Articles on or after 4/24/2024: PHYS.ORG - Earth
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'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Extreme heat scorched the Philippines on Wednesday, forcing schools in some areas to suspend in-person classes and prompting warnings for people to limit the amount of time spent outdoors. The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation, but conditions this year have been exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon. "It's so hot you can't breathe," said Erlin Tumaron, 60, who works at a seaside resort in Cavite province, south of Manila, where the heat index reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday. "It's surprising our pools are still empty. You would expect people to come and take a swim, ... Read more ... |
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A shade closer to more efficient organic photovoltaics - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Semitransparent photovoltaics are able to convert sunlight into electricity without blocking visible light. This makes them attractive for building integrated applications, such as windows, facades and greenhouses. Unlike traditional silicon-based cells, organic photovoltaics can be flexible and can also be tailored to be transparent. Yet the more transparent the solar cell, the less light it captures for producing electricity. Organic solar cells typically rely on an active layer called a bulk heterojunction—comprised of electron donor and acceptor materials—to capture and convert sunlight. Upon contact, sunlight can excite electrons to higher energy states ... Read more ... |
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Africa's megacities threatened by heat, floods, disease - action needed to start greening, adapt to climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · African megacities like Lagos, Nigeria (with 21 million residents) and Cairo, Egypt (with 10 million residents) are experiencing significant temperature increases due to the urban heat island effect and climate change. Meelan Thondoo is a medical anthropologist and environmental epidemiologist who researches the health impacts of climate change in cities of fast-developing countries. She explains what cities in Africa are doing to mitigate climate change, and what further steps they need to take to protect their populations. What health effects of climate change do African cities experience? Currently, 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion people globally live in cities that ... Read more ... |
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Airborne observations of Asian monsoon sees ozone-depleting substances lofting into the stratosphere - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · The study, led by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) and NASA, found that the East Asian Monsoon delivers more than twice the concentration of very short-lived ozone-depleting substances into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere than previously reported. "It was a real surprise to fly through a plume with all those very short-lived ozone-depleting substances," said NSF NCAR scientist Laura Pan, the lead author of the study. "These chemicals may have a significant impact on what will happen with the ozone layer, and it's critical to quantify them." The study was published in the Proceedings of the National ... Read more ... |
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Artificial intelligence helps scientists engineer plants to fight climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · To design these climate-saving plants, scientists in Salk's Harnessing Plants Initiative are using a sophisticated new research tool called SLEAP—an easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) software that tracks multiple features of root growth. Created by Salk Fellow Talmo Pereira, SLEAP was initially designed to track animal movement in the lab. Now, Pereira has teamed up with plant scientist and Salk colleague Professor Wolfgang Busch to apply SLEAP to plants. In a study published in Plant Phenomics, Busch and Pereira debut a new protocol for using SLEAP to analyze plant root phenotypes—how deep and wide they grow, how massive their root systems become, and other ... Read more ... |
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Balancing AI and physics: Toward a learnable climate model - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Previous studies have demonstrated that Pangu-Weather can accurately replicate certain climate patterns like tropical Gill responses and extra-tropical teleconnections through qualitative analysis. However, quantitative investigations have revealed significant differences in wind components, such as divergent winds and ageostrophic winds, within current AI weather models. Despite these findings, there are still concerns that the importance of physics in climate science is sometimes overlooked. "The qualitative assessment finds AI models could understand and learn spatial patterns in weather and climate data. On the other hand, the quantitative approach highlights a limitation: ... Read more ... |
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Can climate change accelerate transmission of malaria? New research sheds light on impacts of temperature - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · In tropical and subtropical regions where malaria is prevalent, scientists are concerned that climate warming might increase the risk of malaria transmission in certain areas and contribute to further spread. However, there is still much to learn about the relationship between temperature and the mosquito and parasite traits that influence malaria transmission. In "Estimating the effects of temperature on transmission of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum," a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at the University of Florida, Pennsylvania State University and Imperial College, combined novel experimental data within an innovative ... Read more ... |
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Climate change supercharged a heat dome, intensifying 2021 fire season, study finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · A new study has revealed the extent to which human-caused climate change intensified the extraordinary event, with researchers theorizing the heat dome was 34% larger and lasted nearly 60% longer than it would have in the absence of global warming. The heat dome, in turn, was associated with up to a third of the area burned in North America that year, according to the study, published in Communications Earth & Environment. "What happens is you get a stagnated weather pattern—it's very hot and very dry," said study author Piyush Jain, research scientist with Natural Resources Canada. "And it dries out all the vegetation and makes whatever is on the ground extremely ... Read more ... |
