impact of Worldwide Air Travel - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · For the first time ever, researchers have harnessed the power of big data to calculate the per-country greenhouse gas emissions from aviation for 197 countries covered by an international treaty on climate change.
When countries signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty, high-income countries were required to report their aviation-related emissions. But 151 middle and lower income countries, including China and India, were not required to report these emissions, although they could do so voluntarily.
This matters because the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change relies on country reports of emissions during negotiations ... Read more ...
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Big oil privately acknowledged efforts to downplay climate crisis, joint committee investigation finds:
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| Big oil privately acknowledged efforts to downplay climate crisis, joint committee investigation finds - Guardian - Energy |
Apr 3 · Big oil has privately acknowledged its efforts to downplay the dangers of burning fossil fuels, US Democrats have found.
Major fossil-fuel firms have also pledged support for international climate efforts, but internally admit these efforts are incompatible with their own climate plans. And they have lobbied against climate laws and regulations they have publicly claimed to support, documents newly revealed by the committee show.
The tranche of subpoenaed communications were unveiled on Tuesday morning by Democrats on the House oversight committee before a Wednesday hearing.
“For decades, the fossil-fuel industry has known about the economic and climate harms of ... 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 and Mercury Pollution Stressed Plants for Millions of Years:
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| Climate Change and Mercury Pollution Stressed Plants for Millions of Years - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · The link between massive flood basalt volcanism and the end-Triassic (201 million years ago) mass-extinction is commonly accepted. However, exactly how volcanism led to the collapse of ecosystems and the extinction of entire families of organisms is difficult to establish. Extreme climate change from the release of carbon dioxide, degradation of the ozone layer due to the injection of damaging chemicals, and the emissions of toxic pollutants, are all seen as contributing factors. One toxic element stands out: mercury. As one of the most toxic elements on Earth, Hg is a metal that is emitted from volcanoes in gaseous form, and thus has the capacity to spread worldwide. A new study in ... Read more ...
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Climate change lengthens, intensifies the blooming of holm oak and other Quercus species: Study:
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| Climate change lengthens, intensifies the blooming of holm oak and other Quercus species: Study - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · How does climate change affect pollen allergy? Relating the effects of global warming to variations in the blooming patterns of species of the genus Quercus in Andalusia was the objective of one of the latest efforts by the Systemic and Applied Botany research group at the University of Cordoba.
"We chose Quercus because it is the most representative tree in Andalusia in the natural environment, and it is an anemophilic tree (pollinated by the wind) found where there are very high concentrations of pollen in the atmosphere, so it is a good bioindicator to study the impact of climate change on blooming," said researcher Pura Alcázar, who co-authored the work with fellow ... 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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Clouds blanket the night side of the hot exoplanet WASP-43b:
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| Clouds blanket the night side of the hot exoplanet WASP-43b - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · Violent winds transport the searing hot air to the nightside, where it cools to 600°C, allowing clouds to form and blanket the entire hemisphere. These tempests impair chemical reactions so much that methane can barely form, even though it should be abundant under calmer conditions.
Hot Jupiters are extreme gas giant exoplanets that orbit their host stars in close proximity, leading to several exotic properties regarding temperature, density, composition, chemistry, and weather. With the advent of groundbreakingly sensitive telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have begun to study their atmospheres in great detail.
An international ... Read more ...
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Corn to Power Airplanes? Biden Administration Sets a High Bar.:
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| Corn to Power Airplanes? Biden Administration Sets a High Bar. - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 30 · Producers of biofuels like ethanol, which could help create a new generation of jet fuel, would have to overhaul their practices to receive tax credits.
In a move aimed at lowering the greenhouse gas emissions of air travel, the Biden administration on Tuesday issued new guidelines for how fuel producers - and in particular, makers of ethanol from corn - could qualify for tax credits under a plan to increase the supply of so-called sustainable aviation fuel.
It’s especially difficult to transition airplanes away from traditional jet fuel because there are so few affordable alternatives capable of getting a plane off the ground. The global aviation sector accounts for ... | By Max Bearak and Dionne Searcey Read more ...
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Drought That Snarled Panama Canal Was Linked to El Niño, Study Finds:
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| Drought That Snarled Panama Canal Was Linked to El Niño, Study Finds - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 1 · The low water levels that choked cargo traffic were more closely tied to the natural climate cycle than to human-caused warming, a team of scientists has concluded.
The recent drought in the Panama Canal was driven not by global warming but by below-normal rainfall linked to the natural climate cycle El Niño, an international team of scientists has concluded.
Low reservoir levels have slowed cargo traffic in the canal for most of the past year. Without enough water to raise and lower ships, officials last summer had to slash the number of vessels they allowed through, creating expensive headaches for shipping companies worldwide. Only in recent months have crossings ... | By Raymond Zhong Read more ...
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E-Bike Incentives Prove to Be Worth the Investment:
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| E-Bike Incentives Prove to Be Worth the Investment - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · Electric bicycle rebates have exploded in popularity in North America as transportation planners try to get people out of their cars and into healthier, more climate-friendly alternatives. However, there is limited understanding of the full impacts of these incentives.
Are new cycling habits sustainable? Who benefits most from these incentives? And are they worth the cost?
Reduced car travel
The Saanich program, available in 2021 and 2022, offered three different rebates to offset the cost of new e-bikes, depending on one's income. The basic rebate amounted to $350, while the lowest-income households could receive up to $1,600.
Results showed a significant ... Read more ...
