An international team of researchers has discovered a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon over the tropical West Pacific. Like in a giant elevator to the stratosphere, many chemical compounds emitted at the ground pass unfiltered through the so-called 'detergent layer' of the atmosphere, known as the 'OH shield.' The newly discovered phenomenon over the South Seas boosts ozone depletion in the...
Most people are fed up with winter, but some scientists love it. Ice and snow give them a chance to do something few others can: Study the Great Lakes under a cover of ice. The GLRC's under-ice observatory is collecting data for scientists to analyze. ...
The sole survivor of the oldest line of flowering plants, Amborella is the last witness of the great biological success these plants have had over millions of years. The sequencing of its genome can help better understand the evolution of these plants, which has led to an incredible diversity of more than 300,000 species identified today. ...
Considered, until now, a source of greenhouse gas emissions, capturing the CO2 fixed by the tropical forest through the soils of the watershed to release it into the atmosphere, the Amazon River actually has a balanced carbon footprint. In fact, a new study shows that the CO2 outgassed by the river is only drawn from the river system itself, by the semi-aquatic vegetation on the flood plains. Therefore,...
Floods in East Africa and India, as well as drought and fires in Australia, are periodic catastrophes caused by a second climate disruptor less well known than its cousin El Niño: the Indian Ocean Dipole. A new study shows that this recently developed phenomenon affects the climate in this part of the world. The researchers also show that the phenomenon has been occurring more frequently over the past...
Despite climate change, most polluters still pay little or nothing when they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A cost $0.15 US per kilo of carbon dioxide would be enough to solve the whole climate change problem, says an expert. ...
What is it that prompts citizens in Germany to do something about climate change on a voluntary basis? Of major significance here is a mixture of factual knowledge, subjective assumptions and hearsay. This is the result of an online field study involving 2,000 German citizens and conducted by environmental economists at Heidelberg University. In a research project at the Alfred Weber Institute for...
Crops that produce more while using less water seem like a dream for a world with a burgeoning population and already strained resources. This dream is closer to reality for researchers who developed a new computer model to help plant scientists breed better soybean crops. The model predicts a soybean crop with 8.5 percent more productivity, but using 13 percent less water, by breeding for slightly...
Natural processes are working hard to keep the carbon cycle in balance by absorbing about half of our carbon emissions, limiting the extent of climate change. There's a lot we don't know about these processes, including where they are occurring and how they might change as the climate warms. To understand and prepare for the carbon cycle of the future, we have an urgent need to find out. In July 2014,...
Amid the strongest evidence yet that humans have changed the climate, media reporting is giving sceptics too much of a free rein, says Bob Ward ...
In the wake of the severe smog that struck south-east England, New Scientist asks how harmful it is likely to be and whether it will reoccur ...
A genetic tweak has made it far easier to unlock the valuable chemicals held inside plants. It could lead to more environmentally friendly biofuels ...
People whose livelihoods are affected by climate change have already started to act, and the rest of the world doesn't have long to decide what to do ...
Two years ago we achieved the Millennium Development Goal of giving millions more people access to safe drinking water. It seems it never really happened ...
A new study has discovered unexpected climate-driven changes in the mighty Mackenzie River's ice breakup. This discovery may help resolve the complex puzzle underlying why Arctic ice is disappearing more rapidly than expected. ...
We still cannot predict exactly how climate change will affect each part of the world, but the people on the front lines are showing others how to adapt ...
The magnitude 8.2 earthquake that struck Chile overnight may belong to a cluster of major quakes that have occurred over the last decade ...
Introduced species generally get a bad press – but not all alien invaders are villains, says Ken Thompson in Where Do Camels Belong? ...
Anyone that has spent time at a seaside pier has witnessed the destruction barnacles wreak on boat hulls. But biofouling animals are not limited to marine environments. A new paper estimates that the global management of freshwater mussels, clams, and other clinging animals costs $277 million US dollars annually. ...
Scientists studying the behavior of the world's ice sheets -- and the future implications of ice sheet behavior for global sea-level rise -- may soon have a new airborne tool that will allow radar measurements that previously would have been prohibitively expensive or difficult to carry out with manned aircraft. ...