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Environment
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Environment

Climate change impacting freshwater fish species, study finds

Freshwater fish populations that dwell nearer the poles are outperforming their equatorial counterparts, researchers have found. Large-bodied migratory species such as Atlantic salmon are thriving as warming temperatures opens up new habitats at the poleward edge of their ranges. The study, published today in PNAS, was based on a dataset of over 10,000 time series and included over 600 species of fishes. Climate change has emerged as a key threat to biodiversity, leading to broad-scale shifts in distributions of marine and terrestrial species as they attempt to track thermally suitable habitat. Despite ...

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Environment

Lower-quality public housing is at high risk of flood damage

AUSTIN, TX, Dec 09, 2024 – Hurricane Helene highlighted the increasing intensity of extreme weather events and the catastrophic flooding they can bring. A new study finds that many Americans residing in lower-quality public housing face a high risk of experiencing flood-related damages as their homes are disproportionately located in areas of high flood risk. A study by scientists from the Ohio State University and Texas A&M University has combined HUD’s physical inspection scores of public housing units across the country (from 2013-2020) with ...

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Agricultural land near where rivers meet can mitigate floods
Environment

Agricultural land near where rivers meet can mitigate floods

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University showed that agricultural land preserved around river confluences can help mitigate floods. They make a case for Eco-DRR, an approach that uses existing environmental resources to improve resilience against flooding. Statistical analysis showed that municipalities with agricultural land in areas with high water storage potential suffered fewer floods, with stronger correlation when agricultural land was situated near river confluences. The team hope their findings inform effective land usage. Climate change has brought ...

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Environment

Scientists urged to pull the plug on ‘bathtub modeling’ of flood risk

Irvine, Calif., Dec. 6, 2024 — Recent decades have seen a rapid surge in damages and disruptions caused by flooding. In a commentary article published today in the American Geophysical Union journal Earth’s Future, researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom – the latter also executives of U.K. flood risk intelligence firm Fathom – call on scientists to more accurately model these risks and caution against overly dramatized reporting of future risks in the news media. In the paper, the researchers urge the climate science community to turn ...

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Record-low Antarctic sea ice can be explained and forecast months out by patterns in winds
Environment

Record-low Antarctic sea ice can be explained and forecast months out by patterns in winds

Amid all the changes in Earth’s climate, sea ice in the stormy Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica was, for a long time, an odd exception. The maximum winter sea ice cover remained steady or even increased slightly from the late 1970s through 2015, despite rising global temperatures. That began to change in 2016. Several years of decline led to an all-time record low in 2023, more than five standard deviations below the average from the satellite record. The area of sea ice was 2.2 million square kilometers below the average from ...

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Environment

How do marine food webs respond to increasing alkalinity?

The ocean naturally absorbs a quarter to a third of man-made CO2 emissions, but this process also leads to the acidification of seawater. By increasing the alkalinity of seawater through the addition of certain minerals (e.g., carbonates and silicates), the ocean can chemically bind more CO2 without further acidification. However, there is still little research on the environmental effects of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE). Scientists from Prof. Ulf Riebesell´s group at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, as ...

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Environment

So you want to build a solar or wind farm? Here’s how to decide where

Deciding where to build new solar or wind installations is often left up to individual developers or utilities, with limited overall coordination. But a new study shows that regional-level planning using fine-grained weather data, information about energy use, and energy system modeling can make a big difference in the design of such renewable power installations. This also leads to more efficient and economically viable operations. The findings show the benefits of coordinating the siting of solar farms, wind farms, and storage ...

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Environment

A new biodegradable material to replace certain microplastics

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Microplastics are an environmental hazard found nearly everywhere on Earth, released by the breakdown of tires, clothing, and plastic packaging. Another significant source of microplastics is tiny beads that are added to some cleansers, cosmetics, and other beauty products. In an effort to cut off some of these microplastics at their source, MIT researchers have developed a class of biodegradable materials that could replace the plastic beads now used in beauty products. These polymers break down into harmless sugars and amino acids. “One way to mitigate the microplastics problem is to figure out how to clean up existing ...

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Visiting Fellows selected for inaugural cohort of the Africa-UBC Oceans and Fisheries Visiting Fellows Program
Environment

Visiting Fellows selected for inaugural cohort of the Africa-UBC Oceans and Fisheries Visiting Fellows Program

The Africa-UBC Oceans and Fisheries Visiting Fellows Program is extremely pleased to announce the selection of its inaugural laureates: Dr. Cynthia A. Adinortey (Ghana) and Dr. Antony Otinga Oteng’o (Kenya). “We had many excellent applicants from across Sub-Saharan Africa. Ultimately, our Selection Committee selected these two exemplary scholars, and we are most happy with the result,” said Dr. William Cheung, professor and Director of UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF), which administers the Program. “These two exemplary scholars will now have the opportunity to collaborate ...

