"4 PER 1000" SOIL CARBON SCIENCE WEBINAR SERIES #4: Can Increasing SOC Boost Crop Productivity?:
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| "4 PER 1000" SOIL CARBON SCIENCE WEBINAR SERIES #4: Can Increasing SOC Boost Crop Productivity? - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
May 12 · Can Increasing Soil Organic Carbon Boost Crop Productivity?\n\nIn this webinar, we delve into the role of soil organic carbon sequestration in combating climate change and enhancing crop production.\nUnderstanding the interplay between soil health and crop productivity is highly relevant as we face climate change and food security challenges. Dominic Woolf from Cornell University will share his latest findings from analysing more than 10,000 controlled field trials extrapolated to the global scale. He will discuss the effectiveness of soil organic carbon sequestration compared to nitrogen fertilization in improving crop yields, especially under optimized soil management. Mauricio ... | By 4p1000 Initiative Read more ...
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"Merging voluntary & compliance markets is a game changer," Peter Mayer, carbon market attorney:
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| "Merging voluntary & compliance markets is a game changer," Peter Mayer, carbon market attorney - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
May 14 · In this episode, we speaks to Peter Mayer, a New York City-based attorney specializing in carbon removals, to explore the legal intricacies of the voluntary carbon market (VCM). Peter discusses the critical role of contracts in the VCM, emphasizing the lack of standardization and the unique challenges this presents. He shares insights into structuring carbon credit deals, the importance of carbon insurance, and his experiences with international and long-term projects.\n\n\n_______________________\nThe Carbonsations podcast is focused on the leading figures of the emerging carbon industry, who are helping pave the way to net zero and beyond. We interview founders, CEOs, scientists and ... | By Carbon Herald Read more ...
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'Danger behind the beauty': More solar storms could be heading our way:
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| 'Danger behind the beauty': More solar storms could be heading our way - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 18 · Tourists normally have to pay big money and brave cold climates for a chance to see an aurora, but last weekend many people around the world simply had to look up to see these colorful displays dance across the sky.
Usually banished to the poles of Earth, the auroras strayed as far as Mexico, southern Europe and South Africa on the evening of May 10, delighting skygazers and filling social media with images of exuberant pinks, greens and purples.
But for those charged with protecting Earth from powerful solar storms such as the one that caused the auroras, a threat lurks beneath the stunning colors.
"We need to understand that behind this beauty, there is danger," ... Read more ...
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'Turning point in energy history’ as solar, wind start pushing fossil fuels off the grid:
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| 'Turning point in energy history’ as solar, wind start pushing fossil fuels off the grid - Yale Climate Connections - Energy |
May 16 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Solar and wind energy grew quickly enough in 2023 to push renewables up to 30% of global electricity supply and begin pushing fossil fuels off the power grid, the Ember climate consultancy concludes in a report released May 8.
The report projects that fossil-fueled electricity generation will decline 2% next year, because while demand is expected to grow rapidly, renewables will grow even faster.
“With record construction of solar and wind in 2023, a new era of falling fossil generation is imminent,” the London, U.K.-based think tank writes. ... Read more ...
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135.Green Carbon Webinar - The European Biochar Market Report 2023/2024:
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| 135.Green Carbon Webinar - The European Biochar Market Report 2023/2024 - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
May 16 · Free Green Carbon Webinar from 9th May 2024 by Hansjörg Lerchenmüller (European Biochar Industry Consortium, Germany) presented as part of the Green Carbon Webinar Series. Visit www.greencarbonwebinar.org for free registration to future talks. \n\nProudly sponsored by www.enchar.co - your leading biochar broker. Get in touch for your next biochar procurement.\n\nFollow us on LinkedIn: \nhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/enchar \nhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/green-carbon-webinar-series\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-wurzer/ | By Christian Wurzer Read more ...
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137.Green Carbon Webinar - Cultivating Carbon-Negative Commodities: The Agricultural Revolution:
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| 137.Green Carbon Webinar - Cultivating Carbon-Negative Commodities: The Agricultural Revolution - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
May 16 · Free Green Carbon Webinar from 9th May 2024 by Mayo Ryan (Sitos Group, USA) presented as part of the Green Carbon Webinar Series. Visit www.greencarbonwebinar.org for free registration to future talks. \n\nProudly sponsored by www.enchar.co - your leading biochar broker. Get in touch for your next biochar procurement.\n\nFollow us on LinkedIn: \nhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/enchar \nhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/green-carbon-webinar-series\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-wurzer/ | By Christian Wurzer Read more ...
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2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #20:
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| 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #20 - Skeptical Science |
May 19 · “The legislation I signed today [will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state." — Ron DeSantis, conflating geopolitics and consumer choices with anthropogenic climate change.
Thanks to it being about fake skepticism, our story of the week concerns Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his efforts aided by the Florida state legislature to purge Florida's government of the entire concept of human-caused climate change and the inevitable public policy replies dictated by our clumsy, too-rapid disruption of Earth's more typical climate dithering. Coverage includes:
Governor DeSantis joins a small cadre of other elite, empowered ... Read more ...
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AI can help researchers understand what viruses are up to in the oceans and in your gut:
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| AI can help researchers understand what viruses are up to in the oceans and in your gut - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · Communities of microbes are difficult to study in a laboratory setting. Many microbes are challenging to cultivate, and their natural environment has many more features influencing their success or failure than scientists can replicate in a lab.
So systems biologists like me often sequence all the DNA present in a sample—for example, a fecal sample from a patient—separate out the viral DNA sequences, then annotate the sections of the viral genome that code for proteins. These notes on the location, structure and other features of genes help researchers understand the functions viruses might carry out in the environment and help identify different kinds of viruses. ... Read more ...
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Airborne Technology Brings New Hope to Map Shallow Aquifers in Earth's Most Arid Deserts:
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| Airborne Technology Brings New Hope to Map Shallow Aquifers in Earth's Most Arid Deserts - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Water shortages are expanding across the Earth. This is particularly acute in desert areas of the Middle East that are subject to both drought and extreme conditions such as flooding. As a result of these uncertainties, there is an increasing reliance on shallow aquifers to mitigate these shortages. However, the characteristics of these aquifers remain poorly understood due to the reliance on sporadic well logs for their management.
To address this challenge a team of researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering along with collaborators across the world, developed a new prototype for what the team is calling ... Read more ...
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Ancient Arachnid from Coal Forests of America Stands out for Its Spiny Legs:
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| Ancient Arachnid from Coal Forests of America Stands out for Its Spiny Legs - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · More than 300 million years ago, all sorts of arachnids crawled around the Carboniferous coal forests of North America and Europe. These included familiar ones we'd recognize, such as spiders, harvestmen and scorpions -- as well exotic animals that now occur in warmer regions like whip spiders and whip scorpions.
But there were also quite bizarre arachnids in these habitats belonging to now extinct groups. Even among these stranger species now lost to time, one might have stood out for its up-armored legs.
The ancient critter recently was described in a new paper published in the Journal of Paleontology, co-written by Paul Selden from the University of Kansas and the ... Read more ...
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Astronomers detect rare neutral atomic-carbon absorbers with deep neural network:
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| Astronomers detect rare neutral atomic-carbon absorbers with deep neural network - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · By introducing a new method to explore galaxy formation and evolution, the team showcased the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in identifying rare weak signals in astronomical big data. The study was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"Neutral carbon absorbers" from cold gas with dust in the universe serve as crucial probes for studying galaxy formation and evolution. However, the signals of neutral carbon absorption lines are weak and extremely rare.
Astronomers have struggled to detect these absorbers in massive quasar spectral datasets using conventional correlation methods. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," said ... Read more ...
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At Thailand dive expo, fears for coral's future:
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| At Thailand dive expo, fears for coral's future - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 17 · Jakkapat Yodnil calls out to visitors at a diving expo in Bangkok, eager to share details of his shop's expeditions to the azure waters around the Thai island of Koh Tao.
But behind the friendly sales pitch, the 25-year-old fears that bleaching affecting much of the world's coral this year threatens his livelihood and the marine world he loves.
It's a worry that ripples through the Thai Dive Expo, a major annual event for regional dive operators.
Coral around the world is in the grip of a mass bleaching event that scientists warned this week is expanding and deepening.
Record ocean temperatures have caused parts of reefs in 62 countries and territories to ... Read more ...
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Aviary: A new NASA software platform for aircraft modeling:
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| Aviary: A new NASA software platform for aircraft modeling - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · Using this tool, researchers can create simulations of conceptual aircraft featuring never-flown technology and receive detailed data about how it would work.
Named "Aviary" for enclosures where birds are kept and studied, the tool creates virtual models of airplanes based on information provided by the user. In this analogy, Aviary is the enclosure, and the birds are the virtual airplane models.
Aviary is a significant leap in progress. Unlike past aviation modeling tools, Aviary can link with other codes and programs to expand and customize its capabilities.
"We wanted to make it easy to extend the code and tie it in with other tools," said Jennifer Gratz, who ... Read more ...
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Battery supply chain database maps out the state of North America's manufacturing base:
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| Battery supply chain database maps out the state of North America's manufacturing base - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · This focus on securing the clean energy supply chain—in particular domestically—is a key part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) research supporting the energy transition. NREL researchers across clean energy technology areas investigate ways to optimize supply chains through data collection, assessments, benchmarking, and cost/sensitivity analyses.
NREL's support was critical to the recent U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report, "America's Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition," which outlines key areas for strengthening supply chain resiliency, including increasing the availability of critical materials and ... Read more ...
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Bees and Butterflies on the Decline in Western and Southern North America:
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| Bees and Butterflies on the Decline in Western and Southern North America - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Bee and butterfly populations are in decline in major regions of North America due to ongoing environmental change, and significant gaps in pollinator research limit our ability to protect these species, according to a study published May 15, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sara Souther of Northern Arizona University, US, and colleagues.
