Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Earth
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Kenya floods death toll tops 200 as cyclone approaches - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 3) |
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May 3 · The death toll from flood-related incidents in Kenya has crossed 200 since March, the interior ministry said Friday, as a cyclone barrelled towards the Tanzanian coast.
Torrential rains have lashed much of East Africa, triggering flooding and landslides that has destroyed crops, swallowed homes, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Some 210 people have died in Kenya "due to severe weather conditions," the interior ministry said in a statement, with 22 killed in the past 24 hours.
More than 165,000 people had been uprooted from their home, it added and 90 others missing, raising fears that the toll could rise higher.
Kenya and neighboring Tanzania, ... Read more ...
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Research quantifies 'gap' in carbon removal for first time - shows countries need more awareness, ambition and action - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 3) |
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May 3 · Since 2010, the United Nations environmental organization UNEP has taken an annual measurement of the emissions gap—the difference between countries' climate protection pledges and what is necessary to limit global heating to 1.5ºC, or at least below 2ºC.
The UNEP Emissions Gap Reports are clear: climate policy needs more ambition. This new study now explicitly applies this analytical concept to carbon dioxide removal (CDR)—the removal of the most important greenhouse gas, CO2, from the atmosphere.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, was led by the Berlin-based Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change ... Read more ...
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Research shows bumblebee nests are overheating due to climate change, threatening future populations - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 3) |
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May 3 · As a result of the climate crisis, global warming is driving up temperatures around the world - and bumblebees, like humans, are struggling to cope with homes that can't beat the heat.
In a new article published in Frontiers in Bee Science, scientists identify rising heat as a potential culprit for the decline in bumblebee populations worldwide, compromising bumblebees' ability to construct livable nests in which healthy larvae can develop.
"The decline in populations and ranges of several species of bumblebees may be explained by issues of overheating of the nests and the brood," said Dr. Peter Kevan of the University of Guelph, Canada, lead author of the ... Read more ...
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Researchers develop 'founding document' on synthetic cell development - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 3) |
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May 3 · The development of synthetic cells could one day hold the answers to developing new ways to fight disease, supporting long-duration human space flight, and better understanding the origins of life on Earth.
In a paper published recently in ACS Synthetic Biology, researchers outline the potential opportunities that synthetic cell development could unlock and the challenges that lie ahead in this groundbreaking research. They also present a roadmap to inspire and guide innovation in this intriguing field.
"The potential for this field is incredible," said Lynn Rothschild, the lead author of the paper and an astrobiologist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's ... Read more ...
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New eco-friendly lubricant additives protect turbine equipment, waterways - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · Each year, roughly 2.47 billion gallons of lubricating oil are consumed in the United States alone for engines and industrial machinery, according to DOE, with about half eventually finding its way into the environment.
While environmentally acceptable lubricants are available, they are not optimized with additives that can greatly improve performance while posing minimal environmental impact if accidentally released. To create nontoxic, biodegradable and high-performing lubricant additives for water power turbines, researchers turned to ionic liquids, or ILs: organic liquid salts that mix well with oil, reduce friction between bearings and gears, and are stable in a range of ... Read more ...
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Mice navigating a virtual reality environment reveal that walls, not floors, define space - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · The study, led by Dr. Guifen Chen from Queen Mary University of London, delves into the brains of mice navigating a two-dimensional virtual reality (VR) environment, revealing the surprising importance of specific visual cues for building and maintaining spatial maps. It reveals that specific visual cues - in this case, elevated walls - are crucial for stabilizing the neurons responsible for spatial navigation in virtual reality (VR).
"Our findings provide a significant step forward in understanding the precise nature of the sensory information that animals used for boundary detection," says Dr. Chen. "They not only highlight the importance of elevated boundaries in building ... Read more ...
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Coastal hurricanes around the world are intensifying faster, new study finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · A new study led by scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory finds that coastal conditions have changed since 1979, driving nearshore hurricanes around the world to intensify at a quickening pace. What's more, new projections suggest this rate will continue climbing should current warming trends continue. The paper is published in the journal Earth's Future.
