Environment
press releases.

Environment29 Feb 2024

EU-funded Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL) project sums up outcomes and future prospects at a Final GA in Cambridge

The city of Cambridge and the Wellcome Campus hosted the Final General Assembly of the EU-funded project BiCIKL (acronym for Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library): a 36-month endeavour that saw 14 member institutions and 15 research infrastructures representing diverse actors from the biodiversity data realm come together to improve bi-directional links between different platforms, standards, formats and scientific fields. Consortium members who could not attend the meeting in Cambridge joined the meeting remotely. The ...

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Environment29 Feb 2024

How climate change risks increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases

A major research programme led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has quantified how climate change risks to human and natural systems increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases. A collection of eight studies – all focusing on Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana and India - shows that the risks of drought, flooding, declines in crop yields, and loss of biodiversity and natural capital greatly increase for each additional degree of global warming. The overarching picture for the accrual of climate risk across these ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration

Jellyfish can't do much besides swim, sting, eat, and breed. They don't even have brains. Yet, these simple creatures can easily journey to the depths of the oceans in a way that humans, despite all our sophistication, cannot. But what if humans could have jellyfish explore the oceans on our behalf, reporting back what they find? New research conducted at Caltech aims to make that a reality through the creation of what researchers call biohybrid robotic jellyfish. These creatures, which can be thought of as ocean-going cyborgs, augment jellyfish with electronics that enhance their swimming and a prosthetic ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

80 mph speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse

There’s enough water frozen in Greenland and Antarctic glaciers that if they melted, global seas would rise by many feet. What will happen to these glaciers over the coming decades is the biggest unknown in the future of rising seas, partly because glacier fracture physics is not yet fully understood. A critical question is how warmer oceans might cause glaciers to break apart more quickly. University of Washington researchers have demonstrated the fastest-known large-scale breakage along an Antarctic ice shelf. The study, recently published in AGU Advances, shows that a 6.5-mile (10.5 kilometer) crack formed in 2012 on Pine Island Glacier — a retreating ice shelf that ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

African great apes predicted to see frequent extreme climate events in the next 30 years

African apes are already being exposed to climate change impacts, and will experience extreme events such as wildfires, heatwaves and flooding more frequently in the next 30 years, according to a study publishing February 28 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Razak Kiribou at Haramaya University in Ethiopia and colleagues. To better understand how African great apes will be affected by climate change, researchers investigated past and future climate for 363 sites across Africa. They estimated temperature and rainfall at each site between 1981 and 2010. Using two climate change scenarios, they projected how frequently apes would be exposed to climate change impacts in the near ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

EU countries have seen a decade of progress towards their 2030 sustainable energy goal

Countries in the European Union (EU) have made progress over the past decade toward Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), which calls for “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030, according to a study published February 28, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Marek Walesiak from Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Poland, and Grażyna Dehnel from Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland. In 2015, the United Nations developed 17 global Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. Tenets of SDG 7 include universal access to affordable energy; increased renewable energy ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Climate change threatens thousands of archaeological sites in coastal Georgia

Thousands of historic and archaeological sites in Georgia are at risk from tropical storm surges, and that number will increase with climate change, according to a study published February 28, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Matthew D. Howland and Victor D. Thompson of Wichita State University and the University of Georgia. Anthropogenic climate change poses a major risk to coastlines due to rising sea level and increasingly severe tropical storms. This threatens not only living populations but also historic and archaeological sites. Mitigating damage requires accurate assessments of risks, but most predictive models focus on projected ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Study finds drought fuels invasive species after wildfires

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 28, 2024 — In a study recently published in the journal Ecology, University of California, Irvine scientists uncover the intricate dance between drought, wildfires and invasive species in Southern California's coastal sage scrub ecosystems. Titled “Long-term drought promotes invasive species by reducing wildfire severity,” the research, led by Sarah Kimball, Ph.D., director of the Center for Environmental Biology at UCI, sheds light on the critical interplay of these factors and its ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Study reveals accelerated soil priming under climate warming

A first-of-its-kind study led by researchers at the University of Oklahoma highlights a crucial biosphere feedback mechanism and its effects on releasing soil carbon into the atmosphere. Jizhong Zhou, the director of the Institute for Environmental Genomics and George Lynn Cross Research Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at OU, is the corresponding author of, “Experimental warming accelerates positive soil priming in a temperate grassland ecosystem,” recently published in Nature Communications. Zhou said the study is the first to utilize laboratory and field experimental ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