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Electric cars pile up at European ports as Chinese firms struggle to find buyers:
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| Electric cars pile up at European ports as Chinese firms struggle to find buyers - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · However, Chinese cars are facing difficulties in finding buyers in Europe. Imported cars, many of which are Chinese electric vehicles, are piling up at European ports, with some spending up to 18 months in port car parks as manufacturers struggle to get them onto people's driveways.
Why is this, though? Chinese electric vehicles in particular are getting positive reviews. Having driven them myself, I can attest to them matching, or even exceeding, the well-known European brands in range, quality and technology.
But entering an established market as a challenger is a complex operation. Chinese makers will have to contend with buyer wariness, a lack of brand image, trade ... 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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Enceladus spills its guts through strike–slip motion:
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| Enceladus spills its guts through strike–slip motion - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · At Enceladus's south pole, a large number of jets spray icy particles out from a set of jagged, 150-kilometer-long faults—known as the tiger-stripe faults—and this ejected material coalesces above the moon's surface to form a plume. Samples of this plume material analyzed by NASA's Cassini mission suggests that the chemical conditions believed to be necessary for life may exist in the ocean deep beneath Enceladus's surface.
Now, new research led by graduate student Alexander Berne (MS '22), working with Mark Simons, the John W. and Herberta M. Miles Professor of Geophysics and director of the Brinson Exploration Hub at Caltech, uses a detailed geophysical model to ... 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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Engineered increase in mesophyll conductance improves photosynthetic efficiency in field trial:
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| Engineered increase in mesophyll conductance improves photosynthetic efficiency in field trial - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · CO2 faces barriers as it moves through the leaf, including its own cell walls. Researchers from the Long Lab found that by increasing permeability and slightly reducing the thickness of cell walls, they could increase CO2 diffusion and uptake in a model crop.
"This is one of the few successful tests of concept showing that we can engineer an increase in mesophyll conductance and have it result in increased photosynthesis in the field," said Coralie Salesse-Smith, a postdoctoral researcher in Long Lab and lead author on a paper about the research, published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.
"Theory shows us that increasing mesophyll conductance to increase ... 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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EU gifts companies a two-year delay on sustainability disclosures:
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| EU gifts companies a two-year delay on sustainability disclosures - Greenbiz |
May 1 · The delay grants companies more time before they’re expected to disclose ESG impacts and data under new reporting regulations.
The delay gives more time to companies that must report sector-specific climate impacts. Source: wutzkohphoto via Shutterstock
The European Council said on Tuesday that it will defer by two years the adoption of sector-specific sustainability reporting standards for EU companies under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The delay also applies to non-EU companies operating in the region.
This means that U.S.-based companies that were preparing for the first time to disclose Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and other ... | By Leah Garden 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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Exploiting disorder to harvest heat energy: The potentialities of 2D magnets for thermoelectric applications:
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| Exploiting disorder to harvest heat energy: The potentialities of 2D magnets for thermoelectric applications - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · However, despite more than 100 years of intense research, thermoelectric efficiencies are still lower than that of conventional heat engines, making thermoelectrics only suitable for niche applications.
That is why one of the main endeavors of scientists today is to find new strategies to improve this efficiency. Our latest article "Impact of spin-entropy on the thermoelectric properties of a 2D magnet," published in Nano Letters, demonstrates that a solution could lie in circuits based on two-dimensional (2D) magnetic layers.
Tuning the entropy in magnets
Thermoelectric properties are significantly influenced by entropy, which quantifies the disorder in a system. ... Read more ...
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Fading lights: Comprehensive study unveils multiple threats to North America's firefly populations:
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| Fading lights: Comprehensive study unveils multiple threats to North America's firefly populations - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, "Illuminating Patterns of Firefly Abundance Using Citizen Science Data and Machine Learning Models," identified the factors likely responsible for troubling declines in firefly populations across North America.
To study these population changes, the research used a mix of field surveys from citizen scientists and advanced machine learning techniques to analyze over 24,000 surveys from the Firefly Watch citizen science initiative.
"Subtle changes in climate patterns, especially related to temperature, are significantly impacting firefly breeding cycles and habitat quality," said Darin McNeil, study principal ... 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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Five Things the “Nuclear Bros” Don’t Want You to Know About Small Modular Reactors:
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| Five Things the “Nuclear Bros” Don’t Want You to Know About Small Modular Reactors - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy |
Apr 30 · Even casual followers of energy and climate issues have probably heard about the alleged wonders of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This is due in no small part to the “nuclear bros”: an active and seemingly tireless group of nuclear power advocates who dominate social media discussions on energy by promoting SMRs and other “advanced” nuclear technologies as the only real solution for the climate crisis. But as I showed in my 2013 and 2021 reports, the hype surrounding SMRs is way overblown, and my conclusions remain valid today.Unfortunately, much of this SMR happy talk is rooted in misinformation, which always brings me back to the same question: If the nuclear bros have ... Read more ...
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Former school gets new life as an energy-efficient shopping center:
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| Former school gets new life as an energy-efficient shopping center - Yale Climate Connections - Energy |
Apr 30 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, an old, closed elementary school has been retrofitted with a new heating system and efficient LED lighting. Now called Lincoln Center, it’s home to a bakery, brewery, barber, coffee shop, and other businesses.
Phillips: “The hallways … are where people sit to have coffee now. It’s just a really neat reuse of this property.”
Tracy Phillips is with the Colorado Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy or C-PACE program, which helped finance the property’s retrofits.
C-PACE programs, which exist in about ... Read more ...