Much work has been done to document how hurricanes are changing in our warmer world. Past research has shown these storms may grow wetter, threatening heightened risks of flooding. Other work suggests they may strike more often in some areas and that their intensity may peak closer to ... Read more ...
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A clock in the rocks: What cosmic rays tell us about Earth's changing surface and climate - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try to improve projections to prepare communities for hazardous events in the future.
We rely on instrumental measurements, but such records are often short. To extend these, we use geological archives. And at the heart of this research is geochronology—a toolkit of geological dating methods that allow us to assign absolute ages to rocks.
In recent years, we have been using a state-of-the-art technique known as cosmogenic surface exposure dating which allows us to quantify the time a rock has spent on the surface, exposed to signals from outer space.
Using cosmic rays as a clock
Earth is ... Read more ...
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A look at the past suggests atmospheric rivers inundating California could get worse - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · In their paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the group describes their study of sediment core samples collected from the bottom of Leonard Lake, in northern California.
Over the past two winters, parts of California have seen much more rain than is normal for the region. The reason for it has been the creation of what have come to be called atmospheric rivers over parts of the Pacific Ocean, which dump wave after wave of rain as they move over land.
For this new study, the researchers focused on the history of atmospheric rivers dumping rain on California. They traveled to Leonard Lake in northern California to collect core sediment ... Read more ...
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Bigger brains allow cliff-nesting seagull species to survive and thrive in urban environments - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · The findings come in a broad-ranging study by ecologists at the University of Exeter looking at potential relationships between brain size, wing shape, nesting habits and the use of urban areas. It suggests that species such as the herring gull, the lesser black-backed gull and the black-legged kittiwake possess a behavioral flexibility that enables them to nest in more challenging locations.
The study, "From the sea to the city: explaining gulls' use of urban habitats," has been published in the latest edition of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
"Many people will be familiar with gulls nesting and foraging in urban areas," says lead author Dr. Madeleine Goumas, ... Read more ...
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Climate is one culprit in growth and spread of dust in Middle East - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · Dust levels have increased in many parts of the Middle East chiefly due to global warming, but other human activities also share credit, says Zahra Kalantari, associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. She cites such factors as oil extraction, military conflicts and lack of cross-border coordination of water management.
Analyzing multiple sets of data over the last 40 years, the researchers found an increase in dust levels in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, parts of Iran and Egypt and countries around the Persian Gulf, while it has declined in northern Iran and southwest Turkey.
The area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in northern Iraq and along the ... Read more ...
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For microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as 'expressway' to deeper depths, study finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · "We found that because these organisms are so small, they can be swept up by ocean currents that then bring them deeper than where they grow," said Mara Freilich, an assistant professor in Brown University's Division of Applied Mathematics and Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences who launched the work as a Ph.D. student a joint program at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "It's often a one-way trip for these organisms, but by taking this trip, they play a critical role in connecting different parts of the ocean."
Freilich conducted the research during her Ph.D. with Amala Mahadevan, senior scientist at Woods Hole, in a close collaboration ... Read more ...
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Good vibrations: Low-energy lasers induce atomic excitation in semiconductor materials - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · By leveraging intense and broad-band ultrafast terahertz pulses, scientists from Yokohama National University and their colleagues at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated atomic excitation in a two-dimensional semiconductor material, advancing the development of electronic devices.
Their paper was published on March 19 and appears as an Editor's Pick in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials, or sheet-like nanomaterials, are promising platforms for future semiconductor applications due to their unique electronic properties. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), a prominent group of 2D materials, consist of layers of ... Read more ...
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In the Jersey suburbs, a search for rocks to help fight climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · Okoko, a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, was not so much interested in geologic history as in a modern use for basalt: to capture and store carbon permanently below the nearby seafloor in solid form.
Basalt underlies much of New Jersey, and is believed to extend well out into the Atlantic seabed. On land, it mostly lies hidden under soil, other kinds of rocks, roads, buildings, parking lots and other human infrastructure.