The highest species richness was found along North America's West Coast, especially California and the Rocky Mountains. However, the models revealed declining species richness in all four families over the past century in western North America. In contrast, there were disproportionate increases in eastern North America. The authors ... Read more ...
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Biden proposes end to new leases in US’s largest coal-producing region:
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| Biden proposes end to new leases in US’s largest coal-producing region - Guardian - Energy |
May 1 · Republicans opposed to plan from Bureau of Land Management affecting Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the US as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel.
The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana.
The immediate impact is likely to be limited because coal leases take many years to develop and demand has flagged in ... Read more ...
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Biloxi, Mississippi, is losing a foot of salt marsh shoreline a year:
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| Biloxi, Mississippi, is losing a foot of salt marsh shoreline a year - Yale Climate Connections - Oceans |
May 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Much of Biloxi, Mississippi, is on a narrow peninsula - bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to the south and Biloxi Bay to the northeast.
And some sections of shoreline along the marshy bay are rapidly eroding.
Sparks: “Currently, the salt marsh vegetation, which is, like, right along the edge … is being lost at about one foot per year.”
Eric Sparks is director of coastal marine extension at Mississippi State University. He says waves from boats cause much of the damage.
But sea level rise and intensifying storms are making matters ... Read more ...
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Bolstering environmental data science with equity-centered approaches:
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| Bolstering environmental data science with equity-centered approaches - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · The current debate and evolution in this area underscore the importance of embedding equity throughout research and design domains to ensure fair and unbiased outcomes.
A paradigm shift towards integrating socioecological equity into environmental data science and machine learning (ML) is advocated in a new perspective article published in the Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering.
Authored by Joe F. Bozeman III from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the paper emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing socioecological inequity to enhance the integrity of environmental data science.
This study introduces and validates the Systemic Equity ... Read more ...
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Brazil's Porto Alegre: a flood disaster waiting to happen:
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| Brazil's Porto Alegre: a flood disaster waiting to happen - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · Porto Alegre, the Brazilian metropolis left submerged after torrential rains, had been lulled into a "false sense" of security by a vast but aging system of flood defenses, an urban drainage engineer told AFP.
Leomar Teichmann said a network of dikes, levees and a massive wall was meant to protect about 40 percent of the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil, where 150 people have died and hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes.
Teichmann is an engineering consultant and former deputy director of water and sewerage services for Porto Alegre, a city of 1.4 million people on the banks of the Guaiba estuary.
He told AFP he had already ... Read more ...
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Bushfires are changing the 'hidden' understory in Australian forests:
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| Bushfires are changing the 'hidden' understory in Australian forests - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · We often see devastating footage of those eucalypt forests in flames, but we should also be concerned about the effect of bushfires we can't always see—sometimes below ground.
More to forests than trees
Most of our understanding of the impacts of fires comes from the trees that form the overstory of these forests.
For example, we know that more frequent severe fires lead to the loss of fire-sensitive trees like alpine ash and a decline in otherwise fire-tolerant snow gum forests.
The overstory—the layer of vegetation formed by the tallest trees in the forest that typically receive the most sunlight and form the upper canopy of the forest—is ... Read more ...
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California proposes $22 million for climate disclosure law:
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| California proposes $22 million for climate disclosure law - Greenbiz |
May 16 · Companies will be required to report their emissions and climate-related risks to their business.
SB 253 and 261 were signed into law and promise a new era of corporate climate disclosure. Graphic: Sophia Davirro
California Governor Gavin Newsom revised his 2024-2025 state budget proposal to include $22 million to fund the state’s corporate climate disclosure laws, SB 253 and SB 261, among other climate programs.
Specifically, the governor’s plan shifts the money from the state’s General Fund to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). The latter is funded by the Greenhouse Cap-and-Trade Program, which charges industrial polluters for their emissions.
“It’s ... | By Leah Garden Read more ...
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Calls for responsible mining fail to stem rights abuses linked to transition minerals:
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| Calls for responsible mining fail to stem rights abuses linked to transition minerals - Climate Change News - Energy |
May 16 · As demand grows for critical minerals used in clean energy supply chains, new data suggests more protection is needed for communities affected by their extraction
Members of indigenous communities camp on the property of Chinese-owned Las Bambas copper mine, in Las Bambas, Peru, which is mired in social conflict. April 26, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS/Angela Ponce)
As the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies fuels demand for their components, human rights abuses linked to the supply of critical minerals show no sign of letting up.
New data from a Transition Minerals Tracker compiled by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) shows that more than 630 ... | By Daisy Clague Read more ...
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Can We Revolutionize the Chemical Industry and Create a Circular Economy? Yes, With the Help of Catalysts:
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| Can We Revolutionize the Chemical Industry and Create a Circular Economy? Yes, With the Help of Catalysts - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · The chemical industry is a cornerstone of global development, driving innovation, and providing essential products that support our modern way of life.
However, its reliance on unsustainable fossil resources has posed significant threats to global ecosystems through climate change and chemical pollution.
A new commentary published in Cell Press' One Earth co-authored by Griffith University researchers puts forth a transformative solution: catalysis to leverage sustainable waste resources, ushering the industry from a linear to a circular economy.
"If we look at recent statistics, the chemical industry contributes a staggering US$5.7 trillion to the global economy ... Read more ...
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Canada's wildfire season begins:
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| Canada's wildfire season begins - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · Wildfire season has arrived in full force in Canada, prompting evacuation orders and alerts in several towns in British Columbia and Alberta due to the danger of uncontrolled blazes.
Hazardous smoke from the fires has also triggered air quality alerts in Canada and the northern US. Satellite technology, including the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite and ESA's Fire Atlas, plays a crucial role in monitoring these wildfires.
The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was one of the worst on record. Over the course of the fire season that started early and ended later than usual, blazes burned an estimated 18.4 million hectares. The impact on the environment, especially air quality ... Read more ...
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Carbon pricing works, major meta-study finds:
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| Carbon pricing works, major meta-study finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The major meta-study was led by the Berlin-based climate research institute MCC (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change) and published in the journal Nature Communications.
"Politicians have repeatedly questioned the efficiency of curbing greenhouse gas emissions through pricing, and often focus excessively on bans and regulation instead. A policy mix is certainly needed as a rule, but the conflict of beliefs over the optimal core instrument of climate policy can be resolved with facts."
The starting point of the meta-study is a laboratory experiment-type question: how did emissions change after the start of carbon pricing, relative to a ... Read more ...
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Carbon-Capture Batteries Developed to Store Renewable Energy, Help Climate:
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| Carbon-Capture Batteries Developed to Store Renewable Energy, Help Climate - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · This type of battery stores the renewable energy generated by solar panels or wind turbines. Utilizing this energy when wind and sunlight are unavailable requires an electrochemical reaction that, in ORNL's new battery formulation, captures carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and converts it to value-added products.
One of these new battery types maintained its capacity for 600 hours of use and could store up to 10 hours of electricity. Researchers also identified, studied and overcame the primary challenge, a deactivation caused by chemical buildup, that had been an obstacle for the other battery formulation.
"The Transformation Energy Science and Technology, or ... Read more ...
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Clean energy slump - why Australia's renewables revolution is behind schedule, and how to fix it:
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| Clean energy slump - why Australia's renewables revolution is behind schedule, and how to fix it - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 18 · But unfortunately, this impressive pace is not fast enough.
Investments in renewable energy plants slowed in 2023—financial approvals for new solar farms shrank more than a third and no new wind farms won backing. By the end of that year, Australia had 56 renewable energy projects under construction, down from 72 a year earlier.
For Australia to achieve the federal government's 43% emissions cut target by 2030, and the deeper and swifter cuts required after that, we need to accelerate. The federal government wants the electricity sector to be generating at least 82% from renewable sources by 2030. The electricity sector needs to be clean enough by that year to make ... Read more ...
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Climate Change Is Most Prominent Threat to Pollinators:
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| Climate Change Is Most Prominent Threat to Pollinators - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · A paper published in the CABI Reviews journal has found that climate change is the most prominent threat to pollinators -- such as bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies -- who are essential for biodiversity conservation, crop yields and food security.
Pollinator populations are declining worldwide and 85% of flowering plant species and 87 of the leading global crops rely on pollinators for seed production. The decline of pollinators seriously impacts biodiversity conservation, reduces crop yield, and threatens food security.
Risk of extinction
According to The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), approximately 16% ... Read more ...
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Climate Change Likely to Aggravate Brain Conditions:
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| Climate Change Likely to Aggravate Brain Conditions - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Climate change, and its effects on weather patterns and adverse weather events, is likely to negatively affect the health of people with brain conditions, argue a UCL-led team of researchers.
In a Personal View article, published in The Lancet Neurology, the team emphasise the urgent need to understand the impact of climate change on people with neurological conditions -- in order to preserve their health and prevent worsening inequalities.
Following a review of 332 papers published across the world between 1968 and 2023, the team, led by Professor Sanjay Sisodiya (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), said they expect the scale of the potential effects of climate ... Read more ...
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Comments on Global Warming Acceleration, Sulfur Emissions, Observations:
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| Comments on Global Warming Acceleration, Sulfur Emissions, Observations - Guardian |
May 1 · Missing a target doesn’t mean the sense of emergency should fade. What it must do is stop politicians dithering – and fast
I remember the first time I heard the 1.5C target. It was in a room at the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009. With the expectation of a binding agreement slipping away and negotiations failing, some of us activists joined delegates from vulnerable African and island nations in chanting “1.5 to stay alive”. It was a frank recognition that the 2C goal the climate diplomats were endlessly talking about – though not pursuing – was insufficient to deal with the increasingly clear realities of climate science.
Since then, three things have ... Read more ...
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Consumer groups criticise energy companies charging solar panel owners for exporting power:
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| Consumer groups criticise energy companies charging solar panel owners for exporting power - Guardian - Energy |
May 1 · Critics argue change could lead to people installing smaller solar power systems so they aren’t penalised for exporting excess energy during the day
A new tariff that will charge solar panel owners for exporting their energy during the middle of the day could discourage solar uptake, consumer groups say.
