ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News |
| Major infrared breakthrough could lead to solar power at night Posted: 17 May 2022 08:22 AM PDT Based on similar technology to night-vision goggles, researchers have developed a device that can generate electricity from thermal radiation. |
| Rocket engine exhaust pollution extends high into Earth's atmosphere Posted: 17 May 2022 08:22 AM PDT Researchers assessed the potential impact of a rocket launch on atmospheric pollution by investigating the heat and mass transfer and rapid mixing of the combustion byproducts. The team modeled the exhaust gases and developing plume at several altitudes along a typical trajectory of a standard present-day rocket. They did this as a prototypical example of a two-stage rocket to transport people and payloads into Earth's orbit and beyond and found the impact on the atmosphere locally and momentarily in the mesosphere can be significant. |
| Improved wind forecasts save consumers millions in energy costs Posted: 17 May 2022 08:22 AM PDT Scientists determined that by increasing the accuracy of weather forecasts over the last decade, consumers netted at least $384 million in energy savings. The researchers based their predictions on NOAA's High Resolution Rapid Refresh model, which provides daily weather forecasts for every part of the U.S. These include wind speed and direction data, which utilities can use to gauge how much energy their turbines will produce. |
| Change of temperature causes whole body reprogramming Posted: 17 May 2022 06:48 AM PDT Human beings, like most organisms, are constantly exposed to alternating colder or warmer temperatures. These environmental variations cause striking metabolic effects and require constant adaptations. While some of these adaptations confer certain beneficial effects on health, the impact of cold and warmth on the various organs in a whole-body context was not known. |
| Ecological functions of streams and rivers severely affected globally Posted: 17 May 2022 06:48 AM PDT Agriculture, loss of habitat or wastewater effluents -- human stressors negatively impact biodiversity in streams and rivers. Very little is known yet about the extent to which their capacity for self-purification and other essential ecosystem services are also impacted. An international research team has synthesized the globally available research on this topic in a meta-analysis. This study provides new initiatives for improved water management. |
| Deep ocean warming as climate changes Posted: 17 May 2022 05:30 AM PDT Much of the 'excess heat' stored in the subtropical North Atlantic is in the deep ocean (below 700m), new research suggests. |
| Validation brings new predictive capability to global megafire smoke impacts Posted: 17 May 2022 05:30 AM PDT New research modeling smoke from two recent megafires sets the stage for better forecasting of how emissions from these global-scale events will behave and impact temperatures. As huge wildfires become more common under climate change, increased attention has focused on the intensity and duration of their emissions, which rival those of some volcano eruptions. |
| Mars' emitted energy and seasonal energy imbalance Posted: 16 May 2022 06:31 PM PDT Seasonal imbalance between the solar energy absorbed and released by the planet Mars could be a cause of the Red Planet's dust storms, according to new research. Understanding how the system works on Mars could help scientists predict how climate change could affect Earth. |
| Scientists provide more than 50K camera trap images for massive study on Amazon wildlife Posted: 16 May 2022 12:02 PM PDT Scientists working in the vast Amazon Basin have contributed more than 57,000 camera trap images for a new study. |
| Assessing the impact of loss mechanisms in solar cell candidate Posted: 16 May 2022 09:40 AM PDT The superconductor antimony sulfide selenide is a potential candidate for solar materials, but this depends on understanding how to boost its efficiency. |
| Policymakers underestimate methane's climate and air quality impacts Posted: 16 May 2022 09:40 AM PDT Methane emissions have been increasing rapidly in recent years, contributing significantly to global warming. Despite this, methane is not adequately treated within existing national and international governance frameworks. Researchers now highlight the urgent need for action in a new study. |
| Heavy metal pollution can increase antibiotic resistance in rivers Posted: 16 May 2022 09:40 AM PDT Scientists have shown that elevated heavy metal levels in rivers can lead to higher levels of antibiotic resistance. |
| The European drought event from 2018 to 2020 was the most intense in over 250 years Posted: 16 May 2022 09:40 AM PDT These were days, months and years that many will come to remember: the drought from 2018 to 2020. An international team of researchers has succeeded in categorizing the historical dimensions of this event. Based on their findings, no drought covering such a large area for an extended period and coinciding with warmer temperature has occurred in Europe since the middle of the 18th century. The years from 2018 to 2020 thus represent a new benchmark for droughts. Because such an unprecedented event is likely to occur more frequently in the future, the scientists urgently recommend the development and implementation of suitable, regionally adapted drought prevention measures. |
| Study provides long-term look at ways to control wildfire in sagebrush steppe ecosystem Posted: 16 May 2022 09:40 AM PDT New research provides the first long-term study of methods to control the spread of wildfire in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem that dominates parts of the western United States. |
| Amazon deforestation threatens newly discovered fish species in Brazil Posted: 16 May 2022 09:39 AM PDT Researchers have discovered and described two new species of Amazonian fish -- one with striking red-orange fins and the other so small it is technically considered a miniature fish species. Both species inhabit waters located at the bleeding edge of human encroachment into the Amazon rainforest roughly 25 miles north of the Brazilian city of Apuí. The study's authors said that ongoing deforestation in the region places these roughly inch-long fish, part of a group known colloquially as the South American darters, in imminent danger of extinction. |
| From degrowth to a sustainable food system transformation Posted: 16 May 2022 09:39 AM PDT Proponents of degrowth have long argued that economic growth is detrimental to the environment. Now, scientists show that concerning the food sector, curbing growth alone would not make our food system sustainable -- but changing what we eat and putting a price on carbon would. |
| Cutting air pollution emissions would save 50,000 US lives, $600 billion each year Posted: 16 May 2022 07:14 AM PDT Eliminating air pollution emissions from energy-related activities in the United States would prevent more than 50,000 premature deaths each year and provide more than $600 billion in benefits each year from avoided illness and death, according to a new study. |
| Global food trade research upends assumptions about how biodiversity fares Posted: 12 May 2022 09:18 AM PDT Researchers have come to a surprising new understanding of the complexities of the global food trade and the impacts of biodiversity hotspots. |
| Scientists show how to store liquid fuels in polymeric gels to prevent explosions and fires Posted: 11 May 2022 09:35 AM PDT Liquid fuels with high energy density, though used worldwide, are dangerous to transport and store owing to their volatility, which produces explosive gas mixtures. To address this problem, researchers recently investigated the possibility of storing liquid fuel within polymeric gel networks, preventing their fast evaporation, and demonstrating good combustion performance. Their work paves the way for safer transport and storage of liquid fuels. |
| Go hard or go home: Scientists show reduced heavy metal toxicity in goldfish using hard water Posted: 10 May 2022 07:28 AM PDT Heavy metals like zinc -- which are present in industrial effluents when they are released into water bodies -- can accumulate in fishes, causing toxicity. Korean scientists studied the changes in goldfish who were exposed to different concentrations of zinc and water hardness. They found that increasing the hardness (i.e., the level of certain positively charged ions) in water can inhibit the absorption of zinc and reduce heavy metal-induced toxic stress and degeneration in these fish. |
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