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Four myths about vertical farming debunked by an expert:
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| Four myths about vertical farming debunked by an expert - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · Typically, this soilless cultivation happens in huge greenhouses or warehouses, with plants stacked high on rows and rows of shelves. Parameters such as lighting, temperature and humidity can be controlled by computer systems, so vertical farming is sometimes called controlled environment agriculture.
There are three types of vertical farming. In hydroponics, plant roots are held in a liquid nutrient solution. In aeroponics, roots are exposed to the air and a nutrient-rich mist or spray is applied to the roots. In aquaponics, nutrients from fish farm waste replace some or all of the chemical fertilizers being delivered to plants through hydroponics.
There's huge scope to ... 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 agree to end use of unabated coal power plants by 2035:
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| G7 agree to end use of unabated coal power plants by 2035 - Guardian - Energy |
Apr 3 · Agreement gives leeway to countries heavily reliant on coal and allows power plants fitted with carbon-capture technology
Ministers from the G7 countries agreed on Tuesday to end the use of unabated coal power plants by 2035 – but left the door open for those heavily reliant on coal to breach the deadline.
After two days of talks in Turin, Italy, they published a pledge to “phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s” to curb the rise in global greenhouse gas emissions.
The communique marks a key climate milestone for the G7 nations – the UK, US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and Japan – who had been ... Read more ...
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G7 offers tepid response to appeal for “bolder” climate action:
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| G7 offers tepid response to appeal for “bolder” climate action - Climate Change News - Finance |
Apr 30 · Climate and energy ministers from G7 nations agreed a coal exit deadline – with a caveat, but made little progress on other fossil fuels and finance
Climate and energy ministers from G7 countries speaking after a summit in Turin. Photo: G7 Italy
When UN climate chief Simon Stiell addressed climate and energy ministers from the G7 group of rich nations on Monday, he issued a frank message: “It is utter nonsense to claim the G7 cannot – or should not – lead the way on bolder climate actions.”
He added those countries should be “leading from the front” through much deeper emissions cuts, and bigger and better climate finance.
A day later, the ... | By Matteo Civillini 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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G7 to commit to reducing plastic production: French ministry:
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| G7 to commit to reducing plastic production: French ministry - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · The G7 is expected to commit to reducing plastic production in order to tackle the global scourge of pollution, France's ecological transition ministry said Monday.
Plastics are found everywhere from mountaintops to ocean depths, and in human blood and breast milk.
"The G7 recognizes for the first time that the level of plastic pollution is unsustainable and that its increase is alarming," the French delegation said in a note on the sidelines of the G7 environment ministers' meeting in Turin.
"The G7 is committed to reducing the overall production of primary polymers in order to put an end to plastic pollution in 2040," the note read.
The Group of Seven ... Read more ...
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G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants by mid-2030s:
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| G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants by mid-2030s - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · G7 ministers agreed a timeframe Tuesday for phasing out coal-fired power plants, setting as a goal the mid-2030s, in a move hailed as significant by some environmentalists but slammed as "too late" by others.
The Group of Seven two-day meeting in Turin was the first big political session since the world pledged at the UN's COP28 annual climate summit in Dubai in December to transition away from coal, oil and gas.
The G7 commits to "phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s," the final statement from energy and climate ministers read.
However it left some wiggle room, saying nations could follow "a ... Read more ...
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Habitats much more vulnerable for nitrogen deposition than previously thought:
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| Habitats much more vulnerable for nitrogen deposition than previously thought - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · A group of researchers, led by Wageningen University & Research (WUR), show the decrease of habitat quality in relation to an increasing nitrogen deposition. In an article in Environmental Pollution, they claim the critical load for nitrogen depositions is too high.
"We already knew the critical loads for nitrogen deposition for habitat types," principal investigator Wieger Wamelink explains, "but we did not know what happens with the vegetation beyond that critical load. Would the decline be quick or more gradually?"
As it turns out it depends on the habitat type how quick the decline of specific plant species is, some have a very rapid decline, while others have a more ... 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 climate policies can drive voters to the far right:
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| How climate policies can drive voters to the far right - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
May 1 · More than a decade ago, the Netherlands embarked on a straightforward plan to cut carbon emissions. Its legislature raised taxes on natural gas, using the money earned to help Dutch households install solar panels. By most measures, the program worked: By 2022, 20 percent of homes in the Netherlands had solar panels, up from about 2 percent in 2013. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, rose by almost 50 percent. 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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How La Niña will shape heat and hurricanes this year:
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| How La Niña will shape heat and hurricanes this year - VOX -Environment |
May 1 · Climate change and the outgoing El Niño will likely ignite more weather extremes.
The Pacific Ocean - Earth’s largest body of water - is an engine for weather around the planet, and it’s about to shift gears this year.
The warm phase of the Pacific Ocean’s temperature cycle, known as El Niño, is now winding down and is poised to move into its counterphase, La Niña. During an El Niño year, warm water starts to spread eastward across the surface of the equatorial Pacific. That warm water evaporates readily, adding moisture to the atmosphere and triggering a cascade that alters rainfall, heat waves, and drought patterns across the world.
The current El Niño is among ... Read more ...
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How the plant world shapes the climate cycle:
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| How the plant world shapes the climate cycle - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, Earth has lived through a series of climatic shifts, shaping the planet as we know it today. Past changes in CO2 levels and temperature can help us understand the planet's response to global warming today.