Ausgrid, which has about 280,000 customers in New South Wales with rooftop solar panels, has introduced a two-way tariff system to incentivise solar panel owners to export their power into the grid in the evening, when it is most needed.
This will include a charge to solar panel owners of 1.2 cents a kilowatt hour to send electricity to the grid between 10am and ... Read more ...
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Cooling Earth: Can Iron Filings Reflect Our Way Out?:
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| Cooling Earth: Can Iron Filings Reflect Our Way Out? - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
May 16 · Your concern about global warming and the urgency to find solutions is very valid. The idea of creating a cloud to reflect sunlight and cool the planet, known as solar geoengineering, is an interesting and complex topic. Let's break down the key points of your proposal and explore its feasibility.\n\nConcept of Solar Geoengineering\nSolar geoengineering aims to reflect a portion of sunlight back into space to reduce global temperatures. This can be done using various methods, such as stratospheric aerosol injection, which involves dispersing reflective particles into the stratosphere.\n\nFeasibility of Using Iron Filings\nReflective Properties: Iron filings are reflective, but there ... | By Daniel Izzo Read more ...
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Copper Can't Be Mined Fast Enough to Electrify the US:
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| Copper Can't Be Mined Fast Enough to Electrify the US - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current U.S. policy guidelines to transition the country's electricity and vehicle infrastructure to renewable energy, according to a University of Michigan study.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in 2022, calls for 100% of cars manufactured to be electric vehicles by 2035. But an electric vehicle requires three to five times as much copper as an internal combustion engine vehicle -- not to mention the copper required for upgrades to the electric grid.
"A normal Honda Accord needs about 40 pounds of copper. The same battery electric Honda Accord needs almost 200 pounds of copper. Onshore wind turbines ... Read more ...
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Danish researchers explore how to reduce transport carbon emissions:
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| Danish researchers explore how to reduce transport carbon emissions - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · This is reflected in the accounts of the Danish transport sector's carbon emissions, with road transport accounting for about 90%. About two-thirds of road emissions come from passenger cars, while the remaining third comes from trucks, buses, and vans.
In Denmark, the passenger car is the means of transport that people use the most, according to the Danish National Travel Survey, which is prepared by DTU. The latest study shows that in 2023, passenger cars accounted for 73% of all the kilometers we traveled domestically.
Errands and chores in our spare time are our most common transport reasons, with shopping being the main purpose. Only a quarter of Danes' travel are ... Read more ...
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Deep Sea Mining - A Looming Peril:
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| Deep Sea Mining - A Looming Peril - Facing Future |
May 16 · The ocean produces more oxygen and stores more carbon than any other place on Earth, and is home to the majority of life on our planet. Our climate depends on ocean currents propelled by upwelling from the deep sea. We damage it at our peril.\n\nYet, the International Seabed Authority is considering opening the deep sea to companies who are vying for rights to extract millions of tons of rocks containing manganese, cobalt, nickel and lithium with heavy equipment, which will damage fragile ecosystems there. \nArlo Hemphill, Lead Ocean Campaigner for Greenpeace USA exposes how the laws of the sea are being evaded to accommodate mining interests. \n\nWith Paul Beckwith, Climate ... | By Facing Future Read more ...
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Deep-sea sponge's 'zero-energy' flow control could inspire new energy efficient designs:
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| Deep-sea sponge's 'zero-energy' flow control could inspire new energy efficient designs - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · Now, new research reveals yet another engineering feat of this ancient animal's structure: its ability to filter feed using only the faint ambient currents of the ocean depths, no pumping required.
This discovery of natural '"zero energy" flow control by an international research team co-led by University of Rome Tor Vergata and NYU Tandon School of Engineering could help engineers design more efficient chemical reactors, air purification systems, heat exchangers, hydraulic systems, and aerodynamic surfaces.
In a study published in Physical Review Letters, the team found through extremely high-resolution computer simulations how the skeletal structure of the Venus flower ... Read more ...
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Discovery may explain why Egyptian pyramids were built along long-lost Ahramat branch of the Nile:
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| Discovery may explain why Egyptian pyramids were built along long-lost Ahramat branch of the Nile - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · Some 31 pyramids in Egypt, including the Giza pyramid complex, may originally have been built along a 64-km-long branch of the river Nile which has long since been buried beneath farmland and desert. The findings, reported in a paper in Communications Earth & Environment, could explain why these pyramids are concentrated in what is now a narrow, inhospitable desert strip.
The Egyptian pyramid fields between Giza and Lisht, built over a nearly 1,000-year period starting approximately 4,700 years ago, now sit on the edge of the inhospitable Western Desert, part of the Sahara. Sedimentary evidence suggests that the Nile used to have a much higher discharge, with the river ... Read more ...
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Energy transition risks critical mineral shortage: IEA:
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| Energy transition risks critical mineral shortage: IEA - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · The sharp drop in prices for minerals critical to the green energy transition is masking a looming shortage due to inadequate investment, the International Energy Agency said Friday.
In its second annual review of the market for such critical materials, the IEA noted prices for minerals key for electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels fell back to pre-pandemic levels as supplies caught up with and surpassed demand.
While the price drops are good news for consumers, the Paris-based agency expressed concern it will deter investment needed to meet demand, which is set to soar as many nations try to phase out sales of new internal combustion engine cars in the next ... Read more ...
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Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of 'crazy' ocean heat:
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| Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of 'crazy' ocean heat - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · More than three-fifths—62.9%—of the world's coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. That's nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the world's coral died, said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch Program.
When water gets too hot, coral, which are living creatures, bleach and sometimes die.
In the Atlantic, off the Florida coast and in the Caribbean, about 99.7% of the coral reefs have been hit with "very very severe'' losses in staghorn and elkhorn species, Manzello said Thursday in NOAA's monthly ... Read more ...
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Fact Brief - Does breathing contribute to CO2 buildup in the atmosphere?:
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| Fact Brief - Does breathing contribute to CO2 buildup in the atmosphere? - Skeptical Science |
May 18 · Fast cycling of carbon is seasonal. CO2 increases in colder months when plants decay and release their carbon. In the warmer months, CO2 decreases as plants take it in, along with sunlight, to produce energy and oxygen. Animals — including humans — eat plants, breathe in oxygen, and exhale CO2. Graphs of CO2 show a wave pattern reflecting this seasonal change.
Fossil fuels are part of the slow carbon cycle that operates over geological timescales. Burning fossil fuels takes carbon stored in the slow cycle and introduces it into the fast one. This activity is unique in Earth’s history; no other life-form has done anything on the same scale.
Go to full ... Read more ...
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Finding credible pathways to net-zero emissions: The challenge of scaling up an emerging electrification technology:
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| Finding credible pathways to net-zero emissions: The challenge of scaling up an emerging electrification technology - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · But it's one thing to say we need to transition our energy systems, and another to figure out how to do it in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.
To help, Khan has created the Energy Transition Lab with the goal of developing and analyzing novel materials, technologies and credible transition pathways towards net-zero emissions for Canada.
Khan says the question of credibility is key for his 10-person lab, which employs systems-level analysis to examine whether new technologies or solutions will ultimately help or hinder the overall goal of energy transition.
"Before investing money, energy and time developing new materials and processes, we need to understand ... Read more ...
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Floating photovoltaics could limit Africa's future reliance on hydro-generated energy:
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| Floating photovoltaics could limit Africa's future reliance on hydro-generated energy - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · "Our paper was inspired by the growing interest and potential of FPV as an emerging renewable energy technology, and the continued push for hydropower development in developing economies, particularly in Africa," Wyatt Arnold, co-author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.
"Despite the environmental and social risks associated with large hydroelectric dams, many countries are still planning significant hydropower expansions to meet their rapidly growing energy demands. We wanted to explore whether FPV could serve as a viable alternative or complement to these planned hydropower projects."
The recent study by Arnold and his colleagues Matteo Giuliani and Andrea Castelletti had ... Read more ...
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Floating robots reveal just how much airborne dust fertilizes the Southern Ocean - a key climate 'shock absorber':
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| Floating robots reveal just how much airborne dust fertilizes the Southern Ocean - a key climate 'shock absorber' - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · Using a fleet of robotic floats, our study published in Nature reveals that windblown dust delivers enough iron to support a third of the Southern Ocean's phytoplankton growth. Knowing this will help us understand how global warming will affect key climate processes phytoplankton are involved in.
The Southern Ocean acts as a climate "shock absorber". Its cold waters and vast area capture up to 40% of human-generated carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorbed by the planet's oceans each year.
Human-generated CO₂ mainly enters the ocean as it dissolves at the surface. However, biological processes that transfer vast quantities of CO₂ from the surface to the deep ocean ... Read more ...
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For sale: unique piece of land in strategic Arctic archipelago:
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| For sale: unique piece of land in strategic Arctic archipelago - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · The last piece of privately owned land in the strategic Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic is up for grabs, a property likely to entice China but which Norway does not intend to let go without a fight.
The archipelago is located halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, in an Arctic region that has become a geopolitical and economic hotspot as the ice melts and relations grow ever frostier between Russia and the West.
For 300 million euros ($326 million), interested parties can acquire the remote Sore Fagerfjord property in southwestern Svalbard.
Measuring 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) - about the size of Manhattan - the property is home to ... Read more ...
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Furry thieves are running loose in a Maine forest, research shows:
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| Furry thieves are running loose in a Maine forest, research shows - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · Brigit Humphreys, a UMaine graduate student studying ecology and environmental science, has been working in the forest, which sits about 10 miles north of Bangor, for the past two years in an effort to determine which animal personalities are predisposed to pilfering.
