My Climate Change News

The European Union aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050 as part of the comprehensive Green Deal that was agreed upon four years ago. However, an analysis of the policy documents outlining the practical measures of the Green Deal shows that it will decrease carbon emissions in Europe, but also increase carbon emissions outside the EU.

This increase is more than double the amount of carbon emissions saved by the Green Deal. This analysis was published in Nature Sustainability by an international team of scientists led by Klaus Hubacek, Professor of Science, Technology and Society at the University of Groningen.

The European Green Deal is a set of policies intended to fully decarbonize Europe by 2050, but it also includes measures for clean energy production and ecological restoration. Hubacek and colleagues from the United States and China carried out full supply-chain analyses of the policy documents underlying the Green Deal.

Their conclusion is that the Green ...

Increasingly severe wildfires at high elevations are impacting snowpack - an important reservoir for the U.S. West. The altered landscape makes it more challenging to predict when snow will melt and how much water will be available for use.

Colorado State University researchers studied the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire's effects on snowpack across mountainous terrain and found that location is key to melt rate and timing.

Snowmelt rates vary from slope to slope, based on how much sun the slope receives and vegetation. Snow generally melts faster on south-facing slopes, which get more sun. The researchers found that the amount of water in the snow on a burned south aspect peaks earlier in the season than other snowpack locations, and south aspect snow melts sooner.

The maximum water in the snowpack occurred 22 days earlier at burned south-facing locations than at burned north-facing sites at the same elevation, because of the increased solar radiation absorbed at the ...

Iron is a micronutrient indispensable for life, enabling processes such as respiration, photosynthesis, and DNA synthesis. Iron availability is often a limiting resource in today's oceans, which means that increasing the flow of iron into them can increase the amount of carbon fixed by phytoplankton, with consequences for the global climate.

Iron ends up in oceans and terrestrial ecosystems through rivers, melting glaciers, hydrothermal activity, and especially wind. But not all its chemical forms are "bioreactive," that is, available for organisms to take up from their environment.

"Here we show that iron bound to dust from the Sahara blown westward over the Atlantic has properties that change with the distance traveled: the greater this distance, the more bioreactive the iron," said Dr. Jeremy Owens, an associate professor at Florida State University and a co-author on a new study in Frontiers in Marine Science.

"This relationship suggests that chemical ...

Given its outlandish nature and tenuous relationship with reality, you might think this so-called "AI slop" would quickly disappear. However, it shows no sign of abating.

In fact, our research suggests this kind of low-quality AI-generated content is becoming a lucrative venture for the people who make it, the platforms that host it, and even a growing industry of middlemen teaching others how to get in on the AI gold rush.

The short explanation for the prevalence of these baffling videos and images is that savvy creators on social media platforms have worked out how to use generative AI tools to earn a quick buck.

But the full story is more complex. Platforms have created incentive programs for content that goes viral, and a whole ecosystem of content creators has arisen using generative AI to exploit these programs.

Much of the conversation around generative AI tools focuses on how they enable ordinary people to "create." Many earlier digital ...

Wildfire activity in central Siberia, Russia, has doubled in the past 2 decades, scorching vast areas of forest and releasing carbon stored in the rich soils and permafrost underneath. The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, and scientists already know that the effects of climate change can exacerbate wildfires. But the specific factors driving enhanced Siberian wildfire activity aren't fully understood, making it difficult to predict future burning accurately.

Water vapor in the atmosphere typically condenses around aerosol particles to form droplets, which come together as clouds and can fall as rain. But droplets formed around aerosols in wildfire smoke are smaller - often too small to form raindrops.

The authors used data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites to track wildfire activity between 2002 and 2022 and paired them with data on wildfire smoke, regional climate, and ...

The Arctic frequently experiences temperatures that support the formation of mixed-phase clouds that contain supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals. The composition of such clouds plays a crucial role in the region's energy balance and climate system. Clouds with more liquid last longer and reflect more sunlight than those with more ice crystals.

With Arctic warming, meteorologists have been interested in determining the effect of rising temperatures on cloud composition and its broader effect on the region. Climate models generally predict that as the Arctic warms, clouds in the region will contain more liquid water and less ice, since warmer temperatures typically suppress the formation of ice crystals.

However, cloud formation is also influenced by the presence of aerosols which act as seeds, both for the condensation of liquid droplets and the formation of ice crystals.

In a study published in Communications Earth & Environment, on 18 September ...

Just a month after its launch, ESA's Arctic Weather Satellite has already delivered its first images, notably capturing Storm Boris, which has been wreaking havoc across central Europe.