This particular outcrop, about 400 feet long, was exposed when people cut into a hillside to create a narrow, upward-winding track dubbed Ghost Pony Road. Today, Ghost Pony Road is wedged uphill of the constant ... Read more ...
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Kenya floods death toll rises to 188 as heavy rains persist - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · The number of people who have lost their lives in devastating floods in Kenya since March has risen to 188, with dozens still missing, the interior ministry said on Thursday.
Torrential rains in Kenya and other countries in East Africa have caused deadly havoc, with floods and landslides forcing people from their homes, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
"As a result, the country has regrettably recorded 188 fatalities due to severe weather conditions," the ministry said in a statement.
It added that 125 people had been reported injured and 90 people were currently missing, while 165,000 have been displaced.
On Wednesday, nearly 100 tourists ... Read more ...
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Kenya, Tanzania brace for cyclone as heavy rains persist - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · Kenya and Tanzania were bracing Thursday for a cyclone on the heels of torrential rains that have devastated East Africa, killing more than 350 people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.
In addition to claiming 188 lives in Kenya since March, the floods have displaced 165,000 people, with 90 reported missing, the interior ministry said, as the government warned citizens to remain on alert.
"Crucially, the coastal region is likely to experience Cyclone Hidaya, which will result in heavy rainfall, large waves and strong winds that could affect marine activities in the Indian Ocean," the office of Kenyan President William Ruto said.
Neighboring Tanzania, ... Read more ...
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Morocco's farming revolution: Defying drought with science - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · In the heart of sun-soaked Morocco, scientists are cultivating a future where tough crops defy a relentless drought, now in its sixth year.
"Look at these beautiful ears of wheat," said Wuletaw Tadesse Degu, the head of wheat breeding at the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).
"The difference in quality between our field and others is striking," he said, pointing towards a lush expanse in Marchouch, south of Rabat, that stood in stark contrast with the barren lands elsewhere.
By 2040, Morocco is poised to face "extremely high" water stress, a dire prediction from the World Resources Institute, a non-profit research ... Read more ...
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Nepal battles raging wildfires across the country - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Thursday as the Himalayan republic endures a severe fire season authorities have blamed on a heat wave.
Nepal sees a spate of wildfires annually, usually beginning in March, but their number and intensity has worsened in recent years, with climate change leading to drier winters.
Emergency crews worked through the night to fight the blaze which engulfed a forested area in Lalitpur, on the southern periphery of the Kathmandu valley.
More than 4,500 wildfires have been reported this year across the country, nearly double compared to last year according to government data ... Read more ...
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New sugar-based catalyst could offer a potential solution for using captured carbon - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · In a new Northwestern University study, the catalyst successfully converted CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO), an important building block to produce a variety of useful chemicals. When the reaction occurs in the presence of hydrogen, for example, CO2 and hydrogen transform into synthesis gas (or syngas), a highly valuable precursor to producing fuels that can potentially replace gasoline.
With recent advances in carbon capture technologies, post-combustion carbon capture is becoming a plausible option to help tackle the global climate change crisis. But how to handle the captured carbon remains an open-ended question. The new catalyst potentially could provide one solution for ... Read more ...
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TOI-837 b is a young Saturn-sized exoplanet with a massive core, observations find - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · European astronomers have performed photometric and spectroscopic observations of a distant giant exoplanet known as TOI-837 b. As a result, they found that TOI-837 b is a young Saturn-sized planet containing a massive core, which challenges current core formation theories. The findings are presented in a paper published on the preprint server arXiv.
TOI-837 b was discovered in 2020, orbiting a young (about 35 million years old) dwarf star of spectral type F9/G0 in the open cluster IC 2602, about 465 light years away. The planet orbits its host every 8.32 days and was found to have a radius of approximately 0.77 Jupiter radii. The star TOI-837 is about the size of the sun, has ... Read more ...
