Environment
press releases.

Environment27 Jan 2026

In polar regions, microbes are influencing climate change as frozen ecosystems thaw, McGill review finds

Microbes across Earth’s coldest regions are becoming more active as glaciers, permafrost and sea ice thaw, accelerating carbon release and potentially amplifying climate change, according to a new international review from McGill University. Drawing on data from polar and alpine environments worldwide, the researchers found that warming is driving faster microbial metabolism, increasing the breakdown of organic matter and the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

Tiny gold spheres could improve solar energy harvesting

Sunbeams contain a lot of energy. But current technology for harvesting solar power doesn’t capture as much as it could. Now, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers report that gold nanospheres, named supraballs, can absorb nearly all wavelengths in sunlight — including some that traditional photovoltaic materials miss. Applying a layer of supraballs onto a commercially available electricity converter demonstrated that the technology nearly doubled solar energy absorption compared to traditional materials. Scientists are exploring materials that absorb light ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

How to motivate collective action on climate

What does it take to spur individuals to act as a group with a shared purpose on climate change? According to a new Stanford-led study, the key is to show them how collective actions on climate have made a difference and often generate good vibes for participants. A decade after nearly 200 world leaders agreed in Paris to limit climate change, solar power has become the fastest-growing source of new electricity and dozens of countries have cut emissions while growing their economies. Globally, emissions from burning fossil fuels – the largest contributor to human-caused climate change – ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

New study proposes global framework to safeguard world’s most vulnerable regions amid climate crisis

The paper “Prioritizing Sustainable Development of Ecologically Sensitive Regions” was published recently in Ecosystem Health and Sustainability – A Science Partner Journal. The innovative research calls for merging AI with indigenous knowledge and targeting “tipping point” ecosystems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. A groundbreaking new study urges a global priority shift toward sustainable development in four types of ecologically sensitive regions, warning they are at imminent risk of catastrophic “tipping points” due to climate change and human pressure. The research, ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

Interventions that promote collective climate action

The risks of climate change to human wellbeing are serious. Appropriate mitigation and adaptation require structural changes that are only likely to occur as a result of collective climate action. Danielle Goldwert, Madalina Vlasceanu, and colleagues explored what causes people to take collective climate action in a megastudy capable of directly comparing 17 behavioral interventions. The 17 interventions were derived from an open call to behavioral scientists and advocacy experts and included various ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

A new route to synthesize multiple functionalized carbon nanohoops

The field of nanomaterials is witnessing a transformative shift at the intersection of organic chemistry and molecular engineering. Among the most promising molecular structures are carbon nanohoops, of which [n]cycloparaphenylenes ([n]CPPs) are a representative example. These ring-shaped structures represent the smallest possible slices of carbon nanotubes, which themselves are a widely renowned material of the 21st century. Given that their structures can, in principle, be precisely tuned at the atomic level, nanohoops hold great potential as molecular components for next-generation optoelectronic ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

Balancing comfort and sustainability with climate-tailored housing

From subarctic to subtropical, Japan’s varied climates present a challenge for energy-saving housing design. Adding the projected effects of climate change, with temperatures estimated to rise from 1.5 to 3.5°C by the close of the century, there currently is not a standard, one-size-fits-all solution. Therefore, climate-based building design solutions that consider regional differences, thermal comfort, and net-zero carbon goals are urgently needed. In ...

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Environment27 Jan 2026

Smoke from wildfires linked to 17,000 strokes in the US alone

People exposed to wildfire smoke have a higher risk of suffering a stroke, according to research published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Tuesday). The researchers estimate that in the US alone, smoke from wildfires may be responsible for around 17,000 strokes each year. The research was led by Professor Yang Liu from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, US. He said: “Wildfires are becoming a major contributor to ambient air pollution. For example, in the Western US, wildfire ...

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Environment26 Jan 2026

New data show reduced overall PFAS exposures in subarctic ocean

Key Takeaways Pilot whale samples from 1986-2023 show that legacy PFAS are declining in the open ocean. Newer PFAS remain a major unknown and may be accumulating in near-source environments. Scientists underscore the need for bulk monitoring and regulation of next‑generation compounds. PFAS, or per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are ubiquitous in modern life. First produced at the end of World War II, these chemicals are in everything from furniture and cosmetics to food packaging, non-stick pans and clothing. They have also infiltrated our water, soil, and food, making PFAS a major concern for human and ecological health. Beginning ...

