Most recent 40 articles: New Scientist
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Russia faces $32 billion bill for carbon emissions from Ukraine war - New Scientist  (Jun 12) |
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Jun 12 · The estimated greenhouse gas emissions caused by the war in Ukraine are equivalent to around 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, and Ukraine plans to include the associated climate damage in its compensation claim against Russia A building damaged by a drone attack in Kyiv in October 2022 Roman Hrytsyna/Associated Press/Alamy The first two years of Russia’s war on Ukraine will result in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to around 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, a group of climate experts has estimated. The extra warming that would result from such emissions is calculated to lead to extreme weather around the world with impacts amounting to $32 ... | By Michael Le Page Read more ... |
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Satellite launched to track down leaks of potent greenhouse gas - New Scientist  (Apr 3) |
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Apr 3 · MethaneSAT will orbit the planet 15 times a day to capture unprecedented amounts of data on methane emissions from human and natural sources 4 March 2024 An artist’s impression of MethaneSAT Environmental Defense Fund/NASA A satellite expected to transform our view of planet-warming methane emissions from oil and gas production has launched from the Vandenburg Space Force Base in California. Called MethaneSAT, the satellite will orbit the planet 15 times per day, using infrared sensors to measure methane leaking from all of the world’s major production centres. “We designed MethaneSAT explicitly to serve one goal,” says Steven Hamburg at the ... | By James Dinneen Read more ... |
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1.5°C Target is ‘Currently Out the Window’ as Global Carbon Budget Shrinks - New Scientist  (Oct 30, 2023) |
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Oct 30, 2023 · The amount of carbon dioxide we can still emit to have just a 50 per cent chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C is even smaller than previously thought A giant postcard on the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, made up of 125,000 messages about climate change from children and young people VALENTIN FLAURAUD/EPA-EFE/Shutter?stock To have just a 50/50 chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C, the world must keep future emissions to about 220 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the latest estimate. With annual emissions at around 40 gigatonnes and still rising, we are on course to exceed this by 2029 or earlier. As a result, keeping that 1.5°C goal alive now requires us ... | By Michael Le Page Read more ... |
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Home - Global Tipping Points - New Scientist  (Jun 12, 2023) |
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Jun 12, 2023 · Governments should be aiming to trigger technological, economic and social tipping points that accelerate climate action, according to a major report 6 December 2023 The rapid growth of solar energy in recent years can be seen as a positive tipping point Henry Do/Solent News/Shutterstock There are tipping points in technological, economic, political and social systems that could lead to carbon emissions falling faster if triggered, according to a major report. The authors of the Global Tipping Points Report are calling on governments worldwide to introduce coordinated policies designed to trigger these tipping points. “We’ve left it basically too ... | By Michael Le Page Read more ... |
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Climate change is fuelling the spread of viral diseases in plants - New Scientist  (Apr 11, 2023) |
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Apr 11, 2023 · Warmer and wetter weather has been linked to higher rates of infection in an analysis of plant virus outbreaks across the world from 1984 to 2019 A tobacco plant infected with tobacco mosaic virus Nigel Cattlin /Alamy Warmer and wetter weather has increased the spread of plant viruses in the past few decades, and climate change is expected to result in more outbreaks in the future. Erin Mordecai at Stanford University in California and her colleagues analysed the spread of viral pathogens in 5380 wild and agricultural plant populations across six continents from 1984 to 2019. They used data from dozens of previous studies that mainly focused on plant ... | By Carissa Wong Read more ... |
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US reservoirs are evaporating more quickly because of climate change - New Scientist  (Apr 09, 2023) |
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Apr 09, 2023 · The rate of evaporation at US reservoirs is speeding up, and could significantly increase by the middle of the century if emissions continue to rise 9 April 2023 Lake Mead near the Hoover Dam has been losing water due to an extended drought Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Climate change is increasing the rate of evaporation at reservoirs across the US. The effect is most consequential in the Southwest, where reservoir levels are already at record lows amid a megadrought and decades of overuse. Huilin Gao at Texas A&M University and her colleagues modelled the effect of climate change on evaporation at US reservoirs. They looked at more than 670 reservoirs, ... | By James Dinneen Read more ... |
