January 9, 2023 – Tropical forests that are recovering from having trees removed were thought to be carbon absorbers, as the new trees grow quickly. A new study, led by Imperial College London researchers, turns this on its head, showing that the carbon released by soil and rotting wood outpaces the carbon absorbed by new […]
Enviro
It would take 23 million years for evolution to replace Madagascar’s endangered mammals
January 10, 2023 – In many ways, Madagascar is a biologist’s dream, a real-life experiment in how isolation on an island can spark evolution. About 90% of the plants and animals there are found nowhere else on Earth. But these plants and animals are in major trouble, thanks to habitat loss, over-hunting, and climate change. […]
Ozone layer recovery is on track, helping avoid global warming by 0.5°C
DENVER/NAIROBI/GENEVA, 9 January 2023 – The ozone layer is on track to recover within four decades, with the global phaseout of ozone-depleting chemicals already benefitting efforts to mitigate climate change. This is the conclusion of a UN-backed panel of experts, presented today at the American Meteorological Society’s 103rd annual meeting. Examining novel technologies such as […]
COP15: Canadian Mining Corp Belo Sun Stock Takes Major Hit Before Finance Day at U.N. Biodiversity Summit
December 13, 2022 – As the United Nations’ 15th summit on biodiversity in Montreal, Québec enters its last week of negotiations for global targets, Canadian mining company Belo Sun has once again demonstrated the perils of investing in the destruction of the Amazon, as its share prices have dropped precipitously following protests and advocacy from […]
Reindeer Population Wins Endangered Species Protection in Time for Holidays
WASHINGTON, December 12, 2022— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected the Dolphin and Union caribou today as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This specific population of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) — also known as reindeer — inhabits the Arctic regions of Canada’s northern territories. The endangered listing restricts trade in Dolphin and Union caribou […]
Droughts are associated with increase in suicides in the U.S.
December 12, 2022 – Droughts may increase the rate of suicide in the United States, according to new research being presented at AGU’s Fall Meeting on 13 December in Chicago and online. The health impacts of drought are less understood than impacts from other types of natural disasters due to their slower nature compared to hurricanes, tornadoes […]
Americans Are Flocking to Wildfire: U.S. Migration Study
Americans are leaving many of the U.S. counties hit hardest by hurricanes and heatwaves—and moving towards dangerous wildfires and warmer temperatures, finds one of the largest studies of U.S. migration and natural hazards. The ten-year national study reveals troubling public health patterns, with Americans flocking to regions with the greatest risk of wildfires and significant […]
Climate change will cause Pacific’s low-oxygen zone to expand even more by 2100
WASHINGTON, November 29, 2022 — For thousands of kilometers along the western coasts of the Americas, low-oxygen waters known as oxygen minimum zones stretch out into the Pacific. In part due to climate change, this oxygen-starved region is likely to get wider and deeper, expanding by millions of cubic kilometers by the end of the […]
We discovered a new species of owl – but we already think it’s in danger
‘Otus bikegila’, the new species of owl discovered in Central Africa. Martim Melo, Author provided Bárbara Freitas, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC); Angelica Crottini, Universidade do Porto, and Martim Melo, Universidade do Porto As part of an international team of scientists we have confirmed a new species of owl after decades of speculation that […]
To prevent the next pandemic, restore wildlife habitats
Preserving and restoring natural habitats could prevent pathogens that originate in wildlife from spilling over into domesticated animals and humans, according to two new companion studies. The research, based in Australia, found that when bats experience loss of winter habitat and food shortages in their natural settings, their populations splinter and they excrete more virus. […]
NASA Study: Rising Sea Level Could Exceed Estimates for U.S. Coasts
By 2050, sea level along contiguous U.S. coastlines could rise as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) above today’s waterline, according to researchers who analyzed nearly three decades of satellite observations. The results from the NASA Sea Level Change Team could help refine near-term projections for coastal communities that are bracing for increases in both […]
Greenland’s Largest Ice Sheet Thinning Rapidly
The loss of ice from Greenland’s largest basin is occurring much faster and could contribute up to six times more to global sea-level rise by 2100 than climate models currently project, according to a study led by Dartmouth professor Mathieu Morlighem with researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the University of California, Irvine. The […]
There’s room for improvement in a popular climate-smart agricultural practice, Stanford-led study shows
The promise for American agriculture is tantalizing: healthier soil, more carbon kept in the ground, less fertilizer runoff, and less need for chemicals. The reality of planting cover crops during the off-season – a much-touted and subsidized approach to climate change mitigation – is more complicated, according to new Stanford University-led research. The study, published Nov. 8 […]
New Audubon Study: Climate Change Threatens Bird Populations in the National Wildlife Refuge System
NEW YORK (October 26, 2022) – In a survey of all 525 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System, scientists with the National Audubon Society have found half of the birds throughout the system will see changes in the environmental suitability of their habitats if global temperatures are allowed to rise unchecked. The result could […]
Methane ‘Super-Emitters’ Mapped by NASA’s New Earth Space Mission
NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission is mapping the prevalence of key minerals in the planet’s dust-producing deserts – information that will advance our understanding of airborne dust’s effects on climate. But EMIT has demonstrated another crucial capability: detecting the presence of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In the data EMIT has […]
Seasonal changes in Antarctic ice sheet flow dynamics detected for the first time
Certain estimates of Antarctica’s total contribution to sea-level rise may be over, or even underestimated, after researchers detected a previously unknown source of ice loss variability. In a new paper published in The Cryosphere, researchers using Copernicus Sentinel-1 data, found that glaciers feeding the George VI Ice Shelf speed up by approximately 15% during the Antarctic summer. This is the […]
2022 U.S. State of the Birds Report Reveals Widespread Losses of Birds in All Habitats – Except for One
Ithaca, NY—A newly released State of the Birds report for the United States reveals a tale of two trends, one hopeful, one dire. Long-term trends of waterfowl show strong increases where investments in wetland conservation have improved conditions for birds and people. But data show birds in the United States are declining overall in every […]
It’s raining harder in the U.S.
EVANSTON, Ill. October 11, 2022 – Just like the old adage says: When it rains, it pours. That turns out to be increasingly true for much of the United States, according to Northwestern University researchers. New study compares rainfall intensity data across two time periods and 17 different U.S. climate regions Researchers found intensity has […]
As Winters Warm, Nutrient Pollution Threatens 40% of U.S.
October 5, 2022 – Scientists are ringing alarm bells about a significant new threat to U.S. water quality: as winters warm due to climate change, they are unleashing large amounts of nutrient pollution into lakes, rivers, and streams. The first-of-its-kind national study finds that previously frozen winter nutrient pollution—unlocked by rising winter temperatures and rainfall—is […]
West Antarctic’s Thwaites Glacier under threat from warming sea temperatures
RENO, Nev. – The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is eroding back from the ocean and flowing faster with each year, threatening to retreat and collapse within decades to a few centuries. If it does, it will potentially draw much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with it. The region has enough ice to raise […]