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Webb telescope probably didn't find life on an exoplanet - yet - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · Recent reports of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope finding signs of life on a distant planet understandably sparked excitement. A new study challenges this finding, but also outlines how the telescope might verify the presence of the life-produced gas.
The UC Riverside study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, may be a disappointment to extraterrestrial enthusiasts but does not rule out the near-future possibility of discovery.
In 2023 there were tantalizing reports of a biosignature gas in the atmosphere of planet K2-18b, which seemed to have several conditions that would make life possible.
Many exoplanets, meaning planets orbiting other stars, are ... Read more ...
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Wildfires in wet African forests have doubled in recent decades, large-scale analysis finds - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 2) |
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May 2 · With fires increasing in other historically wet forests, such as the U.S. Pacific Northwest and the Amazon, wet forest fires can no longer be ignored, the researchers say.
Scientists have known for decades that wet forests in western and central Africa have fires, but because the fires tend to be much smaller than their counterparts in dry woodlands and savannas, relatively little research has been done on Africa's tropical forest fires. This has led to uncertainty over where and when they burn, what exacerbates them and how that might shift in response to climate change.
"Historically, scientists have not considered fire to be an important part of wet, tropical forests, ... Read more ...
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April temperatures in Bangladesh hottest on record - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Bangladesh's weather bureau said Wednesday that last month was the hottest April on record, with the South Asian nation and much of the region still enduring a suffocating heat wave.
Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
Punishing heat last month prompted Bangladesh's government to close schools across the country, keeping an estimated 32 million students at home.
"This year the heat wave covered around 80 percent of the country. We've not seen such unbroken and expansive heat waves before," Bangladesh Meteorological Department senior forecaster Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik told AFP. Read more ...
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EPA underestimates methane emissions from landfills and urban areas, researchers find - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · "Methane is the second largest contributor to climate change behind carbon dioxide so it's really important that we quantify methane emissions at the highest possible resolution to pinpoint what sources it is coming from," said Hannah Nesser, a former Ph.D. student at SEAS and first author of the paper. Nesser is currently a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow in the Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The EPA estimates that landfills are the third-largest source of human-caused methane emissions in the U.S., but the EPA uses a bottom-up accounting method that often doesn't match observations of atmospheric methane.
The EPA methane ... Read more ...
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Every breath you take: Following the journey of inhaled plastic particle pollution - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Led by Senior Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Suvash Saha, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) research team has used computational fluid-particle dynamics (CFPD) to study the transfer and deposition of nano and microplastic particles of different sizes and shapes depending on the rate of breathing.
The results of the modeling, published in the journal Environmental Advances, have pinpointed hotspots in the human respiratory system where plastic particles can accumulate, from the nasal cavity and larynx and into the lungs. The paper is titled, "Transport and deposition of microplastics and nanoplastics in the human respiratory tract."
Dr. Saha said evidence ... Read more ...
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Floods strand dozens of tourists in Kenya's Maasai Mara - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Nearly 100 tourists were among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya's famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpour, a local administrator said Wednesday, as the death toll from flood-related disasters neared 180.
Torrential rains, amplified by the El Niño weather pattern, have lashed much of the East African country and destroyed roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
"Approximately 100 or more tourists" were stranded in more than a dozen lodges, hotels and camps, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP.
"That is the preliminary number as of now because some of the camps are unaccessible," he said.
The ... Read more ...
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Fungal resistance in plants associated with heritable differences in microbiota abundances - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Sunflowers can be harvested for a number of products including seeds and oil, for which consumer demand has increased significantly in recent years. They may also contribute to climate resilience, researchers note, since they can adapt to various weather conditions, and sunflower sprouts contain nutrients that can promote human health.
Unfortunately, like many other plants, sunflowers are susceptible to disease, which can cause significant crop losses. For example, white mold, which is caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is responsible for average annual sunflower crop losses of more than 1%. It can also affect beans, eggplants, lettuce, peanuts, potatoes ... Read more ...