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Diversity and productivity go branch-in-branch: Scientists share which forests can adapt to climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Now, a study by an international group, including Kyoto University, found that forests with higher trait diversity not only adapt better to climate change but may also thrive. The work is published in the journal Science Advances. The study, conducted by researchers from Lakehead University, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, unveiled how tree functional trait diversity—a key aspect of biodiversity—plays a pivotal role in mitigating climate warming. "In the face of environmental stress, these diverse trees have been shown to maintain higher productivity levels, in contrast to monoculture ... Read more ... |
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Emperor penguins perish as ice melts to new lows: Study - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 25) |
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Apr 25 · Colonies of emperor penguin chicks were wiped out last year as global warming eroded their icy homes, a study published Thursday found, despite the birds' attempts to adapt to the shrinking landscape. The study by the British Antarctic Survey found that record-low sea ice levels in 2023 contributed to the second-worst year for emperor penguin chick mortality since observations began in 2018. It follows a "catastrophic breeding failure" in 2022, signaling long-term implications for the population, the study's author Peter Fretwell told AFP. Emperor penguins breed on sea-ice platforms, with chicks hatching in the winter between late July and mid-August. The ... Read more ... |
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EU lawmakers agree to exit energy treaty over climate fears - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the EU's withdrawal from an international energy treaty over concerns it offers too much protection to fossil fuel companies. The Energy Charter Treaty was signed in 1994, after the end of the Cold War, to offer guarantees to investors in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. But the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in July it was necessary to withdraw from the treaty in a coordinated manner since it is "no longer compatible" with the bloc's "enhanced climate ambition". During a parliament vote in Strasbourg, 560 lawmakers gave the green light for a withdrawal, while 43 voted against and 27 ... Read more ... |
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Extreme heat scorches Southeast Asia, bringing school closures and warnings - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Extreme heat scorched parts of South and Southeast Asia Wednesday, prompting schools across the Philippines to suspend classes, heat warnings in the Thai capital and worshippers in Bangladesh to pray for rain. The high temperatures were recorded just a day after the United Nations said Asia was the region that suffered the most disasters from climate and weather hazards in 2023, with floods and storms the chief causes of casualties and economic losses. Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. "It's so hot you can't breathe," said Erlin Tumaron, 60, who works at a Philippine ... Read more ... |
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Future hurricanes could compromise New England forests' ability to store and sequester carbon - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Nature-based climate solutions can help mitigate climate change, especially in forested regions capable of storing and sequestering vast amounts of carbon. New research published in Global Change Biology indicates that a single hurricane in New England, one of the most heavily forested regions in the United States, can down 4.6–9.4% of the total above-ground forest carbon, an amount much greater than the carbon sequestered annually by New England's forests. The work revealed that emissions from hurricanes are not instantaneous - it takes approximately 19 years for downed carbon to become a net emission, and 100 years for 90% of the downed carbon to be emitted. Models ... Read more ... |
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Heatstroke kills 30 in Thailand this year as kingdom bakes - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 25) |
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Apr 25 · Thailand issued fresh warnings about scorching hot weather on Thursday as the government said heatstroke has already killed at least 30 people this year. City authorities in Bangkok gave an extreme heat warning as the heat index was expected to rise above 52 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures in the concrete sprawl of the Thai capital hit 40.1 C on Wednesday and similar levels were forecast for Thursday. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted parts of South and Southeast Asia this week, prompting schools across the Philippines to suspend classes and worshippers in Bangladesh to pray for rain. The heat index - a measure of what the ... Read more ... |
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Japan's moon lander wasn't built to survive a weekslong lunar night. It's still going after 3 - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Japan's first moon lander has survived a third freezing lunar night, Japan's space agency said Wednesday after receiving an image from the device three months after it landed on the moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the lunar probe responded to a signal from the earth Tuesday night, confirming it has survived another weekslong lunar night. Temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit) during a lunar night, and rise to around 100 Celsius (212 Fahrenheit) during a lunar day. The probe, Smart Lander for Investing Moon, or SLIM, reached the lunar surface on Jan. 20, making Japan the fifth country to successfully place ... Read more ... |
