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Environment
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New Antarctic research shows that Adélie penguins must balance the benefits and costs of riding on sea ice during their long-distance migration
Environment

New Antarctic research shows that Adélie penguins must balance the benefits and costs of riding on sea ice during their long-distance migration

Petaluma, CA--Newly published research by Petaluma-based non-profit, Point Blue Conservation Science, shows how Adélie penguins within the Ross Sea, Antarctica use sea ice in their annual migrations. The results were published in the journal Ecology, a publication of the Ecological Society of America. Adélie penguins, though flightless, can undertake extraordinary migrations like their flying relatives, traveling thousands of kilometers out to sea from their on-land breeding colonies in Antarctica, tracking daylight and food during the long Antarctic winter. Many other species are known to use wind ...

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Environment

Even the oldest eukaryote fossils show dazzling diversity and complexity

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — The sun has just set on a quiet mudflat in Australia’s Northern Territory; it’ll set again in another 19 hours. A young moon looms large over the desolate landscape. No animals scurry in the waning light. No leaves rustle in the breeze. No lichens encrust the exposed rock. The only hint of life is some scum in a few puddles and ponds. And among it lives a diverse microbial community of our ancient ancestors. In a new account of exquisitely preserved microfossils, researchers at UC Santa Barbara and McGill University revealed that eukaryotic organisms had already evolved into a diverse array ...

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The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years
Environment

The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years

Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth’s atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are preserved in everlasting polar ice that serves as a sort of time capsule, allowing scientists and historians to link Earth’s history with that of human societies. In a new study, ice cores from Antartica show that lead and other toxic heavy metals linked to mining activities polluted the Southern Hemisphere as early as the 13th century. “Seeing evidence that early Andean ...

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Environment

Climate change spells disaster for termite-loving numbats

Australia is known for its wonderous and unique wildlife. But, just like the rest of the world, Australia is expected to get even hotter because of climate change. This could spell disaster for many of the marsupials that call the drier regions of the country home as it may get too hot for them to handle. To make things even more difficult, many of these marsupials are endangered thanks to habitat loss and introduced species such as domestic cats and red foxes. Therefore, finding a way to study these animals without disturbing them is critical to ensure their survival. This realisation led Christine Cooper (Curtin University, ...

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Thermal vision shows endangered numbats feel the heat of warming climate
Environment

Thermal vision shows endangered numbats feel the heat of warming climate

Curtin University research using thermal imaging of numbats in Western Australia has found that during hot weather the endangered animals are limited to as little as ten minutes of activity in the sun before they overheat to a body temperature of greater than 40°C. Lead author Dr Christine Cooper, from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said despite using techniques such as raising or flattening their fur to regulate body temperature, numbats were prone to overheating, which was an important consideration for future conservation efforts, particularly given our warming climate. “Active only during ...

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Oldest known fossilized skin is 21 million years older than previous examples
Environment

Oldest known fossilized skin is 21 million years older than previous examples

Researchers have identified a 3D fragment of fossilized skin that is at least 21 million years than previously described skin fossils. The skin, which belonged to an early species of Paleozoic reptile, has a pebbled surface and most closely resembles crocodile skin. It’s the oldest example of preserved epidermis, the outermost layer of skin in terrestrial reptiles, birds, and mammals, which was an important evolutionary adaptation in the transition to life on land. The fossil is described on January 11 in the journal Current Biology along with several other specimens that were collected from the Richards Spur ...

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Environment

Palaeontology: New dinosaur species may be closest known relative of Tyrannosaurus rex

A new species of tyrannosaur from southern North America that may the closest known relative of Tyrannosaurus rex is described in a study published in Scientific Reports. Sebastian Dalman and colleagues identified the new species — which they have named Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis — by examining a fossilised partial skull, which was previously discovered in the Hall Lake Formation, New Mexico, USA. Although these remains were initially assigned to T. rex and are comparable in size to those of T. rex (which was up to 12 metres long), the authors propose that they belong to a new species due ...

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Catalytic combo converts CO2 to solid carbon nanofibers
Environment

Catalytic combo converts CO2 to solid carbon nanofibers

UPTON, NY—Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses. Their strategy uses tandem electrochemical and thermochemical reactions run at relatively low temperatures and ambient pressure. As the scientists describe in the journal Nature Catalysis, this approach could successfully lock carbon away in a useful solid form to offset or even achieve negative carbon emissions. “You can put the carbon nanofibers ...