As part of a growing field called biogeodynamics, researchers are racing to understand how such changes have impacted life on the planet in the past. "We're trying to understand processes relevant to the present using the geological past," says Julian Rogger, who focuses on biogeodynamics at the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich.
Rogger is fascinated by the interplay of plant life and climate. So far our planet is ... Read more ...
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How to put corporate capital behind climate commitments:
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| How to put corporate capital behind climate commitments - Greenbiz |
May 1 · The number of companies with science-based emissions reduction goals grew 500 percent since 2018, but corporate finance supporting those goals is only increasing 5 percent annually.
Investors are making it clear to companies: It’s time for them to put their capital behind their climate commitments.
More are looking for evidence in corporate climate transition plans, which outline steps a company is taking to reach net zero, including how it’s managing capital. Transitioning successfully will require "systemic changes in corporate behavior, facilitated by changes in cash flows," according to the authors of the "Corporate Climate Finance Playbook."
Climate Policy ... | By Grant Harrison 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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In photos: Flash floods kill over 100 people in Kenya:
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| In photos: Flash floods kill over 100 people in Kenya - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Apr 30 · Floods have killed 169 people in Kenya with 91 still missing, Kenya’s Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday, the day after a torrent of water swept away scores of people near the town of Mai Mahiu.
April 29 | Mai Mahiu, Kenya
Transit trucks drive along the Mai Mahiu-Naivasha highway after heavy flash floods wiped out several homes when a dam burst, following heavy rains in Kamuchiri village of Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County.
April 29 | Mai Mahiu, Kenya
Local residents look at the damages after Old Kijabe Dam burst its banks and caused flash floods through several villages in Mai Mahiu, in the Rift Valley region of Naivasha.
April 29 | Mai Mahiu, ... Read more ...
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In Vietnam, farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice:
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| In Vietnam, farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice - Columbian |
Apr 2 · LONG AN, Vietnam (AP) - There is one thing that distinguishes 60-year-old Vo Van Van’s rice fields from a mosaic of thousands of other emerald fields across Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: It isn’t entirely flooded.
That and the giant drone, its wingspan similar to that of an eagle, chuffing high above as it rains organic fertilizer onto the knee-high rice seedlings billowing below.
Using less water and using a drone to fertilize are new techniques that Van is trying and Vietnam hopes will help solve a paradox at the heart of growing rice: The finicky crop isn’t just vulnerable to climate change but also contributes uniquely to it.
Rice must be ... 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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Kenya orders evacuation of all riverside dwellings amid deadly floods:
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| Kenya orders evacuation of all riverside dwellings amid deadly floods - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Apr 30 · NAIROBI - Kenya’s president ordered Tuesday the evacuation of all homes along the nation’s rivers after floods killed at least 169 people in the past month, with dozens still missing.
The announcement came a day after a torrent of water swept away scores of people near the town of Mai Mahiu, about 30 miles northwest of the capital, Nairobi. President William Ruto visited a school housing some of the many people displaced by the flooding. 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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Long Snouts Protect Foxes Diving Into Snow:
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| Long Snouts Protect Foxes Diving Into Snow - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · When hunting for mice in winter, red and arctic fox are known to plunge headfirst at speeds of 2-4 meters per second, but their sharp noses reduce the impact force in snow and protect them from injury, according to a new Cornell University study.
The fundamental research sheds light on the biomechanics of the unique hunting behavior (known as mousing), advances our understanding of animal adaptations and offers insights into snow injuries people experience during snowboarding or skiing.
The study published April 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
While there have been many studies of water birds and animals such as porpoises and dolphins ... 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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Making seagrass restoration more resistant to rising temperatures using generalist grasses:
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| Making seagrass restoration more resistant to rising temperatures using generalist grasses - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · Rising global temperatures combined with centuries of humans working within our seascapes has reshaped coastal ecosystems. Rebuilding or restoring coastal habitat is becoming a top priority for natural resource conservation and as an insurance policy for the provision of critical services including shoreline protection, clean water, and seafood. Yet, successful habitat restoration is still rare, and most efforts are unsustainably expensive and labor intensive.
"Any gardener knows the difficulty in mastering how to grow a plant from seed or a clipping, and the same goes for restoration practitioners using habitat-forming species - discovering the perfect conditions," says Enie ... 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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Measuring your food waste for six weeks can change your habits, according to new study:
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| Measuring your food waste for six weeks can change your habits, according to new study - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · The fact that there is often little or no conscious thought involved in routine daily food preparation means that ingredients that must be used before they expire are often left to go off.
Every year, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted globally. This is the equivalent of one-third of all the food produced for human consumption.
In the UK alone, households wasted 6.4 million tons of food between 2021 and 2022. Accounting for the fossil energy used to grow and harvest that food, as well as the greenhouse gases released when it rots in fields or landfills, this waste equates to 18 million tons of CO₂ emissions.
Food waste harms the environment, but reducing how ... Read more ...
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Methane Emissions from Landfill Could Be Turned Into Sustainable Jet Fuel in Plasma Chemistry Leap:
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| Methane Emissions from Landfill Could Be Turned Into Sustainable Jet Fuel in Plasma Chemistry Leap - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · In a world first, University of Sydney researchers have developed a chemical process using plasma that could create sustainable jet fuel from methane gas emitted from landfills, potentially creating a low-carbon aviation industry.
Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). According to the International Energy Agency, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere is currently around two-and-a-half times greater than pre-industrial levels and is increasing steadily, with waste emissions and the burning of fossil fuels accounting for a significant proportion.