Humphreys has been studying the behavior of small mammals in the wild. Her research adds to a growing body of knowledge showing that the unique personalities of individual small mammals play a critical role in forest regeneration by impacting seed dispersal. It also complements a larger project that has been eight years in the making and is nearing completion.
"The point of the project was to figure out how ... Read more ...
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Germany turns to coal power to keep the lights on:
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| Germany turns to coal power to keep the lights on - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · Even green Europeans would rather tap coal than face the reality of overdependence on unreliable renewable energy.
During late April, Germany's energy regulator said the country needs more coal power. That's surprising news, because its leaders have long bought into global warming alarmism. But it again highlights the problems that arise when green rhetoric on energy runs into reality.
To lower carbon emissions, German officials have spent decades revamping how the country generates power. Germany has moved away from reliable sources, such as nuclear and coal, to embrace green power, such as wind.
In 2020, German officials even decided to give more than 4 billion ... Read more ...
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Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: Scientists:
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| Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: Scientists - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 18 · The massive coral bleaching episode signaled by US authorities last month is expanding and deepening in reefs around the globe, scientists warned Thursday.
Amid record ocean temperatures, coral bleaching has been recorded in 62 countries and territories since February 2023, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said - an increase of nine from its warning in April.
"This event is still growing in size and impacts," Derek Manzello, coordinator for NOAA's Coral Reef Watch program, told a press briefing, adding: "This is not something that would be happening without climate change."
New coral damage since NOAA's April 15 warning was reported in ... Read more ...
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Gov. Gavin Newsom Accuses Trump of 'Open Corruption’ at Climate Meeting:
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| Gov. Gavin Newsom Accuses Trump of 'Open Corruption’ at Climate Meeting - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 16 · The California governor, speaking at the Vatican, used sharp language to describe the former president’s appeal to fossil fuel executives for campaign donations.
Burnishing his climate credentials at a conference hosted by Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, criticized former President Donald J. Trump for reportedly meeting with fossil fuel executives and asking them for $1 billion in contributions to his election campaign.
“Open corruption,” Mr. Newsom said to a gathering of religious officials, scientists and politicians from around the world. “A billion dollars to pollute our states, to pollute our country, and to pollute this ... | By Max Bearak Read more ...
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Heat Stress Is Hitting Caribbean Reefs Earlier Than Ever This Year:
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| Heat Stress Is Hitting Caribbean Reefs Earlier Than Ever This Year - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 16 · Scientists in the United States are reporting “unprecedented patterns” of surface warming, an ominous sign for coral.
As the world’s coral reefs suffer a fourth global bleaching event, heat stress in the Caribbean is accumulating even earlier than it did in 2023, the previous record year for the region, according to data made public on Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“I hate that I have to keep using that word 'unprecedented,’” said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the agency’s Coral Reef Watch Program. “But, again, we are seeing unprecedented patterns again this year.”
Scientists hope that relief will set in as the natural climate ... | By Catrin Einhorn Read more ...
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Houston area walloped by ferocious thunderstorm winds:
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| Houston area walloped by ferocious thunderstorm winds - Yale Climate Connections - Weather |
May 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our newsletters.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
A fast-evolving cluster of thunderstorms raced hundreds of miles from central Texas to the New Orleans area in a matter of hours on Thursday night. Wind gusts topping 80 mph downed trees and power lines and shattered windows. Especially hard-hit was the Houston area, where shards of glass littered parts of downtown and swarms of downed tree limbs blocked streets and sidewalks.
At least four deaths were attributable to the storms, including several from downed ... Read more ...
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How biodiversity-productivity relationships change along elevation in forests:
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| How biodiversity-productivity relationships change along elevation in forests - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · A study published in the journal Forest Ecosystems has revealed that the relationship between biodiversity and forest productivity is not as straightforward as previously thought.
The study conducted in mountain forests across Europe and Asia utilized extensive forest inventory data to explore how tree diversity correlates with forest productivity at different elevations. Surprisingly, the results showed no consistent pattern; biodiversity increased productivity in some areas but not in others.
"Contrary to our expectations, we did not find a consistent positive effect of biodiversity on productivity," said co-author Dr. Ya-Huang Luo from Kunming Institute of Botany, ... Read more ...
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How heat waves are affecting Arctic phytoplankton:
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| How heat waves are affecting Arctic phytoplankton - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · The basis of the marine food web in the Arctic, the phytoplankton, responds to heat waves much differently than to constantly elevated temperatures. This has been found by the first targeted experiments on the topic, which were recently conducted at the Alfred Wegener Institute's AWIPEV Station. The phytoplankton's behavior primarily depends on the cooling phases after or between heat waves, as shown in a study just released in the journal Science Advances.
Heat waves, which we've increasingly seen around the globe in recent years, are also becoming more and more common in the Arctic. During a heat wave, not only the air but also the ocean grows warmer - the temperature is ... Read more ...
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How Heatwaves Are Affecting Arctic Phytoplankton:
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| How Heatwaves Are Affecting Arctic Phytoplankton - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · The basis of the marine food web in the Arctic, the phytoplankton, responds to heatwaves much differently than to constantly elevated temperatures. This has been found by the first targeted experiments on the topic, which were recently conducted at the Alfred Wegener Institute's AWIPEV Station. The phytoplankton's behaviour primarily depends on the cooling phases after or between heatwaves, as shown in a study just released in the journal Science Advances.
Heatwaves, which we've increasingly seen around the globe in recent years, are also becoming more and more common in the Arctic. During a heatwave, not only the air but also the ocean grows warmer -- the temperature is ... Read more ...
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How to make picking wedding flowers a little less wasteful:
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| How to make picking wedding flowers a little less wasteful - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
May 18 · Tulips in spring. Sunflowers in summer. We tell you which flowers are in season throughout the year to help you make more sustainable choices.
Between bouquets, boutonnieres, and ceremony and reception arrangements, many weddings are overflowing with flowers. But this abundance of blooms can come at a cost to the planet.
In the United States, about 80 percent of fresh cut flowers are imported, with much coming from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador. Before they become part of your special day, these blossoms are often subject to an emissions-heavy journey involving heated greenhouses, refrigerated trucks and airplanes. One 2020 analysis of products sold in British ... Read more ...
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Identifying appropriate pondscapes for protecting amphibians:
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| Identifying appropriate pondscapes for protecting amphibians - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · "At last, we have concrete recommendations," says Helen Moor, biologist and head of the Eawag Ecological Modeling research group. They worked to find simple parameters and specific recommendations to provide practitioners with useful aids for planning and building new ecological infrastructures by constructing natural ponds.
As part of the Blue-Green Biodiversity research initiative, she worked with researchers from the aquatic research institute Eawag, the Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape (WSL) and the Swiss fauna information center info fauna karch. The study is published in Conservation Biology.
"If you are looking for a site for a new ... Read more ...
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Ineos drives towards hydrogen car future:
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| Ineos drives towards hydrogen car future - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 18 · At a sprawling vehicle test center in the English countryside, a hydrogen-powered Grenadier 4x4 made by Ineos Automotive grips steep and rugged tracks, showcasing its off-road capabilities.
Making the demonstrator car was "a really obvious thing" to do, the company's chief executive Lynn Calder told journalists at the unveiling this week.
The young, fast-expanding company is part of petrochemicals giant and hydrogen producer Ineos, run by British billionaire and Manchester United stakeholder Jim Ratcliffe.
"When we embarked upon the demonstrator project, we saw the opportunity to showcase... that we have a completely uncompromised Grenadier in net zero form," she ... Read more ...
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International study finds lightning storms are causing sea ice to melt faster at the North Pole:
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| International study finds lightning storms are causing sea ice to melt faster at the North Pole - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · According to the researchers, "Until recently, lightning as a phenomenon was extremely rare in the Arctic region of the North Pole, due to the intense cold. However, due to the warming of the Earth, lightning storms have become more common there in the summers, and these storms further increase the melting process of the ice sheets—in a feedback loop."
Prof. Colin Price and MSc student Tair Plotnik from the Department of Geophysics at TAU's Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences participated in the study, alongside Dr. Anirban Guha and Dr. Joydeb Saha from Tripura University in India. The article is published in the journal Atmospheric ... Read more ...
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Ion swap dramatically improves performance of CO2-defeating catalyst:
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| Ion swap dramatically improves performance of CO2-defeating catalyst - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · A catalyst normally uses a support to stabilize nanometer-sized metal particles that speed important chemical reactions. The support, through interactions with the metal particles, also helps create a unique interface with sites that can dramatically enhance reaction rate and selectivity. To improve catalytic efficiency, researchers typically try different combinations of metals and supports. ORNL's team instead focused on implanting specific elements right next to metal nanoparticles at their interface with the support to boost catalytic efficiency.
"Tuning the anion site of the catalyst support can greatly impact the metal-support interface, which leads to enhanced ... Read more ...
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Is mineral sunscreen better for coral reefs than chemical sunscreen?:
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| Is mineral sunscreen better for coral reefs than chemical sunscreen? - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
May 16 · Whether chemical sunscreens damage or kill corals in the wild is still the subject of scientific debate.
After I published my column on chemical vs. mineral sunscreens, many of you wrote to me asking whether mineral sunscreens really were safer for coral reefs. Here’s what we know:
An estimated 4,000 tons of sunscreen wash into the oceans each year. Many of the most common UV blockers in chemical sunscreens are lethal to coral - at least in the lab. But whether these chemicals damage or kill corals in the wild is still the subject of scientific debate. No studies in the wild have conclusively linked reefs’ die-off to these chemicals, nor have they eliminated the possibility. Read more ...
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James Hansen's Update On Global Warming Acceleration with Guest Leon Simons:
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| James Hansen's Update On Global Warming Acceleration with Guest Leon Simons - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
May 18 · In this Climate Chat episode we discuss climate scientist James Hansen's May 2024 update on the rapid acceleration of global warming. Our guest for this discussion is climate scientist Leon Simons. \n\nLeon Simons is a climate scientist based in the Netherlands. He was a co-author with James Hansen on last year's | By Climate Chat Read more ...