New method enables 3D tongue modelling, for example from fossilized hominin skulls, and might help understand the emergence of human speech

New method enables 3D tongue modelling, for example from fossilized hominin skulls, and might help understand the emergence of human speech. #### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011808 Article Title: Predicting primate tongue morphology based on geometrical skull matching. A first step towards an application on fossil hominins Author Countries: France Funding: This work is a production of the members of the team "Origins of speech" hosted at Sorbonne University - Institut des Sciences du Calcul et des Données. The funders had no role in study design, data collection ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Pew names scientists from 6 countries as 2024 fellows in marine conservation

PHILADELPHIA—The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today that it has selected six distinguished researchers as recipients of the 2024 Pew fellowship in marine conservation. The researchers—from Canada, China, Denmark, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States—join a community of more than 200 Pew marine fellows who have undertaken projects to deepen our understanding of the ocean and advance the sustainable use of marine resources. “The world’s oceans have never been under greater threat. Humankind relies on healthy oceans in countless ways,” said Susan K. Urahn, Pew’s ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

New study unveils scalable and efficient photoelectrode modules for green hydrogen production

In a groundbreaking development towards practical photoelectrochemical water splitting, a research team in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST, led by Professors Jae Sung Lee, Ji-Wook Jang, and Sang Il Seok, in collaboration with Professor Hankwon Lim from the Graduate School of Carbon Neutrality at UNIST, has achieved a remarkable technological breakthrough in the production of green hydrogen. Through their innovative approach, the team has overcome the challenges of efficiency, stability, and scalability in photoelectrodes, paving the way for ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Want fewer microplastics in your tap water? Try boiling it first

Nano- and microplastics are seemingly everywhere — water, soil and the air. While many creative strategies have been attempted to get rid of these plastic bits, one unexpectedly effective solution for cleaning up drinking water, specifically, might be as simple as brewing a cup of tea or coffee. As reported in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters, boiling and filtering calcium-containing tap water could help remove nearly 90% of the nano- and microplastics present. Contamination of water supplies with nano- and microplastics (NMPs), which can be as small as one thousandth of a millimeter ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Climate change shrinking fish

Fish weight in the western North Pacific Ocean dipped in the 2010s due to warmer water limiting food supplies, according to a new study at the University of Tokyo. Researchers analyzed the individual weight and overall biomass of 13 species of fish. In the 1980s and 2010s, the fish were lighter. They attributed the first period of weight loss to greater numbers of Japanese sardine, which increased competition with other species for food. During the 2010s, while the number of Japanese sardine and chub mackerel moderately increased, the effect of climate change warming the ocean appears to have resulted ...

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Environment28 Feb 2024

Poorly controlled asthma emits same quantity of greenhouse gas as 124,000 homes each year in the UK

Patients whose asthma is poorly controlled have eight times excess greenhouse gas emissions compared with those whose condition is well controlled—equivalent to that produced by 124,000 homes each year in the UK—indicates the first study of its kind, published online in the journal Thorax. Improving the care of asthma patients could achieve substantial carbon emissions savings, and help the NHS meet its net zero target, say the researchers. Healthcare is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and in 2020 the NHS set an ambitious target of reducing its carbon footprint by 80% over the next 15 years, with the aim of reaching net zero by 2045, ...

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Environment27 Feb 2024

Biodiversity appears to strongly suppress pathogens and pests in many plant and animal systems, but this “dilution effect” can vary strikingly in magnitude

Biodiversity appears to strongly suppress pathogens and pests in many plant and animal systems, but this “dilution effect” can vary strikingly in magnitude This study uses forest inventory data from over 25,000 plots to show that the prevalence of tree pests is jointly controlled by the diversity and phylogenetic composition of forests ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002473 Press-only preview: PENDING Contact: Andrew Gougherty, andrew.gougherty@usda.gov Image ...

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Environment27 Feb 2024

Customizable carbon and its potential impact on green energy

There’s a lot of research about moving away from carbon as an energy source, but what if instead the carbon that is being used is applied to its full capacity? The importance of carbon as an energy source is not to be downplayed. Unfortunately, the reliance on these carbon-based materials has proven to be disastrous for the environment, especially in the quantities they are consumed on a global basis. Therefore, alternative means have to be researched. Superstructure carbons (SCC) are a possible way to use carbons in a more efficient and “green” way that can exceed the current performance and longevity ...