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Climate change may drive more hurricanes towards the US east coast - New Scientist  (Apr 07, 2023) |
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Apr 07, 2023 · Warming in the eastern Pacific Ocean may change wind patterns above the Gulf of Mexico, leading to more hurricanes making landfall in the eastern US 7 April 2023 Hurricane Florence nearing North Carolina in 2018 NOAA via Getty Images The winds that steer hurricanes may shift due to climate change, sending more storms over the eastern and southern coasts of the US. The change in wind patterns – driven by warmer waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean – could also make the storms stronger. Each year, around 10 hurricanes form over the western Atlantic Ocean, but only two on average make landfall over the eastern US. Whether or not they do is decided by ... | By James Dinneen Read more ... |
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Lake levels are rising across the world and climate change is to blame - New Scientist  (Feb 28, 2023) |
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Feb 28, 2023 · Water levels at lakes in East Africa are rising alarmingly fast, flooding homes and farmland and displacing people. It is an unanticipated consequence of global warming – and it is being repeated around the globe Thousands of people have lost their homes near Lake Baringo, Kenya James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images ON THE shores of Lake Baringo in Kenya, a slow-motion disaster is unfolding. For the past decade, the water has been steadily rising, swallowing homes, shops, health centres, latrines, electricity supplies, farmland, tourist resorts and more. Malaria, cholera, typhoid and dysentery are increasing. Wildlife is under threat; conflict has ... | By Graham Lawton Read more ... |
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Plants are spreading up mountains faster than thought in North America - New Scientist  (Feb 15, 2023) |
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Feb 15, 2023 · From Mexico to Canada, mountain plants are moving upslope to cooler elevations. In some mountain ranges, the upward climb is as fast as 112 metres per decade Plants in some alpine regions are advancing upslope far faster than previously thought Shutterstock/Gaspar Janos In the face of climate change, mountain plants in western North America are expanding into higher, cooler elevations faster than previously thought. But in some regions, the climbing isn’t keeping up with rising temperatures. As climate change ratchets up global temperature, plants and animals that have evolved to live within a specific set of environmental conditions are forced to quickly ... | By Corryn Wetzel Read more ... |
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Marine heat waves could wipe out all common sea stars by 2100 - New Scientist  (Jan 18, 2023) |
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Jan 18, 2023 · Simulations of ocean warming show that future marine heatwaves that last more than 13 days would kill off all of the world's common sea stars blickwinkel/Alamy Increasingly hot and long marine heatwaves could kill all common sea stars by the end of the century. The loss of this key ocean predator could lead to cascading ecological impacts, including an overabundance of their primary prey, mussels. Fabian Wolf at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany and his colleagues tested how these orange-hued Atlantic sea stars or “starfish” (Asterias rubens) would fare during marine heatwaves – short periods when the ocean becomes unusually warm, ... | By Corryn Wetzel Read more ... |
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The ozone layer was destroyed during Earth's biggest mass extinction - New Scientist  (Jan 06, 2023) |
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Jan 06, 2023 · Fossils show plants were producing higher levels of sunscreen chemicals to protect against higher ultraviolet light levels at the end of the Permian period Shutterstock/studio23 It has long been suspected that the ozone layer high in the atmosphere that protects life from ultraviolet light was largely destroyed during the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period 250 million years ago. Now, we have the first direct evidence of that. Phil Jardine at the University of Münster in Germany and his colleagues have shown that pollen grains and spores from this time contain higher levels of “sunscreen” chemicals than those from earlier ... | By Michael Le Page Read more ... |
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Younger generations are the most fatalistic about climate change - New Scientist  (Sep 18, 2021) |
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Sep 18, 2021 · Older generations are wrongly accused of caring less about the climate than younger people, according to a new survey. Just one in five Baby Boomers say there is no point in changing their behaviour to tackle climate change, compared with a third of Generation Z The idea that younger generations care the most about the climate while older people downplay the issue and refuse to take action is a widespread myth, according to new research. To better understand differences between generations, including how they perceive one another and the biggest challenges of the day, my team at the Policy Institute at King’s College London and New Scientist commissioned a survey of more ... | By Bobby Duffy Read more ... |