Equipped with a 19-channel cross-track scanning microwave radiometer, the satellite's mission is to penetrate the atmosphere and provide detailed temperature and humidity profiles in all weather conditions.

Despite its name, the Arctic Weather Satellite measures temperature and humidity at various altitudes around the world. However, its humidity data is particularly valuable for Arctic weather forecasting, as water vapor levels can change rapidly in this region.

Since it was only launched a month ago on 16 August, the Arctic Weather Satellite is still undergoing rigorous testing of its systems as part of the commissioning phase. However, on 14 September, engineers adjusted their testing schedule to evaluate how well the satellite could measure the effects of Storm ...

Schools across the country are adding trees, tent-like structures and water to their playgrounds as temperatures soar.

The bare hot asphalt schoolyard of the American past is getting a redo.

The schoolyard of the future has trees to play under, or canvas canopies to shade a climbing gym. Some have native plants to sniff during recess or fallen logs to climb over. Instead of hard ground, some are tearing out asphalt in favor of more spongy materials to absorb heavy rains.

They are all solutions to tackle not only the hazards of extreme weather but also a growing recognition that playing in nature could be good for children.

Many of these innovations are happening in some of the hottest, most climate vulnerable parts of the country, like Arizona, which this summer endured over 100 consecutive days of 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, or California, where some schools closed early because of record high temperatures earlier this month.

Mathematical analysis reveals that within Brazil's agriculture and livestock industry, the biofuels sector is most heavily reliant on other sectors with high greenhouse gas emissions.

Brazil is a world leader in biofuel production, but the environmental sustainability of the sector has faced criticism due to its impacts on deforestation, water use, and biodiversity, especially in the Amazon rainforest.

In an analysis published in The European Physical Journal B, researchers led by Eder Johnson de Area Leão Pereira at the Federal Institute of Maranhão reveal new insights into the biofuel industry's dependence on high greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sectors.

The study shows that within Brazil's agriculture and livestock industry, the biofuel sector relies most heavily on other sectors that contribute significantly to GHG emissions. The team hope their results could contribute to discussions about threats the sector poses to the Amazon rainforest, and its overall ...

Astronomers study stars by looking at the different colors of light they emit - colors they capture and analyze using spectroscopy. Now a team led by Université de Montréal's Étienne Artigau has developed a technique that uses a star's spectrum to chart variations in its temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree Celsius, over a range of time scales.

"By tracking a star's temperature, we can learn a lot about it, such as its rotation period, its stellar activity, its magnetic field," explained Artigau, an astrophysicist at UdeM's Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx). "Such detailed knowledge is also essential for finding and studying a star's planets."

In an article accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal and currently available on the arXiv preprint server, Artigau and his team demonstrate the technique's effectiveness and versatility using observations of four very different stars made with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in ...

Efforts to reduce the presence of harmful metals like lead in the environment are having an effect, according to the results of an EPA Victoria study.

The study, titled "Trace elements in liver and muscle tissues from wild waterfowls in Australia: Risk associated with human consumption in a global context," published in Environmental Pollution, looked at the presence of metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium and zinc in wild ducks in Victoria and showed that most species had concentrations below the daily tolerable intake levels for humans.

According to EPA Principal Scientist Ecological Risk and Emerging Contaminants, Minna Saaristo, the result underscores the importance of legislative controls that reduce or limit harmful substances entering the environment.

"The removal of lead from petrol and paint, as well as the replacement of lead shot used in Victoria, are the most likely reason behind the improving situation," said ...

Leaders around the world are asking the European Union to delay rules that would require companies to police their global supply chains.

Reporting from London

The European Union has been a world leader on climate change, passing groundbreaking legislation to reduce noxious greenhouse gasses. Now the world is pushing back.

Government officials and business groups around the globe have jacked up their lobbying in recent months to persuade E.U. officials to suspend a landmark environmental law aimed at protecting the planet’s endangered forests by tracing supply chains.

The rapid growth of the voluntary carbon market has resulted in a mismatch between supply of and demand for quality carbon credits.

As the voluntary carbon market (VCM) matures, its focus is shifting towards measures of quality and integrity. It’s becoming clear, however, that “quality” and “integrity” mean different things in different contexts, and that standards and frameworks are needed to represent the broad spectrum of what defines a “good carbon credit.”

“It used to be that we treated this market like a binary,” explained Spencer Meyer, Chief Ratings Officer at carbon ratings agency BeZero, speaking at a recent Sustainable Brands® (SB) webinar. “You either passed the test or you didn’t. … If you followed the methodology and you got verified by a standard, suddenly they were carbon credits.”

