'I think one can argue that if we were to follow a strong nuclear energy pathway -- as well as doing everything else that we can -- then we can solve the climate problem without doing geoengineering.' So says one of the world's foremost climate researchers, in a new paper. The author explains the two basic geoengineering strategies to reduce climate change: injecting aerosols such as sulfates into...
Bird populations in Finland have shifted northward by an average of 45 km between the 1970s and the 2010s due, in particular, to climate change. Before this, the effects of climate change have been studied through changes in the distribution of species. A new study method also takes into account regional shifts in population density. ...
The first computer model to simulate the interaction of life on Earth allows us to see how an infinite number of ecosystem changes affect the environment ...
Parts of ancient Antarctica were as warm as today's California coast, and polar regions of the southern Pacific Ocean registered 21st-century Florida heat, according to scientists using a new way to measure past temperatures. ...
Analyzing thousands of breeding bird surveys sent in by citizen scientists over 35 years, wildlife researchers report that most of the 40 songbird species they studied shifted either northward or toward higher elevation in response to climate change, but did not necessarily do both. This means that most previous studies of potential climate change impacts on wildlife that looked only at one factor...
Existing data on global UV-B radiation has been processed by researchers in such a way that they can use them to find answers to many ecological questions. According to a new paper, this data set allows drawing new conclusions about the global distribution of animal and plant species. Unlike the rather harmless UV-A radiation, the high-energy UV-B radiation causes health problems to humans, animals...
Scientists have successfully identified the age of 120,000-year-old Antarctic ice using radiometric krypton dating -- a new technique that may allow them to locate and date ice that is more than a million years old. This will allow them to reconstruct the climate much farther back into Earth's history and potentially understand the mechanisms that have triggered the planet to shift into and out of...
Dams on the Mississippi river aren't swallowing the sandy sediment needed to build up the river's delta and protect nearby cities from flooding ...
Biofuels made from corn stover -- stalks, leaves and cobs that remain after harvest -- appear to emit more carbon dioxide over their life cycle than federal standards allow, according to new research. The findings cast doubt on whether corn residue can be used to meet federal mandates to ramp up ethanol production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ...
Ancient Earth might have had an extraterrestrial supply of vitamin B3 delivered by carbon-rich meteorites, according to a new analysis. The result supports a theory that the origin of life may have been assisted by a supply of key molecules created in space and brought to Earth by comet and meteor impacts. ...
For the past 20 years, researchers have published soil organic carbon sequestration rates. Many of the research findings have suggested that soil organic carbon can be sequestered by simply switching from moldboard or conventional tillage systems to no-till systems. However, there is a growing body of research with evidence that no-till systems in corn and soybean rotations without cover crops, small...
The effects of future heat waves on people living in Greater London in 2050 has been modeled in a study, which concludes that the risk of heat-related deaths could be significantly reduced if buildings were adapted properly for climate change. The model, which takes into account future changes to urban land use and human-made heat emissions, estimates an additional 800 heat-related deaths per year...
Scientists were greatly surprised to discover an ancient tundra landscape preserved under the Greenland Ice Sheet, below two miles of ice. This finding provides strong evidence that the ice sheet has persisted much longer than previously known, enduring through many past periods of global warming. ...
Wildfires across the western United States have been getting bigger and more frequent over the last 30 years. The total area these fires burned increased at a rate of nearly 90,000 acres a year -- an area the size of Las Vegas, according to the study. Individually, the largest wildfires grew at a rate of 350 acres a year, the new research says. ...
Alien invaders in the EU cause damage to the tune of €12 billion a year – a new law will strengthen and coordinate efforts to keep the worst at bay ...
This spring, more than 40 percent of the western U.S. is in a drought that the USDA deems "severe" or "exceptional." The same was true in 2013. In 2012, drought even spread to the humid east. But new research shows how short-lived but severe climatic events can trigger cascades of ecosystem change that last for centuries. ...
Disruption of natural methane-binding process may worsen climate change, scientists have suggested, painting a stark warning on the possible effects of gases such as methane -- which has a greenhouse effect 32 times that of carbon dioxide. Researchers have shown that humic substances act as fully regenerable electron acceptors which helps explain why large amount of methane are held in wetlands instead...
Changing agricultural practices and ending food waste around the world are among recommendations made by scientists charged with looking at ways to mitigate global climate change. "Agriculture globally contributes about 10 to 12 percent to greenhouse gas emissions," the author said. "If you add in forestry it moves it up to around 25 percent. Agriculture is significant but not the major contributor...
To engage the public, Years of Living Dangerously and Sand Wars take different approaches, one is a Hollywood behemoth, the other is shrewd and assailing ...
The last thing the first life needed was a wet environment – so did it even start here on Earth? ...