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Carbon-negative crops may mean water shortages for 4 - New Scientist  (Mar 08, 2021) |
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Mar 08, 2021 · Billions more people could have difficulty accessing water if the world opts for a massive expansion in growing energy crops to fight climate change, research has found. The idea of growing crops and trees to absorb CO2 and capturing the carbon released when they are for energy is a central plank to most of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s scenarios for the negative emissions approaches needed to avoid the catastrophic impacts of more than 1.5°C of global warming. But the technology, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), could prove a cure worse than the disease, at least when it comes to water stress. Fabian Stenzel at the ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Godzilla Sahara dust storm linked to melting Arctic sea ice - New Scientist  (Nov 27, 2020) |
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Nov 27, 2020 · A record-breaking Sahara dust storm that spread hazy skies and harmful levels of air pollution across parts of North America was caused by winds linked to melting Arctic sea ice, researchers say. The event, dubbed the Godzilla dust cloud, peaked from 14 to 19 June 2020 and travelled more than 8000 kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean. The record dust plumes it created were so thick that algorithms initially classified them as clouds rather than dust. “It was exceptionally severe,” says Diana Francis at Khalifa University in … Continue reading Paid annually by Credit Card Inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT) Covid-19 news: UK R number below 1.0 for ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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British Museum exhibition shows how Arctic culture is under threat - New Scientist  (Oct 28, 2020) |
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Oct 28, 2020 · An animated globe on the wall shows a lovely, generous white snow cap over the North Pole and the Arctic in 1979 that shrinks, then shrinks and shrinks again until by 2100 it is a mere fingerprint, skimming the top of Greenland and the farthest tip of the Canadian archipelago. This apocalyptic introduction greets visitors at the start of the British Museum’s latest exhibition, Arctic: Culture and Climate. It is a clear and sobering reminder of the other imminent emergency we face, but this exhibition is more about the hope found in human resilience and adaptation, and cultural change in the face of disaster. There is another message, too, for a world constrained by ... | By Shaoni Bhattacharya Read more ... |
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Arctic sea ice loss could trigger huge levels of extra global warming | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Oct 27, 2020) |
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Oct 27, 2020 · If Arctic sea ice vanishes in summers by the middle of the century as expected, the world could see a vicious circle that drives enough global warming to almost wipe out the impact of China going carbon neutral. Ice losses in frozen regions are known to trigger “climate feedback” loops. For instance, white ice reflects much of the sun’s energy, so when it is replaced by dark open water that absorbs heat, more warming occurs. But how much more warming is an open question. To answer it, Ricarda Winkelmann at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and her colleagues modelled the impact of such feedbacks on global temperature rises if ice disappeared ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Electric cars won't shrink emissions enough - we must cut travel too | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Aug 10, 2020) |
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Aug 10, 2020 · Everyone knows that changing the way we get around could reduce climate emissions: cycle and walk rather than drive, take the train, not the plane, and if you must use a car make it an electric one. Now a European Union body is pushing a more controversial solution for decarbonising transport: travelling less. The EU’s position since 2011 has been that “curbing mobility is not an option”. On Wednesday, the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC), which represents the EU’s national science academies, published a major report on transport emissions, urging the EU to reverse its stance. It is high time we at least started the discussion. In 2016, the transport ... Read more ... |
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Algae is now growing on melting Antarctic snow due to climate change | New Scientist - New Scientist  (May 20, 2020) |