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Ocean temperatures helped make 2023 the hottest year ever recorded
Environment

Ocean temperatures helped make 2023 the hottest year ever recorded

A multi-national team of scientists (China, USA, New Zealand, Italy, and France) analyze the temperature of the Earth annually. These scientists have found a fever that increases every year. For the past decade, each year has been hotter than the prior year in the ocean. And there are other changes in the ocean that also matter. The ocean is an important part of the Earth's climate system – it covers 70% of the planet and absorbs about 90% of the heat from global warming. The ocean helps control the atmosphere – a warmer ocean leads to a warmer and moister atmosphere with wilder weather. The ocean also controls ...

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Record heat in 2023 worsened global droughts, floods and wildfires
Environment

Record heat in 2023 worsened global droughts, floods and wildfires

Record heat across the world profoundly impacted the global water cycle in 2023, contributing to severe storms, floods, megadroughts and bushfires, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) shows. The findings are outlined in a new report released today by the Global Water Monitor Consortium and led by ANU researchers. Lead author Professor Albert Van Dijk, from ANU, said the report underscores the consequences of persistent fossil fuel burning on natural disasters, water resources, biodiversity and food security. “Record-breaking heat waves swept across the globe in 2023, shattering previous records, from Canada to Brazil and from Spain to Thailand,” ...

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In hot water: coral resilience in the face of climate change
Environment

In hot water: coral resilience in the face of climate change

From intensifying wildfires to record-breaking floods year on year, the effects of climate change have manifested in devastating outcomes on ecosystems that threaten species all over the world. One such ecosystem in peril is coral reefs, which play a major role in sustaining biodiversity in the planet’s oceans but are facing increasingly severe conditions as waters heat up leading to a phenomenon known as marine heat waves. For nearly a decade, Katie Barott, assistant professor of biology at the University ...

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Environment

Scientists name the commonest tropical tree species for the first time

UCL Press Release + table Under embargo until Wednesday 10 January 2024, 16:00 UK time / 11:00 US Eastern time A major international collaboration of 356 scientists led by UCL researchers has found almost identical patterns of tree diversity across the world’s tropical forests. The study of over one million trees across 1,568 locations, published in Nature, found that just 2.2% of tree species make up 50% of the total number of trees in tropical forests across Africa, the Amazon, and Southeast Asia. Each continent consists of the same proportion of a few common species and many rare species. While ...

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PFAS flow equally between Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, study finds
Environment

PFAS flow equally between Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, study finds

The frigid Arctic Ocean is far removed from the places most people live, but even so, “forever chemicals” reach this remote landscape. Now, research in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) won't stay there indefinitely. Instead, they are transported in a feedback loop, with the Arctic Ocean potentially exporting as many PFAS to the North Atlantic Ocean as it receives, circulating the compounds around the world. To ...

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Environment

Microplastics affect soil fungi depending on drought conditions

Moisture levels in the soil can impact the effects that microplastic pollution has on soil fungi, according to new research published in Environmental Microbiology. By studying soil samples mixed with microplastics under different conditions, investigators found that when soil is well-watered, toxic chemicals in microplastics can leach into the soil and hinder soil fungal richness. With dry soil, however, the leaching of water-extractable chemicals is less pronounced and therefore less impactful on soil fungal structure. The researchers also noted that under dry conditions, microplastics help soil hold water for longer, which could help ...

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Agility in cultural heritage management—Advancing competence within uncertainty as a sustainable and resilient adaptation to processes of dynamic change
Environment

Agility in cultural heritage management—Advancing competence within uncertainty as a sustainable and resilient adaptation to processes of dynamic change

The intense changes in our modern society and the associated challenges are constantly increasing, not least due to the meta-crisis of climate change. Yet our approach to cultural heritage is still strongly influenced by the narrative of preservation. The article aims to find solutions within the interplay of preservation and change. Based on the psychological impact on society resulting from the current challenges, it is argued that cultural heritage experts need competencies in dealing with uncertainty and tolerance of ambiguity in order to provide security of action. The article applies insights from multiple disciplines to urban environment studies and advocates for a systemic understanding ...

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New research sheds light on an old fossil solving an evolutionary mystery
Environment

New research sheds light on an old fossil solving an evolutionary mystery

New York, January 9, 2024 — A research paper published in Royal Society’s Biology Letters on January 10 has revealed that picrodontids —an extinct family of placental mammals that lived several million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs—are not primates as previously believed. The paper—co-authored by Jordan Crowell, an Anthropology Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center; Stephen Chester, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center; ...