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Modeling broader effects of wildfires in Siberia - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · The global effects of increasing wildfires in Siberia have been modeled by researchers at Hokkaido University and colleagues at the University of Tokyo and Kyushu University. The results, published in the journal Earth's Future, suggest significant and widespread effects on air quality, climate, health, and economics under the most extreme wildfire scenarios. The authors performed global numerical simulation experiments to evaluate how the increased intensity of wildfires in Siberia would affect air quality, premature mortality, and economy through increased atmospheric aerosols (air pollution particles) under the present climate and near-future global warming ... Read more ... |
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Researchers find oldest undisputed evidence of Earth's magnetic field - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · A new study, led by the University of Oxford and MIT, has recovered a 3.7-billion-year-old record of Earth's magnetic field, and found that it appears remarkably similar to the field surrounding Earth today. The findings have been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Without its magnetic field, life on Earth would not be possible since this shields us from harmful cosmic radiation and charged particles emitted by the sun (the 'solar wind'). But up to now, there has been no reliable date for when the modern magnetic field was first established. In the study, the researchers examined an ancient sequence of iron-containing rocks from Isua, Greenland. Iron ... Read more ... |
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Scientists demonstrate high-resolution lidar sees birth zone of cloud droplets, a first-ever remote observation - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · "We are interested in this 'droplet activation zone,' where most cloud droplets are initially formed at the cloud base, because the number of droplets formed there will affect the later stages and properties of the cloud—including how much sunlight a cloud reflects and the likelihood of precipitation," said Brookhaven atmospheric scientist Fan Yang, the first author on the paper. "If there are more aerosols in the atmosphere, clouds tend to have more droplets, but the droplets will each be smaller, which means they can reflect more sunlight," Yang said. "This might help to cool our warming Earth," he noted. But to accurately predict the impacts of these ... Read more ... |
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Scientists map soil RNA to fungal genomes to understand forest ecosystems - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · This way, the fungi of forest soils hold keys to tree health and carbon storage—skills that matter increasingly as the climate warms. However, these are complicated interactions to untangle. Fungi work in cooperation to support a forest, and species vary across Earth's ecosystems. Recently, in work published in New Phytologist, researchers have pioneered new understanding of which fungi take on certain functions at the forest floor. For the first time, they compared three different fungal guilds in a range of different locations. They sampled soils in four forest ecosystems, extracted RNA to understand gene expression, and developed new tools to map that soil RNA to ... Read more ... |
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Shoreline model predicts long-term future of storm protection and sea-level rise - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · "Coastal management strategies intended to protect people, property and infrastructure from storm impacts can, over decades, increase vulnerability, even leading to the loss of barrier islands, especially as sea-level rise rates increase," said A. Brad Murray, professor of geomorphology and coastal processes at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. He and other researchers in North Carolina created a computer model that simulates dynamics of barrier island systems over the next two centuries, showing how natural processes that create and maintain these systems affect communities and infrastructure, and how human efforts to protect communities and ... Read more ... |
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Thousands in heatwave-hit Bangladesh pray for rain - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Thousands of Bangladeshis gathered to pray for rain on Wednesday in the middle of an extreme heat wave that prompted authorities to shut down schools around the country. Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. Bangladesh's weather bureau says that average maximum 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. Muslim worshippers gathered in city mosques and rural fields to pray for relief from the scorching heat, which forecasters expect to continue for at least ... Read more ... |
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UN launches fund to shield displaced people from climate shocks - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · The United Nations said Wednesday it was launching a new Climate Resilience Fund aimed at boosting protections for "refugees and displaced communities" threatened by climate change. The UN refugee agency said it aimed to raise $100 million for the new fund by the end of next year to support refugees, their host communities and countries of origin hardest hit by climate emergencies. The agency highlighted in a statement that climate risks were "strongly correlated with conflict and poverty", experienced by many refugees. In 2022, more than 70 percent of refugees and asylum seekers fled from highly climate-vulnerable countries, it pointed out. "The impacts of ... Read more ... |
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Victims of China floods race to salvage property - PHYS.ORG - Earth  (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Victims of severe floods in southern China raced on Wednesday to salvage property from the muddy waters as authorities warned of more heavy rains to come. Massive downpours have struck Guangdong province in recent days, triggering deluges that have claimed the lives of four people and forced the evacuation of more than 100,000. The severe floods are virtually unheard of so early in the year even in lush, subtropical Guangdong, with one senior official linking them to worsening climate change. AFP reporters in Shatang village on Wednesday saw staff and officials at a tourist resort taking advantage of a break in the rain to clear mud from the streets. "The ... Read more ... |
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