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Investigating coal emissions reductions and mortality in China - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Annual coal consumption fell between 2013 and 2017, which led to observed dramatic decreases in mean daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels.
In 2018, a new program, known as "Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense Battle," began, and in the same year, PM2.5 concentrations were further reduced by 9.3% from 2017 levels.
In this context, Xiaoming Shi and colleagues used accountability analysis to assess whether the acute health effects of PM2.5 changed from 2013 to 2018 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, which was the most heavily polluted region. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.
The acute effects of PM2.5 were significantly ... Read more ...
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Kenya's devastating floods expose decades of poor urban planning and bad land management - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Floods are the natural consequence of storm rainfall and have an important ecological role. They inundate flood plains where silts settle, riverbed aquifers are recharged and nutrients are gathered. Annual rainfall in Kenya varies from 2,000 mm in the western region to less than 250 mm in the drylands covering over 80% of Kenya. But storm rainfalls are widespread. This means that floods can occur in any part of the country.
The impact of floods has become more severe due to a number of factors.
The first is how much water runs off. In rural areas, changes to the landscape have meant that there's been an increase in the amount of storm runoff generated from rainfall. This ... Read more ...
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Mystery behind huge opening in Antarctic sea ice solved - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · A study published in Science Advances reveals a key process that had eluded scientists as to how the opening, called a polynya, was able to form and persist for several weeks. The paper is titled "Ekman-Driven Salt Transport as a Key Mechanism for Open-Ocean Polynya Formation at Maud Rise."
The team of researchers from the University of Southampton, the University of Gothenburg and the University of California San Diego studied the Maud Rise polynya—named after the submerged mountain-like feature in the Weddell Sea, over which it grows.
They found the polynya was brought on by complex interactions between the wind, ocean currents, and the unique geography of the ... Read more ...
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New climate study shows cloud cover is easier to affect than previously thought - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Clouds are among the least understood entities in the climate system and the largest source of uncertainty in predicting future climate change. To describe clouds, you need to understand weather systems on the scale of up to hundreds of kilometers and microphysics down to the scale of molecules.
The new study sheds new light on what happens at the molecular scale, focusing on cloud condensation nuclei in marine stratus clouds—low-level, horizontally layered clouds. The study, "Supersaturation and Critical Size of Cloud Condensation Nuclei in Marine Stratus Clouds," is published in Geophysical Research Letters.
It is well-known that cloud formation depends on two ... Read more ...
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New computer algorithm supercharges climate models and could lead to better predictions of future climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · However, climate modelers have long faced a major problem. Because Earth System Models integrate many complicated processes, they cannot immediately run a simulation; they must first ensure that it has reached a stable equilibrium representative of real-world conditions before the industrial revolution. Without this initial settling period—referred to as the "spin-up" phase—the model can "drift," simulating changes that may be erroneously attributed to manmade factors.
Unfortunately, this process is extremely slow as it requires running the model for many thousands of model years which, for IPCC simulations, can take as much as two years on some of the world's most ... Read more ...
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New findings point to an Earth-like environment on ancient Mars - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · "It is difficult for manganese oxide to form on the surface of Mars, so we didn't expect to find it in such high concentrations in a shoreline deposit," said Patrick Gasda, of Los Alamos National Laboratory's Space Science and Applications group and lead author on the study.
"On Earth, these types of deposits happen all the time because of the high oxygen in our atmosphere produced by photosynthetic life, and from microbes that help catalyze those manganese oxidation reactions.
"On Mars, we don't have evidence for life, and the mechanism to produce oxygen in Mars's ancient atmosphere is unclear, so how the manganese oxide was formed and concentrated here is really ... Read more ...
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Precipitation may brighten Colorado River's future, says modeling study - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Precipitation falling in the river's headwaters region is likely to be more abundant than during the prior two decades. The work, published in the Journal of Climate, comes as policymakers, water managers, states, and tribes look for answers on how to govern the Colorado River's flows beyond 2025.
