science

Scientists Find Pollutants in Corals Linked to Burning Fossil Fuels

Scientists Find Pollutants in Corals Linked to Burning Fossil Fuels

While scientists have known that pollutants from human activities like agriculture, plastic production and coastal development threaten corals, a new study is the first to find pollutants tied to burning fossil fuels embedded in corals. Researchers from the Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal collected samples from the coral species Cladocora caespitosa of […]

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    Atlantic Ocean Current Weakening, Heading Toward Tipping Point, Study Finds

    Atlantic Ocean Current Weakening, Heading Toward Tipping Point, Study Finds

    Ocean currents are Earth’s climate regulators, distributing solar radiation and preventing regional temperatures from being more extreme. A new study has found that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) — an important climate-regulating system of ocean currents — is headed toward a tipping point, though scientists aren’t sure how soon it will occur. “The Atlantic […]

    Scientists Create Artificial Worm Gut That Breaks Down Plastic

    Scientists Create Artificial Worm Gut That Breaks Down Plastic

    News of plastic-eating enzymes and insects has been making headlines in recent years. Take, for example, fungi that digests plastic in coastal salt marshes, or the greater wax moth caterpillar that can live on polyethylene in its larval stage. However, to utilize these plastic-eating organisms, scientists would need to be able to breed them in […]

    World Breaches 1.5°C for an Entire Year for First Time on Record

    World Breaches 1.5°C for an Entire Year for First Time on Record

    For the first time on record, the average global temperature has exceeded 1.5 degree Celsius over a 12-month period, according to new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Last month was also the hottest January worldwide since C3S records began in 1950, with an average air surface temperature that was 0.70 degrees Celsius […]

    Snow Leopard Population in India Surveyed for the First Time

    Snow Leopard Population in India Surveyed for the First Time

    For the first time, India has completed a survey of snow leopards, finding an estimated 718 cats living in the country. Snow leopards live in a harsh environment, high in the Himalayas. That has long made it difficult for scientists to study these animals, let alone complete a thorough survey. The first-ever Snow Leopard Population […]