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May 20, 2020 · Part of Antarctica is already green due to blooms of algae living on the snow. As the continent warms, more of it may turn green, but it isn't clear what this will mean for the climate. Patches of "snow algae" have been known about for decades in the Arctic. But we know much less about their distribution in Antarctica. "Our work was really the first large-scale survey of snow algae for Antarctica," says Andrew Gray at the University of Cambridge. Gray and his colleagues used satellite images to identify patches of green on the snow-covered surface of the Antarctic Peninsula, the part of the continent that is warming the fastest, and the islands nearby. They also visited ... Read more ... |
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We need nuclear power to fight climate change, but is it doomed? - New Scientist  (May 02, 2020) |
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May 02, 2020 · Christopher Jones/Alamy Stock Photo NUCLEAR power is meant to play a key role in holding global warming below a rise of 1.5°C, but the world's nuclear plants are quietly starting to show their age – and some people are wondering if we should give up on them altogether. The UK has eight nuclear plants, a cornerstone of the country's energy system, but two – Hunterston B on the west coast of Scotland and Dungeness B in south-east England – have been silent since 2018. Hunterston, which started generating electricity in 1976, has … Continue reading Paid annually by Credit Card Inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT) *Free book is only ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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(Crowther interview) Planting a trillion trees really can help us fight climate change - New Scientist  (Mar 11, 2020) |
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Mar 11, 2020 · TWO years ago, British ecologist Tom Crowther set up a lab at ETH Zurich in Switzerland with the aim of doing high-impact science to show how and where we can restore the planet. His 30-strong team is already making waves. Crowther's lab typically starts by counting things – from trees to nematodes – before bringing the numbers together to see global trends and quantify the effects of potential interventions. Last July, his team made headlines around the world for claiming we have space to plant a trillion trees in areas of new forest amounting almost to the size of the US, and that doing so would be one of the most effective ways to address climate change. Fred Pearce: ... | By Fred Pearce Read more ... |
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Lyme disease cases may rise 92 per cent in US due to climate change - New Scientist  (Feb 08, 2020) |
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Feb 08, 2020 · Climate change could spur a 92 per cent increase in new cases of Lyme disease in the US by the end of the century, even if the world manages to limit warming to the commitments of the Paris climate deal. The number of people in the US being infected has been steadily rising in recent years, and there is no human vaccine for the disease, which can lead to lifelong health problems if not treated early. So far, the … Continue reading Paid annually by Credit Card Inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT) *Free book is only available with annual subscription purchases where subscription delivery is in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand ... Read more ... |
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Saving forests to fight climate change will cost $393 billion annually | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Jan 12, 2020) |
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Jan 12, 2020 · Limiting global warming to 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels is only possible if we make better use of the world’s forests, which collectively act as a huge carbon sink. But maximising the strength of this carbon sink won’t be cheap: it might cost about $393 billion per year. Kemen Austin at RTI International, a non-profit research firm in the US, and her colleagues have examined the financial costs of mitigating the impacts of greenhouse gases through forests. They estimate that as much as 6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year could be sequestered by forests by 2055, but only if forestry managers are incentivised to keep carbon in their forests. Encouraging ... | By Donna Lu Read more ... |
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Arctic sea ice may vanish sooner than we thought – it happened before - New Scientist  (Dec 13, 2019) |
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Dec 13, 2019 · Summer sea ice could vanish from the Arctic sooner than we thought. That is according to climate models that explain an unexpectedly warm period in Earth's history. Our planet's climate 6000 to 8000 years ago is a bit of a mystery. Some proxies - the things we use to gauge ancient temperature, such as pollen records - indicate global temperatures during the interval were perhaps 0.5°C higher than climate models suggest they should have been. This discrepancy is known as the "Holocene temperature conundrum". They found the most state-of-the-art simulations, which model atmospheric physics differently, were able to close the temperature mismatch because they included more ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Amazon deforestation officially hits highest level in a decade - New Scientist  (Nov 18, 2019) |