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Environment27 Feb 2024

Reproducing the Moon's surface environment on Earth

Continuous research is being conducted globally on using the Moon as an advanced base for deep space exploration, and Korea is no exception in these efforts. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-suk) successfully implemented an electrostatic environment that simulates the Moon's surface conditions, not in space but on Earth. The researchers also assessed its performance and effectiveness. Among the most serious threats in executing lunar missions is the Moon's surface environment, which is electrostatically charged. Due to its extremely thin atmosphere, the Moon is directly exposed to solar ultraviolet rays, X-rays, ...

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Environment27 Feb 2024

Unveiling the sustainability landscape in cultural organizations: A global benchmark

Are museums, theaters, and opera houses truly walking the talk when it comes to social and environmental sustainability? The University of Lausanne (UNIL) delved into this pressing question, conducting an international survey with over 200 major cultural organizations. The verdict? While there's significant room for improvement across the spectrum, Anglophone countries lead the charge. Cultural organizations, with their wide-reaching influence and power to shape narratives and imaginations, are poised to ...

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Environment27 Feb 2024

HKU chemists pave the way for sustainable organic synthesis with innovative heterogeneous copper photocatalysis, enabling efficient production of diverse bioactive compounds

Professor Jian HE, from the Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has spearheaded a research endeavour aimed at revolutionising organic synthesis. His research team has successfully developed a novel heterogeneous copper photocatalyst that enables the efficient formation of cyclobutane rings, a crucial structural element in a vast array of bioactive molecules. Cyclobutane rings are prominently featured in pharmaceuticals, natural products, and various biologically active compounds. By enabling researchers to construct these rings easily and selectively, ...

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Environment26 Feb 2024

New discovery suggests significant glacial retreat in West Antarctica began in 1940s

Among the vast expanse of Antarctica lies the Thwaites Glacier, the world’s widest glacier measuring about 80 miles on the western edge of the continent. Despite its size, the massive landform is losing about 50 billion tons of ice more than it is receiving in snowfall, which places it in a precarious position in respect to its stability. Accelerating ice loss has been observed since the 1970s, but it is unclear when this significant melting initiated – until now. A new study published in the journal PNAS, led by researchers ...

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Environment26 Feb 2024

What will it take for China to reach carbon neutrality by 2060?

To become carbon neutral by 2060, as mandated by President Xi Jinping, China will have to build eight to 10 times more wind and solar power installations than existed in 2022. Reaching carbon neutrality will also require major construction of transmission lines. China land use policies will also have to be more coordinated and focused on a nation-wide scale rather than be left to ad hoc decisions by local governments. That’s because 80% of solar power and 55% of wind power will have to be built within 100 miles of major population centers. These are the conclusions of a new study from ...

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Environment26 Feb 2024

Vanishing forests and suffering children: The hidden toll of deforestation in Cambodia

Deforestation, a critical consequence of human activity, has garnered significant attention due to its impact on environmental sustainability, biodiversity and climate change. However, an equally pressing yet less explored aspect is the relationship between deforestation and human health, especially in impoverished regions. Scientists have increasingly recognized the detrimental effects of deforestation on various aspects of human health, particularly among children. Studies reveal that children residing in areas with high deforestation rates are at an elevated risk of malaria, ...

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Environment26 Feb 2024

How did a tiny bee get to French Polynesia? Eight new species help solve a scientific mystery

In 1934, American entomologist Elwood Zimmerman, then an undergraduate student at Berkeley, participated in the ‘Mangarevan expedition’ to Polynesia. Among the samples he collected were three tiny (4 mm long), orange-brown solitary bees found on tahetahe flowers in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The specimens rested undisturbed in the Bernice P Bishop Museum of Honolulu until 1965, when the famous bee specialist Prof Charles Michener examined them. He described them as a species new to science: Hylaeus tuamotuensis, or Tuamotu’s masked bee, in the family ...

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Environment26 Feb 2024

Reforestation schemes are not enough to recover the carbon created by harvesting wood, research suggests

Forests have a critical role to play in capturing and storing carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere – but some models exaggerate their carbon removal potential by almost three-fold, according to a leading professor of forest economics. Global Forest Carbon: Policy, Economics and Finance by Runsheng Yin from Michigan State University emphasizes the value of nature-based solutions to the climate crisis but calls for significant changes to the way carbon credits from reforestation, afforestation, and improved forest management are calculated. He has found that current modeling of local ...

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