"It's a sort of nuanced message," said Balaji Rajagopalan, CIRES Fellow and co-author of the study. "Yes, the temperature is warming, but that's not the full story—you add precipitation and you get a fuller picture."
CIRES affiliate Martin Hoerling and Fellow Balaji Rajagopalan worked with colleagues from several other institutions to analyze data from a suite of models, ... Read more ...
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Satellite images of plants' fluorescence can predict crop yields - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · In many parts of the world, crop yields are dropping, largely due to the effects of climate change. According to a recent Cornell study, over the last four decades, for every 1 degree Celsius of warming, net farm income decreased by 66%.
Farmers in developed countries can often rely on big datasets and risk management tools to help reduce the impacts of extreme heat on their yield and income. But in developing countries, data is scarce, and it is often difficult to accurately measure crop yield.
In a paper appearing in Environmental Research Letters, the scientists suggest using satellite photos to remotely measure solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) as a way of ... Read more ...
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Scientists find five new hydrothermal vents in Pacific Ocean - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · The pace of discovery in the oceans leaped forward thanks to teamwork between a deep-sea robot and a human occupied submarine leading to the recent discovery of five new hydrothermal vents in the eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean.
A team of ocean scientists, led by chief scientist and Lehigh faculty member Jill McDermott, returned to port March 26 in San Diego from a research expedition in the eastern Pacific Ocean where they discovered the new deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites on the seafloor at 2,550 meters (8,366 feet, or 1.6 miles) depth.
The venting fluids are all hotter than 300°C (570°F). The discovery was supported, and in many ways accelerated, by making use of the ... Read more ...
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Some communities are more vulnerable to weather-related power outages in New York State - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Weather-related power outages in the United States have become nearly twice as common in the last 10 years compared to the previous decade. These outages, which can last most of a day, are more than an inconvenience: lack of power and related indoor temperature discomfort can exacerbate health conditions; lack of power also endangers the lives of people who are reliant on electricity-powered medical devices and/or elevators.
A study led environmental health scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Washington examines the link between various types of extreme weather and outages in New York State between 2017 and 2020 and who is ... Read more ...
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Study says El Nino, not climate change, was key driver of low rainfall that snarled Panama Canal - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · The climate phenomenon known as El Niño - and not climate change - was a key driver in low rainfall that disrupted shipping at the Panama Canal last year, scientists said Wednesday.
A team of international scientists found that El Niño - a natural warming of the central Pacific that changes weather worldwide - doubled the likelihood of the low precipitation Panama received during last year's rainy season. That dryness reduced water levels at the reservoir that feeds freshwater to the Panama Canal and provides drinking water for more than half of the Central American country.
Human-caused climate change was not a primary driver of the Central American country's unusually ... Read more ...
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Texans should prepare for hotter temperatures, greater risk of fire and flooding - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · The newly updated assessment of extreme weather in Texas draws on data from 1900 to 2023 to predict trends through the year 2036, and shows a significant uptick in extreme temperatures and droughts, wildfire conditions and urban flooding risks, among other changes. The report was authored by Nielsen-Gammon, a Regents Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, in collaboration with the nonprofit public policy organization Texas 2036.
"We have national climate assessments, but they can't do justice to Texas' specific climate conditions," Nielsen-Gammon said. "With this Texas-specific study, we focused on observed trends as much as possible rather than emphasizing ... Read more ...
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Wondering what Australia might look like in a hotter world? Take a glimpse into the distant past - PHYS.ORG - Earth (May 1) |
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May 1 · Wouldn't it be useful to go back in time and see what Australia looked like during those periods in the distant past? Well, scientists—including us—have done just that.
These studies, which largely involve examining sediments and fossils, reveal a radically different Australia to the one we inhabit.
The continent was warmer and wetter, and filled with unfamiliar plant and animal species. It suggests Australia may be much wetter, and look very different, in centuries and millennia to come.
Then and now: Measuring CO₂
Atmospheric CO₂ is measured in "parts per million"—in other words, how many CO₂ molecules are present in each ... Read more ...
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