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Nov 18, 2019 · Sign up to our daily email newsletter Sign up for free|Educational accessSign up for more online articlesA selection of top articles hand-picked by our editors available only to registered users. A selection of top articles hand-picked by our editors available only to registered users. Activate subscription Amazon deforestation officially hits highest level in a decade The loss of nearly 10,000 square kilometres of forest ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Going fully organic would raise greenhouse gas emissions - New Scientist  (Oct 26, 2019) |
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Oct 26, 2019 · Greenhouse gas emissions would go up if all farms in England and Wales went organic. Though the emissions of individual farms would go down, much more food would have to be imported as the amount they would produce would decrease substantially. Yields would fall by nearly half if all food in England and Wales was produced organically. To meet this deficit, more farmland would be needed elsewhere in the world, which could double overall greenhouse gas emissions compared with those from farming in the two countries now. "The key message from my perspective is that you can't really have your cake and eat it," says Laurence Smith, now at the Royal Agricultural University in ... | By Michael Le Page Read more ... |
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How deadly disease outbreaks could worsen as the climate changes - New Scientist  (Oct 26, 2019) |
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Oct 26, 2019 · The dangers posed by fruit bats and mosquitoes are rarely mentioned among the potential impacts of major environmental changes such as deforestation and climate change. But two studies this week shine a light on how environmental destruction could lead to a greater spread of deadly human diseases via animals and other organisms, with serious consequences for public health. In the worst-case warming scenarios that they looked at, the area that could be affected by "spillovers" of Ebola – when the virus jumps from an animal to a human – will increase by nearly 15 per cent compared with today. That could expose new parts of western and central Africa to the disease. Disease ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Stressed about climate change? Eight tips for managing eco-anxiety - New Scientist  (Oct 22, 2019) |
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Oct 22, 2019 · If the prospect of climate change makes you stressed, anxious or depressed, you aren't alone. With reports of some children becoming terrified by climate change and the protest group Extinction Rebellion holding "grief-tending workshops", there is an increasing awareness of so-called eco-anxiety. The phenomenon is significant enough that psychotherapists met in London on Saturday to discuss how best to manage the dread and fear people are experiencing over our impact on the planet. "Eco-anxiety is a term that's used a lot, but it's misguided if it's not used in the right way," said Sarah Niblock of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) in her opening speech. "This is not an ... | By Penny Sarchet Read more ... |
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Special report: How climate change is melting France's largest glacier - New Scientist  (Sep 21, 2019) |
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Sep 21, 2019 · "IT'S very fast. We are confronted with the reality of the retreat," says glaciologist Luc Moreau about the rapidly vanishing ice at France's biggest glacier. We are looking at the unmistakeable fingerprint of climate change as told by the historical photos hanging in a hotel overlooking the Mer de Glace, the "sea of ice" near the Alps' highest summit, Mont Blanc. About a century ago, women with boaters and parasols sat near the Montenvers train station above the glacier, which then was almost level with a tongue of jagged ice snaking into the distance. Today, visitors are greeted by a slightly sad and largely grey glacier that is about 100 metres lower. From the ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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We could put enough wind turbines on European land to power the world - New Scientist  (Aug 14, 2019) |
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Aug 14, 2019 · By Adam Vaughan iStock / Getty There is enough land available in Europe for millions of wind turbines that could power the entire world, an analysis has found. While the falling price and rapid deployment of offshore windfarms has captured attention in recent years, windfarms on land make up the bulk of Europe's installed wind power and are much cheaper. Building far more of them is still seen as key for meeting the EU's long-term climate targets. Luckily, there appears to be plenty of room. An international team found 4.9 million square … Continue reading Subscribe for unlimited digital access Subscribe now for unlimited ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Wasps are shrinking in size and it may be because of climate change - New Scientist  (Aug 10, 2019) |