Australia recently joined the international methane mitigation agreement with the ... Read more ...
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Methane Matter: Strategic Communications For Climate Action:
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| Methane Matter: Strategic Communications For Climate Action - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Apr 29 · Cutting methane pollution is the fastest opportunity we have to immediately slow the rate of global warming. The climate movement needs smart, strategic communications and grassroots organizing campaigns to win the policies to phase out dirty, expensive gas and boost cleaner, all electric alternatives. On April 26th, 2024, the Yale Center for Environmental Communication hosted a conversation with Sonal Jessel, former Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Sarah Lazarovic, Vice President, Communications and Creative Strategy at Rewiring America, and Phoebe Sweet, Founder \u0026 President - Acadia Strategies, and co-founder of the Gas Leaks Project. Joshua Low, ... | By Yale Program on Climate Change Communication 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 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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New internal Big Oil documents just dropped:
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| New internal Big Oil documents just dropped - Heated World |
Apr 30 · In 2021, Congressional Democrats subpoenaed Big Oil for internal documents detailing the industry’s role in worsening the climate crisis.
Some of the documents have already been released. But today, we got some more.
The internal materials are from Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Chamber of Commerce. They’re being released today as part of the Senate Budget Committee’s upcoming hearing on Wednesday morning, titled “Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oil’s Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change.”
Both the hearing and the documents mark the revival of the House Oversight Committee’s two-year ... Read more ...
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New model estimates cultivable space at photovoltaic plants for combining agricultural and photovoltaic production:
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| New model estimates cultivable space at photovoltaic plants for combining agricultural and photovoltaic production - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · In Alcarras de Carla Simón, the Solé family glimpses the end of its traditional and not-very-profitable peach plantation due to the arrival of solar panels. The conflict between land use for sustainable energy vs. agricultural production is a hot topic that is reflected in cultural products, and also in research.
Agrivoltaics, which is defined as the shared use of land for agricultural and photovoltaic production, is presented as a strategy to resolve this conflict, and the TEP215-Physics for Renewable Energies research group at the University of Cordoba seeks to promote these types of plants through its research.
In one of their latest works, they have ... Read more ...
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New Offshore Wind Turbines Can Take Away Energy from Existing Ones:
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| New Offshore Wind Turbines Can Take Away Energy from Existing Ones - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · As summer approaches, electricity demand surges in the U.S., as homes and businesses crank up the air conditioning. To meet the rising need, many East Coast cities are banking on offshore wind projects the country is building in the Atlantic Ocean.
For electric grid operators, knowing how much wind power these offshore turbines can harvest is critical, but making accurate predictions can be difficult. A team of scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and their collaborators are working to tackle the challenge.
In a new paper published March 14 in the journal Wind Energy Science, a team led by Dave Rosencrans, a doctoral student, and Julie K. Lundquist, a ... Read more ...
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New sodium-ion battery tech boosts green energy storage affordability:
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| New sodium-ion battery tech boosts green energy storage affordability - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · The rising demand for renewable energy underscores the need for effective and affordable energy-storage solutions. Solid-state sodium batteries (SSSBs) offer notable cost and safety advantages, especially for large-scale grid applications.
However, their widespread adoption is hindered by challenges in achieving high ionic conductivity in solid-state electrolytes, a crucial factor for efficient energy transfer and storage, and a key focus in advanced battery technology research.
A recent study, published in the journal eScience, introduces a novel solid-state electrolyte, Na4.92Y0.92Zr0.08Si4O12 (NYZS), demonstrating exceptional ionic conductivity and electrochemical ... Read more ...
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New study looks at US Drought Monitor to see how it has reflected climate change since 2000:
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| New study looks at US Drought Monitor to see how it has reflected climate change since 2000 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · Though generated by experts and informed by data, it is in some ways a subjective interpretation of drought conditions. And it carries significant political and economic ramifications—the USDM informs state declarations of emergency, as well as drought relief payments issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDM classifies localities into six drought categories, ranging from "none" to "exceptional." Each category is based on thresholds of event rarity. Some weeks, the placid white representing normal conditions blankets much of the country; other weeks, splotchy maroon pockets of exceptional drought pop off the map like blistered burns.
In a study ... 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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Only four G20 countries set for positive ecological footprint by 2050, study finds:
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| Only four G20 countries set for positive ecological footprint by 2050, study finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · In a study led by Professor Lenny Koh from Sheffield's Energy Institute and published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers have revealed that only Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Russia are expected to have a positive impact on the environment by 2050—the milestone for net zero.
The study also presents a new method for predicting ecological impacts using AI, which could be more accurate at predicting future trends.
This analysis used key data for each G20 nation, such as consumption per capita, biocapacity per capita, area per capita, GDP per capita, electricity use per capita, emissions per capita, and fossil fuel consumption per capita. These variables ... Read more ...
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Physicists overcome two key operating hurdles in fusion reactions:
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| Physicists overcome two key operating hurdles in fusion reactions - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes how they devised a way to raise the density of the plasma in their reactor while also keeping it stable.
Scientists at various sites around the world have been working for several years to figure out how to use fusion reactions to create electricity for general use—thereby freeing the world from using coal and gas fired power plants that spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But it has been a long and difficult road.
It was just in the past couple of years that researchers were able to show that a fusion reaction could be made to sustain itself, and that more power could be produced than was ... 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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Polycrises Threatening Planetary Health Cannot Be Addressed in Silos:
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| Polycrises Threatening Planetary Health Cannot Be Addressed in Silos - Sustainable Brands |
Apr 29 · As The Lancet warns in a new report, failing to consider interactions between climate, biodiversity and infectious disease will not address the fundamental issues affecting each - and the consequences will be 'exponentially more expensive.'