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Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics:
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| Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Scientists at the University of Oregon have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire new designs for efficient underwater vehicles.
"The largest migration on the planet happens every single night: the vertical migration of planktonic organisms from the deep sea to the surface," said Kelly Sutherland, an associate professor in biology at the UO's Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, who led the research. "They're running a marathon every day using novel fluid mechanics. These organisms can be platforms for inspiration on how to build ... Read more ...
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Jonathan Byrnes, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics senior lecturer and visionary in supply chain management, dies at 75:
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| Jonathan Byrnes, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics senior lecturer and visionary in supply chain management, dies at 75 - MIT - Tansportation |
May 17 · 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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Kenya floods prompt calls for warning systems:
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| Kenya floods prompt calls for warning systems - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · Kenya's worst flooding in decades highlights the urgent need for more robust mitigation efforts, including flood risk maps and early warning systems, say climate scientists.
Weeks of heavy rainfall and flooding across East Africa have triggered landslides, destroyed crops and infrastructure, and engulfed homes, leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced across Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
In Kenya, at least 210 people have died in the floods, with many more injured or missing.
John Recha, a Nairobi-based climate scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute, said climate change and unsustainable human activity were ... Read more ...
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Linking leaf elemental traits to biomass across forest biomes in the Himalayas:
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| Linking leaf elemental traits to biomass across forest biomes in the Himalayas - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · A study led by Prof. Eryuan Liang (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences), and Dr. Nita Dyola (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Université du Québec à Chicoutimi), together with the co-authors, demonstrated the linkages of ten leaf element contents (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and manganese) in 1,859 trees from 116 species in shaping biomass accumulation from tropical forests (80 m asl) to alpine treeline (4200 m asl) in the Kangchenjunga Landscape, located in the eastern Nepal Himalayas, which is one of the most diverse regions in the ... Read more ...
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Low-temperature pulse irradiation technique enables flexible optoelectronic devices:
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| Low-temperature pulse irradiation technique enables flexible optoelectronic devices - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The strategy effectively addresses the compatibility and cost issues of traditional high-temperature synthesis, and the prepared thermoelectric films exhibit excellent optoelectronic performance in the visible and near-infrared spectrum range, which is promising for wearable electronics and integrated optoelectronic circuits.
"Scalable film fabrication is key to meeting the requirements of next-generation optoelectronic devices. Our progress in this work ingeniously avoids the difficulties with traditional thin film preparation techniques, making it more broadly applicable for practical use," said Professor Johnny Ho, Associate Vice-President (Enterprise) and Professor in the ... Read more ...
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Making Batteries Takes a Lot of Lithium: Some Could Come from Gas Well Wastewater:
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| Making Batteries Takes a Lot of Lithium: Some Could Come from Gas Well Wastewater - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Most batteries used in technology like smart watches and electric cars are made with lithium that travels across the world before even getting to manufacturers. But what if nearly half of the lithium used in the U.S. could come from Pennsylvania wastewater?
A new analysis using compliance data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection suggests that if it could be extracted with complete efficiency, lithium from the wastewater of Marcellus shale gas wells could supply up to 40% of the country's demand.
Already, researchers in the lab can extract lithium from water with more than 90% efficiency according to Justin Mackey, a researcher at the National ... Read more ...
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Mastering fundamentals: First step for promising new sustainable vehicle fuels:
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| Mastering fundamentals: First step for promising new sustainable vehicle fuels - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · Biomass-based diesel has an overall smaller carbon footprint than conventional diesel because it is not made from fossil fuels. Today's biomass-based diesel is primarily produced by processing fats and oils from plant matter and animal products, known as "feedstocks."
"We're producing about four billion gallons a year of fats and oils for conversion to fuels, with about half of that going to biodiesel in the United States today," said NREL's Bob McCormick, a senior research fellow. "But we use 46 billion gallons of diesel a year for transportation. It's a bottleneck that is slowly being alleviated by conversion of other forms of biomass."
To fill the gap between demand ... Read more ...
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Mexico City Has Long Thirsted for Water. The Crisis Is Worsening.:
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| Mexico City Has Long Thirsted for Water. The Crisis Is Worsening. - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 18 · In Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities, the struggle for water is constant.
Poor planning, urban sprawl and scorching dry weather have strained the water supply.
One key system may soon be unable to provide water.
A collision of climate change, urban sprawl and poor infrastructure has pushed Mexico City to the brink of a profound water crisis.
The groundwater is quickly vanishing. A key reservoir got so low that it is no longer used to supply water. Last year was Mexico’s hottest and driest in at least 70 years. And one of the city’s main water systems faces a potential “Day Zero” this summer when levels dip so much that it, too, will no longer ... Read more ...
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Microplastics may slow the rate at which carbon is pulled from the sea surface to the depths:
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| Microplastics may slow the rate at which carbon is pulled from the sea surface to the depths - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · A new study co-authored by Northeastern researcher Aron Stubbins shows that microplastics may reduce the ability of the ocean to help offset the climate crisis by slowing down the rate at which carbon is taken from the sea surface to the depths.
For millennia, the ocean has been part of a carbon sink process in which dead phytoplankton clump together and fall into the deep ocean in showers of what look like "marine snow," says Stubbins, a professor of marine and environmental science.
The resulting carbon sequestration is a marine version of how trees and plants on terrestrial Earth take carbon from the atmosphere and store it in soil, he says.
"Plastics want to ... Read more ...
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Modern plant enzyme partners with surprisingly ancient protein:
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| Modern plant enzyme partners with surprisingly ancient protein - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than suspected. The research published in The Plant Cell, explores the origin and evolution of the biochemical machinery that builds lignin, a structural component of plant cell walls with significant impacts on the clean energy industry.
When the first land plants emerged from aquatic environments, they needed to adapt in order to survive.
Chang-Jun Liu, a senior scientist in Brookhaven's Biology Department, said, "The emergence of lignin, which provides structural support for the ... Read more ...
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Modern Plant Enzyme Partners With Surprisingly Ancient Protein:
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| Modern Plant Enzyme Partners With Surprisingly Ancient Protein - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than suspected. This new research explored the origin and evolution of the biochemical machinery that builds lignin, a structural component of plant cell walls with significant impacts on the clean energy industry.
When the first land plants emerged from aquatic environments, they needed to adapt in order to survive.
Chang-Jun Liu, a senior scientist in Brookhaven's Biology Department, said, "The emergence of lignin, which provides structural support for the plants, was a key ... Read more ...
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Mosquitoes are swarming around Houston. The future could bring even more.:
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| Mosquitoes are swarming around Houston. The future could bring even more. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
May 18 · After severe rain washed much of Texas, residents are enduring another inundation - of mosquitoes.
CONROE, Tex. - Standing in his neatly manicured front yard in this Houston suburb, Mitch Varley stopped for a moment and slapped his right arm. Did he get the mosquito in time before it bit? Not that it matters, really, because there will be another.
“If you open the car door to go somewhere, you’ve got 10 mosquitoes inside,” said Varley. Read more ...
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Nanobubble research to improve green hydrogen production:
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| Nanobubble research to improve green hydrogen production - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · In a novel study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Twente have made significant strides in understanding the behavior of micro- and nanobubbles on electrodes during water electrolysis. This process is crucial for (green) hydrogen production. These tiny bubbles form on the electrodes, blocking the flow of electricity and reducing the efficiency of the reaction.
A renewable hydrogen economy significantly reduces the impact of global warming compared to a fossil fuel economy. However, the production of hydrogen is significantly impeded by bubbles at the micro- and nanoscale. Therefore, researchers at the University ... Read more ...
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NASA's X-59 passes milestone toward safe first flight:
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| NASA's X-59 passes milestone toward safe first flight - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · NASA has taken the next step toward verifying the airworthiness for its quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft with the completion of a milestone review that will allow it to progress toward flight.
A Flight Readiness Review board composed of independent experts from across NASA has completed a study of the X-59 project team's approach to safety for the public and staff during ground and flight testing. The review board looked in detail at the project team's analysis of potential hazards, focusing on safety and risk identification.
Flight Readiness Review is the first step in the flight approval process. The board's work will provide the X-59 team with insights and ... Read more ...
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New research shows the true cost of reproduction across the animal kingdom:
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| New research shows the true cost of reproduction across the animal kingdom - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · A new study published in Science and led by Monash University biologists reveals that the energy cost of reproduction is far greater than previously believed.
The study found that the energy invested by parents in reproduction includes not only the energy contained in the offspring themselves (direct costs), but also the energy expended to produce and carry them (indirect costs). In most species, indirect costs, such as the metabolic load of pregnancy, exceed the direct costs.
While scientists have understood the direct energy costs associated with offspring (like the energy used to create and nourish them), the indirect costs - the metabolic load of pregnancy and ... Read more ...
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Norway spruce in Finland is susceptible to European spruce bark beetle damage especially near clear-cuts: Study:
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| Norway spruce in Finland is susceptible to European spruce bark beetle damage especially near clear-cuts: Study - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · Conducted in an effort to support proper forest management in Finland, the study, published in Silva Fennica, examined the attributes of Norway spruce forests damaged by the beetle, as well as the role of some landscape attributes in the damage.
The scientists analyzed data from Metsäkeskus with 4,691 damage cases from 2012 to 2020, and found that the beetle preferred mature forests, forests in herb-rich heath forest site types, and forests in semi-coarse or coarse heath forest soils.
In addition, the scientists found that Norway spruce forests which have a high age and high mean diameter at breast height, and which are located close to recent clear-cut ... Read more ...
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Ocean warming triggers Indo-Pacific heat waves: Study:
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| Ocean warming triggers Indo-Pacific heat waves: Study - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · Temperatures in the Philippines and Thailand have topped 50°C this month, while Bangladesh has recorded almost 30 days of heat waves, leading to deaths from heatstroke and school closures.