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Aug 10, 2019 · Some black and yellow-striped picnic visitors might be smaller than their ancestors were a century ago. At least one common wasp species appears to be shrinking as a consequence of the ongoing global rise in temperatures caused by climate change. Warming-driven shrinkage has already been documented in vertebrates—like antelope and sparrows—and may be caused by stress from heat or changes to food availability, or even the relationship between body size and heat retention. But climate change's impact on insect body size is poorly understood. When Carlo Polidori—an entomologist at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain—and his colleagues came across the many decades of ... | By Jake Buehler Read more ... |
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UN warns most plans for limiting climate change would wreck the planet | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Aug 08, 2019) |
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Aug 08, 2019 · A special UN report on climate change and land use warns that a massive expansion of bioenergy would reduce biodiversity, cause desertification and water scarcity, and push up food prices. That's bad news because just about every plan for limiting warming to 2C or less involves using bioenergy on a massive scale to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On the plus side, the report says that improving our diets - such as eating less meat - would help reduce carbon emissions as well as improving public health. Here's what you need to know about the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):
Remind me, what is the IPCC ... Read more ... |
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Huge hidden canyon under Greenland ice sheet may have flowing water | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Aug 04, 2019) |
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Aug 04, 2019 · By Michael Marshall NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio A valley longer than the Grand Canyon that is hidden under the Greenland ice sheet may carry flowing liquid water, according to a new analysis of the valley's shape. The water could affect the movement of the Greenland ice sheet, causing parts of it to move faster or slower towards the sea. The hidden canyon was first described in 2013 by glaciologist Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol in the UK and his colleagues. The valley runs for at least 750 kilometres, … Continue reading Subscribe for unlimited digital access Subscribe now for unlimited ... | By Michael Marshall Read more ... |
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Journal criticised for study claiming sun is causing global warming - New Scientist  (Jul 17, 2019) |
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Jul 17, 2019 · ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty By Adam Vaughan A high profile scientific journal is investigating how it came to publish a study suggesting that global warming is down to natural solar cycles. The paper was criticised by scientists for containing "very basic errors" about how Earth moves around the sun. The study was published online on 24 June byScientific Reports Nature New Scientist The authors suggest that Earth's 1°C temperature rise over the past two centuries could largely be explained by the distance between Earth and the sun changing over time as the sun orbits around our solar system's barycentre, its centre of mass. The phenomenon would see ... | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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Ancient Earth reveals terrifying consequences of future global warming | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Jul 12, 2019) |
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Jul 12, 2019 · Lessons from the deep past reveal that human-induced warming could create more extreme conditions than Earth has ever experienced Manuel Sulzer/Getty By Graham Lawton WELCOME to Icehouse Earth. It may not feel like it but, right now, our planet is in an ice age. It started about 2.6 million years ago and, until recently, showed little sign of letting up. In the 1970s, scientists were even worried that we were about to plunge into another full-blown icy spell. Today, those fears have evaporated into a fog of greenhouse gases. Unless we do something, fast, the exact opposite is going to happen. If emissions continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, Earth will ... | By Graham Lawton Read more ... |
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Unprecedented Arctic megafires are releasing a huge amount of CO2 | New Scientist - New Scientist  (Jul 05, 2019) |
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Jul 05, 2019 · ITAR-TASS News Agency/Alamy Live News By Adam Vaughan The Arctic is on fire. Dozens of wildfires of an unprecedented intensity have been burning across the Arctic circle for the past few weeks, releasing as much CO2 in just one month as Sweden's total annual emissions. Fires in the region are not unknown but the scale of the blazes, predominantly in boreal peatlands across Siberia, is surprising. Satellite measurements show the amount of energy released by the fires in June is more than that released by all the previous nine years of the month … Continue reading Subscribe for unlimited digital access Subscribe now for unlimited access | By Adam Vaughan Read more ... |
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