A new report published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal found that intergovernmental reports on climate change and biodiversity loss fail to consider the complex, non-linear interactions among climate, biodiversity and infectious disease.
“The concurrent pressures of rising global temperatures, rates and incidence of species decline, and the emergence of infectious diseases represent an unprecedented planetary crisis,” the ... 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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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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Report finds e-bike incentives are worth the investment:
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| Report finds e-bike incentives are worth the investment - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · Are new cycling habits sustainable? Who benefits most from these incentives? And are they worth the cost?
The Saanich program, available in 2021 and 2022, offered three different rebates to offset the cost of new e-bikes, depending on one's income. The basic rebate amounted to $350, while the lowest-income households could receive up to $1,600.
Results showed a significant surge in e-bike adoption, with 93% of users being new to e-bikes, and 60% new to cycling altogether.
One year after purchase, users continued to be satisfied with their e-bikes, integrating them into their routines for three to four days a week. They reduced weekly car travel by an average of 48 ... Read more ...
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Research team improves voltage of aqueous rechargeable batteries in the quest for safer, cheaper options:
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| Research team improves voltage of aqueous rechargeable batteries in the quest for safer, cheaper options - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · Professor Sun said aqueous batteries had been used for more than a hundred years, mainly as non-rechargeable batteries.
"Improving the low voltage of rechargeable aqueous batteries is one of the biggest hurdles facing their wide-spread implementation for many uses," Professor Sun said.
"In common rechargeable batteries, organic electrolytes are used to fill the space between the anode and cathode, which are expensive, and most importantly, highly flammable.
"The use of aqueous electrolytes could address the safety issue of Lithium-ion batteries, as the aqueous electrolyte is much cheaper and safer.
"But the use of aqueous electrolyte in rechargeable batteries ... Read more ...
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Researchers Develop an AI Model to Reduce Uncertainty in Evapotranspiration Prediction:
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| Researchers Develop an AI Model to Reduce Uncertainty in Evapotranspiration Prediction - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · When scientists look at the Earth's available water for ecosystem services, they don't just look at precipitation. They must also account for water moving from the ground to the atmosphere, a process known as evapotranspiration (ET). ET includes evaporation from soil and open water pools such as lakes, rivers, and ponds, as well as transpiration from plant leaves. The difference between precipitation and ET indicates the water balance available for societal needs, including agricultural and industrial production. However, measuring ET is challenging. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign presents a computer model that uses artificial intelligence (AI) for ET ... Read more ...
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Researchers develop improved power pole insulation materials to prevent power pole-top fires:
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| Researchers develop improved power pole insulation materials to prevent power pole-top fires - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · Pole-top fires pose significant challenges to power providers and communities worldwide. In March, pole-top fires cut power from 40,000 homes and businesses in Perth.
The 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements found that power outages experienced by 280,000 customers from various energy providers during Black Summer fires were mainly triggered by events involving insulators and poles.
RMIT University Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Tariq Nazir said these fires can occur when consecutive hot, dry and windy days are followed by damp and misty conditions.
"Dust and pollution builds up on power-line insulators, which enables ... 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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Researchers reveal mechanisms of soil organic carbon accumulation in acidified forest soils:
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| Researchers reveal mechanisms of soil organic carbon accumulation in acidified forest soils - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · Based on a long-term simulated acid addition experiment in Dinghushan, Guangdong Province, researchers from the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a study on the mechanism of SOC accumulation and stabilization in monsoon evergreen broadleaf forests under acid addition treatment.
They found that in terms of carbon composition, acid addition significantly increased the accumulation of particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC). Their results were published in Plant and Soil.
According to the researchers, in terms of carbon sources, acid addition significantly reduced the accumulation of microbial ... Read more ...
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Researchers reveal water-assisted oxidative redispersion of metal nanoparticles:
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| Researchers reveal water-assisted oxidative redispersion of metal nanoparticles - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · In addition, most support surfaces, such as γ-Al2O3, SiO2, and CeO2, could undergo hydroxylation in a moist atmosphere to form abundant surface OH groups that captured migrating Cu species.
The "push" (migration) and "pull" (anchoring) effects of gaseous H2O facilitated the structural transformation of Cu species from Cu nanoparticles to Cu single atoms at RT, thereby enhancing their catalytic activity in the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) and preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO-PROX) reaction.
This study highlighted the significant role of H2O in the dynamic structural evolution of supported metal nanocatalysts and developed a simple strategy for the ... 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 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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Scientists show that ancient village adapted to drought, rising seas:
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| Scientists show that ancient village adapted to drought, rising seas - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · Previously, archaeologists believed that this abrupt shift in global climate, called the 8.2ka event, may have led to the widespread abandonment of coastal settlements in the southern Levant. In a recent study published in the journal Antiquity, researchers at UC San Diego, the University of Haifa and Bar-Ilan University share new evidence suggesting at least one village formerly thought abandoned not only remained occupied, but thrived throughout this period.
"This [study] helped fill a gap in our understanding of the early settlement of the Eastern Mediterranean coastline," said Thomas Levy, a co-author on the paper, co-director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and ... Read more ...