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Environment

Climate change threatens global biodiversity, with extinction risks escalating at higher temperatures

Climate change is driving global extinction risks, with 1.6% of species threatened at 1.3°C of warming and risks escalating to 29.7% at 5.4°C, according to a new meta-analysis encompassing more than 30 years of research. Climate change is reshaping ecosystems and biodiversity globally, altering species distributions, interactions, and population dynamics. While some species adapt or migrate to track shifting climates, others face population declines, shrinking ranges, and potential extinction. ...

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Environment

Satellite-based and street-view green space and adiposity in US children

About The Study: The results of this cohort study of U.S. children suggest that higher levels of satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index greenness and percentages of street-level green space components (flowers, plants, and fields) were associated with lower adiposity. The findings support the exploration of increasing residential green space levels and adding specific green space components as an urban planning and public health intervention strategy to combat the prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Li Yi, PhD, email li_yi@hsph.harvard.edu. To access the embargoed study: ...

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Environment

UN report: Invest in nature to cut billion-dollar costs of droughts

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — As droughts fueled by human destruction of the environment are projected to affect 3 in 4 people by 2050, investing in sustainable land and water management is essential to reduce their costs, which already exceed $ 307 billion per year globally, according to a new report launched at the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) earlier today. Drawing on a wealth of evidence and case studies from countries all around the world —like Chile, India, Jordan, Kenya, Spain, and Tunisia— the report makes the economic ...

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KIER's breakthrough in solving waste plastic processing with heat circulation
Environment

KIER's breakthrough in solving waste plastic processing with heat circulation

Dr. Byungwook Hwang’s research team from the CCS Research Department at the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) has successfully developed a process that applies the circulating fluidized bed technology, commonly used in coal-fired power plant boilers, to recycle waste plastics and produce pyrolysis oil on a large scale. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in household plastic waste worldwide. In response, countries around the globe are focusing on recycling technologies, such as pyrolysis, for eco-friendly waste plastic management. Recently, the Korean government announced plans to expand the ...

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Environment

Impact studies should include high-sensitivity climate models

High-sensitivity climate models should not be excluded when predicting future regional climate impacts because the level of warming measured globally is not always the only good indicator of regional changes, a new study suggests. Some models which scientists use to predict future changes in Earth's climate show faster global warming than others, leading to temperature projections that are considered unlikely. Some experts suggest that these more sensitive (or ‘hotter’) models should be omitted when studying future climate impacts. New research published today (Thursday, ...

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Environment

Researchers: If Power-to-X is to be a real climate solution, the state needs to use the stick

Despite the massive hype surrounding Power-to-X (PtX), most of the world's announced green hydrogen projects lack financing. The market is deemed far too risky by stakeholders. And, there are many potential pitfalls. According to the authors of a study from the University of Copenhagen, actors must be ‘compelled’ to invest in a genuinely green manner. Green hydrogen has long been touted as the climate-friendly energy solution of the future. Indeed, there has been no shortage of hype surrounding Power-to-X – which converts green electricity into hydrogen and other molecules. In Denmark, politicians have referred to PtX as a cornerstone of ...

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Gene editing and plant domestication essential to protect food supplies in a worsening climate, scientists say
Environment

Gene editing and plant domestication essential to protect food supplies in a worsening climate, scientists say

We all need to eat, but the impact of the climate crisis on our crops is throwing the world’s food supply into question. Modern crops, domesticated for high food yields and ease of harvesting, lack the genetic resources to respond to the climate crisis. Significant environmental stresses are reducing the amount of food produced, driving supplies down and prices up. We can’t sustainably take over more land for agriculture, so we need to change our crops—this time to adapt them to the world we have altered. “Agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change, and the intensity and frequency of extreme events is only going to increase,” said Prof Sergey ...

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Environment

Deforestation reduces malaria bed nets’ effectiveness

When a forest is lost to development, some effects are obvious. Stumps and mud puddles across the landscape, a plowed field or houses a year after that. But deforestation isn’t just a loss of trees; it’s a loss of the countless benefits that forests provide—one of which is control of disease. Now, a startling new global study shows that a widespread malaria-fighting strategy—bed nets—becomes less effective as deforestation rises. The research underscores how important a healthy environment can be for human health. Insecticide-treated ...