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Environment26 Jan 2026

Shrubs curb carbon emissions in China’s largest desert

An experiment in western China over the past four decades shows that it is possible to tame the expansion of desert lands with greenery, and, in the process, pull excess carbon dioxide out of the sky. The sprawling greening project along the edges of China’s Taklamakan Desert is creating a visible and measurable carbon sink, even in one of the driest places on Earth, according to a study led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside. The project is an example of successful afforestation, which is an effort to plant trees or shrubs on previously ...

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Environment23 Jan 2026

Methane eating microbes turn a powerful greenhouse gas into green plastics, feed, and fuel

Methane eating microbes could help turn a powerful greenhouse gas into everyday products like animal feed, green plastics, and cleaner fuels, according to a new scientific review of fast moving research on these unusual bacteria. The study highlights how methane consuming communities, known as methanotrophs, are emerging as biological “gatekeepers” that can both curb climate warming emissions and convert waste gases into valuable resources. “Our work shows that methanotrophs are ...

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Environment23 Jan 2026

Whales may divide resources to co-exist under pressures from climate change

The North Atlantic Ocean is warming up. Higher temperatures and increased human activity in the region can trigger abrupt changes in marine ecosystems, for example how species are distributed and what they eat. In a long-term study published in Frontiers in Marine Science, researchers in Canada have examined the diet of three rorqual whale species and how these whales might have adapted their feeding habits as climate change and increasing human presence reshape the ecosystem of the Gulf of St Lawrence (GSL), a seasonally important feeding area for many whale species. “A ...

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Environment23 Jan 2026

How molecules move in extreme water environments depends on their shape

Water behaves in remarkable ways when heated and pressurized beyond its critical point. Under these extreme conditions, known as supercritical water, it no longer acts like an ordinary liquid. Instead, it takes on properties similar to organic solvents, dissolving hydrocarbons efficiently and transporting molecules rapidly. These unique features make supercritical water a promising green medium for energy conversion technologies such as biomass gasification, plastic recycling, and in situ fuel extraction. Yet many of these reactions occur inside extremely ...

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Environment23 Jan 2026

Early-life exposure to a common pollutant harms fish development across generations

A widely distributed environmental pollutant can leave lasting biological scars that persist long after direct exposure has ended, according to a new study that tracked its effects across multiple generations of fish. Researchers found that brief exposure to benzo[a]pyrene, a toxic compound produced by fossil fuel combustion and industrial activity, disrupted normal development and skeletal health not only in directly exposed fish but also in their unexposed descendants. The study reveals that these long-term effects are driven by persistent changes in metabolism, shedding new light on how ...

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Environment22 Jan 2026

Jumping giants: Fossils show giant prehistoric kangaroos could still hop

Scientists studying the fossil remains of giant prehistoric kangaroos have found that even animals weighing more than 200kg may not have been too big to bounce, overturning long-held assumptions about the limits of hopping. Today, the red kangaroo is the largest living hopping animal and weighs around 90kg. But during the Ice Age, some kangaroos grew more than twice the size of that - some reaching up to 250kg. For years, researchers believed these giants must have abandoned hopping, as earlier studies suggested that hopping would become mechanically ...

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Environment22 Jan 2026

Chungnam National University study finds climate adaptation can ease migration pressures in Africa

Africa confronts escalating internal migration and displacement crises fueled by intensifying climate hazards—particularly prolonged droughts—and persistent armed conflicts, which compound vulnerabilities across the continent. Previous research clearly links these stressors to heightened population movements, but limited empirical work examines climate adaptation's role, especially agriculture's influence, in moderating these effects at grid and country levels. On this premise, a study led by Professor Hyun Kim, Associate Professor in the School of Public Administration at Chungnam National ...

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Environment22 Jan 2026

Arctic cloud and ice formation affected by Russian river runoff as region studied for first time

Organic matter carried in rivers to the Russian part of the Arctic Ocean may be creating more clouds and keeping the region cooler, a new study has found. In a new paper published in Communications Earth & Environment, an international team of researchers, including atmospheric specialists from the University of Birmingham, examined an understudied region of the Arctic Circle which includes the Siberian region of Russia, to understand how aerosol formation, which is essential for cloud formation, was influenced by conditions in the region. The researchers investigated the origins of Arctic clouds, finding that organic ...