Increasingly, however, carbon credit buyers are realizing that varying degrees of quality are acceptable for varying needs. To that end, Meyer recommended that ...

On a blisteringly hot, sunny day this summer, Emory University researcher Arabella Lewis made her way through the underbrush in a patch of woods in Putnam County, Georgia, about an hour southeast of Atlanta. She was after something most people try desperately to avoid while in the woods: ticks.

“Sometimes you gotta get back in the weeds to get the best ticks,” she explained, sweeping a large square of white flannel along the forest floor.

The idea was that the ticks could sense the movement of the fabric and smell the carbon dioxide Lewis breathed out and would grab onto the flannel flag.

“My favorite thing about them is their little grabby front arms, the way that they like wave them around, like they’re trying to grab onto things,” said Lewis, who’s been fascinated by ticks since she was a young kid growing up on a farm - and persistently dealing with ticks. “They have these little organs on their hands that smell, so they smell with their ...

Invasive species are often looked upon with suspicion.

From non-native "weeds" to insects and aquatic invaders, introduced (or non-native) species continue to be misunderstood - and consequently often mismanaged.

Stated plainly, the vast majority of intentionally or unintentionally introduced species are not a threat to native ecosystems.

Governments and conservation organizations spend an enormous amount of their time and funding targeting the control of invasive species. Yet, most introduced species removal efforts are ineffective, time-consuming and usually unsuccessful in the long term.

Certainly, some invasive species - such as the zebra mussel or the emerald ash borer - can pose a threat to native habitats and efforts to control their spread are worthwhile. However, the vast majority of introduced species pose no danger at all to native ecosystems and in some cases can even provide new benefits.

Simply put, an over-fixation on demonizing ...

Governments are being asked to sign up to a goal to boost energy storage six-fold and renew or add 80 million km of electric grids, among other initiatives

Electricity cables at the Lethaba power station in 2007 (Photos: World Bank)

Azerbaijan, which is hosting this year’s COP29 UN summit, this week announced 14 climate initiatives it hopes countries will sign up to, including one to promote energy storage and electric grids.

Governments are being asked by the COP29 presidency to back a pledge to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, and to add or refurbish more than 80 million kilometres of electricity grids by 2030. The voluntary initiatives are currently in draft form and will be finalised after consultation with states and other partners.

The targeted increase in the ability to store energy, mainly in batteries, is what the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said is ...

The tiniest and oldest creatures on - and in - Earth have a huge role in achieving a sustainable future for the planet, an international team of scientists, including faculty researchers from The Ohio State University, asserts in a new Cell article published today.

The jobs done by microbes - bacteria, viruses, fungi and other single-cell organisms - enable all other species living by land, sea and air, and in our guts, to survive. Boosted by fast-paced technological advances in recent decades, scientists are learning more every day about microbial functions and how they can be put to use in protecting human health and the global environment.

And yet, microbial research remains underrepresented in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals - something the scientists say should change to accelerate progress toward meeting the objectives.

The U.N. has outlined 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, to be addressed globally by developed and developing ...

Scientists have moved about 300 endangered sea corals from South Florida to the Texas Gulf Coast for research and restoration.

Nova Southeastern University and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi researchers packed up the corals Wednesday at the NSU's Oceanographic Campus in Dania Beach. The sea creatures were then loaded onto a van, taken to a nearby airport and flown to Texas.

"The process that we're undertaking today is a really great opportunity for us to expand the representation of the corals that we are working with and the locations where they're stored," Wever said. "Increasing the locations that they're stored really acts as safeguards for us to protect them and to preserve them for the future."

Each coral was packaged with fresh clean sea water and extra oxygen, inside of a protective case and inside of insulated and padded coolers, and was in transport for the shortest time possible.

NSU's marine science research facility serves as a coral ...

Italian authorities evacuated some 1,000 people from their homes as the tail end of Storm Boris pummel a northeastern region that was devastated by deadly flooding last year, regional authorities said on Thursday.

The strong winds and rains which have swept across central and eastern Europe, killing 24 people, lashed the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions on Wednesday, leaving some towns under water.

Deputy Transport Minister Galeazzo Bignami told a press conference that two people were missing after they took refuge on a roof which then collapsed.

Schools closed and trains were cancelled Thursday as the rains lashed the same area hit by two floods in May 2023, which killed 17 people and caused billions of euros in damage.

Locals in Faenza told Local Team journalists they blamed authorities for fresh damage to their homes.

"There's one and a half meters of water in my house, again, after I'd just finished refurbishing it," one unnamed resident was ...