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Should chatbots chime in on climate change? Study explore potential of AI platforms for climate literacy:
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| Should chatbots chime in on climate change? Study explore potential of AI platforms for climate literacy - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · "I think what we found is that it's OK to use artificial intelligence, you just have to be careful and you can't take it word-for-word," said Gina Girgente, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in geography last spring. "It's definitely not a foolproof method."
Girgente was part of an interdisciplinary research team that posed questions about three climate change-related hazards—tropical storms, floods, and droughts—in 191 countries to both free and paid versions of ChatGPT. Developed by OpenAI Inc., ChatGPT is a large-language model designed to understand questions and generate text responses based on requests from users.
The group then compared the ... Read more ...
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Solar Geoengineering (SRM) and a new type of denial:
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| Solar Geoengineering (SRM) and a new type of denial - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Apr 30 · A few thoughts on SRM and why we will probably need it. \nSpinning globe from Vecteezy | By Solar Geoengineering Advocate 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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Studies on Hainan Island rubber plantations reveal secrets of soil:
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| Studies on Hainan Island rubber plantations reveal secrets of soil - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · Their series of studies, conducted across Hainan Island, focused on rubber plantations—a key economic tree species in the region. The results, published in three separate journals, shed light on the complex interplay between parent material, microbes, and soil processes.
In their first study published in Geoderma Regional, the researchers showed how the underlying rock layer, known as parent material, affects the balance of key nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the soil. They found that basaltic soils, formed from volcanic rock, had a higher phosphorus content but lower nitrogen levels than marine sedimentary soils.
This imbalance suggests that ... Read more ...
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Study provides new global accounting of Earth's rivers:
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| Study provides new global accounting of Earth's rivers - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 29 · The results also highlight regions depleted by heavy water use, including the Colorado River basin in the United States, the Amazon basin in South America, and the Orange River basin in southern Africa.
For the study, which was recently published in Nature Geoscience, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California used a novel methodology that combines stream-gauge measurements with computer models of about 3 million river segments around the world.
The scientists estimate that the total volume of water in Earth's rivers on average from 1980 to 2009 was 539 cubic miles (2,246 cubic kilometers). That's equivalent to half of Lake Michigan's water ... Read more ...
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Study reveals crucial role of invertebrates as eco-custodians in global forest litter decomposition:
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| Study reveals crucial role of invertebrates as eco-custodians in global forest litter decomposition - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · The study was recently published in Ecology Letters, and the results are imperative for preserving healthy ecosystems and conserving invertebrates in the wake of widespread environmental change.
Litter decomposition is a crucial process in carbon cycling and nutrient turnover. Microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, are widely considered the most important decomposers in nature. However, soil invertebrates contribute a large proportion of decomposing and nutrient turnover and are therefore important for functioning and healthy ecosystems.
Most previous studies on decomposition and nutrient turnover are conducted in temperate regions like Europe and North America, resulting ... 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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Study says El Nino, not climate change, was key driver of low rainfall that snarled Panama Canal:
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| Study says El Nino, not climate change, was key driver of low rainfall that snarled Panama Canal - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 1 · The climate phenomenon known as El Niño - and not climate change - was a key driver in low rainfall that disrupted shipping at the Panama Canal last year, scientists said Wednesday.
A team of international scientists found that El Niño - a natural warming of the central Pacific that changes weather worldwide - doubled the likelihood of the low precipitation Panama received during last year's rainy season. That dryness reduced water levels at the reservoir that feeds freshwater to the Panama Canal and provides drinking water for more than half of the Central American country.
Human-caused climate change was not a primary driver of the Central American country's unusually ... Read more ...
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Study sheds new light on how Scotland's beavers interact with the environment:
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| Study sheds new light on how Scotland's beavers interact with the environment - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · This could diversify woodland structure into a mix of short and tall tree stems, which ought to boost biodiversity, according to researchers in the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
Scientists compared the number of shoots on beaver-felled trees to standing trees and collected 156 shoots with four different combinations of beaver and deer browsing to compare their nutrient levels and physical characteristics.
Beavers were hunted to extinction in Scotland about four centuries ago. A formal multi-agency program of reintroduction involving experts at the University of Stirling and the study partners—the first of its kind for a mammal species anywhere in Britain—began ... Read more ...
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Study shows climate change and mercury pollution stressed plants for millions of years:
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| Study shows climate change and mercury pollution stressed plants for millions of years - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Apr 30 · Extreme climate change, from the release of carbon dioxide, degradation of the ozone layer due to the injection of damaging chemicals, and the emissions of toxic pollutants are all seen as contributing factors. One toxic element stands out: mercury. As one of the most toxic elements on Earth, Hg is a metal that is emitted from volcanoes in gaseous form and thus has the capacity to spread worldwide.
A new study in Nature Communications adds new compelling evidence for the combined effects of global warming and widespread mercury pollution that continued to stress plants long after volcanic activity had ceased.
An international team of Dutch, Chinese, Danish, British, and ... 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 Fires Many on Charger Team, Raising Doubts About Expansion:
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| Tesla Fires Many on Charger Team, Raising Doubts About Expansion - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 30 · The carmaker dismissed 500 employees in a unit that was critical to its success and seen as important to the future of electric vehicle sales in the United States.
Elon Musk has gutted the part of Tesla responsible for building electric vehicle charging stations, sowing uncertainty about the future of the largest and most reliable U.S. charging network.