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Environment22 Jan 2026

Living walls boost biodiversity by providing safe spaces for urban wildlife

Living walls – structures housing flowers and plants fitted to the outside of new and old buildings – can significantly enhance the biodiversity within urban environments, a new study has shown. The research monitored activity involving pollinating insects, spiders, soil invertebrates, birds and bats at three locations spread across the city centre and outskirts of Plymouth. Over three survey periods, hundreds of creatures were observed including 12 different types of bees, hoverflies and other pollinators as well 19 types of soil invertebrates and 12 species of spiders. There were also 32 bird species recorded across the locations, with three ...

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Environment22 Jan 2026

New critique prompts correction of high-profile Yellowstone aspen study, highlighting challenges in measuring ecosystem response to wolf reintroduction

LOGAN, Utah, USA — A recent critique from a team led by Utah State University ecologist Dan MacNulty and published in Forest Ecology and Management has prompted a formal correction to a high-profile study on aspen recovery while raising broader questions about how scientific conclusions are drawn and defended in complex ecological systems. The original study, published last year by Luke Painter and colleagues, concluded that restoration of large carnivores — including the reintroduction of wolves in the mid-1990s — triggered a strong, ecologically significant trophic cascade that fostered widespread recovery of aspen trees in northern Yellowstone. Central to their evidence ...

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Environment22 Jan 2026

Scientists solve 66 million-year-old mystery of how Earth’s greenhouse age ended

A 66 million-year-old mystery behind how our planet transformed from a tropical greenhouse to the ice-capped world of today has been unravelled by scientists. Their new study has revealed that Earth’s massive drop in temperature after the dinosaurs went extinct could have been caused by a large decrease in calcium levels in the ocean. An international team of experts led by the University of Southampton discovered that concentrations of calcium in the sea dropped by more than half across the last 66 million years. The ...

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Environment21 Jan 2026

When tropical oceans were oxygen oases

The tropical oceans that once served as oxygen-rich havens for Earth's earliest complex life have become the planet's largest marine dead zones. The dramatic reversal occurred hundreds of millions of years ago and researchers are now beginning to better understand its timing. A new study led by former Syracuse University doctoral student Ruliang He and co-authored by his advisor, Earth and environmental sciences Professor Zunli Lu, reveals that Earth's ancient tropical oceans were ...

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Environment21 Jan 2026

Positive interactions dominate among marine microbes, six-year study reveals

A six-year analysis of marine microbes in coastal California waters has overturned long-held assumptions about how the ocean's smallest organisms interact. Researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that marine microbes interact in ways that benefit one another more often than they eat each other or compete. The team also found that periods of elevated ocean temperatures, usually times of stress for these microbes because of a dearth of nutrients, actually resulted in even more of these positive interactions. The study was published Jan. 21 in the ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial ...

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Environment21 Jan 2026

Safeguarding the Winter Olympics-Paralympics against climate change

New research into the impact of climate change on snow sports provides recommendations to increase the climate-resilience of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The University of Waterloo led the study, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Toronto, and it builds on their influential work to determine reliable locations for the Winter Games as global warming accelerates. The team analyzed the 93 potential host locations where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) indicated the necessary winter sports infrastructure was already in place. They found that if countries continue with current climate policies, only 52 would remain climate-reliable ...

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Environment21 Jan 2026

General climate advocacy ad campaign received more public engagement compared to more-tailored ad campaign promoting sustainable fashion

Researchers investigating the effectiveness of outdoor ads promoting climate change awareness and action found that a general message of climate emergency awareness received more QR code scans compared to a more-specific campaign focusing on sustainable fashion, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Maxwell Boykoff from the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, and colleagues. Advertising can help shape public opinion, for better or worse. Climate advocates and climate change activists are now using advertisements to promote their messages to the public. In this study, Boykoff and colleagues ...

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Environment21 Jan 2026

Scientists unveil “dissolution barocaloric” cooling, opening new path to zero-carbon refrigeration

A research team led by Prof. LI Bing from the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, has overcome a longstanding bottleneck in refrigeration technology. Their findings, published in Nature on January 22, introduce a novel cooling method based on the "dissolution barocaloric effect," which offers a promising zero-carbon alternative to traditional refrigeration. Modern civilization relies on refrigeration but at a heavy cost. Traditional vapor-compression cooling consumes large quantities of electricity and produces substantial carbon emissions. Although solid-state cooling has long been considered ...

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