Scientists say the heat waves are directly linked to climate change and ocean warming, which are likely to bring even more intense weather events such as cyclones.
While the Indian Ocean has undergone basin-wide surface warming at a rate of 0.12°C per decade between1950 and 2020, models now show that greenhouse gas emissions will likely accelerate surface warming at a rate of 0.17°C–0.38°C per decade between 2020 and 2100, says Roxy Mathew Koll, top scientist at ... Read more ...
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Overlooked coastal marine ecosystems can capture more carbon dioxide than previously thought, finds study:
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| Overlooked coastal marine ecosystems can capture more carbon dioxide than previously thought, finds study - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 17 · Coastal ecosystems have been shown to be extremely important in combating rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This is thanks to their ability to capture and store carbon dioxide, known as blue carbon.
Historically, blue carbon research has focused almost exclusively on seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and tidal marshes, while other ecosystems have been overlooked. The importance of these other ecosystems in mitigating climate change has been underrated, and the total amount of carbon sequestered in the oceans has thus been greatly underestimated.
In recent research published in Global Change Biology led by researchers from Umeå Marine Sciences Center ... Read more ...
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Penalties for Dropping out of Ecosystem Services Incentive Programs Should Equal Lost Environmental Benefits:
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| Penalties for Dropping out of Ecosystem Services Incentive Programs Should Equal Lost Environmental Benefits - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · Payment for Ecosystem Services programs (PES) are important tools that governments around the world use to improve water quality, protect forests and wildlife habitat, and sequester carbon. Under these programs, landowners -- usually farmers -- are paid to use their land in ways that protect or restore the environment, such as replacing row crops with trees or grassy zones adjacent to waterways. Many PES program contracts last 5 to 20 years, but participant drop out rates have consistently risen over the years.
A recent study by University of Maryland economists showed that PES programs are currently structured in ways that could limit their participation or create incentives ... Read more ...
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Priest, 82, and retired teacher, 85, smash case holding copy of Magna Carta in environmental protest:
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| Priest, 82, and retired teacher, 85, smash case holding copy of Magna Carta in environmental protest - Cbsnews |
May 10 · The glass case containing an original copy of the Magna Carta at the British Library in London was smashed by two environmental activists on Friday, causing minor damage to the reinforced box but leaving the historic document unscathed.
The pair of protesters from Just Stop Oil, a group that has caused widespread disruption in Britain in its campaign to end to the world's reliance on fossil fuels, pounded on the case with a hammer and chisel.
Video footage posted online shows the Rev. Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, an 85-year-old retired biology teacher, holding up a sign reading "The government is breaking the law," before gluing themselves to the display.
The ... Read more ...
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Research finds human activity over natural inputs determines the bacterial community in an ice core:
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| Research finds human activity over natural inputs determines the bacterial community in an ice core - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · Since glacier bacteria are largely transported from distant or local sources by atmospheric circulation, changes in source ecosystems can also affect the composition of surface glacier bacteria. Therefore, the characteristics of bacterial communities in ice cores can serve as indicators of past climates and human activities.
Meanwhile, the evenness demonstrated negative correlations with DOC and MAP, and positive correlation with δ18O, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, SO42-, and NO3-. These indicators collectively offer promising insights for inferring past climate and environmental changes.
Cluster A encompasses the years 1953 to 1991, Cluster B consists of 11 ... Read more ...
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Research team achieves rapid and reliable room-temperature phosphorescence chiral recognition:
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| Research team achieves rapid and reliable room-temperature phosphorescence chiral recognition - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · Guest-host-doped RTP systems have made significant advancements in applications of various fields, including next-generation optoelectronics, high-contrast bioimaging, and chiral recognition. With increasing attention on the design of RTP systems with chiral moieties, understanding the relationship between structure and property has become crucial.
Leveraging the essential role of chirality in natural evolution, exploring richer spectral methods to understand the correlation between molecular chirality, excited states, and electron spin will elucidate fundamental principles and drive innovative technological transformations.
In their earlier work published in 2023, Prof. ... Read more ...
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Researchers calculate the carbon footprint of building a wooden house in Japan:
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| Researchers calculate the carbon footprint of building a wooden house in Japan - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The team hopes that by identifying emission hot spots in the supply chain that go into building a house, policy makers can implement strategies to reduce its climate impact. Their analysis was published in the Journal of Environmental Management.
As humanity maneuvers itself through the climate crisis, researchers and industry professionals alike have been working to identify sectors with high CO2 emissions so they can implement policies that potentially reduce greenhouse gas production. But in today's highly interconnected economy, figuring out a sector or object's greenhouse gas output is astoundingly complex.
"For example, it's easy to calculate how much CO2 a single ... Read more ...
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Researchers confirm scale matters in determining vulnerability of freshwater fish to climate changes:
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| Researchers confirm scale matters in determining vulnerability of freshwater fish to climate changes - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 17 · "Relative to other species we looked at in the gulf region of the U.S., the silver chub occupied a pretty small geographic area," said Samuel Silknetter, a Ph.D. student in biological sciences. "If we didn't look at the climate sensitivity across multiple spatial scales, a regional analysis alone may miss the bigger context of why a species appears sensitive to climate change at some scales but not others, especially compared to other species."
Silknetter and Associate Professor Meryl Mims recently led a team that explored the influence the spatial extent of research—the geographical coverage of data collected—has on evaluating the sensitivity of different fish ... Read more ...
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Revving up individual's climate action: How our plates and wheels can drive down carbon emissions:
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| Revving up individual's climate action: How our plates and wheels can drive down carbon emissions - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The global imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is well-established, with individual actions playing a critical role in this endeavor.
According to a study led by researcher from the Institute of Energy and the Environment at The Pennsylvania State University, personal lifestyle choices, particularly regarding transportation and diet, can significantly lower an individual's carbon footprint.
The study is published in Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering.
The study finds that personal activities such as driving and dietary choices significantly influence carbon footprints. For instance, the typical American's activities result in a carbon ... Read more ...
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Safer and stronger: Non-flammable electrolyte extends battery life:
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| Safer and stronger: Non-flammable electrolyte extends battery life - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · In response to these safety concerns, there has been a concerted effort within the scientific community to develop safer alternatives that maintain, or even enhance, battery performance while mitigating fire hazards.
In a significant advancement in battery technology, scientists at Shenzhen University have developed a novel quasi solid-state electrolyte that considerably enhances the safety and performance of lithium-ion batteries.
The study, published in April 2023 in the Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, details the electrolyte's ability to withstand higher voltages and its non-flammable properties.
The novel formulation blends succinonitrile, a substance with ... Read more ...
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Scientists Unlock Key to Breeding 'carbon Gobbling' Plants With a Major Appetite:
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| Scientists Unlock Key to Breeding 'carbon Gobbling' Plants With a Major Appetite - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · The discovery of how a critical enzyme "hidden in nature's blueprint" works sheds new light on how cells control key processes in carbon fixation, a process fundamental for life on Earth.
The discovery, made by scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Newcastle (UoN), could help engineer climate resilient crops capable of sucking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently, helping to produce more food in the process.
Cyanobacteria are commonly known for their toxic blooms in lakes and rivers. But these little blue-green bugs are widespread, also living in the world's oceans.
Although they can pose an environmental ... Read more ...
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Seagrass meadows are rapidly expanding near inhabited islands in Maldives:
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| Seagrass meadows are rapidly expanding near inhabited islands in Maldives - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 16 · Now, my research, which combined hundreds of hours of fieldwork with thousands of satellite images, has uncovered something unexpected: Maldivian seagrasses have expanded three-fold over the last two decades—and island populations could be playing a part.
I also discovered that seagrass is surprisingly three times more likely to be found next to inhabited islands, rather than uninhabited. So this flowering plant seems to benefit from living in seas close to humans.
Seagrasses grow along coasts all around the world. They can help guard against climate change yet they are frequently underappreciated. In the Maldives, seagrass meadows are dug up to maintain the iconic ... Read more ...
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Self-driving auto companies have made advancements, but technology is still lacking, expert says:
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| Self-driving auto companies have made advancements, but technology is still lacking, expert says - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · Autonomous vehicle evangelists say the potential benefits are vast. With fewer human drivers on the road, there could be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a decrease in vehicular accidents, and less traffic congestion.
Self-driving companies such as Waymo, Cruise and Amazon's Zoox have been developing that technology for more than a decade, deploying and testing their robotaxi services in select U.S. cities, including Phoenix and San Francisco.
Advancements have been made over the past 10 years and these companies continue to expand their operations in more cities. Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, last month began offering its robotaxi service in parts of Los ... Read more ...
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Smoke from controlled burn offs and surface dust found to be leading source of particle air pollution in Australia:
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| Smoke from controlled burn offs and surface dust found to be leading source of particle air pollution in Australia - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The study, "An application of low-cost sensors to monitor children's exposure to air pollution at five schools in Queensland, Australia," was published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.
First author, Ph.D. researcher Basant Pradhan from the QUT School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said the local outdoor air quality monitoring study was a citizen science project with students.
"We chose schools for our citizen science project because children are particularly susceptible to pollution-related health effects as their lungs are still developing," Pradhan said.
"A second reason is that the measurements of two main air pollutants PM2.5 and carbon monoxide (CO) ... Read more ...
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Snow Lifts Great Salt Lake From Record Lows, but Dangers Persist:
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| Snow Lifts Great Salt Lake From Record Lows, but Dangers Persist - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 16 · The lake remains below healthy levels and experts warn the increase could reduce the pressure to conserve water.
Great Salt Lake Level
Two years ago, the Great Salt Lake became an omen for the risks of climate change: The water level dropped to a record low, threatening the ecosystem, economy and even the air quality of the area around Salt Lake City, home to a majority of Utah’s population.
Now, after two unusually wet winters and a series of conservation measures, the lake has gained about six feet. Despite that increase the lake is still below the minimum levels considered healthy. And environmentalists and policymakers are concerned that the increase might ... | By Christopher Flavelle and Nadja Popovich Read more ...