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Environment

Independent rice paddy methane model validated for global applications: Study highlights emission mitigation potential

Rice paddies, responsible for approximately 10% of global anthropogenic methane (CH₄) emissions, are increasingly recognized as a key contributor to global warming. Reducing emissions from rice cultivation is essential to achieving international climate goals, especially in light of commitments to carbon neutrality and peak emissions targets. A team led by Prof. LI Tingting from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has validated an independently developed methane emission model, CH4MOD, at the global scale. This research highlights the advantages of process-based models over the commonly ...

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Environment

X-ray vision: Seeing through the mystery of an X-ray emissions mechanism

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Since the 1960s, scientists who study X-rays, lightning and similar phenomena have observed something curious: In lab experiments replicating these occurrences, electrons accelerated between two electrodes can be of a higher energy than the voltage applied. According to Penn State researchers, this defies an assumption in physics that the energy of the electrons should correspond with the voltage applied. Despite the decades-long awareness of this apparent contradiction, researchers couldn’t ...

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Massive asteroid impacts did not change Earth’s climate in the long term
Environment

Massive asteroid impacts did not change Earth’s climate in the long term

Two massive asteroids hit Earth around 35.65 million years ago, but did not lead to any lasting changes in the Earth’s climate, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The rocks, both several miles wide, hit Earth about 25,000 years apart, leaving the 60-mile (100km) Popigai crater in Siberia, Russia, and the 25-55 mile (40-85km) crater in the Chesapeake Bay, in the United States - the fourth and fifth largest known asteroid craters on Earth. The new study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, found no evidence of a lasting shift in climate in the 150,000 years that followed the impacts. The researchers inferred the past climate ...

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Climate-ready crop
Environment

Climate-ready crop

A team from the University of Illinois has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions. This adaptation may provide greater food security for families dependent on potatoes, as these are often the same areas where the changing climate has already affected multiple crop seasons. “We need to produce crops that can withstand more frequent and intense heatwave events if we are going to meet the population’s need for food in regions most at ...

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Environment

Researchers assess the sustainability of the Pacific walrus population over the next 75 years

The Pacific walrus, a critically important resource for Alaska and Chukotka Native communities, is subject to rapid habitat loss associated with climate change and increasing human activity in the Arctic. New research published in the Journal of Wildlife Management assessed the sustainability of varying degrees of Pacific walrus harvest to the end of the 21st century under different climate and human disturbance scenarios. These scenarios ranged from optimistic to pessimistic, based largely on sea ice projections from ...

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Gender inequities in sporting environment and resources may distort estimates of ACL injury rates among women
Environment

Gender inequities in sporting environment and resources may distort estimates of ACL injury rates among women

A new study by the Harvard GenderSci Lab in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reveals systematic biases in a key metric used in estimates of sex disparities in ACL injury rates in sports. The article argues that gendered factors (e.g. availability and quality of resources, compensation structures, ability to train amidst competing responsibilities outside of sports) may undermine the comparability of injury rates between women and men. As a result, recent headlines claiming much higher rates of ACL injury among women and girls may be misleading. Sports scientists calculate ...

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Can plastic-eating bugs help with our microplastic problem?
Environment

Can plastic-eating bugs help with our microplastic problem?

Plastic pollution occurs in every ecosystem on the planet and lingers for decades. Could insects be part of the solution? Previous research found that insects can ingest and absorb pure, unrefined microplastics—but only under unrealistic, food-scarce situations. In a new Biology Letters paper, UBC zoologist Dr. Michelle Tseng and alumna Shim Gicole tested mealworms in a more realistic scenario, feeding them ground-up face masks—a common plastic product—mixed with bran, a tastier option. Reality bites Mealworms are Nature’s scavengers and decomposers, ...

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Environment

Ocean density identified as a key driver of carbon capture by marine plankton

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00.05 GMT WEDNESDAY 4 DECEMBER / 19:05 ET TUESDAY 3 DECEMBER 2024 Ocean density identified as a key driver of carbon capture by marine plankton New findings, published today in Royal Society Open Science, have revealed that changes in ocean density have a significant impact on the rate at which marine plankton incorporate carbon into their shells. This has profound implications for carbon cycling and the ocean’s ability to absorb atmospheric CO2 in response to climate change. Up to now, researchers have focused on how ...

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