By Robert McSweeney Emissions of CO2 and methane from wetlands and thawing permafrost as the climate warms could cut the “carbon budget” for the Paris agreement temperature limits by around five years, a new study says. These natural processes are “positive feedbacks”—so called because they release more greenhouse gases as global temperatures rise, thus reinforcing […]
By Daisy Dunne The record-breaking marine heatwave in 2016 across the Great Barrier Reef has left much of the coral ecosystem at an “unprecedented” risk of collapse, research shows. A new study published in Nature finds that the surge in sea temperatures during the 2016 bleaching event led to an immediate and long-lasting die-off of […]
By Robert McSweeney Arctic sea ice has experienced its maximum extent for the year, reaching 14.48 million square kilometers (approximately 5.59 million square miles) on March 17—the second smallest in the 39-year satellite record. The provisional data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows the 2018 winter peak only narrowly avoided taking […]
By Robert McSweeney Solar geoengineering, or “solar radiation management” (SRM), is perhaps the most controversial of the different ways of limiting human-caused climate change. A commonly voiced objection to the technique is the risk of “termination shock”—the rapid rebounding of global temperatures if SRM is deployed and then suddenly stopped. But a new research article, […]
By Daisy Dunne The arduous journey that king penguins must make in order to hunt fish to bring back to their young could become even longer as the climate warms, research suggests. The study finds that future ocean warming in Antarctica could drive the penguins’ primary hunting grounds further poleward—away from their favored breeding spots. […]
By Daisy Dunne Animals that turn white in the winter to hide themselves in snowy landscapes could struggle to adapt to climate change, research suggests. A new study finds that declining winter snowfall near the Arctic could have varying effects on the survival of eight mammal species that undergo a seasonal color molt from summer […]
By Zeke Hausfather Automated, unmanned drones are poised to revolutionize the package delivery industry, with a number of companies already testing drone-based delivery methods. A new study in Nature Communications looks at the climate impact of a shift from truck-based to drone-based package delivery. It finds that while small drones carrying packages weighing less than […]
By Daisy Dunne Polar bears could be failing to hunt enough seals to meet their energy demands, new research suggests. A study tracking the behavior of nine female bears from 2014 to 2016 over the Beaufort Sea found that some of the animals exerted so much energy during the hunting season that they lost up […]
By Daisy Dunne Just over a year ago, scientists announced the discovery of the world’s largest intact tropical peatland in a remote part of the Congo’s vast swampy basin. The Cuvette Centrale peatlands stretch across an area of central Africa that is larger than the size of England and stores as much as 30 billion […]
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