Enviro

Nov. 27, 2023 – The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall increases exponentially with global warming, a new study finds. The analysis by researchers from the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that state-of-the-art climate models significantly underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming – meaning that extreme rainfall could increase […]

November 27, 2023 – Nearly a third of the world’s mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, University of Queensland research has found. A study led by UQ’s Bora Aska, from the Sustainable Minerals Institute and School of the Environment, said these waste facilities pose an enormous risk to some of earth’s most precious species and landscapes. […]

A global study of major crops has found that farmworkers are being increasingly exposed to combinations of extreme heat and humidity during planting and harvest seasons that can make it hard for them to function. Such conditions have nearly doubled across the world since 1979, the authors report, a trend that could eventually hinder cultivation. […]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. Nov. 9, 2023 — The Center for Biological Diversity and Appalachian Voices yesterday sued the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect highly imperiled wildlife from the devastating harms of coal mining in Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. The agencies have failed to implement […]

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 6, 2023 — Agriculture is one of the hardest human activities to decarbonize; people must eat, but the land-use practices associated with growing crops account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions evaluate a new solution to this problem, one that […]

Washington, DC, October 23, 2023 — As climate change warms the Earth, higher-latitude regions will be at greater risk for toxins produced by algal blooms, according to new research led by Carnegie’s Anna Michalak, Julian Merder, and Gang Zhao. Their findings, published in Nature Water, identify water temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius (68 to 77 […]

Bird populations are in rapid decline across North America. While climate change is just one of the many factors influencing North American birds, its effects are significant and can interact with other stressors, such as habitat loss. A team of University of California, Davis, researchers found that the effects of extreme temperatures on avian reproduction […]

Measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite show that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the biggest on record. The hole, which is what scientists call an ‘ozone depleting area,’ reached a size of 26 million sq km on 16 September 2023. This is roughly three times the size of Brazil. How we […]

October 2, 2023 – Using a new analysis method for satellite images, an international research team, coordinated by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and INRAE, mapped for the first time annual changes in global forest biomass between 2010 and 2019. Researchers discovered that boreal and temperate forests have become the main […]

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is a lifeline for many who live in Madre de Dios, a region in southeastern Peru, where poverty is high and jobs are scarce. But the economic development in this part of the Amazon basin comes at a cost, as it causes deforestation, build up of sediment in rivers, and […]

Rome – Methane emissions are increasingly identified as a turbocharged driver of the climate crisis, catalyzing interest in how they can be mitigated in key agricultural sectors. To bolster awareness of possible actions that can be taken, and support Members with a menu of solutions, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) […]

September 21, 2023 – Researchers have identified the threat greenwashing poses to a ‘nature positive’ world, one where environmental decline halts and biodiversity outcomes improve. The concept of nature positive – often seen as the biodiversity version of a ‘net zero’ climate goal – depicts a planet where nature genuinely improves globally, going beyond current […]

September 15, 2023 – Most of Earth’s near-surface permafrost could be gone by 2100, an international team of scientists has concluded after comparing current climate trends to the planet’s climate 3 million years ago. The team found that the amount of near-surface permafrost could drop by 93% compared to the preindustrial period of 1850 to […]

WASHINGTON, September 14, 2023 – Western Watersheds Project sued the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others for failing to protect the Mojave desert tortoise and 77 other rare species subject to the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (Habitat Conservation Plan). The Habitat Conservation Plan was created to offset the development of […]

Geneva, 5 September 2023 – The first-ever global data platform on sand and other sediment extraction in the marine environment finds that the marine dredging industry is digging up 6 billion tons per year, the equivalent of more than 1 million dump trucks per day. This is significantly impacting biodiversity and coastal communities. The new data platform, Marine […]

August 30, 2023 – A new study has found that 12% of Americans are responsible for eating half of all beef consumed on a given day, a finding that may help consumer groups and government agencies craft educational messaging around the negative health and environmental impacts of beef consumption. Those 12% – most likely to be men […]

Around 13,000 years ago, during a period of a couple of hundred years, the massive mammals that roamed Southern California rapidly disappeared from the region. One likely reason was major wildfires that were ignited by human beings, according to new research by researchers from UCLA and the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. That counters […]

August 22, 2023 – Tidal flats, also known as mud flats, make up coastal wetlands that protect against destructive powers from the ocean such as waves, tsunamis and hurricanes. These guardians of the coastlines, however, are under threat due to natural and human events. Climate change including sea level rise and rapid urbanization have resulted […]

August 17, 2023 – Earth’s rapidly changing climate is taking an increasingly heavy toll on landscapes around the world in the form of floods, rising sea levels, extreme weather, drought and wildfire. Also at growing risk are the values of the property where these hazards are projected to worsen, according to a new study by University of […]

VANCOUVER, Wash. August 14, 2023 – Dry lightning can still be disastrous even when conditions aren’t so dry, a study has found.  These cloud-to-ground strikes during little to no rainfall were previously thought to pose wildfire danger only if occurring with less than 2.5 mm of rain in a day (about 0.10 inches). A Washington […]