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Storms, rising seas are growing threats to Portsmouth Village in North Carolina:
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| Storms, rising seas are growing threats to Portsmouth Village in North Carolina - Yale Climate Connections - Arts |
May 16 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
For centuries, ships have sailed past North Carolina’s picturesque Cape Lookout Lighthouse. And in colonial times, they often stopped in Portsmouth Village.
Today, the lighthouse and village are part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Many of the buildings have been preserved. But increasingly, extreme weather puts them at risk.
In 2019, Hurricane Dorian damaged dozens of historical buildings.
And while tourists can still visit the old Portsmouth Village, rising seas are creeping in.
Seekamp: “There can be standing water in the ... Read more ...
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Study analyzes the environmental sustainability of diets among children and adolescents:
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| Study analyzes the environmental sustainability of diets among children and adolescents - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The study shows that there is both the potential and a need to make the diet of younger generations more sustainable. The study has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"We sought to analyze age and temporal trends over the past 20 years," explains Professor Ute Nöthlings from the Institute for Nutritional and Food Science (IEL) at the University of Bonn. Her team drew on data from the DONALD study. The Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed cohort study has been collecting detailed data on a range of factors including the diet, metabolism, development and health status of children and adolescents at regular intervals ... Read more ...
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Study Reveals Consumers Value Animal Welfare More Than Environmental Sustainability When Buying Meat and Dairy Products:
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| Study Reveals Consumers Value Animal Welfare More Than Environmental Sustainability When Buying Meat and Dairy Products - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · The treatment of animals rates higher than green issues when consumers choose meat and dairy products.
That's according to a new study, which suggests that while consumers consider sustainability important, other factors such as taste, quality, and animal welfare take precedence in their purchasing decisions.
On product labels, consumers valued information regarding animal welfare, food safety, and health and nutrition. The results can help producers to market particularly sustainably produced food products in a more targeted way and make them more attractive to consumers.
The study was conducted across five European countries -- Czechia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland ... Read more ...
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Study shows self-assembled monolayers approach can be applied to regular structure perovskite solar cells:
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| Study shows self-assembled monolayers approach can be applied to regular structure perovskite solar cells - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 15 · Their article, "Nonfullerene Self-Assembled Monolayers As Electron-Selective Contacts for n-i-p Perovskite Solar Cells," is published in ACS Energy Letters.
Self-assembling molecules arrange themselves into a single-molecule-thick layer and in this case, they act as an electron-transporting layer in solar cells.
"The molecules that make up these monolayers, like a clever glue, coat the surface of the constructed devices with a thin one molecule thick layer. And this is not random, they don't stick wherever they go, but attach themselves by chemical bonds only where they are in contact with conductive metal oxide," explains Tadas Malinauskas, Professor at KTU's Faculty of ... Read more ...
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Summer 2023 was northern hemisphere's hottest for 2,000 years, tree rings show:
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| Summer 2023 was northern hemisphere's hottest for 2,000 years, tree rings show - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 18 · Across this vast area of land, encompassing Europe, Asia and North America, surface air temperatures were more than 2°C higher in June, July and August 2023 than the average summer temperature between AD1 and 1890, as reconstructed from tree ring records.
While climate change is a global phenomenon, warming on a regional scale is often stronger. And it is regional climate change, not the global average temperature, that people experience.
The Paris agreement aims to limit climate change to below 2°C and ideally 1.5°C of warming, but these figures refer to global temperature change, usually averaged over 20 years. The authors of the new research argue that ... Read more ...
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Summers Warm Up Faster Than Winters, Fossil Shells from Antwerp Show:
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| Summers Warm Up Faster Than Winters, Fossil Shells from Antwerp Show - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · In a warmer climate, summers warm much faster than winters. That is the conclusion of research into fossil shells by earth scientist Niels de Winter. With this knowledge we can better map the consequences of current global warming in the North Sea area.
De Winter, affiliated with the Department of Earth Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the AMGC research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, measured alongside colleagues from institutions such as the Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels the chemical composition of fossil shells from Antwerp, Belgium. Those shells originate from molluscs such as oysters, cockles, and scallops found during the construction works ... Read more ...
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Sun, sustainability, and silicon: A double dose of solar fuel research:
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| Sun, sustainability, and silicon: A double dose of solar fuel research - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · Over the past decade, basic research aimed at creating sustainable, solar-powered liquid fuel has reached a crossroads. New semiconductor materials can effectively capture sunlight and catalyze the conversion of carbon dioxide into valuable products, such as liquid fuels. However, it is often challenging to form a single product. Molecular catalysts can form a single product from carbon dioxide (CO2) but are not stable. Consequently, many scientists say neither of those approaches is adequate for large scale production.
But a third methodology is now emerging. Yale chemists involved in the Center for Hybrid Approaches to Solar Energy (CHASE) are combining new semiconductor ... Read more ...
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Tackling #ClimateChange in the Dominican Republic: Towards a Resilient and Low-Carbon Development:
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| Tackling #ClimateChange in the Dominican Republic: Towards a Resilient and Low-Carbon Development - Climate Change (World Bank - Playlist) |
May 2 · By 2050, climate change impacts are expected to affect the Dominican Republic's labor productivity, health, agricultural yields, tourism, infrastructure, forests, coastal and natural ecosystems. However, the country is taking steps to reduce its vulnerability and embark on a path towards more sustainable growth. The World Bank Group's Dominican Republic Climate and Development Report highlights that the Dominican Republic can meet its climate and development goals together, benefiting both Dominicans and the economy, despite the estimated high investment needs for mitigation and adaptation. Watch this short! http://wrld.bg/B5jw50Rvcn3 | By World Bank Read more ...
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Targeting India’s most harmful power plants could slash mortality:
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| Targeting India’s most harmful power plants could slash mortality - Guardian - Energy |
May 1 · Study finds about a quarter of health burden comes from power stations that generate just 3% of country’s electricity
India struggles with some of the worst air pollution in the world. Now scientists have worked out which of the country’s power plants are the worst in pollution terms, narrowing it down to 30 units which are responsible for about a quarter of the mortality burden.
Electricity generation accounts for nearly three-quarters of India’s enormous coal use. But despite regulations set in 2015, less than 5% of India’s power plants have modern systems to clean up air pollutants including sulphur and mercury.
The new study from Stanford University looked at ... Read more ...
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The 5 most common questions from carbon buyers:
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| The 5 most common questions from carbon buyers - Greenbiz |
May 16 · Here are the top questions on the minds of corporate carbon credit purchasers -- and some answers.
Buyers are seeking better ways to source, vet and communicate about carbon credit purchases. Source: DMITRY TILT via Shutterstock
Over the past 5 months, I’ve been interviewing carbon buyers at large companies, each with more than $1 billion revenue, about their strategies and pain points navigating the voluntary carbon market. Many of the decision-makers I’ve spoken with are also members of Trellis Network, GreenBiz's peer membership community for sustainability leaders.
During these conversations, I always ask: What question would you most like to ask other carbon ... | By Margaret Morales Read more ...
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The Cost of Competing With China:
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| The Cost of Competing With China - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 16 · Subscriber-only Newsletter
Climate Forward
The Biden administration is betting that new China tariffs will be politically popular, even if they could slow the transition from fossil fuels.
President Biden announced this week that he planned to sharply increase the taxes America imposes on electric vehicles, solar cells, advanced batteries and other climate technologies imported from China. Labor groups cheered him on, unsurprisingly: Those tariffs would make Chinese green technology more expensive for Americans, which could protect American jobs in the clean energy sector.
Politically speaking, support from labor groups like the United Auto Workers is a win ... | By Jim Tankersley and David Gelles Read more ...
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The Supreme Court’s Top-10 Environmental Law Decisions:
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| The Supreme Court’s Top-10 Environmental Law Decisions - Legal Planet |
May 16 · What are the most important Supreme Court decisions in environmental law? My “top 10” list is made up of cases that have done the most to shape the field as a while or the implementation of a major environmental statute.
Putting together this list highlighted a decades-long duel between two Justices, Antonin Scalia and John Paul Stevens. Often, Scalia voted against the environmental side and Stevens voted for it. Between them, the two Justices account for seven of the ten opinions on my list. The two Justices also had very different judicial philosophies, not to mention ideologies, though both were Republican appointees.
Another obvious point is the ... Read more ...
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The U.S. just took its biggest step yet to end coal mining:
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| The U.S. just took its biggest step yet to end coal mining - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
May 16 · The Biden administration’s decision ends new leasing in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, the nation’s biggest coal-producing region.
In one of its biggest steps yet to keep fossil fuels in the ground, the Biden administration announced Thursday that it will end new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States.
Climate activists have long pushed the Interior Department to stop auctioning off leases for coal mining on public lands, and they celebrated the decision. It could prevent billions of tons of coal from being extracted from more than 13 million acres across Montana and Wyoming, with major ... Read more ...
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The week in climate policy: 4 updates you need to know:
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| The week in climate policy: 4 updates you need to know - Greenbiz |
May 17 · The oil industry gets hit with another court loss in New York; Florida erases climate change from its state policy.
The New York County Supreme Court dashed all hopes for the oil industry to get a federal trial. Photo: Shutterstock/Sergii Figurnyi
Here are the major climate policy developments for the week of May 13-17: | By Leah Garden Read more ...
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Think before you click – and three other ways to reduce your digital carbon footprint:
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| Think before you click – and three other ways to reduce your digital carbon footprint - Guardian - Energy |
May 1 · It’s been called “the largest coal-powered machine on Earth” – and most of us use it countless times a day.
The internet and its associated digital industry are estimated to produce about the same emissions annually as aviation. But we barely think about pollution while snapping 16 duplicate photos of our pets, which are immediately uploaded to the cloud.
