ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

An analysis by epidemiologists, economists, ecologists and biologists at 21 institutions finds we could reduce the risks of future pandemics by investing as little as 1/20th of the losses incurred so far from COVID into conservation measures designed to stem the spread of zoonotic viruses from wildlife to humans in the first place. This includes funding programs to train more veterinarians, create a global database of virus genomics, and end tropical deforestation and wildlife trafficking.

The first unified vision of the world ocean biodiversity, based on analysis of DNA sequences from the surface to deep-ocean sediments, unveils the rich and unknown life in the abyssal realm, the last terra incognita of the Earth surface. This collective effort was made possible by 15 international deep-sea expeditions.

An 8% increase in summer air conditioning demand can be expected in the U.S. when the global average temperature exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This climate driven increase is likely to cause prolonged blackouts during peak summer heat if states do not expand capacity or improve efficiency, according to a new study of household-level demand.

Researchers have produced a detailed inventory of glacial lakes and dams over a 35-year timeframe from 1984 to 2019 in Alaska and northwest Canada.

Biologists argue that more research needs to be done on the colorful yet poisonous harlequin toads of Central and South America, not only because their ecology is poorly known, but because their toxins are even less studied. Since animal and plant toxins are often inspirations for new drugs, losing the toads through habitat destruction and fungal infections means we lose their poison diversity as well as their genetic diversity.

Bikeshare systems have come a long way since they were first introduced in the Netherlands in the 1960s. They are popular in cities around the world, but how do bike systems affect existing public transportation?

Researchers unveiled a physical model that yields an unprecedented, high-resolution look at the slip rates of faults, which determine the likelihood of earthquakes.

Forests around the world have the capacity to pull carbon out of the atmosphere to battle global climate change. But how much carbon they actually absorb is a question that still needs answering, and tree ring data can help, according to a new research synthesis.

A new high-temperature polymer fuel cell that operates at 80-160 degrees Celsius, with a higher-rated power density than state-of-the-art fuel cells, solves the longstanding problem of overheating, one of the most significant technical barriers to using medium-and heavy-duty fuel cells in transportation vehicles such as trucks and buses.

Giant mountain ranges at least as high as the Himalayas and stretching up to 8,000 kilometers across entire supercontinents played a crucial role in the evolution of early life on Earth, according to a new study.

Using less material in floors is a viable strategy for improving sustainability in buildings, as it can reduce the structure's environmental footprint. Prioritizing only this goal, however, can lead to unwanted effects -- such as an echo in a room or noise traveling between floors, according to architectural engineers.

Hundreds of molecules that are made by important members of the coral reef community were recently discovered by a team of scientists. Together, the compounds--modified amino acids, vitamins and steroids -- comprise the 'smell' or 'taste' of corals and algae in a tropical reef, and will help scientists understand both the food web dynamics and the chemical ecology of these ecosystems.