Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Air pollution may increase risk for dementia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Exposure to fine particulate air pollutants (PM2.5) may increase the risk of developing dementia, according to a new meta-analysis.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Gone for good? California's beetle-killed, carbon-storing pine forests may not come back      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles during the 2012-2015 megadrought won't recover to pre-drought densities, reducing an important storehouse for atmospheric carbon.

Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Levies on Renewable Energy Profits could serve as a barrier to achieving Net Zero Targets in the UK      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Placing levies on the profits made in the renewable energy industry could hinder the UK's ability to meet its 2050 net zero carbon reduction targets, an expert has said.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Underground water could be the solution to green heating and cooling      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

About 12% of the total global energy demand comes from heating and cooling homes and businesses. A new study suggests that using underground water to maintain comfortable temperatures could reduce consumption of natural gas and electricity in this sector by 40% in the United States. The approach, called aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), could also help prevent blackouts caused by high power demand during extreme weather events.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Climate
Published

Researchers correlate Arctic warming to extreme winter weather in midlatitude and its future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A warmer Arctic has been linked to extreme winter weather in the midlatitude regions. But, it is not clear how global warming affects this link. In a new study, researchers show, using weather data and climate models, that while the 'Warm Arctic-Cold Continent' pattern will continue as the climate continues to warm, Arctic warming will become a less reliable predictor of extreme winter weather in the future.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Opening a new frontier: PdMo intermetallic catalyst for promoting CO2 utilization      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recently discovered catalyst, can convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful methanol at room temperature and low-pressure conditions. This novel compound, which is thermally and chemically stable in air, represents a new milestone in CO2 conversion via hydrogenation and could be key to slow down climate change.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Ice sheets can collapse faster than previously thought possible      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 meters a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured. An international team of researchers used high-resolution imagery of the seafloor to reveal just how quickly a former ice sheet that extended from Norway retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

The unexpected contribution of medieval monks to volcanology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By observing the night sky, medieval monks unwittingly recorded some of history's largest volcanic eruptions. An international team of researchers drew on readings of 12th and 13th century European and Middle Eastern chronicles, along with ice core and tree ring data, to accurately date some of the biggest volcanic eruptions the world has ever seen. Their results uncover new information about one of the most volcanically active periods in Earth's history, which some think helped to trigger the Little Ice Age, a long interval of cooling that saw the advance of European glaciers.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Civil engineers use public satellite images to study why the Jagersfontein dam failed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Study by civil engineers finds that the history of the Jagersfontein dam deviates from best engineering practice.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Preventing urban flooding in the face of climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Planners have come up with many innovative ways to prevent flooding caused by heavy downpours -- from planting rain gardens to installing green roofs. But in many cases, nothing works quite as well as a simple hole in the ground -- a detention basin.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Sailing cargo ships can benefit from new aerodynamic tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has demonstrated a unique method that reduces the aerodynamic resistance of ships by 7.5 per cent. This opens the way for large cargo ships borne across the oceans by wind alone, as wind-powered ships are more affected by aerodynamic drag than fossil-fueled ones.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Researchers disentangle patterns of indoor mixing for respiratory disease transmission risk      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have characterized the seasonal effects on human social behavior to provide new insights on the risk of respiratory disease transmission.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Legacy industrial contamination in the Arctic permafrost      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A previously underestimated risk lurks in the frozen soil of the Arctic. When the ground thaws and becomes unstable in response to climate change, it can lead to the collapse of industrial infrastructure, and in turn to the increased release of pollutants. Moreover, contaminations already present will be able to more easily spread throughout ecosystems. According to new findings, there are at least 13,000 to 20,000 contaminated sites in the Arctic that could pose a serious risk in the future.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: Encryption Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

New cyber software can verify how much knowledge AI really knows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With a growing interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems worldwide, researchers have created software that is able to verify how much information an AI farmed from an organization's digital database.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Limiting warming to 2°C may avoid 80% of heat-related deaths in Middle East and North Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over 80% of predicted heat-related deaths in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by the end of the century could be prevented if global warming is limited to 2°C, according to a modelling study.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Innovative method predicts the effects of climate change on cold-blooded animals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In the face of a warming climate that is having a profound effect on global biodiversity and will change the distribution and abundance of many animals, a research team has developed a statistical model that improves estimates of habitat suitability and extinction probability for cold-blooded animals as temperatures climb.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Rising temperatures alter 'missing link' of microbial processes, putting northern peatlands at risk      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers show that rising temperatures in northern regions may damage peatlands: critical ecosystems for storing carbon from the atmosphere -- and could decouple vital processes in microbial support systems.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Wastewater more potent breeding ground for antibiotic resistance than previously known      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Wastewater is a more potent environment for antibiotic resistance to evolve than previously known. A study shows that wastewaters have unique characteristics, allowing resistance genes to start their journey from harmless bacteria to those that cause disease.