This is the invisible downside to our online lives: the data we produce is stored and processed in giant energy-guzzling datacentres dotted all over the world.
Over the past year I’ve delved into digital waste and learned key ways we can lower our digital carbon footprints.
Every document, photo and email – ... Read more ...
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This Scientist Has an Antidote to Our Climate Delusions:
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| This Scientist Has an Antidote to Our Climate Delusions - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 18 · Credit...Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2018 report on global warming drastically changed the way many people thought - or felt - about the climate crisis. That report laid out, with grim clarity, both the importance and extreme difficulty of preventing global warming from reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Its warnings about what was likely to happen to our planet if we didn’t turn things around were severe.
The starkness of the I.P.C.C.’s report led to a surge of pessimism, fear and, in response to those emotions, climate activism that hasn’t ... | By David Marchese Read more ...
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Thunderstorms, Wind and Climate Change: Here’s What to Know:
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| Thunderstorms, Wind and Climate Change: Here’s What to Know - New York Times - Climate Section |
May 17 · Scientists say storms like those that battered Houston could become more intense as the planet warms, though pinning down trends is still challenging.
Shattered windows and caved-in walls. Toppled power lines and trees. The severe storms that swept through Houston and the Gulf Coast on Thursday left all the destructive traces of a hurricane, yet they didn’t blow in from the tropics.
Violent clusters of thunderstorms cause extensive damage across the United States each year, not just through rain and flooding, but also through hail, tornadoes and walls of blasting wind. Here’s what to know about such storms, and how they might be changing in our warming ... | By Raymond Zhong Read more ...
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Transformation and mechanisms of climate wet/dry change on the northern Tibetan Plateau under global warming:
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| Transformation and mechanisms of climate wet/dry change on the northern Tibetan Plateau under global warming - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 16 · The northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau are located at the intersection of the Asian summer monsoon and mid-latitude westerly circulation. It is regional climate change has the unique complexity of the monsoon-westerly transition zone and is sensitive to climate change. The northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is a typical area for studying climate change and its mechanisms.
Recently, based on paleo-environmental records, paleoclimate simulations and modern observations, the team of Professor Yu Li of Lanzhou University compared the wet/dry changes of the Middle Holocene (MH) warm period, the medieval climate anomaly (MCA), the modern warm period and the warm period in ... Read more ...
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Union urges Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without plan for jobs:
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| Union urges Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without plan for jobs - Guardian - Energy |
May 1 · Unite launches bid to persuade Keir Starmer to invest more in north-east Scotland
The UK’s oil and gas workers risk becoming “the coal miners of our generation,” Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has warned, urging Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without a clear plan to safeguard jobs.
Unite is launching a billboard campaign in six Scottish constituencies aimed at persuading Keir Starmer to commit more investment to north-east Scotland, the centre of the offshore oil and gas industry.
Unless Labour can show it will protect jobs and communities, it should be willing to continue issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration, Unite argues. The ... Read more ...
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US reaches a new clean energy milestone, with 5 million solar projects installed:
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| US reaches a new clean energy milestone, with 5 million solar projects installed - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · When Peter Gorr got his first solar roof in 2011, he didn't know what to expect.
But installation went smoothly, the smooth black panels lowered his electric bills, and Gorr - who is very concerned about climate change - relished the opportunity to lower his carbon footprint.
He recalled with a chuckle how his wife, Susan, kidded him when he initially hesitated to turn on the air conditioner on a 90-degree day.
"What are you saving - sunbeams?" she asked.
Gorr, who has since moved to a ranch in Deer Park - and installed his second solar roof - is part of a wave of homeowners who have helped the U.S. reach a new clean energy milestone.
The nation now has ... Read more ...
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US tariffs on Chinese EVs hurt green transition: XPeng boss:
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| US tariffs on Chinese EVs hurt green transition: XPeng boss - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 17 · The president of Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng on Friday criticized the fresh tariffs on Chinese cars imposed by Washington as "unfavorable" for the United States' energy transition.
US President Joe Biden announced earlier this week the quadrupling of customs duties on Chinese electric cars to 100 percent, which China slammed as politicizing an economic issue and a breach of World Trade Organisation rules.
XPeng president and vice-chairman Brian Gu said at an event in Hong Kong on Friday that the levies will lead to "higher costs and slower product iteration", hampering the US's green energy ambitions.
"For an auto market as important and large as the US, ... Read more ...
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Video: Do you have to go vegan to save the climate?:
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| Video: Do you have to go vegan to save the climate? - Yale Climate Connections - Agriculture |
May 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
About a third of all climate-warming gases are linked to the food on our plates. Animal products, especially beef and lamb, contribute significantly more to climate change than plant-based foods. Does that mean you have to go vegan to save the climate?
Alexandra Steele answers that question and more in our latest video.
We help millions of people understand climate change and what to do about it. Help us reach even more people like you.
ACCESSIBILITY AT YALE Read more ...
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Weather eases Canadian oil sands city wildfire menace:
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| Weather eases Canadian oil sands city wildfire menace - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
May 17 · Rain and cooler weather have halted the advance of a huge wildfire threatening the Canadian city of Fort McMurray in a major oil-producing region, officials said Thursday.
There was no immediate threat to oil sands mines but production of more than 2 million barrels per day could be in jeopardy if the situation worsens.
Meanwhile, greenhouse emissions from the fires across Western Canada have hit a new high.
Alberta Wildfire spokeswoman Josee St-Onge told a news conference a fire southwest of Fort McMurray was still considered out of control, after scorching almost 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres) of forest.
But it has not gotten any closer to the city since ... Read more ...
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What Honda's big electric vehicle announcement in Ontario really means:
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| What Honda's big electric vehicle announcement in Ontario really means - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · In 2010, Ontario's economic future looked grim. Tied as it had been for more than a century to the automobile industry, the provincial economy was in freefall.
General Motors and Chrysler went bankrupt, dozens of plants were shuttered, and tens of thousands of well-paying auto jobs were lost along Ontario's automotive-producing zone from Windsor to Oshawa.
Ontario's auto sector, once the wellspring of the province's prosperity, looked to be in the process of an inevitable decline. It was, quite literally, a dinosaur industry seemingly destined to go the way of Australia's, which closed its last car plant in 2017.
Barely 15 years later, in April Honda announced a ... Read more ...
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What Is the Carbon Footprint of a House in Japan?:
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| What Is the Carbon Footprint of a House in Japan? - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · The team hopes that by identifying emission hot spots in the supply chain that go into building a house, policy makers can implement strategies to reduce its climate impact. Their analysis was published in the Journal of Environmental Management.
As humanity maneuvers itself through the climate crisis, researchers and industry professionals alike have been working to identify sectors with high CO2 emissions so they can implement policies that potentially reduce greenhouse gas production. But in today's highly interconnected economy, figuring out a sector or object's greenhouse gas output is astoundingly complex.
"For example, it's easy to calculate how much CO2 a single ... Read more ...
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What made the deadly thunderstorms in Houston so violent?:
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| What made the deadly thunderstorms in Houston so violent? - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
May 17 · Several meteorological ingredients, including record-warm land and ocean temperatures from the Florida Keys to Mexico, helped fuel the destructive storms.
Texas is no stranger to strong thunderstorms this time of year. It was a confluence of multiple factors, however, that primed the atmosphere for the exceptionally intense storms that blasted the Houston area Thursday evening, killing at least four people, downing trees, cutting power to more than 870,000 customers and blowing out skyscraper windows. Read more ...
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When the first warm-blooded dinosaurs roamed Earth:
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| When the first warm-blooded dinosaurs roamed Earth - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
May 18 · Now, a new study estimates that the first warm-blooded dinosaurs may have roamed the Earth about 180 million years ago, about halfway through the creatures' time on the planet.
Warm-blooded creatures — including birds, who are descended from dinosaurs, and humans — keep their body temperature constant whether the world around them runs cold or hot. Cold-blooded animals, including reptiles like snakes and lizards, depend on outside sources to control their temperature: For example, basking in the sun to warm up.
Knowing when dinosaurs evolved their stable internal thermometer could help scientists answer other questions about how they lived, including how ... Read more ...
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Why cheap renewables are stalling:
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| Why cheap renewables are stalling - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · The warnings of climate scientists are at fever pitch: halt the burning of coal, oil and gas or risk catastrophic warming of at least 2.5°C. With solar and wind energy plentiful and supposedly cheap to harvest, why is ditching fossil fuel so hard anyway?
Renewable sources generate nearly a third of the world's electricity—and a handful of new studies suggest that rapidly decarbonizing the remainder is possible.
In fact, some evidence suggests the transition needn't be all that painful.
Shovels at the ready
"Over half of Africa's people—about 600 million—lack access to even the bare minimum of electricity," say Christiane Zarfl and ... Read more ...
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Wind Farms Can Offset Their Emissions Within Two Years:
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| Wind Farms Can Offset Their Emissions Within Two Years - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
May 24 · After spinning for under two years, a wind farm can offset the carbon emissions generated across its entire 30-year lifespan, when compared to thermal power plants.
That's according to a new peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand -- which also shows within six months a turbine can generate all the energy consumed across its life-cycle.
"The wind turbine technology employed in New Zealand is consistent with that used internationally," explains lead author Isabella Pimentel Pincelli from the Sustainable Energy Systems research group, Wellington Faculty of Engineering, at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of ... Read more ...
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Wind farms can offset their emissions within two years, new study shows:
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| Wind farms can offset their emissions within two years, new study shows - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
May 16 · That's according to a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand—which also shows within six months a turbine can generate all the energy consumed across its life-cycle.
"The wind turbine technology employed in New Zealand is consistent with that used internationally," explains lead author Isabella Pimentel Pincelli from the Sustainable Energy Systems research group, Wellington Faculty of Engineering, at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.
"Although the carbon offset depends on the exact older technology the wind turbines are replacing, we would expect a similar offset internationally. In New Zealand it is gas turbines, ... Read more ...
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