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Environment

Acidity of Antarctic waters could double by century’s end, threatening biodiversity

The acidity of Antarctica’s coastal waters could double by the end of the century, threatening whales, penguins and hundreds of other species that inhabit the Southern Ocean, according to new research from the Univeristy of Colorado Boulder. Scientists projected that by 2100, the upper 650 feet (200 meters) of the ocean—where much marine life resides—could see more than a 100% increase in acidity compared with 1990s levels. The paper, appeared Jan. 4 in the journal Nature Communications. “The findings are critical for our understanding ...

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Environment

Green wheels, bright skies: NREL analysis unveils the connection between electric vehicles and photovoltaics

People who own electric vehicles (EVs) are more likely to go a step further and add solar panels to their home, according to an analysis of a behavioral study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Conversely, the impact of owning solar panels also has a bearing on whether a homeowner buys an electric vehicle but not as strongly. The study relied on a survey of 869 households in the San Francisco Bay Area. NREL’s Shivam Sharda, lead author of the newly published research paper that analyzes the ...

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Attribution of the extreme drought in eastern China in 2022 and its future risk
Environment

Attribution of the extreme drought in eastern China in 2022 and its future risk

Eastern China was hit by an extreme drought in summer 2022 that caused severe economic and agricultural damage. The event has attracted a great deal of attention not only because of its severe intensity and huge social impacts, but also because it is yet another example within the hot topic of the influence of anthropogenic forcing induced warming on drought extremes and how they might change under different scenarios of continued warming in the future. Recently, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters published ...

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Environment

Is spa water a fossil of water? Uncover the real ultra-deep water cycles

Tsukuba, Japan—Although most natural spa waters primarily originate from atmospheric precipitation, such as rain and snow (known as meteoric water), the present study explored the unique qualities of certain spa waters. By analyzing the stable isotope compositions of hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules, researchers have identified distinct characteristics that indicate the presence of long-trapped lithospheric water. They traced the isotopic evolution of this water through sophisticated numerical modeling, and found that various types of water, including those found deep beneath the ...

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Environment

Scientists outline a bold solution to climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An international team of scientists led by Oregon State University researchers has used a novel 500-year dataset to frame a “restorative” pathway through which humanity can avoid the worst ecological and social outcomes of climate change. In addition to charting a possible new course for society, the researchers say their “paradigm shifting” plan can support climate modeling and discussion by providing a set of actions that strongly emphasize social and economic justice as well ...

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Novel chemical recycling system for vinyl polymers of cyclic styrene derivatives
Environment

Novel chemical recycling system for vinyl polymers of cyclic styrene derivatives

Chemical recycling of widely used vinyl polymers (VPs) is one of the key technologies required for realizing a sustainable society. In this regard, a team of researchers from Shinshu University have recently reported a new chemical process that facilitates the depolymerization of cyclic styrene-based VPs, resulting in the recovery of a monomer precursor. This highly efficient chemical recycling system can help with effective resource circulation and the development of new plastic recycling technologies. Vinyl polymers (VPs) are ...

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Green ammonia could decarbonize 60% of global shipping when offered at just 10 regional fuel ports
Environment

Green ammonia could decarbonize 60% of global shipping when offered at just 10 regional fuel ports

A study published today in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability has found that green ammonia could be used to fulfil the fuel demands of over 60% of global shipping by targeting just the top 10 regional fuel ports. Researchers at the University of Oxford looked at the production costs of ammonia which are similar to very low sulphur fuels, and concluded that the fuel could be a viable option to help decarbonise international shipping by 2050. Around USD 2 trillion will be needed to transition to a green ammonia fuel supply chain by 2050, primarily to finance ...

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A chemical reaction key to various industries just got greener
Environment

A chemical reaction key to various industries just got greener

Osaka, Japan – From alleviating your allergy symptoms to optimizing herbicide performance, alkylamines are molecules that have many uses. Unfortunately, common methods of producing alkylamines result in harmful waste byproducts. A method of synthesizing alkylamines in a sustainable yet cost-effective way has thus been highly sought after. Now, in a study recently published in Green Chemistry, a research team led by Osaka University has found a way. The team has developed a method of alkylamine synthesis that works under mild conditions and produces ...

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A landscape-based approach to urban heritage management: People, spatial biography, and ecosystem
Environment

A landscape-based approach to urban heritage management: People, spatial biography, and ecosystem

This article first identifies the current definition of urban heritage that includes both “old” and “young” monuments. Their protection has also shifted from solely preserving “old” values into a more holistic process to retain “old” values and manage the change in their adaptive reuse to gain “new” values, towards a more people-centered and landscape-based approach. Furthermore, a concept of ecosystem for urban planning and development is introduced, ...

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