The layoffs of about 500 Tesla employees, which many of them posted about on social media on Tuesday, raised questions about deals that Mr. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, struck with the leaders of General Motors, Ford Motor and other automakers last year allowing cars made by other companies to use Tesla Supercharger ... | By Jack Ewing 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 to cut hundreds more jobs in Musk cost push: Report:
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| Tesla to cut hundreds more jobs in Musk cost push: Report - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Apr 30 · Tesla plans hundreds of additional job cuts beyond a recent company-wide layoff as it cracks down on costs in a tough electric vehicle market, according to a US media report.
Elon Musk's EV company, which moved earlier this month to cut more than 10 percent of its 140,000 employees, will disband two departments and lay off most of the employees from the groups, reported the Information late Monday.
The online technology publication quoted from a Musk email in which he vowed to be "absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction."
Musk will seek to oust any executive "who retains more than three people who don't obviously pass the excellent, necessary and ... 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 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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U.S. Plan to Protect Oceans Has a Problem, Some Say: Too Much Fishing:
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| U.S. Plan to Protect Oceans Has a Problem, Some Say: Too Much Fishing - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 30 · An effort to protect 30 percent of land and waters would count some commercial fishing zones as conserved areas.
New details of the Biden administration’s signature conservation effort, made public this month amid a burst of other environmental announcements, have alarmed some scientists who study marine protected areas because the plan would count certain commercial fishing zones as conserved.
The decision could have ripple effects around the world as nations work toward fulfilling a broader global commitment to safeguard 30 percent of the entire planet’s land, inland waters and seas. That effort has been hailed as historic, but the critical question of what, exactly, ... | By Catrin Einhorn 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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Water Heaters Use Lots of Energy. The D.O.E. Wants to Change That.:
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| Water Heaters Use Lots of Energy. The D.O.E. Wants to Change That. - New York Times - Climate Section |
Apr 30 · The Biden administration is tightening efficiency rules for water heaters, stoves and other appliances, and conservative politicians are dialing up their criticisms.
The Biden administration on Tuesday adopted stricter energy-efficiency standards for residential water heaters, the most consequential move in a flurry of changes designed to reduce the energy used by many common appliances including stoves, dishwashers and lightbulbs.
The Department of Energy said the new standards, taken together, will save American households and businesses nearly $1 trillion over 30 years, and save the average family $100 a year or more through lower utility bills. The changes will also ... | By Hiroko Tabuchi Read more ...
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We must examine the connection between packaging and climate change:
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| We must examine the connection between packaging and climate change - Greenbiz |
Apr 30 · Companies should think more holistically about the link between packaging and carbon.
What’s contributing to climate change? Everyone can probably name a few of the culprits: how we get around; how we produce energy; and maybe what we eat. Less top of mind? The things we buy, including what they’re made out of and how they’re packaged.
For companies wanting to decarbonize, focusing solely on energy can stall efforts to tackle equally important sources of emissions. A 2019 report by Material Economics and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) calculated that "materials" (defined as aluminum, plastic, cement, steel and food) account for 45 percent of global emissions. That ... | By Olga Kachook Read more ...
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Weather Report On Planet 280 Light-Years Away:
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| Weather Report On Planet 280 Light-Years Away - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Apr 24 · An international team of researchers has successfully used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b.
Precise brightness measurements over a broad spectrum of mid-infrared light, combined with 3D climate models and previous observations from other telescopes, suggest the presence of thick, high clouds covering the nightside, clear skies on the dayside, and equatorial winds upwards of 5,000 miles per hour mixing atmospheric gases around the planet.
The investigation is just the latest demonstration of the exoplanet science now possible with Webb's extraordinary ability to measure temperature variations and detect ... Read more ...
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What a years-long probe of Big Oil reveals about its climate strategy:
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| What a years-long probe of Big Oil reveals about its climate strategy - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Apr 30 · Some of the world’s largest oil companies have privately expressed skepticism of the Paris agreement, federal climate regulations and their own goals of reaching “net zero” emissions by mid-century, even as they publicly voiced support for these efforts, according to documents that congressional Democrats released Tuesday.
The documents also detail industry efforts to fund university research into the environmental benefits of natural gas. They were obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Senate Budget Committee as part of a years-long investigation. Read more ...
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What Biden’s new power plant rules mean for utilities:
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| What Biden’s new power plant rules mean for utilities - Greenbiz |
May 1 · Utilities must comply with the EPA’s new emissions rules and invest in carbon capture and storage.
A gas-powered electricity generating station in Arizona. Source: Shutterstock/James Mattil
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new rules Thursday that require newly built natural gas power plants to cut 90 percent of their emissions by 2032, and existing fossil fuel-run power plants will have to comply or exit the grid by 2039.
To reach this goal, utilities will have to invest in carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS) technologies, something EPA administrator Michael Regan believes is financially feasible.
"[The EPA] has engaged ... | By Leah Garden 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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Wild bees are under threat from domestic bees, invasive species, pathogens and climate change - but we can help:
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| Wild bees are under threat from domestic bees, invasive species, pathogens and climate change - but we can help - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Apr 30 · With changes in climate, habitat loss, pesticide use and pathogen spillover, some of our native bees are in decline.
The vast majority of wild bee species are rare. More than 200 species live in the habitat-rich forests, fields and neighborhoods around Hamilton and McMaster University, where they are the subjects of our research.
In Ontario, there are many different types of bees, including bumblebees, carder bees, carpenter bees, cellophane bees, cuckoo bees, leaf cutter bees, long horned bees, mason bees, mining bees, sweat bees and yellow-faced bees.
Many of our wild bees are solitary, highly specialized and transient from one year to the next. This makes them ... 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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